Latest news with #Failla
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Most Americans get these retirement questions wrong. Can you do any better?
Most Americans intend to retire eventually, but few have the knowledge to address the major challenges that often trouble retirees, according to a new survey from the TIAA Institute and the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center. The study, which surveyed more than 3,300 Americans, found that the average U.S. adult couldn't answer a majority of retirement-related questions. Survey respondents were asked six questions in total, ranging in topic from long-term care needs to lifetime average, respondents answered just 2.2 questions correctly, or 37% of the questions. Fifteen percent of adults surveyed couldn't answer a single question correctly. READ MORE: For Gen Z, retirement feels out of reach. Can advisors bring it closer? Interested in seeing the survey for yourself? Take the quiz below to see how you stack up against the average American. Financial advisors say that lack of knowledge can create problems for Americans looking to retire. But it also presents an opportunity for planners in the wealth management industry. "What I think a planner should do is really focus on education and making sure the client understands things," said Charles "Chuck" Failla, the founder of Sovereign Financial Group in Stamford, Connecticut. "My job is not to say 'Here is the absolute right thing to do,' because it's rarely that clear. But instead, it's to say, 'Here's option A and B, or maybe C, and here's the pros and cons of each one of those.' And if I do my job correctly, then the client, even without decades of financial experience like I have, should be able to make the decision. … And that only comes with education." READ MORE: Ask an Advisor: Is my Social Security strategy outdated? Educating a client on the different options available to them is a crucial part of the job for Failla, but he said that he also doesn't expect clients to become experts themselves. "I could become an expert on drywall, but I have no interest in that, so I hire people. Like, that's not what I want to learn," Failla said. "It's all learnable stuff. But you have to understand, if someone's coming to your office, by definition, they're not … as financially literate as you are." Even for people who would prefer to pay someone to handle their financial planning, Failla said that educating a client on the "why" behind certain decisions and behaviors is crucial to ensuring they stick to the plan. "What type of discipline will that client have if they don't understand why they're doing it, right?" he said. "Education kind of helps them do the right thing, which is, stay the course." In the survey, roughly three-quarters of respondents couldn't correctly answer questions about long-term care costs and Medicare coverage. Those numbers aren't promising, but they might be improving among older Americans. "I think we're seeing a much higher acceptance level of people understanding that they're going to need care. And like anything, it's driven by experience," said Byrke Sestok, a financial advisor at MONECO Advisors in Fairfield, Connecticut. "More and more people that are in their 40s, 50s, 60s, have now been in the position of having to care for an elderly person in their family … and now they're going, 'Well, I know that happened with Mom and Dad, so it's definitely going to happen to me, right?' So, the denial I find is leaving as our generations get older because people are living it." Still, clients can understand the importance of preparing for something like long-term care needs, but that doesn't mean they're equipped with the information to actually do it. That's where advisors come in, Failla said. "I give them the options, and this is an A, B or C option. So, pay for it yourself, pay for it with insurance or let the state pay for it on Medicaid," he said. "And there's, of course, pros and cons to each one of those, right? And we walk them through that to the point they can make their own decision." READ MORE: The 10 cities where retirees receive the highest income Navigating those options can become complicated, especially for clients who aren't in an ideal financial situation, Sestok said. "If you are not in, like, the total green zone, and you're in that yellow zone where you're probably going to have long-term care costs, but you're probably not going to be able to foot the whole bill, then I think there's a real and honest conversation about, 'How do we implement long-term care insurance within your financial situation?'" he said. "It's always better to have some insurance than zero." Clients can certainly benefit by learning more about the options available to them when it comes to something like long-term care, but few people are equipped to effectively make those related financial decisions on their own, Sestok said. "Retirement in general and long-term care specifically, I don't think it's a topic that people should try to assess themselves, unless they really have taken the time to learn a lot about the topic," he said. "They should consult a professional."
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Most Americans get these retirement questions wrong. Can you do any better?
Most Americans intend to retire eventually, but few have the knowledge to address the major challenges that often trouble retirees, according to a new survey from the TIAA Institute and the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center. The study, which surveyed more than 3,300 Americans, found that the average U.S. adult couldn't answer a majority of retirement-related questions. Survey respondents were asked six questions in total, ranging in topic from long-term care needs to lifetime average, respondents answered just 2.2 questions correctly, or 37% of the questions. Fifteen percent of adults surveyed couldn't answer a single question correctly. READ MORE: For Gen Z, retirement feels out of reach. Can advisors bring it closer? Interested in seeing the survey for yourself? Take the quiz below to see how you stack up against the average American. Financial advisors say that lack of knowledge can create problems for Americans looking to retire. But it also presents an opportunity for planners in the wealth management industry. "What I think a planner should do is really focus on education and making sure the client understands things," said Charles "Chuck" Failla, the founder of Sovereign Financial Group in Stamford, Connecticut. "My job is not to say 'Here is the absolute right thing to do,' because it's rarely that clear. But instead, it's to say, 'Here's option A and B, or maybe C, and here's the pros and cons of each one of those.' And if I do my job correctly, then the client, even without decades of financial experience like I have, should be able to make the decision. … And that only comes with education." READ MORE: Ask an Advisor: Is my Social Security strategy outdated? Educating a client on the different options available to them is a crucial part of the job for Failla, but he said that he also doesn't expect clients to become experts themselves. "I could become an expert on drywall, but I have no interest in that, so I hire people. Like, that's not what I want to learn," Failla said. "It's all learnable stuff. But you have to understand, if someone's coming to your office, by definition, they're not … as financially literate as you are." Even for people who would prefer to pay someone to handle their financial planning, Failla said that educating a client on the "why" behind certain decisions and behaviors is crucial to ensuring they stick to the plan. "What type of discipline will that client have if they don't understand why they're doing it, right?" he said. "Education kind of helps them do the right thing, which is, stay the course." In the survey, roughly three-quarters of respondents couldn't correctly answer questions about long-term care costs and Medicare coverage. Those numbers aren't promising, but they might be improving among older Americans. "I think we're seeing a much higher acceptance level of people understanding that they're going to need care. And like anything, it's driven by experience," said Byrke Sestok, a financial advisor at MONECO Advisors in Fairfield, Connecticut. "More and more people that are in their 40s, 50s, 60s, have now been in the position of having to care for an elderly person in their family … and now they're going, 'Well, I know that happened with Mom and Dad, so it's definitely going to happen to me, right?' So, the denial I find is leaving as our generations get older because people are living it." Still, clients can understand the importance of preparing for something like long-term care needs, but that doesn't mean they're equipped with the information to actually do it. That's where advisors come in, Failla said. "I give them the options, and this is an A, B or C option. So, pay for it yourself, pay for it with insurance or let the state pay for it on Medicaid," he said. "And there's, of course, pros and cons to each one of those, right? And we walk them through that to the point they can make their own decision." READ MORE: The 10 cities where retirees receive the highest income Navigating those options can become complicated, especially for clients who aren't in an ideal financial situation, Sestok said. "If you are not in, like, the total green zone, and you're in that yellow zone where you're probably going to have long-term care costs, but you're probably not going to be able to foot the whole bill, then I think there's a real and honest conversation about, 'How do we implement long-term care insurance within your financial situation?'" he said. "It's always better to have some insurance than zero." Clients can certainly benefit by learning more about the options available to them when it comes to something like long-term care, but few people are equipped to effectively make those related financial decisions on their own, Sestok said. "Retirement in general and long-term care specifically, I don't think it's a topic that people should try to assess themselves, unless they really have taken the time to learn a lot about the topic," he said. "They should consult a professional."
Fox News
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Malice at the… Mariachi?!? Jimmy Failla Shares HILARIOUS Fight Involving His Taxi and a Trumpet
Jimmy Failla, host of Fox Across America and Fox News Saturday Night , joined The Guy Benson Show today with an unforgettable Cinco de Mayo story, where he recounted the time he had to break up a fight involving a mariachi band… while they were riding in his cab. Failla discussed his legacy as a cab driver and the mixed reaction he would often get from his cab riders, and He and Guy also reacted to the bizarre media frenzy around Bill Belichick's new relationship and the eyebrow-raising age gap. Listen to the full interview below! Listen to the full interview below: Listen to the full podcast below:
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Second COVID nursing home death's case against Cuomo tossed
A federal judge has dismissed a class-action lawsuit accusing former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his administration of being responsible for the deaths of their loved ones in nursing homes during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. U.S. District Court Judge Katherine Polk Failla wrote on Monday that although what happened was heartbreaking, the families' legal arguments didn't meet the standard for suing in federal court. Cuomo, who was governor at the time, issued a March 2020 directive that initially barred nursing homes from refusing to accept patients who had tested positive for COVID-19. The directive was aimed at freeing up beds for overwhelmed hospitals. Nyc Mayor Says Cuomo Should 'Answer' Covid Nursing Home Allegations More than 9,000 recovering coronavirus patients were released from hospitals into nursing homes under the directive, which was later rescinded amid speculation that it had accelerated outbreaks. The eight plaintiffs in the case argued that their loved ones contracted COVID-19 in nursing homes and died as a result of the directive\. They accused Cuomo and his administration of being civilly liable for their deaths as well as being liable for failing to accurately report the number of nursing home deaths in New York state that resulted from the virus. Read On The Fox News App Failla, an Obama appointee, said the government wasn't directly responsible for the deaths, even if its policies had tragic consequences. "The Court's sympathy for Plaintiffs and their loved ones simply cannot supplant governing law," Failla wrote. She wrote that the plaintiffs' arguments did not meet the high bar of "shocking the public conscience" which is needed for this type of lawsuit and that officials acted during a fast-moving crisis. The family members accused the defendants of violating the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. They also brought state law claims including wrongful death and gross negligence under New York law. Failla dismissed most of the claims on jurisdictional grounds and without prejudice. "The Court does not question the sincerity or depth of Plaintiffs' loss," she wrote. "But the law, as it currently stands, does not permit recovery against the Defendants for the harms alleged." She also emphasized that the case was dismissed based on legal standards, not a denial that harm occurred. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo Launches Nyc Mayoral Bid Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi welcomed the ruling and noted it was the second such case to be tossed on similar grounds. "Anytime this issue gets taken out of the press or the political arena and into the courts, the truth wins," Azzopardi said. Azzopardi said the case follows three separate probes by the Justice Department as well as the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. "Once again, justice has prevailed." Cuomo, who is currently running for New York City Mayor, has previously said that the directive was based on Center for Diseases and Prevention (CDC) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) guidance at the time. A report released in March 2022 by the New York state comptroller found Cuomo's Health Department "was not transparent in its reporting of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes" and it "understated the number of deaths at nursing homes by as much as 50%" during some points of the pandemic. The former governor was grilled by Republican lawmakers last year about following which House Republicans subsequently recommended the Justice Department pursue criminal charges against him. They accused him of intentionally lying to Congress during the House Oversight Committee's investigation into the excessive number of nursing home fatalities. A state report later commissioned by Cuomo's successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, found that while the policies on how nursing homes should handle COVID-19 were "rushed and uncoordinated," they were based on the best understanding of the science at the time. Cuomo ultimately resigned from office in August 2021 following sexual harassment allegations, which he denies. Fox News' Greg Norman Bradford Betz, Maria Paronich and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Original article source: Second COVID nursing home death's case against Cuomo tossed
Fox News
01-04-2025
- Health
- Fox News
Second COVID nursing home death's case against Cuomo tossed
A federal judge has dismissed a class-action lawsuit accusing former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his administration of being responsible for the deaths of their loved ones in nursing homes during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. U.S. District Court Judge Katherine Polk Failla wrote on Monday that although what happened was heartbreaking, the families' legal arguments didn't meet the standard for suing in federal court. Cuomo, who was governor at the time, issued a March 2020 directive that initially barred nursing homes from refusing to accept patients who had tested positive for COVID-19. The directive was aimed at freeing up beds for overwhelmed hospitals. More than 9,000 recovering coronavirus patients were released from hospitals into nursing homes under the directive, which was later rescinded amid speculation that it had accelerated outbreaks. The eight plaintiffs in the case argued that their loved ones contracted COVID-19 in nursing homes and died as a result of the directive\. They accused Cuomo and his administration of being civilly liable for their deaths as well as being liable for failing to accurately report the number of nursing home deaths in New York state that resulted from the virus. Failla, an Obama appointee, said the government wasn't directly responsible for the deaths, even if its policies had tragic consequences. "The Court's sympathy for Plaintiffs and their loved ones simply cannot supplant governing law," Failla wrote. She wrote that the plaintiffs' arguments did not meet the high bar of "shocking the public conscience" which is needed for this type of lawsuit and that officials acted during a fast-moving crisis. The family members accused the defendants of violating the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. They also brought state law claims including wrongful death and gross negligence under New York law. Failla dismissed most of the claims on jurisdictional grounds and without prejudice. "The Court does not question the sincerity or depth of Plaintiffs' loss," she wrote. "But the law, as it currently stands, does not permit recovery against the Defendants for the harms alleged." She also emphasized that the case was dismissed based on legal standards, not a denial that harm occurred. Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi welcomed the ruling and noted it was the second such case to be tossed on similar grounds. "Anytime this issue gets taken out of the press or the political arena and into the courts, the truth wins," Azzopardi said. Azzopardi said the case follows three separate probes by the Justice Department as well as the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. "Once again, justice has prevailed." Cuomo, who is currently running for New York City Mayor, has previously said that the directive was based on Center for Diseases and Prevention (CDC) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) guidance at the time. A report released in March 2022 by the New York state comptroller found Cuomo's Health Department "was not transparent in its reporting of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes" and it "understated the number of deaths at nursing homes by as much as 50%" during some points of the pandemic. The former governor was grilled by Republican lawmakers last year about following which House Republicans subsequently recommended the Justice Department pursue criminal charges against him. They accused him of intentionally lying to Congress during the House Oversight Committee's investigation into the excessive number of nursing home fatalities. A state report later commissioned by Cuomo's successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, found that while the policies on how nursing homes should handle COVID-19 were "rushed and uncoordinated," they were based on the best understanding of the science at the time. Cuomo ultimately resigned from office in August 2021 following sexual harassment allegations, which he denies.
