WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Pat Groover called her insurance company on Tuesday morning, the day after a massive tree gave in to storm Sandy’s winds, ripped the front off a neighbor’s house and pulled siding and gutters off of Groover’s home. The path of destruction didn’t stop – the tree came to rest on Groover’s car in her Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, driveway.

The tree is still there. Groover is afraid to have it removed until she hears from her insurer, and that hasn’t happened yet.

“They told me they’d call me in three days. I’ve heard nothing yet and I’m sick of it,” said Groover, standing on her front porch, beside her tarp-and-tree covered car. “I called again today and waited on hold for so long I just gave up. You can’t do anything until you hear from the adjuster.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – It is no surprise that as the baby boom approaches its Social Security years, it is turning the decision about when to start collecting benefits from an automatic move into a major planning and research opportunity.

Having intensively looked into car seats and college admissions for their kids and tried to map out careers and 401(k) plans, boomers now will focus attention on squeezing Social Security for all it is worth.

“Baby boomers are the first generation that isn’t going to put up with crappy advice,” says William Meyer, chief executive officer of Social Security Solutions Inc (here), one of a number of new companies selling Social Security strategic planning to future recipients. “They are the generation that demands more.”

WASHINGTON, Oct 31 (Reuters) – It is no surprise that as the baby boom approaches its Social Security years, it is turning the decision about when to start collecting benefits from an automatic move into a major planning and research opportunity.

Having intensively looked into car seats and college admissions for their kids and tried to map out careers and 401(k) plans, boomers now will focus attention on squeezing Social Security for all it is worth.

“Baby boomers are the first generation that isn’t going to put up with crappy advice,” says William Meyer, chief executive officer of Social Security Solutions Inc (), one of a number of new companies selling Social Security strategic planning to future recipients. “They are the generation that demands more.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Nobody wants to feel sorry for life insurance companies. They’re just the annoying folk who make you think about death, cash your checks, and then give you grief if you ever have to file a claim, right?

Don’t be so cynical. These are challenging times for the insurance industry. Company representatives meeting in Washington for the annual American Council of Life Insurers conference seemed downright gloomy, and were eager to tick off the troubles facing them.

Low interest rates mean insurers can’t easily price or profit from the annuities they are selling. Bad and uninformed pricing decisions mean they may lose their shirts on some long-term care and annuity plans they sold years ago. Some companies are leaving markets they used to find profitable and trying to invent new and complex products to fit the “new normal.” And they are afraid that forthcoming tax reform will hit their products big time.

WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) – Nobody wants to feel sorry for life insurance companies. They’re just the annoying folk who make you think about death, cash your checks, and then give you grief if you ever have to file a claim, right?

Don’t be so cynical. These are challenging times for the insurance industry. Company representatives meeting in Washington for the annual American Council of Life Insurers conference seemed downright gloomy, and were eager to tick off the troubles facing them.

Low interest rates mean insurers can’t easily price or profit from the annuities they are selling. Bad and uninformed pricing decisions mean they may lose their shirts on some long-term care and annuity plans they sold years ago. Some companies are leaving markets they used to find profitable and trying to invent new and complex products to fit the “new normal.” And they are afraid that forthcoming tax reform will hit their products big time.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – For almost a year now, investors have been flinging money at municipal bonds like they were $20 iPads.

In the week ending October 10, U.S. munibond mutual funds had their biggest week since April, with nearly $915 million in new inflows, according to Lipper, a Thomson Reuters company. Individual investors bought 1.9 bonds for each one they sold.

Maybe those investors were attracted to the outsized returns these traditionally “safe” investments have been delivering. General and insured munibond mutual funds have had total returns of 7.89 percent so far this year, compared with the 2.75 percent total returns logged by Treasury funds, Lipper said. Last year those same munifunds returned 11.29 percent to investors, while the Treasury funds returned 7.11 percent.

WASHINGTON, Oct 10 (Reuters) – It’s time to watch Washington to see just how bad your New Year’s eve is going to be. Without any action in the Capitol, the U.S. economy is said to be poised to fall off of a “fiscal cliff.”

Projected increases in taxes and cuts in spending would throw the economy into another recession, says the Congressional Budget Office, and it could throw your family finances over the edge, a cc ording to analysts.

That’s because of several issues all hitting at once. The George W. Bush-era tax cuts expire on December 31, and without any extensions personal income tax rates will rise, as will rates on capital gains and dividends. Also expiring is the temporary 2 percent payroll tax cut that has boosted workers’ paychecks for the last two years. Beginning on January 1, there’s a new 3.8 percent surtax on investment income for people earning more than $200,000 ($250,000 for couples).

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – It’s time to watch Washington to see just how bad your New Year’s eve is going to be. Without any action in the Capitol, the U.S. economy is said to be poised to fall off of a “fiscal cliff.”

Projected increases in taxes and cuts in spending would throw the economy into another recession, says the Congressional Budget Office, and it could throw your family finances over the edge, according to analysts.

That’s because of several issues all hitting at once. The George W. Bush-era tax cuts expire on December 31, and without any extensions personal income tax rates will rise, as will rates on capital gains and dividends. Also expiring is the temporary 2 percent payroll tax cut that has boosted workers’ paychecks for the last two years. Beginning on January 1, there’s a new 3.8 percent surtax on investment income for people earning more than $200,000 ($250,000 for couples).

WASHINGTON, Oct 10 (Reuters) – It’s time to watch Washington to see just how bad your New Year’s eve is going to be. Without any action in the Capitol, the U.S. economy is said to be poised to fall off of a “fiscal cliff.”

Projected increases in taxes and cuts in spending would throw the economy into another recession, says the Congressional Budget Office, and it could throw your family finances over the edge, a cc ording to analysts.

That’s because of several issues all hitting at once. The George W. Bush-era tax cuts expire on December 31, and without any extensions personal income tax rates will rise, as will rates on capital gains and dividends. Also expiring is the temporary 2 percent payroll tax cut that has boosted workers’ paychecks for the last two years. Beginning on January 1, there’s a new 3.8 percent surtax on investment income for people earning more than $200,000 ($250,000 for couples).

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – It’s a sad, sticky and increasingly common situation: An elderly relative insists on managing his money, but you suspect he’s losing his ability to handle that.

The older people get, the more likely they are to suffer cognitive decline. Roughly 14 percent of people over 71 have some level of dementia, according to the National Institutes of Health. For those in their 90s, the rate rises to 37.4 percent.

Many older folks have spent a lifetime managing their finances and take pride in it. They may hold onto their checkbooks and brokerage statements more tightly than they do their car keys. Take the parents of John M. Smartt Jr., a Knoxville, Tennessee certified public accountant and investment adviser, who have been married for almost 70 years. Just last week they finally agreed to merge their separate checking accounts and allow Smartt to write checks for them.