Financial Planning

Medicare. The government defines it as “The federal health insurance program for people 65 and older.” That seems simple enough. But there’s more to it than meets the eye because Medicare, like so many other things, has fine print that could end up costing you a lot of money if you don’t know about it. Since Medicare began in 1965, [...]

Since 1935, Social Security has been synonymous with retirement. It was always intended to supplement retirement income, never be a person’s total retirement income. Unfortunately, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, about half of older Americans rely on Social Security for at least 50% of their income, and 25% of retirees rely on it for 90% of [...]

What scares you the most when you think about retirement? The Transamerica Center for Retirement Services has been asking that question for 22 years. The Center just released its 2022 survey after talking to more than 5,800 adults contemplating their future. Here are the top 12 retirement fears this year.   #12     Can’t Retire on My Own Terms 13% of [...]

A really long time ago… in a galaxy far, far away… I worked for a building contractor. That experience taught me that every successful building project requires the right tools. And sometimes a project turns out just a little bit better because of a specialty tool, one with specific characteristics not found in any other tool at your disposal. The [...]

The clock is ticking and it gets louder the closer you get to the magic age of 65. That’s when you sign up for Medicare. But there’s more than one way to receive Medicare coverage.   There are Medicare Advantage plans, sometimes referred to as all-in-one plans, because they provide medical coverage and can also provide benefits for vision, dental, [...]

You’ve been planning for retirement for a long time. By your calculations, the money you’ve accumulated should be more than enough to live the retirement lifestyle you’ve dreamed about no matter how long you live. You’ve taken into account taxes, inflation, healthcare, and the cost of all the things on your bucket list. To pay for it all you’ll withdraw [...]

It’s almost time for the Social Security Administration to break out pencil and calculator to find out how much more it costs to live this year than it did last, and then decide how much of a raise Social Security beneficiaries will get in 2023. For 2022, the Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) was 5.9%, the largest increase [...]