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The Retired Investor: What Is to Be Done About Climate Change?
By Bill Schmick,
04:27PM / Thursday, November 30, 2023
On Thursday of this week, almost 200 nations are meeting in Dubai at the COP28 Climate Summit to discuss global warming. The COP28 the participants will focus on how to keep temperatures from climbing any higher. Thus far, the track record is less than encouraging.   Over the last eight years, despite pledges from both political and business leaders worldwide to reduce industrial emissions, temperatures have continued to rise. This is in the face of massive efforts both here and abroad to develop and expand solar, wind, and nuclear power alternatives to fossil fuels.   Despite these efforts, carbon dioxide emissions and temperatures continue to rise. With that

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The Retired Investor: The Gap in Home Health-Care Workers
By Bill Schmick,
04:11PM / Thursday, November 09, 2023
Baby Boomers are aging. As their health fails, an increasing number of the elderly are turning away from nursing homes and opting for home health care instead. The problem is finding enough trained caregivers to handle demand.   The demographics in the U.S. indicate two trends — an aging population as well as a declining birth rate. By 2034, there will be more adults over the age of 65 than children under the age of 18. Between 2018 and 2060, the population of seniors will double.   An overwhelming majority of Americans (88 percent) would rather receive long-term care services in their homes as they age, according to a recent study by the Associated Press

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The Retired Investor: America Is Living Beyond Its Means
By Bill Schmick,
04:31PM / Thursday, November 02, 2023
The U.S. government has been borrowing from Peter to pay Paul for decades. That should come as no surprise to most, but the speed by which we are piling up debt to support our spending has become alarming.   The federal budget deficit is the difference between how much Washington spends and how much it receives in taxes. That concept should be familiar to all of us who count on our income to support our family's spending. Imagine if the amount you owed (your deficit) doubled from last year.   That is what happened to the nation's budget deficit over the last year, to the tune of $1.7 trillion.   If you look at the big picture, the U.S. total

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The Retired Investor: Halloween Spending Expected to Hit a Record
By Bill Schmick,
02:56PM / Thursday, October 26, 2023
Spending on candy, costumes, decorations, and parties is rising. The expected amount Americans plan to spend on Halloween is $12.2 billion in 2023, according to the National Retail Federation NRF). That beats last year's record of $10.6 billion.   More Americans than ever are celebrating with 79 percent of people participating, which is greater than last year and exceeds pre-pandemic levels as well. In addition, 76 percent of adult American pet owners plan to put their pets in costumes, according to a PetSmart national survey. The average amount consumers will pay to celebrate the holiday is $108.24 versus $102.74 last year.   Candy is still at the top of

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The Retired Investor: Primary Care Changing as Doctors Disappear
By Bill Schmick,
04:49PM / Thursday, October 19, 2023
They are called general practitioners or primary-care doctors. Overworked, suffocating under mountains of paperwork, they see more than 30 patients a day in one of the most underpaid areas of the medical field.   An estimated one-third of all physicians in the U.S. are primary-care doctors, according to the Robert Graham Center, which studies the primary-care market. They include medicine physicians, general internists, and pediatricians. Depending on the definition, other researchers, like the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, say that number is far lower, around 12 percent. That compares with a range of 23-45 percent of primary care doctors in Europe.   My

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