Retirement in Sight

WHAT WOULD WE LIKE TO DO WHEN WE HAVE THE CHANCE AGAIN?

As most of the nation contended with stay-at-home orders this spring, polling firm YouGov decided to survey 1,175 American adults to see what activities they might want to do once businesses fully reopen and social-distancing mandates end. 

USING YOUR QUARANTINE AS A TRIAL RUN FOR RETIREMENT

Most retired people don’t spend all of their time at home, but you might find that “sheltering-in-place” may give you a taste of how you will cope without a job to go to every day. 

GOOD CAREER CHOICES MAY LEAD TO AN IMPROVED RETIREMENT

What is your most powerful tool for building retirement savings? Perhaps, your income. For that matter, the path of your career could influence when and how well your retirement begins.

WHAT MATTERS MORE IN RETIREMENT: INCOME, OR SAVINGS?

Retirement saving is not just about accumulating assets. It is also about laying the groundwork for retirement spending.

HOW THE SECURE ACT IMPACTS RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS

A new federal law, the Setting Up Every Community for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, directly affects retirees and retirement savers. 

READY FOR MORE RETIREMENT TOGETHER?

A career-focused couple may spend as little as 5 to 6 hours interacting with each other on most days, given hours spent working, commuting, shopping, and running errands apart. Once retired, that same couple may spend as many as 15 to 16 hours together each day.

THE RIGHT HABITS TO LIVE WELL IN RETIREMENT

Are you exercising to a degree that, while not arduous, takes you slightly out of your physical comfort zone? Strength training and endurance training are particularly important as we age, and so is stretching to maintain flexibility. 

GENERATING RETIREMENT INCOME

If you can continue at your current job for a few years, those are years where you aren’t spending retirement income, which may allow you to continue accumulating money in your retirement accounts or other investments.

SUNNIER PROSPECTS FOR WORKING AS A SENIOR

In recent years, a steady stream of articles has appeared, questioning baby boomers’ hopes to keep working part time in their retirement years. These articles have tended to take a skeptical view of such ambitions. Well, maybe it is time to sweep some of the skepticism away.

MORE SENIORS, BUT PERHAPS FEWER DOCTORS?

Ideally, the ranks of primary care physicians and specialists would expand to meet the demands posed by retiring baby boomers on the health care system. In reality, things are quite the opposite: America is staring at an oncoming doctor shortage.

HOW RETIREMENT SAVING RELATES TO RETIREMENT SPENDING

Just as there is no one-size-fits-all retirement strategy, there is no “average” retirement savings number that applies for every individual or couple. 

CAN YOU STAY ON A COMPANY HEALTH PLAN AFTER AGE 65?

Generally, Medicare is available for people age 65 or older; this is well-known. What is less well-known is the fact that some companies can legally cancel group health insurance for a worker reaching this milestone. Baby boomers who aspire to keep working into their mid-sixties may want to take note of this.

RETIRING WITH A CASH RESERVE

Many people want to enter retirement with a) investments that may have benefited from years of growth and compounding, b) a manageable debt position, and c) a cash reserve for emergencies. Just how large should that cash reserve be? 

PET OWNERSHIP COULD CORRELATE WITH HEALTHIER AGING

Each fall, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and the University of Michigan sponsor a National Poll on Healthy Aging. In the 2018 poll, a majority of adults aged 50-80 said that they owned a pet, and many reported distinct benefits from that friendship. Eighty-six percent said that their pet(s) made them feel loved, and 79% credited their pets for reducing stress in their daily lives.

 COULD WORKING A LITTLE AFTER 70 BECOME ROUTINE? 

Some baby boomers and Gen Xers hope that they can work into their seventies. Is that hope unfounded? It may not be. Consider the nation’s shifting generational demographics, and how they may reshape the workforce.

HOW CAN A WOMAN TRY TO PREVENT OUTLIVING HER MONEY?

Certain financial decisions may help a woman grow and sustain her retirement assets across the decades to make up for time out of the workforce and the prevalent earnings gender gap. Obviously, one fundamental move would be to start saving and investing for retirement as early as possible – but other, sometimes under recognized choices may also allow a woman to make more financial progress.