Financial Facts affecting Baby Boomers in 2013



Whether you are already retired, or hope to retire in the coming decade, you need to be aware of some of the upcoming financial facts that may affect you.  Each year as the calendar rolls over, government agencies, commercial banks and private businesses make financial changes that often affect retirees and those close to retirement.  Listed below are some of the changes that have been announced for 2013.

Medicare, Social Security and Federal Retirement in 2013

Social Security benefits will increase by 1.7 percent for those who are currently collecting benefits.  Since the average benefit is about $1,240 a month, this amounts to approximately $21 a month.  Federal government pensions, including for military retirees and disabled veterans, will also increase by the same percentage.

Offsetting the small Social Security increase is the fact that Medicare premiums are going up $5 a month from $99.90 to $104.90.  Depending on the final negotiations currently going on in Washington, Medicare beneficiaries who have an income of over $85,000 as individuals or over $170,000 for couples could see their monthly premiums increase by $42.00 to $230.80 a month.  Deductibles are also increasing for Medicare recipients.  For example, the annual hospitalization deductible will increase by $28 to $1,184 and the annual deductible for outpatient care will go up by $7.00 to $147.00.

Beginning in 2013, the discount that Medicare Part D beneficiaries will get on brand-name drugs will increase from 50% to 52.5% and the discount on generic drugs will increase from 14% to 21%.

Also beginning next year, taxpayers under the age of 65 will see the threshold for itemizing their unreimbursed medical deductions rise from 7.5% to 10% of their adjusted gross income.  Those over age 65 will not be affected until 2017, when everyone will see the threshold rise to 10%.

Making Financial Gifts to Loved Ones

If you are planning to give money to your children or grandchildren, you should know that you can give a $13,000 gift that is tax-free to as many people as you want.  A married couple can give $26,000.

Maximizing Your Retirement Income

Retirement advisors continue to recommend that you postpone collecting your Social Security benefits as long as possible, up until age 70.  The longer you wait to collect, the greater your income will be and the less you will need to depend on supplemental income.

Working part-time after retirement is a viable way to increase your retirement income and not only helps people financially, but is also an effective way for retirees to keep their minds sharp, their skills current, and makes it easier for them to maintain their social connections.  If you have not yet stopped working, you may want to talk to your current employer about cutting back on your hours rather than retiring completely.  If you have stopped working, you may want to talk to former employers, friends and local businesses about opportunities for part-time employment.

Bank interest rates are currently extremely low.  Most banks pay only 0.01 to 0.08 percent, which is far below the rate of inflation.  You can slightly increase your retirement income by getting around 1 percent from online banks such as Ally, Barclays, Ever-Bank and CIT.  You can see their current rates at MoneyRates.com or Bankrate.com.  Before you open an account with an online bank, however, you will want to make sure the bank you are considering is FDIC insured.  Go to "Bank Find" at http://fdic.gov/deposit to check.

You may also be interested in reading these blog posts:

Choosing an Executor of Your Will
Do You Need a Million Dollars to Retire?
Cheap Places to Retire
Planning for Long Term Medical Care

You are reading from:  http://baby-boomer-retirement.blogspot.com

Photo of money courtesy of www.morguefile.com

Financial facts as reported in Yahoo! Finance and the AARP Bulletin during December, 2012.

Choosing an Executor of Your Will

If you own a home or have any other financial assets, you should have a will that explains how you want your assets distributed after your death.  In addition, to simplify the way your assets will be probated, you should also have a trust.

However, before you write your will and set up a trust, there are a number of matters which need to be decided in advance.  First, you must decide how your estate is going to be distributed and you should make a list of any special bequests.  Then, before you meet with an attorney to write your will, you should also choose an executor who will be responsible for seeing that the will is carried out and that all debts and expenses will be properly handled.

Although many people consider it an honor to be appointed the executor of a will, they should also realize that there is a great deal of responsibility involved.  Before you choose an executor of your estate, you should discuss your decision with the person you plan to appoint.  You will want to make sure that they understand the responsibilities involved, and that they feel prepared to carry out the task.  My husband has been the executor for several family members, and it can be a time-consuming task. 

Responsibilities of the Executor of a Will

Listed below are some of the major responsibilities the executor will need to carry out.  Depending on the size and complexity of your estate, there may be additional matters that they will need to handle.

1.  Sort out all the finances of the deceased, including paying debts and taxes.

2.  File a copy of the will with the local probate court.

3.  Obtain multiple copies of the death certificate and send them to the Social Security Administration, banks, credit card companies, insurance companies and any other agencies and businesses where the deceased had an open account. (An executor may need as many as 20 or more original death certificates!)

4.  Open a new bank account to use to deposit funds from the estate and pay bills until all the property has been fully disbursed.  The executor should keep careful financial records.

5.  Maintain the property, such as the house, until it can be sold.  This includes continuing to pay for utilities, yard or pool maintenance, the mortgage payments and property taxes.

6.  Complete a full inventory of the decedent's estate and have valuable items, such as artwork, jewelry or coin collections, appraised.

7.  Make certain that all legal requirements have been met.

8.  Handle the sale of real estate and other property, including stocks and bonds, if necessary for an equitable division of the property between the heirs.  If there is only one heir, it may not be necessary to sell off property.  Even if there is more than one heir, it may be possible to reach an equitable division of the property without selling everything and splitting the proceeds.  The executor will have to ascertain this.

9.  Distribute the assets and bequests to the various heirs, according to the terms of the will.

Who Can Serve as an Executor

In most cases, the executor of an estate is a close relative of the deceased.  For example, in the case of a couple, the executor will often be the spouse.  Depending on the family situation, the executor may be the parent, child or sibling of the deceased. 

If the estate is small, or simple, the relative may be able to handle the job of executor without any outside assistance.  However, if the estate is large or complicated, you may recommend in your will that the executor obtain the services of a probate attorney.  The attorney who writes your will and sets up the trust is the logical person to provide this service.

For example, in our will, my husband and I are the executors of each others will.  If something happens to both of us, we have asked two of our daughters to serve as co-executors.  We have also stipulated in our will that some of the assets of our estate be used to pay for the services of a probate attorney to provide our co-executor with any necessary assistance.  It is our hope that this will reduce the amount of friction that could develop between the daughter who is our executor and her sisters.  We also hope that using a probate attorney will lessen the burden on our daughters.

Choosing Your Executor

Before you make your final choice of an executor, you should discuss these issues and make sure your future executor understands the responsibilities that will be involved.  Then, once your will has been written, be sure your executor has a copy.  In our case, we gave copies to all of our daughters so that questions, concerns and bequests could be dealt with while we were still alive.

In addition, you will want your future executor to have anything else they may need in order to handle the disposition of your property.  For example, we have given our daughters a list of our accounts and insurance policies, information about pre-planned funeral arrangements we have made, a key to our home and all the information we believe they would need in order to handle our estate.  We have even given them our health insurance information, in the event we are seriously injured or hospitalized and unable to communicate this information for ourselves.

Once you have taken care of these matters, you will have the peace of mind that comes from knowing you have done everything you can to make things easier for your heirs once you are gone.

If you are interesting in learning about additional planning you need to do, including financial planning, deciding where to retire, preparing for medical issues that could arise and dealing with changing family relationships, use the tabs or pull-down menu at the top of the page to find links to hundreds of additional articles.

You may also be interested in reading:

Do You Need a Million Dollars to Retire?
How to Publish Your Autobiography for Free
Simplifying Your Life for Retirement
Retirement Income from Annuities or Investment Income

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

Photo of historic will courtesy of www.en.wikipendia.org/commons

HIV AIDS and Baby Boomers - A High Risk Group

December 1 has been set aside each year as World AIDS Day, a day to recognize the on-going problem of HIV and the epidemic of AIDS that continues to spread around the world.  Baby Boomers are one of the highest-risk groups for acquiring this disease, so it seems appropriate that World AIDS Day should be acknowledged in this blog.

Since the disease first attracted national attention in the early 1980's, much of the original hysteria about the disease has diminished.  However, while the disease may not be attracting as much attention as it once did, it has not gone away.

According to CNN's Headline News, the Center for Disease Control has reported that there are over one million people in the United States who are currently living with the HIV virus, and individuals who are over the age of 50 make up one of the fastest growing groups of people who are contracting HIV.  One reason why Baby Boomers and older generations continue to be infected is because they are not well-educated about the behaviors that put them at risk.

Baby Boomers Fail to Take Precautions to Prevent Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Since many Baby Boomers, and older senior citizens, no longer worry about pregnancy, they do not take precautions that could protect them from sexually transmitted diseases such as the HIV virus.  This is a serious problem. Headline News reports, in an online article entitled "The AIDS epidemic: 31 years later," that the HIV virus is now "the world's leading infectious killer."  Unfortunately, far too many Americans believe that the disease has gone away, or that it is not something they need to worry about.

AIDS is a Serious Health Risk for People of All Ages

Surprisingly, a number of Americans of all ages believe, incorrectly, that AIDS is no longer a serious problem.  I work at a high school and recently one of the science teachers gave the students a copy of an article about HIV and AIDS in teenagers (another high risk group).  One of the students pushed the article aside and told me that, since AIDS has been cured, he didn't need to read the article.  He used as his "proof" the fact that basketball star Magic Johnson is still alive.  Since this young man is only 15, his lack of knowledge may be understandable.  Unfortunately, I have heard adults much older than him who believe the same thing.

According to the World Health Organization, the truth is that each year about 2 1/2 million people around the world are becoming newly infected with HIV.  Right now almost 33 1/2 million people are living with HIV.  Children and adults throughout the world who become infected may have done so as a result of pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, blood transfusions, being exposed to contaminated blood, sharing needles during drug use, or sexual intercourse.

One in Five People With the HIV Virus Do Not Know It

In the United States, the Center for Disease Control estimates that, out of the one million people who are living with HIV in the US, approximately 200,000 of them do not know that they have the infection.  Because of this, they may spread the disease for years before they become aware of the fact that they are contaminated.

There is still no cure for HIV.  However, there are treatments, including a drug called Truvada which may prevent it.  Meanwhile, the best prevention is to be in a monogomous relationship with someone who has had a blood test.  It is also wise to use a condom if there is any uncertainty about your partner's health or prior activities.

If you are interested in learning more about health issues that could affect Baby Boomers, as well as where to retire, financial planning and changing family relationships (including dating), use the tabs or pull down menu at the top of the page to find links to hundreds of additional articles.

Source:

http://www.hlntv.com/video/2012/12/02/baby-boomers-aids-hiv-awareness-std

You may also be interested in reading these health related posts:

Sexually Transmitted Diseases After Age 50
Avoid Grapefruit When Taking Medications
Planning for Long Term Medical Care
Patient Safety in the Hospital Near You

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

Photo of AIDS symbol courtesy of www.en.wikipedia.org/commons

Avoid Grapefruit When Taking Medications

Grapefruit, grapefruit juice and some other citrus fruits do not mix well with more than eighty-five oral medications.  In fact, the consequences of combining either fresh grapefruits or grapefruit juice with a medication can be so serious that it is probably wise to avoid consuming anything containing grapefruit and certain other foods if you take any medication, whether that medication is on the list or not.

This may seem like a drastic measure.  However, researchers are finding more and more dangerous drug and food interactions every day.

Common Drug Interactions with Grapefruit

Among the drugs which are known to have dangerous interactions with grapefruit are many that are taken daily by Baby Boomers, including statins for lowering cholesterol, certain heart drugs, cancer medications, anti-depressants, antibiotics and pain medications.

Why Grapefruit is Dangerous

Researchers at Western University have discovered that the result of combining many drugs with grapefruit can be "extraordinarily serious."   In fact, David Bailey, the head researcher for the group that completed the study, reported that the interactions can result in kidney failure, gastrointestinal bleeding, respiratory failure and sudden death.

The reason grapefruit is so dangerous is because it interferes with enzymes in your body that break down drugs.  This causes the drugs to remain in your body and build up until they become toxic.  According to an ABC news report on the topic, you should not take one of the listed drugs within 24 hours of consuming grapefruit in any form.  For people on a number of daily medications, this means they should never eat grapefruit or drink its juice.

Drugs that Interact with Grapefruit

According to a report on Yahoo, the specific drugs that should not be taken after consuming grapefruit are: statins like Zocor (simvastatin) and Lipitor, calcium channel blockers like Procardia, Nimotop and Sular, depression drugs like Zoloft, anxiety drugs like BuSpar, the painkiller oxycodone, seizure medications such as Tegretol and Carbatro, heart arrhythmia drugs like Cordarone and Mujltaq (dronedarone), insomnia drugs such as Halcion and the malaria drug, quinine.

If you are taking one of these medications, you may want to check with your doctor or pharmacist in order to better understand the potential consequences of combining grapefruit with the specific drug you are taking.

Since I take simvastatin, I was alarmed to discover that combining it with grapefruit could lead to kidney damage or kidney failure.  Although I do not eat grapefruit often, I do enjoy other risky citrus fruit, including limes and Seville oranges in marmalade.  Like many other Baby Boomers, I will need to be more careful about thoroughly reading the packaging material that comes with my medications.

Other Foods That Interact with Medication

While we are discussing grapefruit, this is a good opportunity to mention other foods that could react with your medications.  In addition, don't forget to carefully read the insert that comes with any medication you take to see if there are other drug or food interactions that are not listed below.  New problems are discovered frequently.

Below are common foods to avoid eating while taking certain medications:

Black licorice (ACE inhibitors, diuretics, insulin, corticosteroids, Lanoxin, and birth control pills.)

Large quantities of leafy green vegetables  (Coumadin - get specific information from your doctor.)

Milk or Calcium supplements (antibiotics including Cipro, Levaquin and Avelox; my Synthroid package insert also mentions not consuming calcium within four hours of taking that medication.)

Alcohol (painkillers, OTC cold, cough and allergy medications, statins, Isodil, anxiety meds, epilepsy medications, arthritis medications like Celebrex and Voltren, depression drugs like Celexa, Effexor and Lexapro, and diabetes medications.  In fact, be careful about combining alcohol with almost any other medication.)

Pickles, Aged or Cured Foods such as lunch meats (avoid consuming while using MAO inhibitors for depression and antibiotics like Xyvox and isoniazid.)

Chocolate (MAO inhibitors for depression, Vicodin, Percoseet, asthma medications, Ritalin and some antibiotics)

The dangers of combining chocolate and Ritalin concern me because I know many Baby Boomers have grandkids on ADHD medications like Ritalin, and these kids often love to eat chocolate.  Apparently, the caffeine in chocolate (and other caffeine containing foods and beverages) are dangerous when consumed in excess with the stimulants in ADHD medications.

If you are concerned about drug interactions with foods as well as other drugs, do your reseach by reading the insert that comes with your medications and using the online interaction checker at:  http://www.Drugs.com.

Learn more at: http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/grapefruit-and-medications-may-be-deadly-mix

For more helpful information on common health issues, where to retire, financial planning or changing family relationships, use the tabs or pull-down menu at the top of this page.  They provide links to hundreds of additional articles that could interest you.

Baby Boomers may also be interested in reading:

Planning for Long Term Medical Care
Patient Safety in the Hospital Near You
Aging and Tips to Prevent Hip Injuries

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

Photo of grapefruit courtesy of www.morguefile.com

Sun City Texas is a Premier Retirement Destination

When I sold real estate in Dallas, Texas in the 1990's, the other Realtors and I were delighted when Del Webb made the decision to build one of their fabulous Sun City retirement communities in Texas. Nothing like that existed in Texas at that time.

The developers made a presentation to the real estate community and told us that, although they had been aggressively promoting their Arizona Sun City to Texans for a number of years, they had found that the majority of Texans who visited Arizona were reluctant to leave Texas.  If they couldn't get Texans to move to an out-of-state Sun City, they realized they would have to build one in Texas.  Since then, of course, Del Webb has built up their Sun City franchise in a number of other states, including California.

Sun City Texas

The Sun City concept has turned out well for Del Webb.  It has also been a popular retirement choice for the people who moved to Sun City Georgetown (since renamed Sun City Texas) and has helped the economy of the charming town of Georgetown, located about 26 miles north of Austin's central business district in the beautiful Texas Hill Country. 


Sun City Texas is primarily made up of single family residences as well as a few duplexes.  You can legally drive golf carts in the streets, and there are special community parking spaces for golf carts.  The community has tennis courts, three golf courses, a large central activity center as well as satellite community centers, hobby facilities, several swimming pools, a fishing lake, dances, yoga classes and many other clubs and activities.  Southwestern University in Georgtown and the nearby city of Austin both provide the opportunity to attend many cultural and sporting events.

Georgetown, Texas

Georgetown gives you the advantage of living in a small community with a population of about 30,000 people, while being only a short drive away from the state capital of Austin, Texas.  There are many colleges and universities in the area, including the University of Texas in Austin and Southwestern University in Georgetown, a small liberal arts college which one of my daughters attended.

Georgetown, like most of Texas, has long, hot summers and cool, mild winters.  High temperatures in the summer range from about 90 to 100 degrees, and highs in the winter are typically in the 50's and 60's.  Occasionally, temperatures will drop near freezing.

Many people consider Georgetown to be one of the top places to retire in the United States because of its warm climate, close proximity to excellent medical care in Austin, and the approximately 11,500 retirees living in the master planned community of Sun City Texas.  In addition to Sun City, retirees may also want to consider living in one of the other over-55 communities that have been built in the area, including Wesleyan at Estrella, Heritage Oaks and the Oaks at Wildwood.  There are also different levels of assisted living in the area.

The charming community of Georgetown is another reason why Sun City Georgetown has become a popular retirement community.  The shops shown here are typical of the shops you will find facing the historic town square.  The town has made a genuine effort to reface their downtown buildings to enhance their Texas-Victorian architectural heritage.

In addition, several of the town's historic neighborhoods have also undergone redevelopment with the restoration of some of the older homes.  In fact, Georgetown has been called one of the best places to buy a historic home.

Whether you are a native Texan, or someone who wants to relocate to Texas because of its warm climate and low cost of living (including no state income tax), you may want to put Sun City Texas and the other Georgetown retirement communities near the top of your list.

If you are looking for more places to retire, 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 in the United States or abroad, common medical issues, financial planning and changing family relationships.

You may also be interested in reading:

The Best Sunny Places to Retire
Cheap Places to Retire
Finding Niche Retirement Communities

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

Photo of Sun City Texas entry courtesy of www.en.wikipedia.org/commons

Photo of downtown Georgetown, Texas courtesy of www.en.wikipendia.org/commons and should be attributed to Austex.