Mental and Social Planning for Retirement

No matter how much money you may have saved towards your future, there is more to retirement planning than simply having enough income.  You also need to give some thought to your goals, social needs, activities, where you want to live and how you want to spend your life after retirement.

Many people will live between 20 and 30 years after they stop working.  A few could even live as long as 40 years after retirement.  That is a long time to spend sitting around, watching TV.  Instead of being bored for decades, this is a time when you can choose to make a difference in the lives of others, live passionately and enjoy the years you have left.  What will you do when you retire?

How to Have an Emotionally Satisfying Retirement

Put Together a "Bucket List" - What things have you always hoped to do in life, but never had the time?  Is there someplace you always wanted to visit?  Have you dreamed of taking art or music lessons? Play in a band? Travel around in an RV? Live on a sailboat?  Move to another country?  Write a novel?  Join the Peace Corp?  Nearly everyone has a secret dream which they never had the time to fulfill.  Think of retirement as your opportunity to pursue your goals.  Do research on what you need to to do in order to achieve at least one of your goals ... and possibly more. You can even start working on your bucket list before you actually retire.

Decide Where You Want to Retire -  While the majority of people at least start out their retirement living in their pre-retirement home, many people will eventually move either to a retirement community, assisted living or someplace closer to their children and grandchildren.  When the time comes, where would you like to retire?  Not only do you want to choose a place which is safe, comfortable and easily accessible as you age, you will also want to take into consideration your emotional health.  Will you be near people you love?  Will you be able to engage in activities you enjoy?  Is it near a hospital and your doctor? Is it safe and walkable? These are all important aspects of choosing a retirement home.

Plan a Social Life - Whether you decide to live near your family or in a dream location, it is very important that you maintain a social life.  It has been shown repeatedly that people who have an active social life are less likely to develop dementia or other health problems.  Decide what activities are important to you and make sure they will continue to be accessible as you age.  Your retirement will be happier if you can easily get to your preferred religious services, sporting events, entertainment venues, a senior center, exercise facilities and other activities.  You do not want to feel restricted to your home.

Have an Exercise Plan - After you retire, it is far too easy to relax in your favorite chair, put up your feet, turn on the TV and tune out the rest of the world.  You've earned it ... right?  The problem is that relaxing too much can make your more likely to become obese, develop heart disease and possibly become susceptible to other illnesses, as well.  Instead, everyone should aim for at least 30 minutes a day of exercise which is brisk enough to cause your heart rate to increase.  It can be walking, jogging, bicycling or taking an exercise class.  Believe it or not, exercise improves your brain function, reduces stress, helps your overall physical health and can give you a positive mental attitude.  That is a lot of benefit for 30 minutes of your time each day after retirement!

Plan to Eat Right After Retirement - At some point, nearly all seniors will eventually live alone, especially women.  It is very easy to slip into the habit of eating frozen dinners and a bowl of cereal for all your meals.  It can seem like a lot of extra trouble to prepare fresh vegetables and balanced meals.  However, it is important to eat right if you want to have a long and healthy retirement.  If you find you are not fixing healthy meals for yourself, see if your local senior center serves low cost meals during the week.  It is a great opportunity to eat well and socialize with people from your community.  If you reach the point when you cannot get out of your house, you may be eligible to have Meals on Wheels deliver food to you.  Not only will you get a healthy meal delivered to your home, but you will also have someone stop by your house most days of the week for a few minutes.  They will check to make sure you are OK and you can chat with them briefly.  However you arrange to eat healthy meals, make sure you eat right after retirement.

Keep Learning New Things - Another way to enjoy life and slow down your mental decline is to continue to learn new things.  Whether you take classes at a local community college, sign up for music lessons,  or learn a foreign language, it stimulates your brain to learn new things.

Volunteer - There are few better ways to reduce our isolation and raise our self-esteem than volunteering to help other people.  In most cases, you will also be learning new things, which stimulates your mind.  In addition, you will have the satisfaction of knowing you are helping other people.  There are volunteer opportunities all around us.  Check with your local hospital, school, food bank or senior center.  If you still haven't found something which interests you, check VolunteerMatch.org, idealist.org or the Hands On Network for more opportunities in your area.

Get a Part-time Job - You can improve your financial situation, make new friends, and learn new skills simply by finding a part-time job.  Check out your local mall, senior center or Encore.org for job possibilities for senior citizens.

If you take the actions above, you are much more likely to have an emotionally satisfying retirement.  Isn't that a great goal for the last 30 or so years of your life?

Watch for my book, Retirement Awareness, which will be released in 2018 by Griffin Publishing.  It will go into much more detail about this information, as well as other important aspects of retirement preparedness.

If you are interested in more information about how to have a happy retirement, use the tabs or pull-down menu at the top of the page to find links to hundreds of additional articles on where to retire, financial planning, medical issues, and more.

You are reading from the blog:  http://www.baby-boomer-retirement.com

Photo credit:  morguefile.com

How to Prepare Financially for Retirement

Whether you are 30, 40, 50 or 60, everyone needs to take steps to plan to retire someday.  Of course, the younger we are when we start, the better prepared we will be to retire when the time comes.  No matter what your age, what are some of the things we need to do in the years before we stop working?  How can we make sure we are financially prepared when the time comes?

Steps in Retirement Planning

Save Money in an IRA and/or a 401(k) - If you work for an employer with a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, take advantage of it.  Have your employer withhold some of your pretax income and put it towards your retirement.  Some corporations will even match the donations of their employees, which means you will be able to accumulate wealth twice as fast! 

The younger you are when you start saving, the better off you will be when you finally stop working.  However, even if you are in your 50s when you start, you may still be able to put aside 10 to 15 years worth of savings, which could make a huge difference in the quality of your retirement.

If you are self-employed or do not have a 401(k) or 403(b) plan where you work, save money in an IRA instead.  You can even have both, if you have enough excess income.  However, if you save too much money, not all of it may be tax free.  It is still beneficial to save as much as you can towards retirement.

Talk to a Financial Planner about How to Invest Your Savings - If you are in a 401(k) or 403(b), your employer may give you a menu of mutual funds, tell you to pick one or two, and that is where they will invest your contributions.  The same thing could happen with an IRA, if you decide to set up an automatic withdrawal and investment program.  Most of us could use a little help in choosing the best investment plan, however.  It will probably be worth your time and money to talk to a certified financial planner or investment advisor representative.  Get their recommendations on how to invest your savings for growth when you are young, and for income when you get ready to retire.  Be sure to diversify your investments so you do not have too much money in one type of fund or investment.

Pay off Your Debts As You Approach Retirement - Nearly everyone will have a more comfortable retirement if they keep their debts to a minimum after they retire.  The closer you are to retirement, the more important it is to have a plan to eliminate all your student loans and credit card debts.  If you can also pay off your home and car, you are going to have a lower cost-of-living once you are living on Social Security and your savings.

Get an Estimate of Your Future Social Security and Pension Income - Everyone should periodically get estimates of how much they can expect to receive in the future from Social Security benefits and any employer funded pensions.  Everyone needs to know how much income they can expect to have after retirement. You also need to understand how much you could increase your income by postponing your retirement by a few years.

Come Up With a Retirement Budget - Estimate how much it will cost you to live after you retire.  If you have a large gap between your current expenses and anticipated income, investigate the steps you can take to reduce your expenses by downsizing, for example, and how you can increase your income by taking steps such as postponing your retirement age.  If necessary, you may also consider getting a retirement job which will help increase your income.  It can be a fun job, as long as it produces enough income to make your feel more financially secure.

Talk to Your Financial Planner or Advisor about Turning Your 401(k) or IRA into Income - Once you are ready to retire, find out how much money you can withdraw from your IRA and still be assured you will have enough money to last the rest of your life.  Discuss the 3 percent withdrawal rate, dividend funds, annuities, bonds and other investment vehicles which will produce an income.  You may want to invest in a variety of income producing products to give you the most financial security.

If you plan carefully and realistically, you can feel confident you are financially well-prepared for retirement when the time comes.

Watch for my book, Retirement Awareness, due to be released by Griffin Publishing in 2018. It will go into more detail about how to prepare financially for retirement.

If you are interested in more information about financial planning, where to retire, Medicare, Social Security, medical problems and more, use the tabs or pull-down menu at the top of the page to find links to hundreds of additional articles.

You are reading from the blog:  http://www.baby-boomer-retirement.com

Photo credit:  morguefile.com

Hidden Costs in Assisted Living Facilities

The cost of living in a skilled nursing home, assisted living facility or memory care unit varies greatly across the United States.  Charges can vary from around $3,000 to $7,000 a month for basic expenses, but hidden fees can drive the cost much higher.  It is these unexpected charges that sometimes cause the greatest stress for families trying to keep a relative in a comfortable facility.

Basic Costs for Senior Living

While the exact prices will vary at different facilities and in various parts of the country, below is a list of sample basic charges from a facility which offers different levels of care in Orange County, California. Their basic charges are for independent living.  The costs increase as the resident begins to need more types of care.

The least expensive level is independent living.  This includes meals, weekly housekeeping, and access to activities, exercise classes, a fitness center and swimming pool.

Below were the basic monthly charges for one person living in the sample facility in 2016, and the prices have continued to rise since then.  It is important for families to discuss the current costs and expected future increases in prices when they commit to having a loved one move into a CCRC.

Junior Studio          $3177
Small Studio           $3167
Large Studio           $3539 - $3609
One Bedroom         $4162 - $4343
Two Bedroom         $5324 - $5429

If two people are living in the same apartment, there is an additional monthly fee of $1000.  Upon moving into this particular facility, there is also a non-refundable processing fee of $1500.

Residents can also expect these monthly rents to increase periodically.

Additional Hidden Costs of Assisted Living

What many retirees and their families do not expect is that there could be a number of necessary extras which can dramatically increase the cost of living in the typical assisted living facility.  Below are examples of some of the possible fees.  While these are just a sample of possible charges, based on one facility, everyone should ask about the cost of these services before they select a residence, because these charges can potentially amount to thousands of dollars above the cost of basic housing.


Medication Management:        $410 - $525 a month

Dressing / morning hygiene:     $400 a month

Undressing / evening hygiene:  $400 a month

Escorting residents to meals/activities:  $300 a month

Checking on resident every two hours:  $500 a month

Incontinence Care:                  $600 a month

Cueing (reminders):                 $120 a month

Stand-by during showers:         $480 a month for 7 showers a week

Full Assistance in showers:       $700 a month

Treatments for wounds, etc:     $10 per treatment

Blood pressure or sugar monitoring:    $40 per check

Laundry:                                 $100 a month

Other types of assistance:         $4 to $15 per service 

As you can see, someone could easily be charged as much as $3,500 to $4000 over the basic apartment rental, if the resident needed a great deal of personal assistance and attention.  Of course, few people will need all of those types of assistance.

Memory Care Facilities are All-Inclusive

If you or your loved one needs to move into a Memory Care Residence, the expectation is that they will need 24 hour a day personalized care, so many types of assistance are already included in the $6844 a month fee for the sample residence.  However, there could be additional charges for any special medical or personal services they need.

Ask About Hidden Expenses Before Choosing a Facility

While this article used examples of charges from only one facility, it is intended to educate aging seniors and their families on the types of hidden expenses they might expect. It is important for people to have a firm understanding of the potential cost of living in a facility before they commit to it. It is also important to ask lots of questions before you move yourself or a loved one into a facility. While the basic charges may seem reasonable, the true expense could be thousands of dollars more each month, depending on what services the resident eventually needs.

Long-term Care Insurance

One way to reduce or eliminate the high cost of a skilled nursing facility is to purchase a long-term care insurance policy while you are still healthy ... which usually means buying it in your 50s or 60s.  If you wait too long, you could easily become uninsurable.  In addition you should know that, over time, the cost of your premiums will rise.  However, if you need care in your later years, you will be glad you purchased the policy.

Continuing Care Retirement Communities

Another option to help you contain your expenses is to move into a Continuing Care Retirement Community or CCRC.  With most of them, you have to be ambulatory and in reasonably good condition in order to become a resident.  They can also be very expensive.  However, once you buy-in to the facility, you are guaranteed skilled nursing care or memory care, as needed, for the remainder of your life.  With most CCRC's, you will have to pay a high buy-in fee, as well as a monthly charge which can be as much as the typical assisted living facility mentioned above.  However, if your costs become too high for you to afford because of the services you need, the extra charges will be taken out of your original buy-in.  According to many of the CCRC agreements, a percentage of whatever remains from your original buy-in can be returned to your heirs after your death or to you, in the event you move to a different facility.

As with any legal contracts, it is extremely important that you do careful research before moving yourself or a loved one into an assisted living facility or a CCRC.  You want to know exactly how high your costs will be before you sign a contract.

You can find additional information about them at FindContinuingCare.com.

If you are interested in additional information about where to retire, financial planning, Social Security, Medicare, health issues and more, use the tabs or pull-down menu at the top of the page to find links to hundreds of additional articles.

You are reading from the blog:  http://www.baby-boomer-retirement.com

Photo credit:  morguefile.com