Turning 65 brings about many dates, deadlines, and dreams. During the years leading up to retirement, life is often practicable in terms of income streams, healthcare coverage, and meeting your everyday needs. But many things change once you’re retired.
We want our clients to embrace the changes with confidence by empowering them to make educated life decisions. Through our value-based financial planning services at HBA Wealth, we keep track of all the dates and deadlines to help you live out your retirement dreams.
Whether you choose to retire or not, when you turn 65, it’s time to review your healthcare needs, determine your retirement income, and organize your affairs.
Healthcare
Medicare eligibility begins at age 65. If you’re 65 and not already receiving Medicare benefits, now is the time to sign up.
Don’t put off nailing down your ideal timeline or else you could be stuck with higher premiums or penalties. You’ll have to make a few coverage-related decisions. Here’s a refresher of your options:
- Medicare Part A is hospital coverage and free to seniors in the U.S. who have paid Medicare taxes for a minimum of 10 years.
- Medicare Part B is medical insurance. The optional plan comes with a premium to cover doctor visits and medical supplies. The premiums are far more economical than purchasing a private plan and widely accepted throughout the U.S.
- Medicare Part D is optional prescription drug coverage. It’s smart to review your current prescription costs compared to the added Part C premium.
The above options fall under Original Medicare. If you opt for Part C, you’ll have a Medicare Advantage plan, which bundles the original benefits with additions such as vision, dental, and hearing.
Another healthcare aspect to consider is long-term care needs. For skilled care, which is prescribed by a doctor, Medicare will pay for your first 20 days of care. Day 21-100 comes with a coinsurance of $185.50 per day. Care required beyond day 100 must be paid out of pocket. (1)
It’s important to understand that non-skilled care is not covered in this scenario. Examples of non-skilled care include hygiene assistance, eating, or medication distribution.
The costs associated with long-term care add up quickly. Take the time to review your state's average annual cost to estimate your possible needs. You may consider a long-term care insurance plan to offset the cost.
Retirement Income and Social Security
When you turn 65, it’s time to finalize a plan for covering your wants and needs through retirement. Social Security payments paired with withdrawals from retirement savings accounts is a common strategy for covering your expenses, hobbies, and travel.
While withdrawal strategies are personal and beyond the scope of this article, Social Security is a welcomed and steady stream of income you can count on after all those years of paying into the pot. Let’s estimate how much you’ll receive each month.
You’re first eligible to claim your benefit at age 62. Everyone has a primary insurance amount (PIA), which is how much you’ll receive if you withdraw at the normal retirement age, which is currently 67 for those born in or after 1960.
Your PIA is based on your average indexed monthly earnings and the amount you’ve contributed to Social Security. The payment amount increases for every month you defer receiving your first payment.
Using the Social Security Administration’s quick calculator, (2) we can get a feel for how distributions increase by waiting to make your first withdrawal. In our example, we’ll look at a person born in 1957 with annual earnings of $50,000. This person would turn 65 in 2022.
- If this person opts to start receiving payments at 65, they can expect $1,282 per month.
- Wait until age 67 and the payment increases to $1,527 per month.
- Wait until age 70 and the payment increases to $1,960 per month.
Patience can pay off, but to determine when to start claiming your Social Security benefit, we suggest reviewing your plans with a trustworthy financial advisor.
Ensure Your Affairs Are in Order
While estate planning isn’t always fun, it’s a necessary step in retirement planning. Have a conversation with your loved ones about your wishes. Your guidance today can eliminate stress as they make decisions on your behalf down the road.
The best way to ensure your assets are properly distributed and your desires are fulfilled is through an up-to-date will. A will is a wonderful way to designate beneficiaries for your assets.
While a will, in its most common form, is used after your passing, think about the assistance you may need while still living. Designating a power of attorney can also make life easier down the road.
If you lose physical or cognitive abilities in the future, your power of attorney can assist in managing your finances, assets, and making medical decisions.
Make a Smooth Transition Into Retirement
Assuring healthcare coverage, reviewing your retirement income options, and organizing your affairs are 3 tasks you should tackle when you turn 65. Doing so can make a tremendous difference in your preparedness for life after retiring.
You don’t have to tackle these tasks alone. At HBA Wealth, our customized financial plans cover these topics and much more. Start planning today to help ensure a smooth transition into retirement. Contact us at (626) 529-8347 or email Ricky directly at ricky@hbawealth.com.
About Haydel, Biel & Associates
Haydel, Biel & Associates is an independent financial advisory firm serving individuals and families near Pasadena, California. The firm was founded in 2004 by Chris Haydel and Ricky Biel with a desire to provide unbiased, client-centered, community-based financial advice. Together, they have built a practice that has grown into a family of caring, smart professionals committed to blending proven investment methodologies with creative financial technologies that make it easier than ever to accomplish your goals. They strive to keep things simple and fun to give their clients peace of mind and alleviate financial stress. HBA Wealth takes care of their clients’ needs first and foremost and goes the extra mile to make their clients’ finances grow. To meet and see how the HBA Wealth team may be able to help, contact them today at (626) 529-8347 or email Ricky directly at ricky@hbawealth.com.
The commentary on this blog/website reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints and analyses of the Haydel Biel & Associates employees providing such comments, and should not be regarded as a description of advisory services provided by Haydel Biel & Associates or performance returns of any Haydel Biel & Associates Investments client. The views reflected in the commentary are subject to change at any time without notice. Nothing on this website constitutes investment advice, performance data or any recommendation that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. Any mention of a particular security and related performance data is not a recommendation to buy or sell that security. Haydel Biel & Associates manages its clients’ accounts using a variety of investment techniques and strategies, which are not necessarily discussed in the commentary. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
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(1) https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/skilled-nursing-facility-snf-care