How to select a continuing care retirement community

“By combining independent living with a continuum of care, CCRCs offer a viable solution for older adults who are healthy today but seek the peace of mind of having care services readily available in the future.” While this blog post is written for financial advisers, it provides an excellent over view of CCRCs to help consumers decode of a CCRC is the right choice for them or their parents. Check out this info from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants: http://blog.aicpa.org/2017/02/continuing-care-retirement-communities-helping-clients-choose.html#sthash.dr6XzrYE.dpbs

How to figure taxes on Social Security Benefits

 Are My Social Security Benefits Taxable?  How to Understand Form SSA-1099 and Determine whether You Owe Taxes

"Depending on the amount of alternate income that you have in retirement and your filing status, you could owe taxes on up to 85% of your Social Security benefits." When you receive Social Security income, "you will also receive a Form SSA-1099 from the government. This form tells you the total amount of your benefits but does not tell you if any of your benefits are taxable, or at what percentage." Read this article to understand if you owe income taxes and how to calculate the amount: https://www.moneytips.com/are-my-social-security-benefits-taxable

Hidden benefit of saving more

Workers who increase their savings will not only have more money in retirement, but when you save more, you also spend less! This means you won't need as much money to maintain your current level of living when you retire. So ratchet up your retirement investing by 1% today and each subsequent year.

Nerd's Eye View blog (2/15) 

Feed the Pig's Tips Help Millenials Save

Feed the Pig, a public service campaign sponsored by the American Institute of CPAs and the Ad Council, encourages Americans ages 25 to 34 to take control of personal finances. Free resources, financial tips and daily social posts help millennials save and budget regularly and wisely.

http://www.feedthepig.org/

 

Long Term Care: Rely on Saving Rather Than Insurance

Teresa Miller, the Pennsylvania insurance commissioner, and the head of the Long Term Care Innovation Subgroup says Americans must save more for potential long-term care costs and rely less on insurance. (See related posts about problems with the LTC insurance industry 12/15/16 post.) More savings may be the best option for the well-off, but most Americans suffer from far too little in retirement savings. Medicaid (NOT Medicare) pays for long-term care in nursing homes for the indigent but Medicaid is in serious trouble due to insufficient funding. Politicians get elected by promising to cut taxes but why do voters fail to ask what services and benefits will be cut? A good question for your members of Congress.

Test your Retirement Knowledge and Readiness

"How much do you know about planning for a long, financially secure retirement? Fidelity Investments recently prepared a two-part quiz that can help you answer that question. The first part concerns retirement savings and asks three key questions about how to put enough money away for a secure future."
"The second part of the quiz includes five questions about how prepared older workers approaching their retirement years are. If you’re within 10 years of retirement, this quiz can help you can assess your knowledge and help you get started planning for a healthy, happy, secure retirement." to take the quiz: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/test-your-retirement-readiness-iq/

Get Dental Work Before You Retire

The Squared Away Blog, an excellent source of information, explains that many retirees lose dental insurance provided by their employer when they retire. Medicare doesn't cover most dental care (except for some Medicare Advantage plans). On average seniors pay about $1,100 for dental work. Many low-income seniors go without care while some use the option of going to Mexico for more expensive dental work. For more info on why pre-retirees should take full advantage of any denatl insurance before they retire, see: http://squaredawayblog.bc.edu/squared-away/get-dental-work-before-you-retire/

American Medical Association opposses Trump's plan to repeal and replace ACA health insurance

"The American Medical Association has declared opposition to the American Health Care Act, the Trump administration's proposed alternative to the Affordable Care Act, saying the group 'cannot support the AHCA as it is currently written.' The AMA, the largest advocacy group for doctors in the US, joins the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Physicians and the American Psychiatric Association in opposition." (Retirement Security SmartBrief). It's time to speak up and let your members of Congress know how you feel about being able to keep your health insurance. What will happen to people who are sick and currently receiving care if the ACA is repealed and their health insurance cancelled?

Job Lock comes with ACA/Obamacare repeal

“Job lock,” is the need to maintain employment, not for income, but for health insurance.
If the Republicans persist in repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) then more workers will have to continue working just to keep their employer-provided health insurance intact.
Don't rush to submit your early retirement papers if you are not yet eligible for Medicare at age 65.

The Soaring Stock Market

Wondering why the stock market keeps going up? Concerned that we're in another bubble? How much longer will the second longest bull market in history last? Should you sell stocks? Should you buy more stocks? NPR's Chris Arnold addressed these questions on "All Things Considered" on Friday March 3. "To get some answers (h)e called up Burt Malkiel, an economist and author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street, a classic book on investing." "Malkiel says people right now have a lot of questions about the market, 'and what I tell people is nobody — and I mean nobody — is able to tell you whether the market is too high or too low.'"
Arnold continued: "That may not sound very helpful. But Malkiel says you don't need to know where the market is headed next or why. There are other things that are very important for a successful investor to know. 'Let me tell you the one thing that I am absolutely 100 percent sure of, and that is the lower the fee I pay to the purveyor of an investment service, the more there is going to be for me,' Malkiel says. Pay the lowest fees possible. Malkiel says that's crucial. get the full interview at: http://www.npr.org/2017/03/03/518347917/the-soaring-stock-market-and-your-nest-egg
Paying the lowest fees possible is exactly what this blog has been telling readers for years! If you haven't watched the documentary "How to win the loser's game"... now is the time.