7 Deadly Sins!

WILL I HAVE ENOUGH MONEY??

 

That's definitely the number one concern of anyone facing retirement.      We all like to think that we have adequately planned for our retirement, but for most Boomers, it's frightening to think that I might outlive my money.  A new book, "The 7 Deadly Retirement Sins" by Ryan Zacharczyk, CFP offers some excellent tips to ensure your money doesn't expire before you do.    The first part of the book is a fictional account of a compilation of many retirees who have faced several of the same issues we all do in retirement.   It's just to give you a little insight into what others are facing.

 

The 7 Sins according to Mr. Zacharczyk are:

1.  Retiring too early or living above your means.

2.  Improper Investment Asset Allocation.

3.  Collecting Social Security at the wrong time

4.  Working with the Wrong Advisor or No Advisor

5.  Paying too much in Fees and Expenses

6.  Trying to Time the Market

7.  Lack of Health Insurance

 

Overall, I felt he made some excellent points regarding retirement planning and the only one I disagree with is # 3.   He advocates holding off as long as possible to take Social Security (SS).  I disagree as in most cases it will take a person 7 to 8 years to recoup what they could have gained in taking SS as soon as possible.   My thoughts on taking it early are:

 

1.  You may not live until full retirement age.

2.  SS may no longer be available.

3.  The present value of money.

 

Obviously, if SS is going to be your only retirement income, you may want to postpone it as long as possible.

 

BOTTOM LINE:   You can never over plan for your financial security in retirement; so, why not take a few hours and read his book.   It's an easy read with some very insightful tips.

 

For additional info go to:

www.amazon.com/The-7-Deadly-Retirement-Sins/dp/1938686004

Health Plans - Open Season

November is usually Open Season to change your health plan coverage.

Plan explanations are often lengthy, confusing and written so technically that it's hard to determine just what is the best plan to meet your needs at the least cost.

I spent a lot of time last week reviewing the plans offered to me.
My current plan premiums went up over 33% so I decided to switch plans for the first time in more than 20 years.

If your company is offering an Open Season, take the

time to closely review the plans offered to you especially in light of several key factors:

1. Will you turn 65 next year? If so, you'll probably be eligible for Medicare and may not need as much coverage?

2. How does the health care reform program impact you?

3. Do you have an adult child under age 26 living with you who might be covered or needs coverage?

4. If you change plans, can you still use the same doctors?

That was very important to me as I didn't want to start over having to find doctors that I like and can trust, so I called each doctor's office to confirm that they will take my new plan. Do this, rather than rely on the medical plan's website as sometimes it's not current.

Check out this website: http://healthcareforamericanow.org/

The key is to make an informed decision about what's best for you at this point in your life, not just hang on to the plan that you've always used

Question EOB Payments

As we age, most Baby Boomers will incur ever increasing medical bills. If you're under 65, then you can't qualify for Medicare, so at best you're still liable for probably 15% to 20% of preferred providers' bills and even more for other doctors outside of your medical network.

I've incurred thousands in medical bills over the past year and have had to fight the insurance company because they would not pay a "reasonable rate" for non-provider doctors.

I recently read that this is a common practice in the health insurance industry. They have been using an outdated database that overcharges patients for seeing doctors outside their insurance network; in turn, costing us billions of dollars for payments the meidcal insurer should have made.

That inaccurate database is run by Ingenix which in January agreed to pay over $350 million to settle allegations that it intentionally kept rates low. Many independent insurers used Ingenix to determine a typical average cost for care outside their network, thus subjecting over 100 million Americans to excessive costs for their portion of the bill.

I can't tell you the countless hours I've spent in the past year fighting with my insurance company. It really makes me furious that so many of us Boomers have paid medical insurance premiums for years, only to have to then argue with the provider to get a fair and equitable payment when we need a specialist!

It's your money.......so don't hesitate to challenge your insurance company's calculation of what you owe on your EOB(Explanation of Benefits).