Results for "health care"
Displaying 285 results
Health savings account limits to increase for some in 2017
July 29, 2016
Health savings accounts, which were established in 2003 to allow individuals and families to save money from their paychecks in tax-deferred accounts, have been touted as a great way to save for medical expenses both today and in retirement....
Make clients aware of filial laws that could wreak havoc on the financial security of millions
June 5, 2016
Longer life expectancies, coupled with skyrocketing nursing home costs, mean more retirees face the prospect of outliving their savings. The situation also jeopardizes the retirement security of their children, many of whom are members of the...
Life insurance helps with retirement planning, but beware of the pitfalls
May 29, 2016
Cash-value life insurance could prove to be a valuable asset for clients looking to couple an insurance need with tax and portfolio diversification in retirement. But there are some major caveats involved — namely, product considerations are...
Retiree medical expenses could outpace Social Security benefits in 20 years
May 23, 2016
A new report projecting health care costs for current and future retirees is chock full of scary numbers that should keep most financial planners up at night. But just as hiding under the covers during graphic horror flick scenes won't change...
Advisers' role in retiree health care
May 15, 2016
What's the single biggest expense that your clients will face once they've retired? Housing? Recreation? How about health care costs? Between Medicare premiums and the portion of medical bills Medicare doesn't pay, health care costs are actually...
How to help clients save big bucks on health and Medicare costs in retirement
May 3, 2016
In an environment of swelling health care expenses and inflation, examining ways to mitigate those costs, especially as they relate to Medicare, is becoming an increasingly important way for advisers to add value for clients. Not only are health...
Debunking the top myths and misconceptions about Medicare
April 20, 2016
When it comes to Medicare, there are many myths, misconceptions and misunderstandings. I hear about them from advisers and their clients on a daily basis. I thought it would be helpful to describe some of the most common fallacies and dispel...
How to properly defer Medicare enrollment
April 19, 2016
As the retirement age in our country continues to push into the late sixties and early seventies, many individuals are realizing that delaying Medicare enrollment may be a prudent plan. Considering the significant impact health care costs have...
Is securitizing health care loans a workable solution for accessing high-cost medical treatments?
April 17, 2016
Can securitized debt instruments, those same products that helped inflate the housing-market bubble and played a major role in the 2008 financial crisis, be used to finance the cost of catastrophic health care expenses? A small group of big...
Health care costs squeeze retirement savings
April 13, 2016
Once upon a time, workplace-based savings accounts were focused largely on retirement. Contributions to 401(k) plans or similar employer-sponsored plans helped employees build a retirement nest egg while reducing their current tax burden. But...
How to effectively use health savings accounts for health care in retirement
March 7, 2016
A recent theme of my articles has been to focus on maximizing retirement cash sources that do not generate higher-income Medicare surcharges. The surcharges, officially known as the income-related monthly adjustment amounts (IRMAA), create higher...
Donald Trump's health care plan starts with repealing Obamacare
March 4, 2016
Donald Trump's seven-point health care plans includes repealing Obamacare and six other points. It promises to be yuuge. Challenging Congress to step away from special interest groups. In the category of super obvious stuff, Bill Gross predicts...
Medicare, reverse mortgages and the complexities of retirement planning
February 8, 2016
My column last month about how reverse mortgages may help stave off Medicare surcharges ignited a few sparks and even more questions. One of the most persistent misunderstandings surrounding reverse mortgages is fear. As one adviser put it,...
Are your clients using the wrong account to save for retirement?
January 27, 2016
Traditional wisdom suggests that clients should always stash enough money in a 401(k) to capture an employer matching contribution year as the first step toward achieving a secure retirement. But a provocative article in the Journal of Financial...
Clients need prep for long-term care
December 30, 2015
A recent survey conducted by Lincoln Financial Group, “Managing Long-Term Care Risk,” revealed some surprising reasons why Americans, aged 18 and over, are so unprepared to meet their long-term-care expenditures in retirement. An astonishing...
Employees enrolling in health savings accounts, 401(k)s more than ever: report
December 10, 2015
More than ever, employees — specifically younger ones — are looking to enroll in workplace benefit plans, specifically 401(k) plans and health savings accounts, according to a report from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “We see companies...
Rethinking retirement income replacement rules
December 10, 2015
I sympathize with financial professionals who try to advise their clients on how much to save for retirement when the traditional 80% of pre-retirement income target is being questioned. Some research suggests that the rule of thumb, based on...
Don't shrug off health care conversations with clients
December 8, 2015
Advisers who don't actively consider health care costs during retirement income planning with clients are missing out on an opportunity to set themselves apart from the pack, and tackle a subject that clients increasingly value. “I think it...
Advisers tell clients: Think of retirement as '35 years of unemployment'
October 16, 2015
Americans' life expectancy continues to climb, new estimates out this month from the Society of Actuaries show. Official assessments such as these can impact client planning on many levels, including how large a required minimum distribution...
What advisers need to know when working with May-December couples
October 9, 2015
The term “May-December romance” – slang for a couple with a considerable age gap that leaves one person in the “spring” of their life and the other in the “winter” – often evokes images of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones...
