Henry Ford had two great ideas. One was the creation of the first factory assembly line with a conveyor belt. It cut the time to produce a model T from about a day and a half to an hour and a half. It created a massive productivity change. But Ford had another idea that is less discussed. He bet…
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Q. Your columns about reverse mortgages have me intrigued. I recently retired and find myself with a paid up $100,000 house. I also have cash and IRAs worth over $2 million. Now I want to move to an area where housing is much more expensive. Would it make sense--- or be possible--- to buy a…
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Imagine you’re looking for a treatment to reduce that sagging jowl or to minimize those annoying love handles. Or perhaps you want to treat a more serious medical condition such as diabetes or thyroid problems. A board certification or a recommendation by a medical organization seems like a smart…
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Last October, I rode my bike up Italy’s Muro Di Sormano. It’s pronounced sore-man-oh. If you aren’t a sore man (or woman) at the bottom, you will be at the top. The steepest section hits a grade of 25 percent. It averages 17 percent.Ercole Baldini used to be a world champion cyclist. One of his…
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AUSTIN, TEXAS. You’ve probably watched one--- at least for a few minutes. Yes, I’m talking about those end-of-the-world video ads on the Internet informing us, ever so slowly, that our houses are about to become worthless and our money is about to disappear along with our retirement accounts and…
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Q. My wife and I are in our early thirties, with an infant, and another child on the way. We each have separate Roth IRAs (both began before we met) with about $10,000 and $6,000, respectively. Once we finish paying off my wife's graduate school loans— in about 9 months— we will be able to save at…
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In November of 1984, the Academy Bumblebees loaded their busses and headed to the regional football playoff game. This was a very big event for this 2A Texas football program. From my seat on the cheerleaders’ bus, I noted that signs lined the highway as we rolled out of town. My favorite sign…
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Jacob Collums doesn’t speak Arabic. He’s from Texas. But a couple of weeks ago, his employer sent the 31-year old engineer to the Middle East country of Oman. Jacob works for Cameron (recently acquired by Schlumberger). They design and manufacture flow and pressure control technologies for the…
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Is that gift horse 401(k) plan you have a good deal? Have you examined its teeth? Maybe it’s time. The issue here is simple. This gift horse is one you may have to ride until you retire. When 401(k) plans got their start 30 years ago they were imagined as a supplement to pension plans. Today…
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The retirement planning landscape has changed drastically over the past couple of decades. In the past, most workers could count on retirement benefits from their employers. Defined benefit pension plans guaranteed them a fixed income payment throughout their retirement years. Today, most Americans…
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Retirement planning can feel like a cocktail of facts, guesswork and hope. Sometimes it feels like a second or third cocktail, making life a bit wobbly. But one fact is often overlooked and mostly unavoidable. Your Social Security income may be taxable income. Today, people who thought the taxation…
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Q. How about an annuity as an alternative to the other choices? An annuity means zero chance of running out of money. My wife, age 69, recently purchased an annuity that pays slightly less than 6 percent a year (no annual increases for inflation) and is guaranteed for life. If she dies early,…
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The average adult in the U.S. today is 24 pounds heavier than the average 1960 adult. Two-thirds of us are overweight, half of whom are obese. We are fat. We’ve tried low-fat diets but the problem just got worse. The $20 billion diet industry offers all kinds of approaches to weight loss just a…
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Many would-be investors are worried. They know they should start to invest. But they’re afraid. Stocks are near an all-time high. ISIS appears to be gaining momentum. Oil prices have collapsed. U.S. government debts keep climbing.Nobody wants to begin investing right before a crash. History…
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SANTA ROSA, CA. Hey, real estate is back! It’s not just San Francisco and its new homes “starting in the $1,000,000s,” as the now famous billboard cries out. Fortunately, if you will settle for a house that isn’t new you might be able to catch one in San Francisco for the recent median price,…
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Q. This is about required minimum distributions. I find it very strange and upsetting. We are taught to save and invest for our future and own good and then we are forced to spend part of what we have saved. Worse, then we have to pay taxes on every dime. A plan like that from business would be…
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Remember Doc Baker from Little House on the Prairie ? He treated the sickest residents of Walnut Grove in their own homes. There was no ER or hospital. As modern medicine and technology grew, we left the Doc Baker style of medical practice behind. We’ve moved to the hospital model for severe…
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A beaming young girl handed me a couple of lamb skewers. Her father had cooked them over an open fire beside the river after her mother had marinated them. Another family skinned a small goat nearby. A voice from behind asked, “You want to take photo?” Children sat giggling and eating on a tarp…
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The highest income tax rate is 39.6 percent. A single person pays that on taxable income over $450,050. A couple pays it on income over $466,950. Earn another $1,000 and the U.S. Treasury claims $396 of it. Only 1 percent of households pay anything like that rate. So the other 99 percent of us…
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Q. Is it worth it to get a reverse mortgage if you think you may move in five to eight years? Wouldn’t the costs be too high? Seems like you are trapped unless you have a boat load of cash to get out from under. Stuck for life is so claustrophobic. What if a gas well or loud rock band appears next…
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