Even a Late Start toward Retirement is Better than None at All – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

There are also people who wait until they become senior citizens to begin planning for retirement. That’s a little on the late side, but the important thing, says the article “Retirement Planning: Start now to help Social Security, Medicare” from Martinsville Bulletin, is to get started. That’s better than doing nothing.

It’s easier if you start earlier. Let’s consider the high school student who diligently puts away 10% of a $7.25 per hour gross minimum wage earning for a year on an average 20-hour work week. That’s $750 into a retirement plan after one year. If that student never went to college, never learned a trade, got a raise or a promotion, they would still have $34,600 in personal savings in 46 years. It’s not a lot, as retirement savings go, but it’s better than nothing.

If the same high school student put those savings into an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), more would have been saved. The more time your money has to grow through compounding, the more money you’ll have.

Saving a little money every month could make a big difference later on. This year, the average monthly Social Security benefit rounds out at about $1,460 per person, calculated by combining a worker’s highest paid years in the workplace. That’s not enough for retirement. The answer? Start saving early.

It is not as easy to build a nest egg in a few years, but it’s possible.

Many people don’t wake up to the reality of retirement, until they reach age 62. There’s still time to plan. They can put money into IRA accounts, and at age 62 they can save as much as $7,000. Those IRA contributions count as tax deductions.

Roth IRAs are a little more flexible, but there are no tax deductions with contributions. On the plus side, when money is withdrawn, you’re not paying taxes on the withdrawals.

Another important planning point for seniors: if you’ve had health issues, it’s a good idea to keep working to maintain your employee health insurance. The healthier you are, the lower your health insurance costs will be during retirement. However, health costs do tend to increase with age, so that has to be factored into your retirement planning.

For people who take a lot of medication to control chronic conditions, they’ll need to look into health insurance outside of the workplace. That usually means Medicare. Most seniors are eligible for free Medicare hospital insurance, which is Part A of a four-part option, if they have worked and paid Medicare taxes.

Part A helps pay for inpatient care in a hospital or skilled nursing facility after a hospital stay, some home health care and hospice care. Part B helps to pay for doctors and a variety of other services. Part C allows HMO, PPO and other health care organizations to offer health insurance plans for Medicare beneficiaries. Part D provides prescription drug benefits through private insurance companies.

The Social Security Administration advises people to apply for Medicare three months before they celebrate their 65th birthday, regardless of whether they plan to start receiving retirement benefits right away.

Whether you’re 26 or 56, you need to plan for retirement. You also need to have an estate plan, and that means making the time to meet with an experienced estate planning professional to discuss your life and your retirement plans. You’ll need their guidance to create a will and other documents.

Advance planning will always be better than waiting until the last minute, for retirement and estate planning.

Reference: Martinsville Bulletin (May 17, 2019) “Retirement Planning: Start now to help Social Security, Medicare”

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys 

Big Mistakes Add Up Big Time for Retirement – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

Retirement is a theoretical event happening way off in the future — until you celebrate your 55th birthday, when it starts to become all too real. When that lightening bolt strikes, says The Street, some mistakes may become obvious, as described in the article “Avoid These Big Mistakes in Your Retirement Planning.”

The biggest, most obvious and perhaps least followed lesson: do as much of the planning in advance as possible. Don’t wait until you wake up on your first day of retirement to figure it out.

Here are the top four mistakes people make:

Overlooking the impact of healthcare costs. Inflation in healthcare is more than three times the Consumer Price Index’s annual increase. Medical inflation hit an average of 6.8% in 2018, and it’s not likely going down any time soon. Medicare covers hospitalization (Part A) and doctor visits (Part B) but it does not cover many other critical costs. You’ll need to pay for long-term care, vision, dental, co-pays and deductibles.

As we age, our healthcare costs go up. When you are in the early stages of retirement, active, busy and healthy, it rises around 5%. But as you age, if you are lucky enough to do so, your health insurance costs could leap by 15% annually.

Planning for Medicare is very important.  It is where many retirees make big mistakes. You’ll need Medigap insurance to cover areas that Medicare does not. You’ll also want Part D to cover prescriptions.

The bigger Medicare mistake is failing to enroll at age 65. If you miss it, you’ll have to pay a penalty just to get enrolled in the program. It’s not easy to figure it out, and the instruction book is 130 pages long. The website is also confusing. However, you have to do it and do it right.

Neglecting to save. Really save. It’s next to impossible if you are twenty-something, have enormous student loans and have not gotten your career on track, to even think about retirement. It’s not easy and it’s not the first thing younger people are thinking about. However, the sooner you start putting money away for retirement, the more time you have for the money to grow. If your company offers a retirement plan, start putting something away, even if it’s a small amount. Over time, that company retirement account will grow, your income will grow and you will be better positioned for retirement. Automatic deductions will make this more likely to happen. If your parents are nagging you about retirement, make them happy: sign up for the plan at work and go for the auto deductions. It’s one less thing for them — and you — to worry about.

Poor investments. People who take a do-it-yourself approach to their investment portfolio vary in levels of success. Some devote a lot of time to it, including educating themselves about industry sectors and market performance, and others follow the ‘brother-in-law’ school, which usually tanks. That’s when your brother-in-law boasts about how much money he made in a particular stock. However, he neglects to tell you about how many losses he’s taken along the way. A team approach of an educated investor with a professional financial advisor is a better way to go.

Thinking you know it all. Overconfidence has sunk many retirements. People who are highly successful in life think that career success will automatically translate into retirement and financial planning. It’s also very hard for these types of people to accept that there’s something they do not know and cannot control. It is even harder for them to ask for help.

Failing to plan includes the failure to work with an experienced estate planning attorney in creating an estate plan that addresses tax planning, incapacity, transferring wealth to the next generation and asset distribution. Just like early savings make a big difference, having an estate plan created early in your life and updating as you go through life will help protect you and your loved ones.

Reference: The Street (April 11, 2019) “Avoid These Big Mistakes in Your Retirement Planning.”

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys

Gen Xers Are the New Sandwich Generation – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

Balancing careers, children, college funds and aging parents present the same-old scenario, but this time to a new generation with a different value system.

Members of Generation X, who straddle a fairly wide age range, from late 30s to early 50s, are feeling the crunch of being responsible for their children and their parent’s needs. How will they ever get a handle on their savings for retirement?

U.S. News & World Report reminds us in its article “Essential Strategies for Generation X” that with the right strategies, Gen Xers can find a money-life balance.

Keep in mind that Gen X has been financially devastated twice: when the tech bubble burst and again during the financial crisis. This makes these individuals dubious about the future.

Let’s look at three strategies for those in the new sandwich generation to help make certain that the financial needs of their aging parents and children are met, and at the same time, ensuring that they don’t sacrifice their own financial future.

For You. Determine your financial health by calculating your net worth. This includes your savings, personal investment accounts, retirement plan accounts, and real estate, minus credit card debts, your mortgage and miscellaneous debt. Take off any items that won’t appreciate or be consumed in retirement, like a car or jewelry. Then review investments to be sure they’re performing consistently with your needs and expectations. Develop a plan to tackle debt and identify existing and projected expenses. Once you have all this information, use a basic retirement calculator to see if you’re on track to meet your retirement spending needs.

A basic calculator probably won’t let you input different scenarios or make detailed assumptions. Most will assume that you will need 70-80% of your current salary in retirement, but this may not be the case if you’re a big saver.

Create a contingency plan for premature death and disability. Ask an attorney to draft your will and other estate planning documents. Make sure that your will includes naming a guardian for your minor children so that you get to name the person who raises them. Have the attorney create powers of attorney and powers of attorney for health care so that you and your partner are prepared for incapacity.

For Your Children. Look at the resources available to fund your children’s education. Don’t put your retirement plan in jeopardy by paying for an expense you can’t afford, including your children’s college. Be open minded about state schools, or having your kids attend a local college for two years, then transfer to another college for a “brand name” diploma.

For Your Parents. See where your parents are financially because you may need to factor unexpected expenses into your plan if your parents need financial assistance. This will save time in the future if you know where to track down this information. Ask if they have an estate plan, and if they do not, have them meet with your estate planning attorney to have a plan created. Find out what kind of long-term care insurance they have in place.

With their somewhat pessimistic outlook—which is not undeserved—many Gen Xers are more focused on a work-life balance than amassing wealth. That’s good, but they need to develop good financial habits on a realistic scale.

Reference: U.S. News & World Report (March 28, 2019) “Essential Strategies for Generation X”

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys