50+ Lifestyles

Is Today Our‘Good Old Days?’

By Richard J. Schillig, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF
Independent Insurance and Financial Advisor

Sure Medicare choices are confusing, but, folks, we have the CHOICE of medicare plans. That’s why we encourage all our readers to join our Medicare 101 educational class to have a clear understanding of the annual choices we now enjoy with Medicare.

Recently I came across a magazine, ‘Good Old Days.’ A website review by Cheryl Bazzoui describes this publication as a refreshingly sweet nostalgic magazine that provides many hours of reminiscing to its readers whom I assume are mostly on pension. But it also provides a wealth of first-person stories to readers of all ages who have a curiosity about what it was really like back in the good old days. This becomes especially nostalgic during the Christmas holidays with family get-togethers, office and business parties, and renewal of old acquaintances.

At this time of year, I think of all the changes our parents & grandparents witnessed during their lifetimes – world wars, industrialization, automobiles, refrigerators, color TV, fast food restaurants, chain stores, computers, internet, cell phones. WOW – what changes! We often hear them (or us) refer to those good old days. In our own lives we look back to our childhood or younger adult life and say the same thing…..remember when or that was before…..

Today with all the rapid changes we continue to experience in our daily lives, I wonder if we are in the glory of our own ‘Good Old Days.’ Change today is evidenced by two major issues going on right now – government spending and health care reform debates.

I can’t understand the term ‘trillion.’ Remember when we simply talked about ‘million’ ? – then it became ‘billion’ – now we are talking about ‘trillion.’ Government spending today is calculated well beyond billions of dollars. The most recent health-care reform package debated in Congress is estimated to cost $1.2 trillion. That must be a healthy chunk of money.

We still have 2 issues or options available to us as consumers in the early part of this 21st century. One is the annual enrollment period for medicare prescription drugs or medicare advantage plans. Are these annual enrollment periods part of our ‘Good Old Days’? Days when we have the CHOICE for medicare plans? Are these days of having the privilege of CHOICE being numbered with health-care reform? Sure Medicare choices are confusing, but, folks, we have the CHOICE of medicare plans. That’s why we encourage all our readers to join our Medicare 101 educational class to have a clear understanding of the annual choices we now enjoy with Medicare. Check our ad on this page for dates and times.

The second issue is also complex – the issue of government spending. Remember, folks, in order to spend we need to have money. Where does our government receive money? You know the answer to that one. Government receives money from us through taxes. It’s logical to assume that the more money spent, the more tax money that is needed. Now – is it also logical to assume that we will have tax increases? The next question is when will tax increase come and how much increase will there be? Is today’s tax rate part of the ‘Good Old Days’? Regardless of our thoughts on the severity of today’s taxes, will these days be the best tax rate we will ever have? Will we look back on 2009 and talk about these lower taxes in our Good Old Days.

I don’t know the answer to those questions – nobody does. But what we do know is we have opportunities today to prepare ourselves for an unprecedented tax increase by maximizing on today’s Roth IRAs and especially Roth Conversions. Please call on us for details. Enjoy these, our ‘Good Old Days.’

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and the very best as we look
to 2010.

Richard J. Schillig