If you’re not yet 50, the idea of having to pay for long term care is way outside your everyday mind set. Yes, it may apply to your parents or grandparents, but not in your everyday world. But as you begin to think about your personal financial future, it needs to become part of the …
Continue reading Let’s Get Real About Health Costs in Retirement
Some will argue that health care is not a basic human right. I disagree. I think that society, you and me and everyone else, has a built in obligation, if not an absolute mandate, to preserve itself. In other words, a biological imperative to bring new humans into society and protect them. It’s how evolution …
Continue reading Retirees and health care: Here’s what it will cost you and how to prepare
My Comments: Long Term Care, often reduced to the acronym LTC, means that someone, perhaps you, have developed mental and/or physical limitations that require the assistance of others to get through a 24 hour day. Care may come from a family member or from professionals, but unless you plan to die soon, you may need …
Continue reading The Crippling Cost of Self-Insuring Long-Term Care
My Comments: My experience with our health care system comes from two sources. The first one is my 43 years as a licensed insurance agent. I saw health insurance premiums increase roughly 10% every year. The health insurance premium increases were largely a result of ever increasing costs, driven by the hospital industry, the pharmaceutical …
Continue reading 70% of Americans say our health care system is in a “state of crisis”
My Comments: Health issues in retirement are a given for those of us not already passed. Whether they end up costing an arm and a leg depends to some extent on how prepared we are before they happen. Both my wife and I are covered by Medicare and each of us has a ‘medigap’ insurance …
Continue reading How to Prepare for Costs Medicare Won’t Cover
My Comments: Despite the appeal of retirement, no one is ready to admit that the transition from “working for money” to “money working for you” will be easy. The cost of health care as you get older has the potential to cause your retirement plans to come unglued. To keep that from happening, Medicare is …
Continue reading Here’s what you need to know about Medicare if you’re still working
My Comments: I have not yet received mine but perhaps it’ll come in today’s mail. The idea is that with so much money at stake, there are too many opportunities for the bad guys to game the system. This is an effort to make that harder. I hope it works as planned. What I know …
Continue reading New Medicare cards: What to do if you haven’t received your new card
My Comments: As you approach phase two of your adult life, please understand that the economic and financial dynamics can change dramatically. Retirement is when you have effectively turned off the ‘work for money’ switch and have turned on the ‘money works for you’ switch. That implies you have money and credits in place to …
My Comments: Politicians apparently have no earthly idea what getting old does to your finances. Of the 50 state Medicaid directors, red states and blue states, all 50 came out in opposition to the most recent attempt by Congress to repeal the ACA or ObamaCare. None of us are willing to allow the elderly to …
Continue reading How to Get Medicaid for Nursing Home Care Without Going Broke
My Comments: I’m increasingly asked about signing up for Medicare at 65 or not. This happens as more and more of us are still working at age 65 and expect to keep working for several years to come. This article by Matthew Frankel will give you the background necessary to help your decision. by Matthew …
Continue reading Why Sign Up for Medicare If I Have Insurance Already?
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