At any age, health care is a priority. When you retire, however, you will probably focus more on health care than ever before. Staying healthy is your goal, and this can mean more visits to the doctor for preventive tests and routine checkups. There’s also a chance that your health will decline as you grow older, increasing your need for costly prescription drugs or medical treatments. That’s why having health insurance is extremely important.
Posted by Michael Chapman at 12:00 PM PDT
If you own a home, you may be wealthier than you think. The equity in your home could be one of your largest assets, especially if your mortgage has been paid down over the years or paid off. This home equity can be a valuable source of extra income during your retirement years.
Posted by Michael Chapman at 12:00 PM PDT
If you cannot afford to retire or if you still enjoy working, you might want to consider delaying retirement. This could mean that you continue to work full-time or that you work part-time, for either the same or a different employer, to supplement your retirement income. It could also mean that you start up your own business venture. In any case, a delayed retirement involves continuing to generate at least some employment earnings as an alternative to full-time retirement leisure mode.
Posted by Michael Chapman at 12:00 PM PDT
The term “stretch IRA” has become a popular way to refer to an IRA (either traditional or Roth) that has provisions that make it easier to “stretch out” the time that funds can stay in the IRA after the death of the owner. A stretch IRA is not a special type of IRA under the Internal Revenue Code. It’s just a traditional IRA or Roth IRA that has language (in the custodial or trust document that governs the IRA) giving a beneficiary (and backup contingent beneficiaries) the option to take distributions from an inherited IRA over the beneficiary’s life expectancy.
This language also generally allows successor beneficiaries to be named, facilitating the continued tax-deferred growth of the IRA over (possibly) more than one generation. There’s nothing really dramatic about this “stretch” language; any IRA provider can include it. The fact is, though, many don’t. Absent the “stretch” language, IRA funds might have to be distributed on a more aggressive basis upon the death of the IRA owner or the original beneficiary.
Posted by Michael Chapman at 12:00 PM PDT
