One spring day in 2022, an elderly woman entered Paris’s Picasso Museum to see a new exhibit. Among the items on display was a decorative blue jacket, which was positioned on a wall next to a portrait of Picasso. The woman liked the look of the jacket so she took it down from its hook, put it in [...]
Almost True
Last week, I discussed a key challenge in personal finance: that in a field where we would expect facts and logic to drive decisions, we instead find that misconceptions and misunderstandings often take hold. Last time, I outlined five common financial myths. Below are five more: “When a company [...]
Long-term solutions
A few weeks back, I discussed some of the challenges with traditional long-term care (LTC) insurance: In addition to steep—and rising—premiums, these policies are complex. Many policyholders have to contend with an annual renewal letter that presents a mind-numbing matrix of options. But there’s [...]
Long-term concern
Long-term care (LTC) insurance policies are, in my opinion, both a blessing and a curse. They're a blessing because they can help cover critical, and expensive, care when a family might have no other financial options. But they can also feel like a curse. That's because of what many policyholders [...]
Choosing an umbrella
On February 27, 1992, Stella Liebeck ordered a cup of coffee from a McDonald’s drive-through. But moments later, as she attempted to open the lid, the cup spilled, causing a burn that sent her to the hospital. Her injury was serious but self-inflicted and not life-threatening. Nonetheless, she sued [...]
