Can You Afford Prescriptios and Other Health Care?

We have published some articles on health insurance, and even ranted a bit about health reform in the US. I do not care what your political outlook is right now, but you have to know that the US health system has some big problems that affect patients, doctors, and employers. In fact, every player in this issue has a crisis to deal with right now, and I wish our own government could somehow get past the silly stuff and get some work done.

Who Needs Help Affording Health Care?

We have gotten some very sincere emails from our previous posts. I am not going to pubish them because of privacy issues. You will have to take my word for it. People are having real trouble because they cannot afford prescriptions or other health services. I think this problem is really tough for those of us betwee about 50 and 64. We are too young for Medicare, and too old to easilly qualify for private individual policies. Even if some of us have health isurance, our policies may not be all that good. I have heard of tragic cases of people running out of benefits or having huge copays, deductibles, or limits when they needed expensive medical treatment.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Do We Need Long Term Care Insurance?

Since the population is aging, I see a lot more discussion of the need long term care insurance (LTCI). There is no doubt that odds are good that many of us will require some sort of nursing care in our lives. This could be assisted living, a true nursing home, or even home health care. And since it is common for this care to cost a few thousand dollars a month, this expense should be planned for.

But do we need to plan with a long term care insurance policy?

Why Consider LTCI?

People purchase this coverage for a variety of reasons. The most common reason is to protect the assets they have built up over a lifetime. Medicare, the federal health insurance program for seniors and disabled people, only covers short term nursing care. Medicaid, the federal program for poor people, requires a very low income and few assets. People do not want to have to spend all of their assets on nursing care so they can qualify for Medicaid. They want to leave their resources intact. They may also want more choices, since Medicaid only covers approved and participating facilities and services.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Single Premium Life (SPL) Insurance Explanation

What is Single Premium Life Insurance, which is also sometimes just called SPLI? Instead of making payments over a period of years, you actually fund this type of policy with one large sum at the beginning for the contract. We are used to paying premiums once a month, or once a year, over many years. In this case, you just pay once, and then you are done. You can also get more information here: Single Premium Life Insurance Explained.

Who Should Consider SPLI?

There are some advantages to buying a whole life policy this way. You can just make one large payment, and then know you will be covered for the rest of your life. And if you happen to have a lump sum of cash, you can usually purchase many times that amount of face value. So one type of person who should consider this product would have some cash they do not need to spend, and who would like to turn that sum into a larger sum to pass on to heirs.

Estate Transfer Example

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

How Can We Save More For Retirement?

If you are like me, and like a lot of middle aged Americans, you are probably concerned about retirement. I do set aside a monthly amount for my retirement account, but I am very concerned that it will not be enough. Right now I do not have real plans to retire at a certain age, but I do know that things could change. And I do not think that there really is ever such a thing as having too much retirement savings. So I would like to improve my savings rate. Even a $50 a month increase could really add up over the next 15 – 20 years.

Cutting Expenses for More Retirement Savings

As a small business owner, I always strive to increase my income. But I seem to hit the ceiling on that sometimes. So my next attack plan has to be from cutting my expenses. Now everybody who knows me, also knows that I do not want to live like a monk for the next 20 years so I can build up my retirement account. Plus, I still have kids at home, and they have some fixed costs too. So I need to trim some fat out of my budget without reducing my living standard too much.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Are Free Credit Reports a Good Deal?

Hello, helloo, hello…. Can anybody hear me….?

Yes, it is a very catchy jingle, and it is sung by a baby faced rocker and his group. But despite the engaging commercials for websites like FreeCreditReports.com, are they a good deal? Of course, free sounds like a good deal. But those of us over 50 know that no company spends all of that money on ads just to give away things for free.

Actually the Better Business Bureau has heard over 11,000 complaints about this credit bureau owned service. It works like this. You sign up for the free information, but you must give them your credit card number. You have 9 days to cancel, or you will be charged $14.00 a month for Triple Advantage Credit Monitoring.

Experian, the credit bureau who owns FreeCreditReport.com says these terms are made clear to the consumer, but those terms must have missed the notice of at least 11,000 (and we’re betting more) of the people who wanted a free credit report.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Affordable Term Life Insurance Over Age 50

Somehow we seem to slide through our younger years without really feeling the need for life insurance. But then we hit 50 or 60, and somehow we start to feel our mortality. By the time we have hit middle age, we have actually had adult relationships with people who have died without warning. Most of us also still have obligations, and we know that we would probably leave our loved ones with a mess if we suddenly exited the scene.

So the question comes up more often. Can people over 50 still find affordable term life insurance?

Well, Can People Over 50 Find Affordable Term Life Insurance Policies?

I have good news. Most people, in reasonable good health, can find term policies into late middle age and early retirement years. US statistics, at least, tell insurance company actuaries are living longer than they did a decade ago. This means that rates have dropped over the last 10 years. This also means that top life insurance companies are more willing to extend coverage to older people.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Is the Out-Go More than the In-Go?

As we get older, thoughts about retirement pop into our heads more often. It is easy to start worrying about missed opportunities, fiancial problems, and bad planning. But this is no time to panic! It is time to analyze your budget and see how you can fix it. In an idea world, we would all be spending less than we make, save money, and keeping our expenses at a minimum. But managing a budget is a task like washing dishes or getting the car washed. We do not expect our sink to empty itself of dishes or the family car to clean itself. Likewise, just a little bit of effort can help clean your own family budget!

Online Family Budget Worksheets

We’d like to thank the Frugal Living Blog for publishing a couple of handy tools to help. Visit this article for an online family budget worksheet you can download or print. It is a fairly simple form that should make it fairly quick to complete even if you have some variable income and bills. The idea behind this budget worksheet is that you cannot fix your budget if you do not even know what it is! I am not being critical, but I just understand from personal experience how easy it is for expenses to get out of control!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Bank CD or Annuity for Retirement Savings?

Well, a lot of us have been struggling with our retirement accounts lately. I know that it was discouraging for me to watch my stock based IRA take a huge hit last year. And even though it is creeping back up, I have not recovered my retirement savings to pre-2009 levels. It is hard to watch money evaporate when it was such a tough battle to sock it away in the first place.

Safe Money?

So let’s take a look at some safe money investments. This is what bank CDs and fixed annuities are usually called because they have guarantees from banks or insurance compaies that no money will be lost when the market goes down. But is this really true? Well, you really have to consider inflation and the affect of taxes before you can actually say you did not lose any money.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Need Some Credit Card Balance Cures?

We all made our New Year’s resolutions last year to minimize debt. But there is no doubt that January, coming right after the holidays, has got to be a tough time for most of us. It was so tempting to use our cards for gifts, parties, or travel, and now we get to enjoy our New Year’s credit card statements. For many of us those come complete with higher interest rates too. So how do we plan our attack?

Vote NO to Higher Interest Rates on Credit Cards

If you’ve managed your credit well, paid bills on time, etc., but still been hit with interest rate hikes, it is time to do some shopping around for lower rates. If your credit is decent, you can still find zero interest rate balance transfers.

Does Credit Card Interest Rate Matter on Smaller Balances?

I’m not sure what you consider a small credit card balance. But let’s say you owe $1,000 on your credit card, which is probably a pretty moderate sized debt for an American family. If your interest rate is 23%, you can make a payment of about $100 a month, it will take you 12 months to pay it off. You would have paid about $120 in interest charges too. So your $1,000 balance will really cost you over $1,100. It is pretty likely, in fact, that you will still be looking at your 2009 debt as the 2010 holiday season approaches. We don’t want that.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Are Over 50 Car Insurance Discounts Real?

We have all seen a lot of marketing that targets people our age. The latest trend seems to come from major car insurance companies, like AARP and The Hartford, who suggest that we will be rewarded for our age, and all of the wisdom and maturity that may be linked to living this long. I have even seen internet ads for Obama car insurance discounts for older people! What we need to know, before rushing off, is how real these ads are. Is this just targeted marketing, or is there really something to it?

One of our sister sites ran this article – over 50 car insurance discounts- to examine that issue. They really could not conclude that there was any particular benefit to using an insurer who marketed to boomers over any other insurer that would offer a car insurance discount for having a long driving record with few accidents and claims.  It is doubtful that a middle aged driver, with recent DUIs, would be able to get cheap premiums. And another middle aged driver, with a long and clean driving record, would probably get a good deal from most insurers.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!