8 annual annuity return

Susan Tompor Detroit Free Press Published 11:00 p.m. UTC Aug 30, 2018 As we mourn the high-profile deaths of soul icon Aretha Franklin and Arizona Sen. John McCain this week, it's not a bad time to put a spotlight on dreaded topics, such as end-of-life paperwork.   No matter how loved or how respected, eventually, people die. And those who are left behind must gather the pieces.  So where exactly is that life insurance policy?  You might think no one could lose track of a life insurance policy. Think again. At one point, it was estimated that at least $10 billion in life insurance policies nationwide had gone unclaimed or unpaid. My own family ran up against this one when my father died back in 2001.  Many families don't know if someone took out a life insurance policy. Or they don't know what company holds the policy. People may move around from one state to another and lose the paperwork. Many times, frankly, people don't like to talk … [Read more...] about Finding a lost life insurance policy: 3 ways to get started

Susan Tompor Detroit Free Press Published 10:00 p.m. UTC Jul 18, 2018 Five years after Detroit's bankruptcy filing, retiree Barbara Yokom feels the financial hit each time she pays about $940 a month for health coverage. It's a bill that Yokom, 64, receives now only because the city ran into deep financial troubles and filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy relief July 18, 2013. Her health-care insurance was covered when she retired in April 2012 after 38 years of working as a library technical assistant at the main branch of the Detroit Public Library. Retirees who are too young for Medicare, which covers those 65 and older, had to find health insurance elsewhere, and many paid a fairly steep price as they sought coverage under the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.  Health care wasn't the only hit, of course. Yokom saw a cut to her pension. She also was part of a group that had to hand over extra money that was part of a savings plan. She ended up turning … [Read more...] about Even 5 years later, retirees feel the effects of Detroit’s bankruptcy

Nathan Bomey and John Gallagher Detroit Free Press Published 5:43 p.m. UTC May 24, 2018 Originally published Sept. 15, 2013 Detroit is broke, but it didn’t have to be. An in-depth Free Press analysis of the city’s financial history back to the 1950s shows that its elected officials and others charged with managing its finances repeatedly failed — or refused — to make the tough economic and political decisions that might have saved the city from financial ruin. Instead, amid a huge exodus of residents, plummeting tax revenues and skyrocketing home abandonment, Detroit’s leaders engaged in a billion-dollar borrowing binge, created new taxes and failed to cut expenses when they needed to. Simultaneously, they gifted workers and retirees with generous bonuses. And under pressure from unions and, sometimes, arbitrators, they failed to cut health care benefits — saddling the city with staggering costs that today threaten the safety and quality of … [Read more...] about How Detroit went broke: The answers may surprise you — and don’t blame Coleman Young