Financial $tuff | Page 3 of 9 | Living Life Retired (LLR)

Starting the conversation

June 5, 2017 by Sherry

How to talk about care options with aging parents

By Cathy Molitoris, Lancaster Online

May 23, 2017

“You know the time has come. Maybe Mom is having difficulty navigating the stairs, or Dad is unable to keep track of his medication easily. It’s time to have The Talk. It’s time to discuss care options for your aging parents.

Adult children may find it difficult to bring up the subject of in-home help with their parents, or suggest the idea of moving to a care facility, but it’s important, says Ray Landis, advocacy manager of AARP in Harrisburg.

There are many signs it’s time to have this talk, he says.

‘Mobility is really the key factor for older people in maintaining their independence,’ he notes. ‘One of the biggest things that adult children of older individuals should be looking for is any problem with mobility.’

For example, are your parents having difficulty going up and down the steps? Have they slipped and fallen?

‘Do an evaluation of where they’re living,” Landis says. “Are there hand grips in the shower or bath?’

Lynn McCabe, information and referral supervisor for the Lancaster County Office of Aging, says increased difficulty in managing activities of daily living — from bathing and dressing, to paying bills, cooking or doing laundry — should be a sign that it’s time to talk about options.”

When it’s time to have the talk, McCabe says unless there’s an immediate crisis, the subject should be approached carefully, respectfully and in gradual increments.

Considering an annuity for your portfolio?

May 31, 2017 by Sherry

Annuities are complex investments. Here are 10 questions to ask to protect yourself.

Consider who is selling to you and how they are compensated

By Wendi Strom, The Denver Post

May 28, 2017

“Annuities can be complex and at times are aggressively sold. As a result, many buyers may sign on the dotted line before truly understanding what they are getting into. Since they also can come with hefty price tags and restrictions on withdrawals, knowledge is power. It’s important to arm yourself with the right questions to ask if you’re considering an annuity purchase.

With the help of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (which has an informational page on annuities at www.colorado.gov/pacific/dora/node/102771), I’ve created a list. Though it’s not exhaustive, it will give you a good start of things to consider and questions to ask any financial professional recommending an annuity purchase:

Who is selling this annuity to you, how did you find this person and what do you know about them?
What are the fees you’ll be paying?
If you decide you need some of this invested money back in the next couple years, how much can you get without paying an additional fee?
What are the risks?
What kind of protection, if any is provided to you in this product? And if so, how much are you paying for that protection?

…If used correctly, annuities can be a meaningful component to a broader financial plan. Though they are not the easiest investment to understand, they may fill an important void. You owe it to yourself to understand the features of the product, take the steps to identify if you truly need this in your financial picture, and more importantly be aware of the potential pitfalls so you can protect yourself today and in the years to come.”

Read the entire article about annuities

Wendi Strom is a certified financial planner at Lotus Financial Partners in Denver. A lifelong champion for women’s financial security, she serves as the president of the Financial Planning Association of Colorado.

Underfunded pensions – Do you have one?

May 29, 2017 by Sherry

This morning my friend Sharon and I were talking and the subject of pensions came up. We both receive a pension from the Public Employees Retirement Account (PERA), a Colorado teacher’s retirement fund. I asked her if she knew if it was in good standing. She said she thought it had gotten better than in years past.

This evening while reading the Denver Post, I read an article by Terry Savage titled, “Pensions at risk, group finds.” After checking out the website mentioned, it appears the Colorado PERA account gets a grade of D. The School Division Trust Fund of PERA (Sharon’s and my pension fund) had unfunded benefits of -$15.30 billion in 2015! That’s a negative in front of the number!

Check out your city or state pension fund to see if you have an underfunded pension after you read this article:

Don’t Count on that Government Pension

by Terry Savage, The Savage Truth

April 23, 2017

“Millions of Americans are expecting to receive a pension from the city or state that employs them. Many will be in for a terrible surprise, according to the nonprofit organization Truth in Accounting.

It surveyed 237 municipal pension plans across the country, using newly required reporting data about pension underfunding. Although it has taken decades for many of these pension funds to get into such bad shape, only now are the details being revealed, says Sheila Weinberg, president of Truth in Accounting and a CPA who has dedicated her life to requiring full and useful disclosure of federal, state and local debt obligations. (I am a board member of Truth in Accounting.)

This newly collected data should be frightening to those counting on a state or municipal pension. The latest numbers are available at http://www.statedatalab.org/pension_database. There you can search by state to find both state and local pension statistics. The report for each city and state includes the amount of pension plan assets, the amount of plan promises, and the dollar amount and percentage of pension underfunding. Every plan also receives a letter grade, from A to F.

Of the 237 cities studied, 29 received an ‘F’ grade, reflecting a funding ratio of less than 35 percent. Those plans cover many thousands of workers who cannot possibly be paid their full promised pensions, absent a huge tax increase (which would also come out of their pockets as workers).”

Organize and simplify your finances

May 22, 2017 by Sherry

Managing Your Money in Old Age

Declining financial abilities may not only result in a few unpaid bills but also leave you vulnerable to financial abuse and drain your nest egg.

By ELEANOR LAISE, Senior Editor
From Kiplinger’s Retirement Report, April 2017

“After Robyn Downing moved in with her ailing father in 2010, she gradually uncovered a financial quagmire. She found he had eight different checking accounts at four different banks. ‘He was writing a whole bunch of checks’ to charities he’d never supported before, she says, and he hadn’t kept a checkbook register in two years. He owned several rental units, and one of his tenants hadn’t paid any rent in nine months, says Downing, a retired children’s theater director in Gladstone, Mo.

‘He was really being taken advantage of financially,’ says Downing, age 62, who estimates that her father lost roughly $50,000 before she stepped in to help. During the four years prior to her father’s death at age 91 in 2014, Downing consolidated his accounts at one bank, organized the bookkeeping for his rental units and discouraged his habit of giving his credit card number to anyone who called on the phone. ‘What a pain it was to try to straighten things out,’ she says.

Financial capacity—the ability to manage your finances in your own best interest—involves everything from paying bills to reading a brokerage statement and weighing an investment’s potential risks and rewards. And preparing for the potential decline of that capacity is as important as planning for long-term-care expenses or keeping your estate plan up to date. Declining financial abilities may not only result in a few unpaid bills but also leave you vulnerable to financial abuse and exploitation, drain your nest egg, and place heavy burdens on your loved ones.”

Substitute teaching – a great part time job

May 17, 2017 by Sherry

School is almost out for the summer, so why would I be writing about substitute teaching? If you’ve thought about working part-time, summer is a great time to prepare to substitute at your neighborhood schools this fall. If you hold a current teaching license or a bachelor’s degree you can become a substitute teacher.

Most states have a licensing procedure for becoming a substitute teacher if you don’t hold a current teaching license. Just check the state’s Department of Education website and search for substitute licensing. In Colorado for instance, you can apply for a one-year, a three-year or a five-year license. All three of these licenses require the applicant be fingerprinted and results submitted to the state’s Bureau of Investigation. Licensing in Colorado costs $60 for a one-year license and $90 for the three- or five-year license. The five-year license in-state applicants must hold or have held a Colorado teaching license. An out-of-state applicant must hold an unexpired (non-Colorado) teaching license.

Valuable financial advice

April 6, 2017 by Sherry

How to prepare your finances for widowhood

By Natasha Burton, Market Watch

March 9, 2017

“Despite more women becoming involved in, or even taking over, the family finances, widowhood remains a significant risk factor when it comes to transitioning into poverty. More than one in five women living in poverty are 60 and older; and widows accounted for a nearly 46% of poor women age 60 and older in 2008.

A recent survey of women whose partners died showed that half of them lost at least 50% of their income following their loss, and 48% had difficulty determining what benefits they were entitled to from Social Security.

Given that women live longer than men — in every country in the world, in fact — it’s important to be prepared for your post-spouse life and start looking at widowhood as a when, rather than a what if. Here’s what you need to do to remain financially secure:

Get involved in the family finances

If your husband currently handles all of your money, it’s time to change that, advises certified financial adviser and founder and president of EverGuide Financial Group Mark Painter, who has worked with several widows as clients.

‘Be involved with financial decision making,’ he says. ‘If you and your husband use a financial adviser, be involved in the meetings. I have found that clients with a dual role are more successful than those with one decision maker.'”

Starting the conversation

How to talk about care options with aging parents

Like this:

Considering an annuity for your portfolio?

Annuities are complex investments. Here are 10 questions to ask to protect yourself.

Consider who is selling to you and how they are compensated

Like this:

Underfunded pensions – Do you have one?

Don’t Count on that Government Pension

Like this:

Organize and simplify your finances

Managing Your Money in Old Age

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Substitute teaching – a great part time job

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Valuable financial advice

How to prepare your finances for widowhood

Like this:

How to talk about care options with aging parents

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Like this:

Annuities are complex investments. Here are 10 questions to ask to protect yourself.

Consider who is selling to you and how they are compensated

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Like this:

Don’t Count on that Government Pension

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Like this:

Managing Your Money in Old Age

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Like this:

How to prepare your finances for widowhood

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