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Social Security was designed to be an insurance plan. Depending on how much you pay in you get a guaranteed payment later in life to cover your basic needs if you run out of assets when you can no longer work. Of course, as a society we no longer use it that way. People now use it as the base they start with to retire and determine what they have in addition.

BCR Wealth as a company does not have a political position. Of course, our employees as individuals each have their own opinions and vote as they choose. We work hard not to position our blog for one party or candidate. This blog is intended to follow that practice while answering the concerns that we are hearing and anticipate growing as the November election grows closer.

Suppose you knew every statistic about football: players, referees, field conditions and on and on. Could you make money betting on football?

Probably not. That is because you not only have to know about the sport itself, but because you also must consider the spread set by the bookies. So, to make money you must know when the spread is wrong.

Interest rates affect the decisions you make with money. Some of these are obvious – think about how much more money you would stick in your savings account if it paid 15% interest instead of 0.5%. How much less money would you put into stocks if you could get 15% in a simple bank account?

Helping our clients implement “tax-smart” strategies is where I believe we provide a substantial amount of value. Anyone who is a DIY investor can open a Vanguard account and fund an S&P 500 Index Fund on a regular basis. Many of those that do this think they have just equaled the work of a financial advisor and saved themselves a lot of money in fees.

During these days when travel and contact with loved ones is so restricted, I sought a way to reach out and touch my grandchildren. So, I started Grandpa’s Storytime. It’s a really easy way to keep in touch and connect in a personal way, and a great deal of fun.

You’ve probably read the article about the couple who make $500k to just “scrape by”. It describes a lifestyle of student debt, childcare and home maintenance expenses that we all face.

Most of the rhetoric that you hear in financial media is typically melodramatic. So, when there is an economic crisis caused by a health crisis you can expect it to be even worse. And it is.

Did you know that 70% of elementary school children have at least one living grandparent? And that 65% of seniors live for 30+ years after retirement?

The question of how long your money will last is more important now than ever before.

I think of it this way.

You’ve read the articles. I am guilty of writing a similar one. Countless other financial professionals have used the same example. Stop buying expensive coffee, save the amount you would have spent. Then, your savings compounds its investment returns.

I think people spend too much time thinking about that. It’s not the coffee holding your savings back.