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Retire Here, Not There: Tennessee
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10 Things Hollywood Won't Tell You
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PLAYWhy Facebook Stock Won't Soar Like G....
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The 5 Biggest Muni Defaults Ever
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Cut Travel Costs With Free Gas
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7 Ways to Cut Moving Costs
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Grad School: Higher Degrees of Debt
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Choosing the Best Health Plan
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How-To Guides
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How to Choose a Health Care Plan
The right health insurance plan can both save you thousands and keep you from having to skimp on care
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How to Buy a Life Insurance Policy
Many people are so confused about buying life insurance that they never buy it at all.
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How to File an Insurance Claim
There’s nothing more deflating than having an insurance claim denied or not covered to the extent you had assumed.
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How to Manage Important Documents
Given how scattered our digital lives have become, it’s important to have a good system for storing and managing your important papers.
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How to fight a bogus bill
Many Medical Bills Contain Errors That Could End Up Wrecking Your Credit Score. Here's What You Need to Know
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Medicaid Gets a Rehab
WSJ.comIf you're having trouble affording medical care, Medicaid might be an option you haven't considered. "A lot of people have perceptions about who is eligible and who is not that aren't quite right," says Cindy Mann, director of the federal ...
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Should You Purchase Long-Term-Care Insurance?
WSJ.comLong-term-care insurance. It's a subject most people don't want to think about—but many people know they need to. At first blush, policies that help pay the costs of extended nursing care make perfect sense. Bills add up quickly when you can ...
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Medicare Covers In-Home Care
WSJ.comMany people assume that Medicare provides little to no continuing coverage for in-home health care. In fact, the program covers up to 35 hours a week of nursing and home health care for those who meet specific requirements.
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Don't Grow Old Without It
WSJ.comLong-term-care insurance: It can make the difference between living out your life the way you want and becoming a burden to your family or a ward of the state.
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Playing for Wellness
WSJ.comYour health insurer wants to play games with you—and they might involve actual prizes. As insurers try to get members to take better care of themselves, they are turning to tactics from the world of digital gaming. They're using methods ...
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Long-Term Care: What Now?
WSJ.comShopping for long-term-care insurance? You should expect higher costs and a tougher approval process as a growing number of household-name insurers quit selling the policies.
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Prudential, Following Rivals, Pares Long-Term-Care Offerings
WSJ.comPrudential Financial Inc. became the latest big insurer to cut back on sales of long-term-care insurance, a type of policy that helps consumers pay for nursing-home bills and other costly expenses but is one of the toughest business lines ...
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Medicaid Gets Harder to Tap
WSJ.comFamilies hoping to use Medicaid to help pay for long-term care are facing tougher restrictions—though some states are getting stricter than others.
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Check Hospital Tab
WSJ.comSome Medicare beneficiaries who visit the hospital are getting surprised by big bills because their stays weren't considered inpatient services.
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There's Time to Swap Plans
WSJ.comMedicare's open-enrollment period is over, but there are a handful of plans run by private insurers that you can still enroll in for 2012 coverage.
Ugly Acronym, Handsome Stock Returns; Hough: Why investors should learn to love the "EV/Ebitda" ratio.
SmartMoney.comMany investors use the price-to-earnings ratio to tell whether stocks are cheap. It shows how many dollars a buyer must pay for each $1 in yearly earnings the company produces. There are other such measures that show how much investors must ...
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When Insurance Fails; Cheaper Policies Bought in the Workplace Can Have Drawbacks
WSJ.comMany people assume insurance offered by their employer is a better deal than they can get on their own. But while the premiums can be lower, such policies have drawbacks.
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Preventive Tests Covered by Medicare
WSJ.comMedicare is getting into the screening business in a bigger way. And that's good news for beneficiaries. Thanks to the health-care law, Medicare now covers the full cost of an expanding list of preventive services. On Jan. 1, the ...
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Fundamentals of Investing; Are Bank Stocks 'Responsible'? The Occupy movement would shun the biggest financial institutions. Few funds do that.
WSJ.comMention "socially responsible investing" and most people think of a stock-picking strategy that involves abstinence—that is, avoiding industries or companies whose ethical, environmental or governance practices fall short of ...
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Watch for Billing Snafus
WSJ.comOn Jan. 1, insurers, doctors' offices and hospitals are supposed to start using a new format for certain digital communications, including claims filed for payment.
3 Cheap Stocks Hitting 2011 Highs; Hough: Not all rising shares are pricey. These sell for less than the market based on earnings.
SmartMoney.comU.S. stocks have rallied fiercely since Thanksgiving, but the S&P 500 index is still 8% below its 2011 high, reached in May. The stocks listed below have done better. On Monday, they all hit new highs for the year.
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Medicare: What's Free
WSJ.comThis year, Medicare started offering several preventive benefits for free. But beneficiaries need to know what's really covered -- and what's not on the list and might generate unexpected out-of-pocket costs.
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What's New For Medicare
WSJ.comOpen enrollment for Medicare is coming earlier -- and ending earlier -- this year. Medicare recipients can make changes to their coverage options for 2012 between Oct. 15 and Dec. 7.
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Drilling Away at Dental Costs
WSJ.comIf you lack dental insurance or have a skimpy policy, your options for scoring a better dentistry deal are growing. More insurers are offering individual dental coverage. Others, such as Aetna and Cigna, are stepping up their efforts to help ...
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A Merger Wave Hitting Health Care
WSJ.comIf you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Big managed health-care companies are starting to take that idea to heart. These insurers, which try to coordinate patients' medical providers to keep a lid on costs, are facing the double ...
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Bargain Hunters, Beware
WSJ.comSelloffs are a great time to look for bargains—with one caveat: They make all stocks look cheap, increasing the risk that your bargain is really an overpriced bust. That's even more true after Monday's market rout.
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Out-of-Network Rates
WSJ.comConsumers know they will have to pay out of their pockets if they use medical providers outside their insurers' networks. But because of a little-noticed change, they may find themselves with even bigger bills than they expect.
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Choosing the Right Health-Care Plan; It's Benefit-Election Time for 2012, and—Surprise!—Employers Are Passing Along More Costs; Dealing With a 'Health Coach'
WSJ.comIf you were hoping that your health-plan costs would stay the same next year, you're probably going to be disappointed. It's open-enrollment season, that time of year when most companies roll out changes to their benefit offerings. ...
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Medicare: America's Athens Syndrome
Barrons.comNewt Gingrich was right before he was wrong. His reading of the American public's attitudes about saving "Medicare as we have known it" unfortunately was correct. "Too big a jump," was his verdict—not because he ...
By Kelly Greene; Now: Medicare Open Enrollment; The window is open to make changes to Medicare coverage. What you need to know.
SmartMoney.comOn your mark, get set, go. This year's Medicare open-enrollment period—when the 47 million Americans who use the program can make changes in their 2012 coverage—starts this weekend and runs through Dec. 7. Last year, it began on Nov. 15 ...
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Medicare Enrollment
WSJ.comIf you're a Medicare beneficiary, it's already time to start shopping around. The federal program's annual open-enrollment period kicks off Oct. 15 -- earlier than last year -- and the new offerings of Part D prescription-drug ...
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Overlapping Health Plans Are Double Trouble for Taxpayers
WSJ.comAs the U.S. wrestles with rising health expenses, one group of patients stands out for government-paid care that is both ultra-costly and plagued with problems.
Retirement: It's Not All a Crapshoot; Fretting about Medicare and Social Security? Here are some aspects of your retirement you can control.
SmartMoney.comWant to hear some good news about retirement? You have more control over your future than you think. So much about retirement planning today is marked by doubt: We don't know whether our savings will see us through old age. We ...
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Got Medicare? You may be paying too much; Older Americans often don’t pick the Advantage plan that’s best for them
MarketWatchDECATUR, Ga. (MarketWatch) — Medicare Advantage plans can save older Americans money, but difficulty choosing among the many available plans often prevents them from realizing substantial cost-savings.
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Get Informed on Prices
WSJ.comInsured consumers are paying a growing share of their health-care costs out of pocket. But it has been hard for them to shop for deals and compare prices on medical services.
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Health Law Puts Governors in Pickle
WSJ.comTexas Gov. Rick Perry, along with a slew of other Republican governors, faces a dilemma: Do they apply for millions of dollars in federal grants by September to begin establishing state-run health insurance exchanges, or let the deadline ...
10 Things Your Parents Won't Tell You; Good news: Mom and Dad are loaded. Bad news: They love your brother best.
SmartMoney.com1) "We're rich." Andrew and Warren K. Johnson knew their dad Warren W. collected coins, but it wasn't until after he passed away in April that they discovered the full scope of his hobby. Stored away in boxes on shelves ...
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Driving a Bargain For Long-Term Care
WSJ.comWhen you buy a car or a house, you expect to haggle for the best price. It turns out that you can do the same thing when you shop for long-term care.
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The Market at Midyear: What's Coming Next?
WSJ.comIt's been a first half of upheaval, surprises and disappointing returns for investors. Worries about how Greece and several other European nations will handle their debt problems, and recent signs of weakness for the U.S. economy, have ...
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Don't Fall Into a 'Value Trap'
WSJ.comIs that cheap stock you have your eye on really a "value trap"? After a 9.3% drop in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index this month, most stocks are looking cheap—but some seeming bargains may have more room to fall. ...
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Paying Grandkids' Tuition; Sorting out 529 plans, Social Security and ex-spouses, and Medicare moves
WSJ.comI established a 529 plan for my daughter for her master's degree, but she did not go for graduate study. She had twins, and she opened 529 accounts for them. Should I transfer the money to their 529s or keep ownership? I am 67, and the ...
Medicare Cuts Could Up Nursing Home Costs; Recent cuts point to higher prices, fewer services for residents.
SmartMoney.comNursing home residents may soon face higher costs and reduced services, as planned Medicare spending cuts take effect this fall. IIt's an indirect -- and, some say, unanticipated -- consequence of more routine cost-cutting for the ...
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What Will It Take for Companies to Unlock Their Cash Hoards?
WSJ.comThere is a cash crisis in corporate America—although it comes not from a shortage of the stuff, but from a surplus. In the first quarter, the five companies with the greatest cash hoards—Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Google, Apple and Johnson ...
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When Benefits Bite Back
WSJ.comThe Supreme Court is set to answer a question with huge implications for workers: Are employers' promises of benefits such as pension payments and health-care insurance worth the paper they are written on?
Health Reform's Long-Term Care Option
SmartMoney.comTucked into the health reform legislation that passed in March is a national voluntary insurance program for purchasing long-term-care services.
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Polling Entitlement Reform; A CBS News/New York Times poll reports that a plurality of Americans approve of Rep. Paul Ryan's Medicare reforms.
WSJ.comThe CBS News/New York Times poll is thought to skew a little to the left due to its tendency to oversample Democrats. That's why Washington insiders sat up and took notice on Good Friday, when the poll reported that a plurality of ...
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Picking a Health Plan
WSJ.comChoosing a health-insurance plan for the first time can be daunting. Many twentysomethings with few or no health issues may be inclined to take the choice lightly. But as the annual open-enrollment period for most employers approaches, ...
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Employees Win New Benefit Protections
WSJ.comA new Supreme Court ruling makes some of the most significant changes in laws governing employee benefits in nearly two decades, though groups representing employers and employees disagree over who really comes out the winner.
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Helping Kids Fend for Themselves; Between rent, cellphones and health insurance, families are finding it harder than ever to stop supporting their adult children financially.
WSJ.comFor years, Pat Bearce had a message for his daughter Andrea: After her college graduation, she would be on her own financially. It has been three years, and she isn't quite there yet.
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Medicare, Social Security finance outlook worsens
MarketWatchWASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The outlook for Medicare’s finances has worsened on a slow economic recovery and higher costs, while the outlook for Social Security has also declined, trustees for the programs said Friday.
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Insurance Relief for Early Retirees
WSJ.comEarly retirement, a dream of many, can turn into a nightmare for those unable to secure health insurance. Now, two new federal programs may provide some relief.
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Medicare As We've Known It Isn't an Option; Paul Ryan's premium support plan is preferable to Obama's rationing panel.
WSJ.comThe Democratic Party is urging Americans to choose Medicare as we've always known it rather than a new plan by Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) that would enroll seniors in private health insurance beginning in 2022. This choice is a hoax: ...
Coventry Heads for the Recovery Room
SmartMoney.comSHARES OF MANAGED-CARE COMPANIES have fallen 18% in the past three months, about 50% more than the Standard & Poor's 500, amid uncertainty surrounding the implementation of health-care reform. The selloff could spell opportunity ...
Medicare Won't Cover All Drug Costs; How to limit spending on prescription drugs and set aside more money for future health costs.
SmartMoney.comLooking to lower what promise to be some hefty health care expenses in later life? Focus on prescription drugs. You may already have seen some of the estimates about just how big your out-of-pocket medical bills could be after you leave the ...
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ObamaCare Howlers; The Obama administration claims repealing a 2014 entitlement will cause Americans to lose health insurance today.
WSJ.comThe ObamaCare repeal debate began on the House floor yesterday, generally with more heat than light, but the most over-the-top claim came from the Obama administration: To wit, if the new entitlement that doesn't start until 2014 is ...
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Hospitals work to reduce emergency-room wait times
MarketWatchAn earlier version of this story gave the wrong first name for Dr. James A. Duncan. The story has been corrected. DECATUR, Ga. (MarketWatch) — The time it takes to get treated at emergency rooms in the U.S. is on the rise, but hospitals are ...
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MetLife Steps Back From Long-Term Care Market
WSJ.comMetLife Inc. said it will halt sales of long-term-care insurance, a type of coverage that repeatedly has flummoxed insurers and forced some to pay significantly more in claims than they expected.
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The Latest Long-Term-Care Snafu
WSJ.comSome families with long-term-care insurance policies—under fire recently for steep premium increases—are encountering claims denials that can prevent or delay the collection of benefits. But there are ways policyholders can avoid such ...
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Aetna Finds Flaw in Rate Request
WSJ.com(Please see Corrections & Amplifications item below.) Aetna Inc. withdrew its request to raise prices for individual policyholders in California by an average of 19% after discovering a flaw in its rate filing with state regulators, ...
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What's Happening To Your Health Plan?
WSJ.comIt's open-enrollment season, the annual rite of fall when health-care costs hit home for most people. Companies typically allow employees to elect their benefit packages once a year. Making this season especially tricky: the health-care ...
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Health Costs; Claims Disputes Grow
WSJ.comIn an effort to contain costs, many insurers are holding the line on reimbursements to hospitals and other care providers, and paring down the number of providers in their networks.
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No Need to Skip Shots
WSJ.comThe number of immunizations children need before starting school has soared in recent years, and so have the costs. Many of the vaccinations are covered by health-insurance policies typically available from large employers, according to ...
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WellPoint Scales Back Rate Increases Sought in California
WSJ.comHealth insurer WellPoint Inc. is backing off its plan to increase prices by as much as 39% for individuals in California, instead seeking rates for this year that it said would result in a $100 million loss for the company there.
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Bernanke to Hold First News Conference in Two Years
WSJ.comTHIS WEEK Economic Talk: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to hold a news conference Thursday, his first in two years. Giving Deadline: Monday is the last day for people age 70½ and older to make charitable contributions for ...
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Health Savings Accounts: A Tax-Savvy Way to Get Coverage
WSJ.comPeople making health-care decisions for 2011 should consider two lesser-known options, say tax experts: health savings accounts, or HSAs, and health reimbursement arrangements, or HRAs.
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Help for Long-Term Care Costs
WSJ.comWorkers are getting a new long-term-care insurance option. But with many details yet to be worked out, it may be too soon to tell how much impact it will have.
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New Medigap Options
WSJ.comConsumers shopping for Medicare supplement insurance, or Medigap coverage, have some new options. On June 1, insurers started selling two new lower-cost Medigap policies and stopped offering four others. At the same time, the federal ...
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Long-Term-Care Premiums Soar
WSJ.comPeople with long-term-care insurance polices are getting hit with a new round of steep premium increases. But there are options that can help both existing policyholders and new buyers cut some of the costs.
Long-Term-Care Premiums Soar
SmartMoney.comPeople with long-term-care insurance polices are getting hit with a new round of steep premium increases. But there are options that can help both existing policyholders and new buyers cut some of the costs.
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Health Savings Sought in N.J. With New Plans
WSJ.comThe family doctor could soon make a comeback in New Jersey. Health insurance companies in the state, trying to cut costs and keep up with changes in the health-care industry, are slowly starting to change the way primary care doctors are ...
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Doctors, the unemployed squeezed by Congress's inaction; Doctors' Medicare payments cut; some jobless workers' benefits run out
MarketWatchWASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- About 1.2 million jobless workers are expected to lose unemployment benefits this month, and doctors are starting to see a 21% cut in Medicare payments Friday, following the Senate's inability to move ...
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Long-Term Care: New Fixes; Insurers Are Rolling Out Alternatives to Pricey Coverage; Weighing Pros, Cons
WSJ.comAs long-term-care insurance grows increasingly expensive and harder to get, insurers are stepping into the breach with new life policies and annuities that pay out long-term-care benefits during one's lifetime. But the new products may ...
More Costs, Fewer Benefits Likely for Medicare Seniors; The House Republican plan for overhauling Medicare would fundamentally change how the federal government pays for health care, starting a decade from now, likely resulting in higher out-of-pocket costs and greater limits to coverage for many Americans.
SmartMoney.comThe House Republican plan for overhauling Medicare would fundamentally change how the federal government pays for health care, starting a decade from now, likely resulting in higher out-of-pocket costs and greater limits to coverage for ...
What the Medicare Debate Means to You; Whatever happens, health care for seniors isn't getting any cheaper.
SmartMoney.comThe battle over Medicare has only just begun, with the Republicans' proposed cuts announced a week ago, and President Barack Obama unveiling an alternative slate yesterday. But whichever way the Medicare debate goes, there's no ...
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Tools to Check Drug Costs
WSJ.com(See Clarification below .) Online drug-comparison tools can help consumers research a drug's cost, including less-expensive alternatives, and any potential side effects.
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Four Medicare Misconceptions
WSJ.comThe federal Medicare program is popular among older Americans, but that doesn't mean it's easy to navigate. Medicare is a complex web of health benefits serving more than 46 million seniors and disabled people.
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How to Pay for Good Health
Barrons.comTHE GOOD NEWS about the golden years is that they've never been longer, thanks to the steady march of medical advances. The bad news is that the medicine will cost you plenty. Your out-of-pocket costs for general health care could ...
5 Tax Rip-Offs; From Social Security benefits being taxed to the AMT, here are unfair tax rules that should be repealed.
SmartMoney.comThe ever-growing federal budget deficit and ongoing recession finally may force Congress to initiate meaningful federal income tax reform. Here are five tax rip-offs that should be fixed.
Retire Abroad: Golden Years Go Global; Legions of retirees are testing a cheaper life overseas. We try out Panama.
SmartMoney.comFor Robyn and John Cole, having one retiree in the family was workable. As long as Robyn, 56, kept her job as a golf course marketing director, they could live comfortably in their native Orange County, Calif.; enjoy company health ...
The Medicare Cavalry
SmartMoney.comMy wife and I recently had our house painted. I might have been able to do the job myself; I even thought about it for a few crazy moments. In the end, though, given the time involved and the risks (I once took a nasty fall from a ladder), ...
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Governors Scramble to Rein In Medicaid
WSJ.comMore than half the states want permission to remove hundreds of thousands of people from the Medicaid insurance program, a move that would represent a rare cut to a national social program.
10 Things Health Insurers Won't Tell You
SmartMoney.com1. "Your deductible is only the beginning." Ellen Stephenson, 57, was fully insured when she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer eight years ago, so she never imagined she would be on the hook for $100,000 in ...
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'Home' for Patients
WSJ.comAnother strategy that insurers hope will cut costs and improve care involves so-called medical homes. The term "medical home" is misleading, as it refers not to a place but a practice—one in which doctors coordinate primary care ...
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Law Prompts Some Health Plans To Cut Mental-Health Benefits
WSJ.comMembers of the Screen Actors Guild recently read in their health plan's newsletter that, beginning in January, almost 12,000 of its participants will lose access to treatment for mental-health and substance-abuse issues.
Long-Term Care Insurance Confusion
SmartMoney.comIt's a product many consumers don't even want to think about, and who can blame them? Long-term-care insurance isn't exactly designed for the best of times: Payments kick in to cover nursing home and other costs if the ...
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How to Rollover a 401(k)
To get a clearer picture of your money, consolidating old workplace accounts to an IRA or your next employer plan makes a lot of sense.
SmartMoney Magazine
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The Stealth Wedding: Saying 'I do' in a Public Space
A new wedding trend trades "walking down the aisle" for a walk on the wild side.
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The Reignited Tech Sector
Technology stocks have rebounded and are once again the darling of the market. Can the resurgence last?
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![[sm0612roi]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/PF-AC573_sm0612_C_20120515125902.jpg)
Why a 'Balanced' Portfolio May Not Work
Arends: That 60/40 portfolio of stocks and bonds your adviser is pushing might not work.
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The Corner Office
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General Dynamics Changes Tactics
The defense contractor faces a tough enemy: potential cuts in defense.