Nothing spells financial disaster like letting your life insurance lapse. OK, perhaps that's an exaggeration, but allowing a life insurance policy to lapse is one of the worst financial decisions possible for a senior or boomer. Individuals pay hundreds of millions of dollars into life insurance every year, yet four...

In my business, we have a keen interest in understanding how long people will live. In fact, because we have a financial interest that hinges on understanding longevity and life expectancy, I have been studying death and dying for more than 20 years. Perhaps because I'm turning grayer at the...

Estate tax laws didn't fall off the "fiscal cliff," likely leaving many older Americans over-insured. Estate tax planning had been mired in uncertainty in recent years as Congress flip-flopped on raising thresholds and exemptions. Taxpayers who were concerned prior to the new deal, and prepared for the worst with a...

Even though the horror of the Connecticut school shootings leaves us heartbroken and the looming fiscal cliff economic crisis taints our year-end plans, my gift to you this holiday season is optimism. Rather than dwell on the issues which drag us down, I prefer to take a more long-term view...

We face a long-term care crisis in the United States, and seniors and boomers need to start creating a strategy as soon as possible. One study suggests that about 70 percent of seniors will need some type of long-term care, and most of the costs are not covered...

How do life insurance companies make money? When I ask this question of my friends, I get a variety of interesting answers -- aside from a bunch of odd looks. One mathematically inclined acquaintance said insurance companies use complex actuarial tables which enable them to predict, very accurately, how long...

The estate tax returned to a state of flux with Congress voting last week to extend the Bush era estate limit for another year. While this is a positive development for anyone who unfortunately has to deal with the death of a loved one in the next year, the overall...

A recent Money Across Generations study further revealed why baby boomers and members of the so-called Sandwich Generation are in deep financial trouble. Get this: According to the study, more than half of baby boomers admit that they have allowed their adult children to move home and live...

When I started my career in business and finance, I never thought I would be writing about social media, but it's truly amazing how much of an impact it is has on businesses of all shapes and sizes. We saw the power of Facebook when a single Bank of America...

Baby boomers may retire destitute.

Last year, a fairly standard marketing project took a turn that has changed the way I view retirement and retirement planning. Though our company's clients are retirees, we have learned that many of the financial decisions made by this group are greatly influenced by their...