During her recent visit from South Africa, my former student mentioned she had a retirement account but she hadn’t spoken to her broker in three years.  I almost fell out of my chair.  The woman is nearly 70.  Despite her age, having once been my student, I couldn’t remain sile

Yesterday, I offered a few savings suggestions to pad your retirement account.  (Blog 8/8/2016)  Today, I’m going to recount a few ways to protect income after you’ve retired. Elizabeth O’Brien encourages us to plan for the unpredictable by setting aside money for emergencies

When I was a senior in college, I earned my tuition by working as the assistant to the woman in charge of food and dormitory services.  Originally, she’d owned a restaurant in New York but came to Oregon when her husband got a promotion.  She found the city too sleepy for her liki

Walking through the mall near my apartment is as quiet as walking through a graveyard. Where, I ask, have all the people gone?  Worse, where are the stores?  Nordstrom, Payless and Radio Shack have disappeared and Sears, given the few people wandering the aisles, seems to be hanging

The television show In Treatment, starring Gabriel Byrne as psychoanalyst who was unable to get his personal life in order, is one of my all-time favorite series. I remember saying to a friend, a therapist who was also a fan of the show, “This theater is too good for American televi

In the past, when I’ve written about buying art, I’ve  said, purchase what you like and don’t think about your purchase as an investment. In fact, most of us aren’t investors.  We’re looking to cover the walls of our homes and offices with pleasant images.  I have, howeve

As recently as May 15, I questioned where the young techies, building their virtual worlds, are taking us.  Certainly, they live a schizophrenic existence.  On the one hand, they purport to be bringing people together and creating a democratic agora for ideas.  On the other hand, t

With a billionaire in the White House, people around me are talking about money and privilege and blaming the rich for most of our social ills. Is it any wonder the upper class suffers from paranoia?   If you doubt my observation, consider writer Jessica Pressler’s report that sec

I was going to write about oil today, until I came across a scathing article about Ivanka Trump.  At the  Berlin conference on women entrepreneurship, which she attended as a guest of German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, the audience booed when she responded to a question about her fa

Shooting stars are noted for a sudden burst of light that soon disappears. Their conduct is a metaphor for the lives of many in the public eye.  Still, actors, musicians, politicians and the like, all  strive to leave their mark upon the world.  Are we mortals foolhardy in our immo