It’s Sunday, which means...It’s recap time! 

This week, we looked at how much healthcare will cost in retirement. 

Here’s what we covered in each episode this week:

• The actual cost of healthcare in retirement
• How Medicare factors into how you plan for retirement and the big surprise for many Americans…
• Medicare isn’t free
• Then we talked about - how you can save wisely for healthcare costs in retirement before you actually retire
• And don’t forget about paying for long-term care on top of everything else! 

Hopefully after listening to the One Minute Retirement Tip this week, you understand what the heck healthcare is going to cost you in retirement so you can plan for and prepare yourself for those costs! 

If you missed any of these episodes or if you want to revisit any of them, you can find them on iTunes, Spotify, or Google Play by searching for the “One Minute Retirement Tip with Ashley”. 

Tomorrow, we are starting a brand new theme: The 4% Rule.

The 4% rule is an easy back-of-the-envelope way to calculate how much income you’ll be able to safely withdraw from your portfolio each year in retirement and not run out of money. The 4% rule has its advantages in that it's easy to calculate how much you’ll need to save for retirement in order to live the lifestyle you want, but it’s not without its problems either...so next week, we’ll be talking about the pros and cons of this useful retirement planning tool. 

That’s it for this week! Thanks for listening and I hope you have a blessed Sunday! 

My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the “One Minute Retirement Tip”.

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, finances, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, money tips, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast

This week I’m talking about how much healthcare will cost in retirement. 

Today, I’m talking about long-term care which is an expensive need for many retirees later in life, and is in addition to the typical health care costs I mentioned this week. A 65 year old couple can expect to pay about $285,000 for healthcare related costs in retirement. But what about if you need long-term care? Long-term care is needed when you can no longer take care of yourself or meet the regular activities of daily living on your own.

The median annual cost for long-term care ranges from $18,000 for adult day care to $97,000 for a private room in a nursing home. 

If you require long-term care for an extended period or if you develop dementia or Altzheimer’s, the costs skyrocket. The estimated lifetime cost of care for someone with dementia is $341,840.

There’s about a 50/50 chance that you’ll need some form of long-term care in your lifetime, and 15% of Americans will spend more than $250,000 on long-term care in our lifetime. 

Those expenses can wipe out your wealth, which is why it’s so important to understand your options and protect yourself.

You can take your chances and self-fund, which is likely the way to go if you have millions in assets or if you haven’t saved much at all for retirement. The problem lies when you’re in the middle. If long-term care costs have the potential to wipe out your wealth in retirement and you need to preserve that wealth for your spouse, your kids, or for some other reason, you’ll want to look seriously at buying long-term care insurance. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, finances, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, money tips, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast

This week I’m talking about how much healthcare will cost in retirement. 

As I mentioned earlier this week, the average retired couple age 65 in 2019 will spend $285,000 on health care expenses in retirement. For single retirees, the estimate is $150,000 for women and $135,000 for men. Ouch! 

Today, I’m talking about how you can pay for those health care costs, now - before you retire! You can do that through the holy grail of retirement savings accounts - the health savings account. If you have a high-deductible medical insurance plan through your work, you can save up to $7,100 in a HSA in 2020. If you’re over age 50, you can add another $1,000 to your HSA this year. 

Many people who have access to an HSA through work just view it as a savings account that exists to help them pay for doctors visits and medical bills now.

But I want you to think instead about the Health Savings Account as a tool that will help you pay for healthcare costs long after you’re retired. See, you can invest your HSA to grow over time, so you’ll have more money for doctor visits, prescriptions, and all kinds of health care costs, next year or 20 years down the road.

And the beauty of the HSA and why it’s the holy grail of retirement savings accounts is that it offers tax benefits that no other retirement savings account can match: tax-deductible contributions on money going in, tax free growth, and tax-free withdrawals when you pull the money out to pay for healthcare costs. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, finances, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, money tips, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast

This week I’m talking about how much healthcare will cost in retirement. 

Yesterday, I talked about Medicare 101 - just a few basics to help you better understand medicare plans, costs, and how to plan for it as you approach age 65. So if you missed yesterday, go back and listen to that episode. 

Today, I’m diving a little deeper into the costs of medicare, and addressing a common misconception - medicare is not free! Wait? I paid into that system all my working years...why isn’t it free? 

The truth is that when you turn 65 and enroll in Medicare, you’ll still have deductibles, premiums, co-pays, etc. And there are plenty of other healthcare costs that aren’t covered by your standard medicare plans including dental, vision, and long-term care. 

So let’s look at each part of Medicare, what it covers and what you can expect to pay. 

First, there’s Medicare Part A, which covers hospital stays, skilled nursing, hospice and some home health services. These expenses are mostly covered after you meet your deductible. 

Then there is Medicare Part B, which covers outpatient care and medical supplies — has a standard monthly premium of $144 this year...but you could pay a lot more than that depending on your income. It also comes with a $198 deductible. Once the deductible is met, you typically pay 20% of covered services.

Confused yet? Are you seeing how the costs can begin to add up? 

Medicare Part D covers prescriptions, and as I mentioned yesterday Medicare Advantage and "Medigap" supplemental insurance plans are also an option. 

So there is a lot to consider as you think about and research your options for Medicare. And with healthcare costs being such a big ongoing monthly expense, it’s important to do your homework well in advance and understand how your healthcare expenses are going to impact your overall spending and budget in retirement. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, finances, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, money tips, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast

This week I’m talking about how much healthcare will cost in retirement. 

Today, I’m talking about Medicare 101. Now, Medicare is so complicated, at some point I’ll devote a week or more to this topic, but for today, I just want to cover the basics and some common misunderstandings.

First of all, a lot of people think that when they go on Medicare at the age of 65 they’ll be covered and won’t have to pay out of pocket for healthcare costs like doctor’s visits and prescriptions. Not true. You’ll still have to meet deductibles and pay premiums and other expenses after you enroll in medicare. 

As far as the plans themselves, there’s Medicare Parts A, B, and D, as well as Medicare Advantage and "Medigap" supplemental insurance plans. They all provide different types of coverage and you’ll end up having multiple plans. 

If you scratch your head every year trying to sort through your health benefit options at work, I’m sorry to say that Medicare is even more confusing, so it’s important to start researching the options and understand the Medicare ins and outs at least several months before you’re eligible at 65. 

With Medicare, you have an enrollment period that actually begins before you turn age 65, so it’s important that you do your homework and understand the various plans and what they cover so you can plan for your out-of-pocket costs as well and pick the best plan for your situation.

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. Tomorrow I’m going to continue with the basics of Medicare to help you understand more about this often confusing topic. 

My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, finances, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, money tips, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast

This week I’m talking about how much healthcare will cost in retirement. 

Today, it’s gettin’ real depressing over here at the One Minute Retirement Tip, because I’m sharing with you how much you can expect to pay for healthcare in retirement. 

Healthcare is one of the biggest expenses for most retirees - ranking right up there with housing and transportation costs, and it comes with an equally big lifetime price tag. 

Fidelity estimates that about 15% of the average retiree's annual expenses will be used for health care-related expenses, including Medicare premiums and out-of-pocket expenses. 

In that same study, Fidelity found that the average retired couple age 65 in 2019 will spend $285,000 on health care expenses in retirement. For single retirees, the estimate is $150,000 for women and $135,000 for men. Ouch! 

How much you spend is obviously going to vary widely depending on where you live, how you’re paying for out-of-pocket expenses and how healthy you are, but in my experience, most of my clients end up spending $5,000-$15,000 per year on healthcare costs. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip. 

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, finances, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, money tips, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast

Welcome to a new week and a new theme here on the One Minute Retirement Tip! 

This week I’m talking about how much healthcare will cost in retirement. 

It’s a big question to factor into your spending in retirement and it’s something that many people forget to plan for when they are figuring out how to budget for this big expense.

So this week, I’ll be talking about what you can expect to pay for healthcare in retirement, how medicare works, and to handle unexpected curveballs like needing expensive long-term care later in life. 

One important tip about calculating your spending for healthcare in retirement, that I want to make - you should budget for healthcare separately, rather than just lumping it in with your total monthly or annual spending. It really needs to be its own line item. 

Why? Well, because healthcare costs are likely to keep climbing at a higher rate than inflation so it’s likely that healthcare will become an increasingly bigger slice of your monthly spending pie, especially as you age - not just because cost increases will likely outpace other costs, but also because you’ll probably spend more in healthcare as you age, since most of us aren’t built with bodies that hold up well past the age of 70-80. 

Tomorrow I’m going to dive in with the depressingly high $ figure you can expect to pay for healthcare in retirement.

That’s it for today, but before you go...If you haven’t already left a review for the One Minute Retirement Tip, please consider leaving an honest review in Amazon or iTunes. I read them all, so feel free to leave any feedback or topic suggestions there too. 

Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, finances, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, money tips, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast

It’s Sunday, which means...It’s recap time! 

This week, we took a deep dive into the 2020 gift tax rules, and how you can take advantage of lifetime gift strategies while these options are still on the table. 

Gifting, especially during your lifetime, can be a powerful strategy to transfer wealth, business interests, property, and a variety of other assets to your family and heirs, and with the current generous gifting and estate tax rules, now is the time to gift. 

Here’s what we covered in each episode this week:

• How The Gift Tax Exclusion Works
• The Lifetime Gift Tax Exemption...Explained
• Why lifetime gifting now makes sense compared to waiting until you die to pass along wealth 
• The best ways to gift assets and what types of assets you can give besides cash
• And lastly, the do’s and don’t of gifting assets to your heirs

Hopefully after listening to the One Minute Retirement Tip this week, you understand the gift tax, how it works both with the annual amount you can give, and the amount you can give over your lifetime without paying tax. And most importantly, I hope you understand why now is an ideal time to gift and why you shouldn’t wait to gift if you can afford to do it now. 

If you missed any of these episodes or if you want to revisit any of them, you can find them on iTunes, Spotify, or Google Play by searching for the “One Minute Retirement Tip with Ashley”. 

Tomorrow, we are starting a brand new theme: How Much Will Healthcare Cost In Retirement?

Ah, the big question that may people forget to plan for when they are figuring out how much money they will need to pay for healthcare in retirement. So next week, I’ll be talking about what you can expect to pay for healthcare in retirement, how medicare works, and to handle unexpected curveballs like needing expensive long-term care later in life. 

That’s it for this week! Thanks for listening and I hope you have a blessed Sunday! 

My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the “One Minute Retirement Tip”.

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, finances, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, money tips, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast

This week I’m talking about the 2020 gift tax rules, and how you can take advantage of lifetime gift strategies while these options are still on the table. 

Gifting, especially during your lifetime, can be a powerful strategy to transfer wealth, business interests, property, and a variety of other assets to your family and heirs, and with the current generous gifting and estate tax rules, now is the time to gift. But gifting isn’t right for everyone, and that’s what I’m talking about today - the do’s and don’ts of gifting assets to your heirs. 

The most important consideration with lifetime gifting is to do so only when you can actually afford it. You don’t want to gift $15,000 this year to each of your kids and run the risk of those gifts jeopardizing your ability to continue to live a comfortable retirement. 

That should go without saying, but I have personally witnessed clients and friend sacrificially give to their children, even when that gift wasn’t necessary, at the expense of their own financial well-being. It’s a big no-no, so you should only gift when you can actually afford it. 

Secondly, and on a more sensitive note, it’s important to use lifetime gifts to test the waters to ensure your children will handle inherited wealth in a responsible way. 

Gifting can have a lot of negative consequences for both you and your children, so gifting should only be done when: Moral character is strong, their incentive to work isn’t compromised, and funds will not be used to fund luxurious and wasteful lifestyles. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, finances, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, money tips, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast

This week I’m talking about the 2020 gift tax rules, and how you can take advantage of lifetime gift strategies while these options are still on the table. 

Today, I’m talking about the best ways to give assets. As I’ve been trying to shout from the rooftops all week, lifetime gifting right now is as attractive as it’s ever been in your lifetime, making now an ideal time to gift. But as I’ve also explained, the clock is ticking, so if you're going to take advantage of the current rules and pay zero tax on millions of dollars that you can gift to your heirs, now is the time to do it. 

Now most people think about gifting in terms of cash gifts. But there are numerous assets that you can gift. Large gifts will be subject to the lifetime gift tax exclusion, but you can still give over $11 million if you're single, and over $23 million if you’re married tax-free during your lifetime...at least for now. 

The best kind of gifts you can give are the ones that don’t eat into your lifetime exemption amount at all. These gifts are: 

• Gifts to charities approved by the IRS
• A gift to your spouse (as long as he or she is a U.S. citizen)
• A gift to cover someone’s education tuition, if paid directly to the educational institution 
• Gifts to cover someone’s medical expenses, if paid directly to the medical facility
• A gift to a political organization

Other types of gifts that will eat into your lifetime exemption, but that are still powerful ways to pass wealth during your lifetime tax-free include gifting property, business interests, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, & collectibles. 

So if you own a beach house or a business that you want to pass on to your heirs, there has literally not been a better time in your lifetime to pass along these assets to your heirs, free from tax. 

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening. My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the One Minute Retirement Tip.

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, finances, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance, wealth management, money tips, fee only financial advisor, financial planner, financial podcast, retirement podcast, financial independence podcast