The retirement news about baby boomers hasn’t been good lately. According to the Insured Retirement Institute  “45% of Boomers have zero savings for their retirement.”

Scary fact since there are about 34 million of them and roughly half are at retirement age. So what do you need to know to avoid this?

Preparing For Retirement

How To Pay For It

The three ways to pay for retirement are Social Security, private pensions and personal savings. Pensions are fast becoming a thing of the past. In short everyone is now responsible to save for their own retirement.

And it’s never too late to start saving. In reality you want to start as soon as possible to take advantage of the power of compound interest.

How Much Retirement Income is Needed

People are living longer and healthier lives. Therefore they need more money than past generations. The average American aged 65-74 is spending $55,000 a year. However 60% think they will need much less than that.

So how do you come up with a plan?

• First, be realistic about how much money you’ll need and want in retirement.
• Second, create a budget of your bills and expenses so you have a clear idea of costs.
• Third, make adjustments. For example, if your family home is too costly, downsize to a smaller house. Or if you take three cruises a year plan on one in retirement.

Another option is to postpone retirement. In other words keep working. This scenario is already happening. There’s a third of baby boomers of retirement age still in the workforce.

Plan For Long-Term Care Costs

The biggest wildcard in retirement planning is paying for the cost of care. You’ll need to plan for unexpected health conditions and without a crystal ball that’s difficult to do. When you feel fine and healthy it’s hard to imagine a time when you won’t.

Yet someone turning 65 today has about a 50-50 chance of needing long term care services in their lifetime. While we all hope we aren’t the 50% who will need it, it’s better to have a plan if we do.

First understand that Medicare doesn’t pay for long-term care. So if you need help with things such as dressing, bathing and feeding yourself, those aren’t covered. Second, even if you have long-term care insurance it won’t cover the entire cost of care.

Bottom line is you’ll need to save for this as well. Here’s a calculator to help you take a look at costs.

Consider Continuing Care At Home Programs

There are some programs that protect your savings and offer services that keep you in your home. This option provides an alternative to long-term care insurance and includes 24/7 care coordination to help you manage medical care and procedures.

They offer plans that you can customize to meet your needs. You pay an annual fee based on the care and services you want to receive. These membership programs are a great alternative to nursing home care and cost less.

Confident Living is a continuing care at home membership program, focused on helping you remain active and independent as you age in your own home. We serve the greater Cincinnati area. For more information, contact us online or call (513) 719-3522.