By Robert Powell; MarketWatch ~ Oct 10, 2014

October marks the start of the fourth quarter: the perfect time to think about year-end planning strategies and tactics that can help save or make a buck or two. Though not an exhaustive list, here’s what experts say you should consider or do now.

Put your financial house in order

The last quarter of the year is a great time to review how much money you’ve spent during the past 12 months or to otherwise create a plan to track your annual expenses for the coming year, said Randy Bruns, a certified financial planner with HighPoint Planning Partners. “Understanding your annual expenses is crucial for calculating how much should be set aside in savings in the case of a job loss, how much term life is needed to protect your family should you die, and … to help calculate a target nest egg.”

By Ali Meyer; Cybercast News Service ~ Oct 10, 2014

(CNSNews.com) – More than one in three low-income seniors, or 41 percent, has already gone without medical or dental care because of high energy bills, according to a survey included in a newly released report.

And things will only get worse for seniors, says the 60 Plus Association, as states scramble to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon-reduction rules.

The 60 Plus Association’s report, titled Energy Bills Challenge America’s Fixed-Income Seniors, cited an Applied Public Policy Research Institute for Study and Evaluation (APPRISE) survey from 2010, which provides “insights into the real-world consequences of high energy costs among America’s senior population.”

By Nanci Hellmich; USA TODAY ~ Oct 10, 2014

Many jittery investors are worried about their retirement savings given the recent volatility of the stock market. The Dow was down 273 points Tuesday, up 275 Wednesday and down 335 points Thursday.

“The market will have its ups and downs, but it’s important to stay the course,” says John Sweeney, Fidelity Investments’ executive vice president of retirement and investing strategies.

“While October gets a bad rap for having the most market declines, it’s important to look at the story the long term picture tells,” Sweeney says. “If you look at the S&P over a 20-year period, October had the second highest median return of any month — 1.76%.”

By Mitch Tuchman; Forbes ~ Oct 09, 2014

We have a lot of storied images of retirement. Lazy days playing golf or sunning, plenty of time to read or take walks. Probably the last thing we imagine ourselves doing is sweating an investment portfolio.

Yet some retirement savers do just that. After decades of worrying about saving and investing enough to retire, they fall into a routine of daily checking. Lacking work to absorb the hours, they instead become part-time market watchers and, most dangerously, begin to trade their accounts.

Watching over your money is no sin. But getting emotional about it and making rash choices is truly a dangerous route. Too often, retirees become targets for scams, either online or through church groups and social venues, a type of operation known as an “affinity” scam.

By Elizabeth O’Brien; MarketWatch ~ Oct 09, 2014

Prices for Medicare Part B coverage won’t rise for 2015, according to an announcement today by Sylvia Burwell, secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services.

Next year will mark the third year in a row that Part B premiums will cost $104.90 a month for most beneficiaries, and the annual deductible will stay at $147. Part B covers doctors visits, outpatient hospital services, durable medical equipment and other items. The program charges certain higher-income beneficiaries, which represent less than 5% of the Medicare population, more than the standard Part B premium; these income-adjusted rates will also remain flat for 2015.

By Alicia H. Munnell; MarketWatch ~ Oct 08, 2014

At a recent OECD meeting on public pensions, I was asked to consider whether public pension implicit debt is a useful measure to assess fiscal sustainability. Apparently with the endorsement of the European System of Accounts 2010, European countries beginning this year will have to report data on their public pension entitlements. This new requirement forced me to think about the extent to which such disclosure would be relevant and helpful in the U.S.

At the state and local level, it seems like adding unfunded public-pension promises to outstanding general-obligation debt to evaluate a state’s fiscal well-being does make sense. State governments provide defined benefit plans for their public-sector workers, and the accrued benefit promises are a legal commitment. They are protected by law, and states cannot go bankrupt, so they generally have no mechanism for escaping these payments.

By Lacie Glover, NerdWallet; Everyday Health ~ Oct 08, 2014

It’s almost that time of year again: health insurance exchange season, when people all over the country go online to choose a health insurance policy from an overwhelming number of options.

Whether you’re considering a plan that’s eligible for a health savings account (HSA) or already have an HSA, it’s likely you’re not aware of all the useful and unusual things it can cover.

First things first: What is an HSA? An HSA is similar to a regular savings account, but is tax free as long as all funds are used for medical expenses.

By Diane Bartz & Alina Selyukh; Reuters ~ Oct 08, 2014

WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (Reuters) – AT&T Inc will pay $105 million to settle allegations that it put unauthorized charges on customers’ cell phone bills, a practice known as cramming, federal regulators said on Wednesday.

The settlement comes after years of complaints from cell phone owners about being charged for services like daily horoscopes or trivia that they never requested. It was negotiated by the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission and all state attorneys general.

AT&T will pay $80 million to refund customers while $20 million is earmarked for penalties and fees to all 50 U.S. states and Washington, said the FTC. The FCC also fined the company $5 million.

By Kathleen L. Brown; Forbes ~ Oct 07, 2014

As we approach the one-year anniversary of Obamacare’s launch, the pundits continue to argue over whether or not it’s working. Meanwhile, something much bigger is happening. Whatever you think of its merits, the Affordable Care Act is re-shaping American healthcare, radically altering business models that hadn’t changed in decades.

Ever since before the U.S. Supreme Court declared the ACA constitutional two years ago, health care executives have been busy recreating their businesses as if their livelihoods depend on it — which they do. They know that very soon they will be compensated not just for filling hospital beds, but for keeping patients out of the hospital altogether. That shifting of incentives, from patient volumes to patient outcomes, is already having profound effects on our health system — and presenting intriguing opportunities for investors.

By Donna Fuscaldo; Fox Business ~ Oct 07, 2014

Healthcare expenses can cost an insured couple $220,000 in retirement, yet many people aren’t planning for any of those costs let alone a fraction of it.

According to a recent Merrill Lynch Retirement study, only 15% of pre-retirees said they have attempted to estimate how much money they would need for healthcare and long-term care in retirement.

The reasons people aren’t planning for healthcare costs vary. For some they don’t think they will get sick as they age while for others they wrongly think Medicare will cover everything. Either way lots of people are going into retirement with inadequate reserves to cover any healthcare issues that will undoubtedly come up.