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Health Care Costs are Expensive After Retirement

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It is never too early to plan for your retirement. Most people are aware that health care costs are high, but, not everyone understands that a person’s health care expenses tend to increase after retirement. Health insurance can help with some of those costs. There are other things that can help as well. According to calculations done by Fidelity Investments, a 65-year-old couple who retires in 2012 is estimated to need around $240,000 to cover their medical expenses throughout their retirement. That is a lot of money! This total amount has increased by 4% since last year, and it has … Continue reading →

Elderly Women and Retirement

Whenever I think about elderly women, of course my grandmother comes to mind. She and I were very close. I remember going up to stay with her from time to time, often for five days or a week, and enjoyed her simple, laid-back lifestyle. She canned, she gardened, she did crossword puzzles, she wrote in her journal—and she always had a cookie jar full of various home-baked treats for her grandchildren. It wasn’t until I was in my mid-teens that I realized something: Grandma didn’t have a lot of money. It wasn’t something that had ever been an issue, so … Continue reading →

Interview: John Hauserman on Retirement Planning

This morning I had the chance to chat with my friend John Hauserman of RetirementQuest.com. I’m a little ways down the road from retirement, but that’s the perfect time to start thinking about it—when it’s not an urgent, pressing need. By then it’s too late. I asked John a couple of questions that have been on my mind. John, I’m not a risk-taker, and I love it when people can give me a heads-up so I don’t make a huge mistake. What do you consider the single biggest mistake people make when it comes to planning for retirement? The single … Continue reading →

Benefits For The Self-Employed Part 3: Two More Retirement Planning Options

For the last installment of this series on benefits for the self-employed, I am going to explore two additional options for retirement planning, the SEP IRA and the individual 401k. It is good that there are a few options available to home-based business owners when it comes to retirement planning. Of course, the fact that there are differences between the various options that are available means that you will have to invest some time in learning about your options and choosing the one that will work best for you. The SEP IRA and the individual 401k both offer flexible annual … Continue reading →

Benefits For The Self-Employed Part 2: Retirement

We have already discussed some of the options available to home-based professionals for one of the benefits that they often give up when they leave a traditional job. While health insurance is probably the most common benefit received by people in the world of traditional work, retirement plans are a close second. Not every job offers a retirement plan, but many do, and people that are thinking of making the leap to self-employment often wonder how they will plan for their retirement on their own. Fortunately, there are a few retirement planning options that self-employed people can choose from. It … Continue reading →

Savings Bonds: The Sneaky Way to Save

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When I was in my late teens, I read a number of money-oriented books about saving, investing, and budgeting. Yes, I was a bit of a nerdy kid, but my family’s history of finances as a flash point led me to seek security in these books. It helped. I do save, at least I try to do so. We have an education savings plan, retirement savings, an emergency fund, and funds for specific shorter-term goals. Right now, our fund for buying blueberries is getting larger, just in time for blueberry season. Some of these savings plans offer decent interest and … Continue reading →

Planning for a Frugal Retirement

I used to think about retirement as a time when you get to live luxuriously and spend all of the money that you spend so many years saving. As my dad got closer to retirement I got scared because I knew that he had not saved alot of money. I knew that he had spent all of his money on us, his kids. I wanted him to come live with my so that I could give him a comfortable retirement. He wanted not part of this. Instead he chose to live frugally and he is very comfortable and happy in … Continue reading →

Late Start on Retirement

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Are you getting a late start on saving for your retirement? While this is not ideal, it is not impossible to catch up quickly – if you take the aggressive approach. People are living longer these days, so even if you thought you would have enough… as you near retirement, you might discover you don’t. If this is you, then consider some of these following options. Start learning to live with less. Change your lifestyle before you retire. This provides you two bonuses – you can learn to live on less income and you can use this reduction in your … Continue reading →

Retirement and Future Plans

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Often in our income earning years, we focus only on our immediate needs and wants. However, this is a very shortsighted view, one that could hurt you down the road. When you are in your prime working years, you will be accumulating the most wealth. In order to ensure you meet your long-range goals and plan appropriately for retirement, you must focus on the future. The time during your working years is the best time to invest for the future. You have the most opportunity to earn money and you have the advantage of time to let it build. One … Continue reading →

Should you Save for College or Retirement

If you have kids, then it is important to invest in a college savings plan. Every dollar you save when they are young, will greater your chances of paying for their education. In turn, you must also save for retirement. How do you balance out these two important long-range investments? Most financial planners will recommend you take care of your retirement first. The main reason being that at retirement you will no longer be making money and will definitely need the savings. Whereas, when your kids are in college, you will still have an income you can rely on to … Continue reading →