 Are you considering retirement anytime soon?
Keep in mind that retirement is not cheap. Based on recent studies, experts estimate that you will need at least 70 % of your preretirement income to sustain your current lifestyle when you retire. Proper planning is key in having a worry-free retirement for the years to come.
 In this Article:
Understanding Social Security Benefits
Checking Your Medicare Coverage
Knowing The Current Value of Your Assets
Considering Long-term Care Insurance
Planning For Your Retirement
Here are five important retirement tips to help you determine if you are financially ready to retire:
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Understand Your Social Security Benefits. It is very important that you know your social security benefits as it will be a large source of retirement income. FYI- Widows and widowers of full retirement age can usually receive all the benefits of their deceased spouse. To find out more about your social security benefits, call the Social Security Administration at 1.800.772.1213 and be sure to ask for a free Social Security Statement or Click here to visit their website.
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 Check Your Medicare Coverage. It is essential to know what your Medicare Plan covers and what it does not. Find out more about the allowable and excluded expenses and limits of Medicare. Check the latest Medicare & You Handbook for more coverage information. This contains a Summary of Medicare benefits, rights and protections as well as answers to your Medicare related questions.
- Check the value of your current assets. Check statements for your Traditional IRA an/or Roth IRA, 401k, pension plans, and other investments to know the total current value. It will also be good to check the current value of your properties, especially if you are considering to sell or rent it out when you retire.
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Consider purchasing Long-term Care Insurance. Generally, Medicare does not cover nursing home expenses, unless certain criteria are met. However even if you meet the criteria, Medicare will only cover the costs of care for up to 20 days. Click here for more information. FYI- The nation’s current average cost for nursing homes is more than $75,000 a year (or $6,250/month).
Taking these facts into consideration, buying a long-term care insurance plan, though very expensive will be well worth it rather than wiping out all of your hard earned savings when you retire.
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Prepare a Plan for your retirement. Retiring is a major decision and you have to make sure you are prepared for it when the time comes.
Here are the key questions to ask yourself:
- How much will you spend or need when you retire? Do you have enough money for your retirement? Are you going to change your lifestyle and spend less or spend more during your retirement years?
You have to sit down and seriously think about these important factors that will affect your life when you retire. It will be very essential to know your answers so you can set an accurate monthly budget. You can use AARP’s Retirement Calculator to check how much you will need when you retire.
- How long are you expecting to live?
No one knows the answer to this, but the best thing to do is to consider your health and any family medical history. Keep in mind that based on the United Nations estimates, the average life expectancy in the U.S is 78.2 years. To be more specific, its 75.6 years for male and 80.8 years for women. However, it is also expected than about 50% of the current population will live longer.
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About the Author: Catharine D. Allado- Writes articles for www.ladolceliving.com - the most trusted and comprehensive online directory of care homes in California, Florida and the rest of the United States.
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