A Better Future

I’ve recently started planning for retirement and looking more closely at my financial future after hubby reached 65 and was able to take some steps towards it. But it made me realize I still have a long way to go. Today I’m sharing some tips to help you plan early for A Better Future.

This post is sponsored by Sivan Social. All comments and opinions are my own.

A Better Future

For us, choosing a better future is all about looking ahead, planning, and taking the right steps. You can’t define a plan for yourself and your family if you don’t know where you stand.

Define Where You Are

When you think retirement, you probably think a long time from your current situation, right? Wrong, the earlier you start planning for it, the better you will be.

When facing retirement as the best years of your life, not the end, start by assessing where you stand, by taking inventory of your expenses x income, savings, IRA, 401K, investments, and debt. If you have any tax debt you will need to get that sorted out as quickly as possible by researching key phrases like ‘tax resolution services payroll tax problems‘ from the IRS so they can help you pay back what you owe in a timely and correct manner, this will alleviate some worry and get you breathing better through your retirement.

After a full assessment, you’re able to define the next steps.

Reduce Debt

Reduce debt, increase savings, invest in long term options and define insurance policies you will need to protect you/your family, when that “best time” comes. For example, you may require things like burial insurance in the future, so it may be best to discuss this with the relevant people first to see what you can do and how you can approach this in a positive manner.

It’s important to see credit cards as your enemies and just an excuse for you to buy things you can’t really afford.

Start a cash only policy, put your cards on auto debit and stop using them, by creating an emergency fund and a savings account with automatic withdrawals.

I love Dave Ramsey’s approach and how he makes it easy to get out of debt.

Start/Increase Long Term Investments

I am going to be honest, I personally didn’t have a solid retirement strategy. But looking at the numbers, I could see that my husband’s pension alone would not be enough for us to fulfill our best life dreams or even allow me to have a safety nest in case he passes before I do.

That prompted me to look into investments and to start a Roth IRA in my name to ensure our long term dreams are being funded now.

Insurance and Protection

Choosing Term Life Insurance, we’re able to keep payments lower and allocate more money towards our savings.

You should always contact an insurance professional, though to find out the best option for you.

Live Your Best Life

Hubby and I plan to move near the water, own a boat and take yearly vacations in our retirement.

We also plan to help worthy causes and leave a solid financial legacy for our children.

Your Most Precious Asset: Your Health

When hubby turned 65, we started discussing a few options concerning our health and I had a lot of questions regarding Medicare. There are a lot of websites out there like Boomer Benefits that have articles such as “We speak Medicare” to help people like us see what we can do with Medicare and how it’ll support us in the next stages of our lives.

He explained to me that it was time for his enrollment due to turning age 65, but that there is an “open enrollment” for all people age 65 or older that happens from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7 each year.

During this time, you can enroll in Medicare for the first time, drop your plan, or switch plans. This goes for Original Medicare (Parts A and B), along with Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D (prescription drug plans).

He also told me that Original Medicare isn’t enough coverage for most seniors.

Many older adults don’t realize that Original Medicare (Part A and Part B) doesn’t cover everything.

If you just sign up for Original Medicare, you may end up paying high out-of-pocket costs throughout the year. Because of this, Medicare also contracts with private insurance companies to offer add-on or bundling options such as:

• Medicare Supplement Insurance, also known as Medigap
• Medicare Part C, also known as Medicare Advantage
• Medicare Part D, also known as Prescription Drug Plans (PDPs)

I didn’t know that Original Medicare, Parts A and B, only provides hospital and medical coverage, and has very limited coverage for prescription drugs, can you imagine that?

So much we didn’t know…

As a matter of fact, we didn’t even know we could actually enroll in state-funded Medicaid programs. For those residing in the state of California, for instance, the government provides programs similar to Medi-Cal, into which they can enroll by visiting sites such as https://www.iehp.org/en/members/medical-riverside. I wish someone had given us all of this information!

Because being informed is everything when it comes to the road to retirement and living your best years. So I want to invite you to check QuoteManage for your free Medicare plan consultation.

This is a no-cost, no-obligation call with an expert who can help seniors find the right Medicare plan for their needs.

I hope you join me and visit the 2022 Medicare Enrollment page on SeniorLiving.org to get more facts about Medicare or call 855-9432826.

It’s a no-cost, no-obligation call with an expert who can help seniors find the right Medicare plan for their needs.

I hope our journey inspires you to start, if you’re ready and are eligible to apply now or if you are planning for the future.

Can’t wait to hear what you think, as usual, give us a Trendy Shout!