Insurance

Medicare is a hugely popular program, providing health coverage to the vast majority of Americans over 65. Here are a few tricks for taking care of your health and making the most of Medicare… 1. Understand Your Medicare Options Once you turn 65, you need to make choices about your Medicare coverage. Will you choose:…

Annuities can be a tricky purchase. You need to compare annuity plans to find the right option for you.  But, there are many different products – fixed annuities, variable annuities, tax-deferred annuities, guaranteed annuities, inherited annuities, equity indexed annuities and more. How do you even begin to go about comparing annuities? Estimate how much income…

The decision to relocate in retirement is huge — especially since you literally have a world of options. You can retire anywhere and into a wide variety of housing types. Live and travel in an RV. Buy a big beach side home. Relocate abroad to financial or lifestyle reasons. Downsize to a small apartment. Buy…

The more things change, the more they stay the same.  In response to privacy concerns about the old Medicare cards that included your Social Security number on them, Medicare is in the process of issuing new Medicare cards.  The new cards have a new number, but not much else is changing. Your wallet will hopefully…

Medicare is the de facto healthcare for most retirees.  You are eligible when you turn 65.  While most people like the program, it is quite complex and everything from baseline premiums to supplemental coverage and other details can change from year to year. The changes made thus far offer somewhat good news to retirees.  However,…

Medicare Open Enrollment 2016: Medicare open enrollment is the time period when you can buy into or switch your Medicare Advantage and/or Part D coverage.  This open enrollment period goes from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7. Some might argue that enrolling in Medicare is off the charts painful… It can be so hard to understand……

What are the two most expensive and important things in retirement?  Housing and medical costs.  As such, you probably want to review this list of the best states for health care. In 2014, health spending accounted for 17.5% of the national GDP, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Even more, by 2025,…

Retirement planning is hard. You have to account for 20-30 years of expenses that are difficult to predict and make sure you have enough money to pay for them. How to plan for healthcare costs in retirement is particularly challenging. These costs continue to rise and it is difficult to know what kind of care…

Americans are living longer than ever. That’s mostly great news for older adults.  You now have more opportunities to enjoy family and enrich your community. However, we are all concerned about outliving our money.  Having retirement income streams to meet expenses for as long as you live is a significant concern. Retirement income streams: Not…

During retirement, most expenses decrease on average. This includes housing, clothing and transportation. But there’s one expense that has been shown to increase and consume a large portion of older American’s incomes: health and Medicare cost. The share of the 75-plus population’s total spending that goes toward health care is 15.6 percent, which is nearly…

Fixed income annuities can have many key benefits for retirees.  Of all the challenges we face in preparing financially for retirement — creating a steady income stream, gaining tax leverage, and reducing risk of losing money — are at the top of the list.And, the promise of fixed income annuities – an investment tool that…

What is an annuity? An annuity is technically an insurance product — not an investment.  Instead of trading money for financial protection from fire, flood or a health emergency, you are trading a lump sum in exchange for guaranteed income payments.The insurance company is taking the risk for downside in financial markets and — in…

Trusting your family to an assisted living facility can be a huge decision! How can you be sure that they’ll get the care they deserve? Take it from someone who has been there. Once upon a time, Carol Marak, Aging Advocate and Editor at SeniorCare.com, worked a full-time job while simultaneously caring for both of…

What is Medicare, and do you need more than basic coverage? Original Medicare can leave you with hefty, uncovered expenses, but the best Medicare supplement plans — either Medigap or Medicare Advantage — can lower your costs and improve your care. There are so many questions that accompany signing up for America’s retirement healthcare plan.…

Annuities often get a bad rap, but maybe that’s not entirely fair. While some advisers love them, just as many (and probably more) warn against them. But there are a lot more options than there used to be, and more ways for you to find a policy that suits your plans. As a general rule…

Let’s go ahead and state the obvious: healthcare is a huge expense in retirement.  HUGE. And, not only huge, but also unpredictable and potentially debilitating. According to Fidelity, a couple who is 65 years old today can expect to spend $245,000 on Medicare premiums alone.  Out of pocket expenses and long term care costs can…

It appears that more consumers are turning to fixed annuities as a source of income in retirement, and demand for the product doesn’t seem likely to slow any time soon. Can a fixed annuity fix your retirement plan? When you buy an annuity, you are exchanging a lump sum of money for an agreed upon…

People seem to either love annuities or hate them.According to Kiplinger, only about eight percent of Americans get any sort of retirement income from private annuities, (even though there are some definite benefits to owning one). The problem might be the misconceptions surrounding them. If you don’t go in with your eyes open, an annuity…

Believe it or not, different financial strategies can be in style or out.  But unlike the arbitrary whims of fashion, financial trends usually have very logical reasons for being popular. Annuities are not new players in the retirement planning game. They are an insurance product that many have used successfully to guarantee income in retirement.…

There appear to be only two annuities camps: Those who love them, and those who hate them. It’s not that cut and dried, though. Any investment has its pros and cons. The same applies to annuities, and there might be one that suits your retirement plan perfectly. If you’re thinking about expanding your retirement portfolio,…

Retirement times are changing, and gone are the days when workers could rely on steady pensions to take them through their aging years. Indeed, fewer people are retiring with the promise of a pension, or regular payment made during a person’s retirement from an investment fund to which that person or his or her employer…

Buying a long-term care insurance policy can be a valuable investment for those who purchase it well in advance of the time they’ll need it, yet few Americans are taking advantage of this genius option.  But you are not necessarily a fool if you have not made this purchase. While some 70% of Americans will…

Spend money on an annuity, and you could save money in the long run. There’s an age old theory that says if you can insure yourself through savings, you’re better off than purchasing insurance from someone else. Buying an annuity is essentially buying an insurance policy. So might it be a good idea to fund…

It’s estimated that there are over 40,000 assisted living communities in the U.S. today, says Stephan Baldwin, director of business development for Assisted Living Center, an online directory and resource for those researching living options for seniors. And while this means that families have more choices than ever for care for their loved ones, the…