PHYSICIANS: Alimony V. Palimony

Posted on September 2, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By A.I. and Staff Reporters

SPONSOR: http://www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org

***

***

What is Alimony

According to Hello Divorce, alimony, often referred to as spousal support, is a court-ordered payment from one spouse to the other following a divorce or legal separation. Its existence is tied to the legal status of marriage. The underlying principle is that both spouses contributed to the marital standard of living, and the dissolution of the marriage should not cause an inequitable economic outcome for the lower-earning spouse. This support is not intended as a punishment but as a means of mitigating the financial impact of divorce.

The purpose of alimony can vary. In some cases, it is rehabilitative, providing temporary support while one spouse obtains education or job training to become self-sufficient. For longer marriages, it might serve to help maintain the standard of living established during the partnership. Alimony is a legal tool derived from family law statutes to address the financial interdependence created by marriage.

DIVORCE: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2025/08/14/physician-divorce-within-the-medical-profession/

Note: The federal tax treatment for alimony changed with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. For any divorce or separation agreement executed after December 31st, 2018, alimony payments are no longer tax-deductible for the person paying them. The recipient of the support does not report the payments as taxable income. This change is permanent and does not expire with other provisions of the act.

What is Palimony

According to Wikipedia, Palimony refers to financial support that may be awarded after an unmarried couple separates. Unlike alimony, palimony is not rooted in family law but is a concept derived from contract law. An award depends on the existence of an agreement between the partners. This agreement can be a formal written contract or an oral or implied agreement for support in exchange for services, such as managing the household.

The legal basis for palimony was established by the 1976 California Supreme Court case, Marvin v. Marvin. In that case, the court ruled that unmarried cohabitants could make enforceable contracts for support, as long as the agreement was not based on sexual services. Because it is a contract claim, a palimony case is pursued in civil court, not family court. Palimony is not available in all states and is only recognized in a minority of jurisdictions.

MEDIATION: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2023/08/12/a-step-wise-approach-to-the-divorce-mediation-process-for-doctors/

Note: The tax implications of palimony are less defined than alimony because the IRS does not have a specific rule for it. How palimony is treated depends on the nature of the underlying claim. If the payments are a settlement for services rendered, they may be considered taxable income to the recipient. If the payments are characterized as a gift, they are not considered taxable income for the recipient.

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Like and Subscribe

***

***

Filed under: "Doctors Only", Accounting, CMP Program, Experts Invited, Glossary Terms, iMBA, Inc., LifeStyle, Marcinko Associates | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

PHYSICIANS: Beware “Zombie” Debt and “Phantom” Debt Collectors

Posted on August 13, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By Staff Reporters

SPONSOR: http://www.MarcinkoAssociates.com

***

***

According to Wikipedia, Phantom debt or zombie debt is a debt that is old, defaulted, or not owed and is somehow still being pursued for collection to be paid by the presumed debtor. It generally refers to debt that is more than 3 years old, is long forgotten about or belonged to someone else – like someone with the same name or a deceased parent. The amount owed can grow to hundreds or thousands of dollars more than what was originally owed.

BROKE DOCTORS: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2025/08/02/doctors-going-broke-and-living-paycheck-to-paycheck/

An example of this is from George Miller. George missed an 11 cent Verizon bill and seven years later it had grown to $4,000.00.

Sometimes it was never owed, was owed by a deceased parent, or that was previously owed by the presumed debtor, but was previously paid in full, settled, discharged via bankruptcy or a dismissed court case, is beyond the statute of limitations, or is otherwise not legally collectible, but that a collection agency or other similar service is aggressively attempting to collect, often fraudulently.

***

MONEY ADDICTED PHYSICIANS: The Investing and Stock Trading Personality of Doctors

***

While the concept of phantom debt is quite old, it has gotten a lot of attention since the 1990s.

Very often, collectors of phantom debt use intimidating, abusive, or otherwise illegal tactics in an attempt to collect phantom debt that include frequent phone calls, calls to the victim’s place of employment, or threats of scary consequences against the victim that sometimes include arrest and/or criminal prosecution. In the USA, such tactics violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act [FDCPA]

The source of phantom debt may be from collectors who buy the debt from other collectors for pennies on the dollar, some of which take action that is not legal in order to collect that debt. Unlawful techniques used include suing or threatening to sue, re-aging the debt on the victim’s credit report to circumvent limits on reporting, or falsely promising to remove a negative credit report entry in exchange for a partial payment.

PSYCHOLOGY MONEY: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2025/04/08/psychology-a-money-relationship-questionnaire-for-doctors/

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

EDUCATION: Books

SPEAKING: Dr. Marcinko will be speaking and lecturing, signing and opining, teaching and preaching, storming and performing at many locations throughout the USA this year! His tour of witty and serious pontifications may be scheduled on a planned or ad-hoc basis; for public or private meetings and gatherings; formally, informally, or over lunch or dinner. All medical societies, financial advisory firms or Broker-Dealers are encouraged to submit an RFP for speaking engagements: CONTACT: Ann Miller RN MHA at MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com -OR- http://www.MarcinkoAssociates.com

Like and Subscribe

***

***

Filed under: "Ask-an-Advisor", Accounting, Ethics, Experts Invited, finance, Investing, Marcinko Associates | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

DIVIDEND STOCK ARISTOCRATS: Pros and Cons

Posted on June 2, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By AI

SPONSOR: http://www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org

***

***

SPONSOR: http://www.MarcinkoAssociates.com

According to wikipedia, the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats is a stock market index composed of the companies in the S&P 500 index that have increased their dividends in each of the past 25 consecutive years. It was launched in May 2005.

There are other indexes of dividend aristocrats that vary with respect to market cap and minimum duration of consecutive yearly dividend increases. Components are added when they reach the 25-year threshold and are removed when they fail to increase their dividend during a calendar year or are removed from the S&P 500. However, a study found that the stock performance of companies improves after they are removed from the index The index has been recommended as an alternative to bonds for investors looking to generate income.

To invest in the index, there are several exchange traded funds (ETFs), which seek to replicate the performance of the index.

STOCK DIVIDENDS: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2025/03/02/stock-dividends-company-earnings-distribution/

***

And so, to clarify, the following are the advantages and disadvantages of US dividend aristocrats:

Advantages

  1. They certainly display consistent, blue-chirp corporations with an extended history of vital funds and dividend increments.
  2. Additionally, these stocks offer fixed revenue growth.
  3. In other words, they tend to possess lower price volatility.
  4. Please note that dividend investing supporters prefer a credible income source.
  5. They are sufficiently stable for continuous annual dividend increments across decades, certainly even through recessions.
  6. Above all, it helps quicker portfolio building through reinvestment in these stocks.
  7. They certainly ensure successful long-term investing.
  8. Regarded as among the most famous investment strategies, they relish extensive consumer confidence.

Disadvantages

  1. To clarify, they are considered taxable earnings.
  2. In other words, they offer a lack of control over their distribution timing.
  3. Above all, these shares have under performed S&P 500.
  4. Company development certainly consumes a lot of time.
  5. Additionally, they are subject to market fluctuations.
  6. Moreover, they are considered unimaginative.

STOCK: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2024/08/20/preferred-versus-common-stock/

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Like and Refer

***

***

Filed under: "Ask-an-Advisor", Alternative Investments, CMP Program, Financial Planning, Funding Basics, Glossary Terms, Investing, Marcinko Associates | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

STAGFLATION? Slow Growth, High Unemployment and Rising Prices.

Posted on May 21, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

DEFINED

By Staff Reporters

***

***

Stocks ticked down yesterday, ending a six-day rally after some influential CEOs—including JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon—warned that markets have grown too complacent about tariffs and potential stagflation. But it was a spectacular day for Warby Parker, which climbed more than 15% after Google announced it’s partnering with the eyewear company on Google Glass (RIP) a new smart glasses device.

***

  • Stagflation is the simultaneous appearance in an economy of slow growth, high unemployment, and rising prices.
  • Once thought by economists to be impossible, stagflation has occurred repeatedly in the developed world since the 1970s.
  • Policy solutions for slow growth tend to worsen inflation, and vice versa. That makes stagflation hard to fight.

Stagflation is the combination of high inflation, stagnant economic growth, and elevated unemployment.

The term stagflation, a blend of “stagnation” and “inflation,” was popularized by British politician Lain MacLeod in the 1960s, during a period of economic distress in the United Kingdom. It gained broader recognition in the 1970s after a series of global economic shocks, particularly the 1973 oil crisis, which disrupted supply chains and led to rising prices and slowing growth. Stagflation challenges traditional economic theories, which suggest that inflation and unemployment are inversely related, as depicted by the Phillips Curve.

***

***

According to Wikipedia, stagflation presents a policy dilemma, as measures to curb inflation—such as tightening monetary policy—can exacerbate unemployment, while policies aimed at reducing unemployment may fuel inflation.

In economic theory, there are two main explanations for stagflation: supply shocks, such as a sharp increase in oil prices, and misguided government policies that hinder industrial output while expanding the money supply too rapidly.

NOTE: A portmanteau word or part of a word made by combining the spellings and meanings of two or more other words or word parts (such as smog from smoke and fog).

MORE: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2019/06/25/what-is-a-portmanteau/

The stagflation of the 1970s led to a re-evaluation of Keynesian economic policies and contributed to the rise of alternative economic theories, including monetarism and supply-side economics.

PHILLIPS CURVE: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2024/10/04/about-the-phillips-curve/

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Read, Like, Refer and Subscribe
***

***

Filed under: "Ask-an-Advisor", Financial Planning, Funding Basics, Glossary Terms, Investing, LifeStyle | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

ECONOMIC THEORY: Congestion Pricing and Charges

Posted on March 25, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By Wikipedia and Staff Reporters

***

***

Congestion pricing or congestion charges is a system of surcharging users of public goods that are subject to congestion through excess demand, such as through higher peak charges for use of bus services, electricity, railways, telephones, and road pricing to reduce traffic congestion; airlines and shipping companies may be charged higher fees for slots at airports and through canals at busy times. This pricing strategy regulates demand, making it possible to manage congestion without increasing supply.

According to the economic theory behind congestion pricing, the objective of this policy is to use the price mechanism to cover the social cost of an activity where users otherwise do not pay for the negative externalities they create (such as driving in a congested area during peak demand).

By setting a price on an over-consumed product, congestion pricing encourages the redistribution of the demand in space or in time, leading to more efficient outcomes.

EDUCATION: Books

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Refer and Subscribe

***

***

Filed under: "Ask-an-Advisor", Ethics, Funding Basics, Glossary Terms, Health Economics, Healthcare Finance, Investing, LifeStyle | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a comment »

MEDICAL ZEBRAS: Definition of Rare Diseases

Posted on March 20, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By Staff Reporters

***

***

A medical zebra is rare a disease, one that is so rare that most doctors have not encountered a patient with that disease. Having only read about the disease in a textbook or in the case of many recently defined diseases, not at all. It is therefore difficult for medical doctors to diagnose these individuals.

The term originates from a popular saying among clinicians, “when you hear hoof-beats, think horses, not zebras”, meaning that when diagnosing a patient, one should first exclude the most common causes for a patients symptoms, before looking for rare causes. While this is a good idea in everyday practice, one must not forget to make the effort to go “zebra hunting” when the common causes don’t explain the full clinical picture. This is especially important with the current growth of genetics and personalized medicine.

Examples:

  • Sutton’s law – perform first the diagnostic test expected to be most useful
  • Occam’s razor – select from among competing hypotheses the one that makes the fewest new assumptions
  • Leonard’s law of physical findings – it is obvious or it is not there
  • Hickam’s dictum – “Patients can have as many diseases as they damn well please”
  • Zebra print ribbon – awareness ribbon for rare diseases
  • Samuel Gee – author of Medical lectures and aphorisms (1902)
  • James Alexander Lindsay – author of Medical axioms, aphorisms, and clinical memoranda (1924)
  • Maimonides – Commentary on the aphorisms of Hippocrates and Medical aphorisms of Moses (12th century)
  • Sagan standard – Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence
  • Twyman’s law – Any figure that looks interesting, or different, is usually wrong.

Now, a medical aphorisms is a pithy statement denoting a general truth. They have a special niche in medical discourse and writing. The use of aphorisms in medicine dates to ancient times and continues today.

EDUCATION: Books

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Refer, Like and Subscribe

***

***

Filed under: "Advisors Only", Ethics, Glossary Terms, Jokes and Puns, LifeStyle | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

STATISTICS: Physicians Beware

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Over Heard in the Doctor’s Lounge

By Staff Reporters

***

***

Statistics is a discipline that deals with data, facts, and figures from which meaningful information is inferred. It involves gathering, summarizing, and analyzing data to understand trends and patterns. Statistics can be divided into two main types: descriptive statistics, which summarize data, and inferential statistics, which make predictions or inferences about a population based on a sample

But, reading statistical income information can be full of pitfalls. One needs to look at the mean and median. Both give useful information. By comparing the two, one can ascertain if there are outliers that affect the results.

Example:

If a sample of 10 physicians has one earning $1,000,000 and the other nine earning $100,000, the average (mean) income is $190,000; but the median income is $100,000.

Just using this information alone, one can tell there are some outliers that could affect the results.

–Dr. Edmond F. Mertzenich, DPM MBA [Rockford, IL]

***

***

Example:

“Lies, damned lies, and statistics” is a phrase describing the persuasive power of statistics to bolster weak arguments, “one of the best, and best-known” critiques of applied statistics. It is also sometimes colloquially used to doubt statistics used to prove an opponent’s point.

-Benjamin Disraeli [1st Earl of Beaconsfield]

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Refer, Read and Subscribe

EDUCATION: Books

***

***

Filed under: "Ask-an-Advisor", Ethics, Experts Invited, Glossary Terms, Investing | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

RHETORIC: Ancient Art of Discourse

Posted on March 13, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By Staff Reporters

***

***

Wikipedia suggests that Rhetoric is the art of persuasion . It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse (trivium) along with grammar and logic/dialectic.

As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or writers use to inform, persuade, and motivate their audiences.

And, according to Professor Mackenzie Hope Marcinko PhD, rhetoric also provides heuristics for understanding, discovering, and developing arguments for particular situations.

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Refer, Subscribe and Like

***

***

***

Filed under: Career Development, Ethics, Experts Invited, Glossary Terms, Interviews, LifeStyle | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

LUCAS Paradox

Posted on December 31, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By Staff Reporters

***

***

The Lucas Paradox occurs when capital is not flowing from developed countries to developing countries despite the fact that developing countries have lower levels of capital per worker, and therefore higher returns to capital.

According to Wikipedia, economic theory predicts that capital should flow from rich countries to poor countries, due to the effect of diminishing returns of capital. Poor countries have lower levels of capital per worker – which explains, in part, why they are poor. In poor countries, the scarcity of capital relative to labor should mean that the returns related to the infusion of capital are higher than in developed countries.

In response, savers in rich countries should look at poor countries as profitable places in which to invest. In reality, things do not seem to work that way. Surprisingly little capital flows from rich countries to poor countries. This puzzle was famously discussed in a paper by Robert Lucas PhD in 1990.

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Refer and Subscribe

***

***

Filed under: "Ask-an-Advisor", Accounting, Experts Invited, Financial Planning, Funding Basics, Glossary Terms, Investing | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

CURRENCY PAIRS: Investing Ratio Definition

Posted on September 3, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By Staff Reporters

***

***

A currency pair is the quotation of the relative value of a currency unit against the unit of another currency in the foreign exchange market. The currency that is used as the reference is called the counter currency, quote currency, or currency and the currency that is quoted in relation is called the base currency or transaction currency.

CITE: https://www.r2library.com/Resource

Currency pairs are generally written by concatenating the ISO currency codes (ISO 4217) of the base currency and the counter currency, and then separating the two codes with a slash. Alternatively the slash may be omitted, or replaced by either a dot or a dash. A widely traded currency pair is the relation of the euro against the US dollar, designated as EUR/USD. The quotation EUR/USD 1.2500 means that one euro is exchanged for 1.2500 US dollars. Here, EUR is the base currency and USD is the quote currency (counter currency). This means that 1 Euro can be exchangeable to 1.25 US Dollars.

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Thank You

***

***

Filed under: "Ask-an-Advisor", Financial Planning, Investing, Risk Management | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a comment »

RSI: Relative Strength Index [Stock Markets]

Posted on August 6, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By Staff Reporters

http://www.MARCINKOAssociates.com

***

***

The relative strength index (RSI) is a technical indicator used in the analysis of financial markets. It is intended to chart the current and historical strength or weakness of a stock or market based on the closing prices of a recent trading period. The indicator should not be confused with relative strength.

The RSI is classified as a momentum oscillator, measuring the velocity and magnitude of price movements. Momentum is the rate of the rise or fall in price. The relative strength RS is given as the ratio of higher closes to lower closes. Concretely, one computes two averages of absolute values of closing price changes, i.e. two sums involving the sizes of candles in a candle chart. The RSI computes momentum as the ratio of higher closes to overall closes: stocks which have had more or stronger positive changes have a higher RSI than stocks which have had more or stronger negative changes.

The RSI is most typically used on a 14-day time frame, measured on a scale from 0 to 100, with high and low levels marked at 70 and 30, respectively. Short or longer time frames are used for alternately shorter or longer outlooks. High and low levels—80 and 20, or 90 and 10—occur less frequently but indicate stronger momentum.

The relative strength index was developed by J. Welles Wilder and published in a 1978 book, New Concepts in Technical Trading Systems, and in Commodities magazine (now Modern Trader magazine) in the June 1978 issue. It has become one of the most popular oscillator indices.

The RSI provides signals that tell investors to buy when the security or currency is oversold and to sell when it is overbought.

RSI with recommended parameters and its day-to-day optimization was tested and compared with other strategies in Marek and Šedivá (2017). The testing was randomized in time and companies and showed that RSI can still produce good results; however, in longer time it is usually overcome by the simple buy-and-hold strategy.

***

***

COMMENTS APPRECIATED

Thank You

***

Filed under: "Ask-an-Advisor", Experts Invited, Investing, Touring with Marcinko | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a comment »