These financial decisions are made even more difficult by an unstable economy with low interest rates, an erratic stock market and the threat of resurgent inflation as well as an army of predators seeking to take advantage of an aging population.
What to Do When I Get Stupid documents the age-related decline in ability to make financial decisions which begins, on average, at age 53. It then tells readers what they can and must do while they are still compos mentis so that their plans cannot be undone by others or themselves.
It shows how a fully-paid, age-in-place home may be our best investment and how a no-frills immediate annuity, offered (but not heavily promoted) by most insurance companies can guarantee a cash flow of 8 percent for life, even at today’s low rates.
Subtitled A Radically Safe Approach to a Difficult Financial Era, the book re-examines some commonly-accepted approaches to financing the rest of our lives and questions, among other things, the usefulness of long-term care insurance and the safety of a “balanced” investment portfolio.
A recent study by the Investor Protection Trust found 20 percent of Americans aged 65 or older have “been taken advantage of financially in terms of an inappropriate investment, unreasonably high fees for financial services, or outright fraud.” This book is designed to help readers avoid this fate.
