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Budgeting for Healthcare

How to Budget for Healthcare in Retirement

A major part of planning for retirement is creating a financial budget. As you won’t be making a salary anymore, it’s crucial to be careful and aware of how you’re spending your pension and social security.

 

One of the major expenses that retirees have are healthcare expenses. On average, a retired person spends about $300,000 on healthcare during their retirement. Unfortunately, many people planning to retire don’t necessarily plan for such expenses and can find themselves in financial trouble.

 

As you plan for retirement, consider the following factors when budgeting for your healthcare.

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4 Ways to Maximize Retirement Account Benefits

No matter what age you are, retirement is something that should be in the back of your mind. Even if you’re younger and just starting out in the workforce, or almost at the retirement finish line. What you choose to do now can greatly affect your financial future. In this vein, there are 5 fantastic ways to maximize your retirement account benefits.

#1. MAXIMUM CONTRIBUTIONS to retirement account

If you have the means to do so, maximizing the contributions to your retirement accounts can really help boost you to a new level during retirement. Heck, this can even help you retire early, should you so desire. Here is the basic breakdown of the maximum you can contribute in 2022, according to the new IRS rules:

  • $20,500 for 401(k), 403 (b), Thrift Savings Plan & some 457 plans
  • $6,000 for IRA’s
  • $1,000 for catch up contributions over the age of 50
  • $27,000 for catch up contributions over the age of 50 if you have the government’s Thrift Savings Plan

The IRS increased some of the contribution limits going into 2022, which they have been consistently doing in past years as well. This continual increase should help a lot of Americans save more faster. But this only helps if you can contribute the full amount.

If you aren’t in a position to contribute the maximum amount currently, then you will first need to work on fine tuning your budget.

#2. TAKING ADVANTAGE OF MATCHING

If you do have the benefit of working for somebody else AND they offer to match for retirement contributions, then this is something you should fully take advantage of. Every company is structured differently, and it is completely up to each company how they decide to offer matching, if they do at all. So, you’ll need to reach out to your HR personnel to find out what your company currently offers.

However, here are some of the most common ways you might run across a matching option:

  1. $.50 on the dollar for the first 3-5% you contribute
  2. 2.7% of your pay, on average
  3. 100% match up to the first 3-5% you contribute

#3. SEP IRA

A SEP IRA is a great way to contribute to a retirement account when you are self-employed. This type of account is similar to an IRA, except that you can contribute more to it than a Roth IRA or Traditional IRA.

Currently, if you open a SEP IRA, you can contribute up to 25% of your income or $61,000, whichever one happens to be less. Not only that but you won’t be taxed on anything until you begin withdrawing funds in retirement. So this can be a really great way to maximize the benefits of retirement and save more along the way.

#4. WHERE YOU LIVE

When you’ve finally decided it’s time to retire, choose where you live wisely. Even if you don’t think it matters, it really does. The biggest determining factor here are that 37 states that do NOT tax social security income. Yes, you heard me correctly!

This means that if you want more bang for your buck when you retire then you should seriously consider where you live.

Don’t just look at which states are social security income friendly though. You will want to take a look at the property taxes, state and local taxes and taxes on other retirement income. These aspects are crucial to the overall equation in order to maximize your benefits in retirement.

maximize retirement account benefits summary

Overall, there are a few fantastic ways to maximize your retirement account benefits, no matter what your company offers. You may choose to maximize your contributions which will directly impact your company’s matching. Or, if you’re self employed, you may open a SEP IRA and put in as much as you’re legally allowed each year. No matter which of those two options you choose, where you live now and in the future does matter. This is something to keep in mind in order to keep more of your hard earned money and hopefully be able to enjoy retirement to the fullest.

What are some of the best ways you’ve found to maximize your retirement account benefits?

Retirement money

Sources of Retirement Income – Put Your Money to Work

Making the transition from working to becoming a pensioner can be difficult. You might find all the extra free time overwhelming and not know what to do with it, and you may also miss the routine of going to work every day.

However, perhaps the biggest challenge you’ll face with your new way of life is learning to adapt to the loss of income. Having been used to relying on a regular wage for so many years, the sudden change in monthly income coupled with your usual bills and expenses can be alarming. Fortunately, there are many sources of retirement income that you can take advantage of.

We’ve provided some advice to help you put your money to work so that you can enjoy your retirement to the fullest. Read more

It takes discipline and foresight to look ahead to one's retirement. The payoff can be well worth the initial consideration.

Smart Retirement Goals to Grow Your Nest Egg

It takes discipline and foresight to look ahead to one’s retirement. However, if done right, the payoff can be well worth the initial consideration. The biggest aspect of retirement to understand is that the earlier you start making changes and being a part of the savings equation, the better of you will be.

The key is to make savings a priority right now. Also, you need to remember that we are in a constantly evolving environment where foreign exchange currencies can depreciate and appreciate on a daily basis. There are so many factors that go into the retirement equation that it may seem daunting. However, establishing a few goals will really help focus your efforts. Read more

Cryptocurrency has been shaking up the financial sector for a few years now. Is it a right choice for retirement planning?

Is Bitcoin a Good Investment for Retirement?

Cryptocurrency has been shaking up the financial sector for a few years now, far longer than most analysts predicted after the Bitcoin crash in 2011 which saw the pioneer cryptocurrency take a 93% drop. However, despite some teething issues, including a drop in value of over 80% over the course of 2018, Bitcoin is still going strong with experts in cryptocurrency even going so far as to refer to the cryptocurrency as the “greatest investment opportunity of our generation”. While we cannot say for sure that that is true, we can make an educated guess as to the future of cryptocurrency, and so far, the news is good.

However, before a person goes out and invests in Bitcoin for their retirement, there are some things they will need to know in order to decide if it is the right investment for them. Read more

Not everyone can easily make room in their household budget for intensive retirement savings. Check out these tips to make retirement happen.

How to Save for Retirement When You Can’t Afford To

Because Social Security benefits are not enough to provide a comfortable life, especially for seniors with significant health concerns, failing to build robust retirement savings ultimately means that retirement is all but impossible. Rising numbers of Americans over 65 looking for work demonstrate that doing the bare minimum to prepare for retirement does not a successful retirement plan make.

However, not everyone can easily make room in their household budget for intensive retirement savings. If you are barely able to pay rent and utilities, how are you supposed to save money for an uncertain future? Read more

Plan for Retirement Now and Retire Early Later

The vast majority of people in their 20’s and 30’s do not actively think about retirement. Putting a few extra dollars per paycheck into a retirement account will add up over the years. There are limits to how much money can be put into an IRA so growing money elsewhere is imperative. Far too many people make financial decisions that are less than wise whether it is buying an expensive vehicle or flying first class for every flight. Trying to keep up appearances in terms of activities done or countries traveled is only going to delay retirement. Being able to retire when you are still energetic enough and young to travel can allow you to truly embark on numerous trips that you have always envisioned. The following are tips to help you retire early either through wise investing, hard work, or intelligent personal finance strategies. Read more

Retirement Income Hits a Record High in 2018

If you have been planning and saving for your retirement, but you are still lost about it, this is the article that is really going to interest you. Retirement plans are always going to hit you at some point of time, but if you do not how to take the right steps towards it, then it might hit you hard.

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Investment Mistake

How to Avoid This Investment Mistake That Cost Us $750

While we have a diversified retirement portfolio mix of Roth and Traditional IRA’s and a 401k, we have decided to get into another form of retirement investments. Real estate investment. As someone who has been engrossed in the real estate investment world with other investors for the past couple of years, I have learned a lot. So much so that we decided to take the plunge on our own. This is solely to diversify our retirement investments even more with the hopes of early retirement through passive income. However, we just made our first mistake!

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