Boomer Magazine: February 0220
I just turned 65. It sounds so much older than 64. I guess because it’s associated more with Medicare, Social Security, and retirement. Not that those are bad things, but they are always “old people’s things.” I need to change my perspective on 65—yes, I know it’s just a number, but it’s still a milestone, and people 65 and older are perceived a bit differently. Luckily, no one has yet said “Ok, boomer” to me. I do find that there are concerns I need to think about more than I did even just a couple of years ago. And this issue of Boomer covers many of the things that keep me up at night. My husband just turned 70, and although he’s as healthy as can be, I do think about mortality. Luckily for us, our mothers are both still alive and active—both in their 90s—so that bodes well for us. But if you have suffered the loss of a spouse, you know there are many stages of grief that you navigate. Everyone is different and although there’s no right or wrong way to deal with grief, we do offer some guidance (page 41). If you are going through the loss of a spouse, I do hope some of the info on these pages help you to cope and take comfort. Something else much less sad but still keeping me up at night is the subject of hair loss. I have been losing hair lately, and it’s extremely concerning as it can be a symptom of an underlying medical issue. Read the causes and some treatments in “Hair Loss 101” on page 26. I learned that I need to talk to my dermatologist! I may have to add another treatment to my regimen of serums, facials, and Botox! I am 65, but I don’t have to look 65 (is 65 the new 45?). Vanity is my middle name and although people say I should embrace my wrinkles because I’ve earned them, um, no. There’s Super Bowl Sunday (for you football fans) and Valentine’s Day (for you romantics) to enjoy this month. Even though it’s our shortest month, it’s a leap year, so we get an extra Saturday in February. There’s lots to do this month, so get reading….then get going!
I just turned 65. It sounds so much older than 64. I guess because it’s associated more with Medicare, Social Security, and retirement. Not that those are bad things, but they are always “old people’s things.” I need to change my perspective on 65—yes, I know it’s just a number, but it’s still a milestone, and people 65 and older are perceived a bit differently. Luckily, no one has yet said “Ok, boomer” to me. I do find that there are concerns I need to think about more than I did even just a couple of years ago. And this issue of Boomer covers many of the things that keep me up at night. My husband just turned 70, and although he’s as healthy as can be, I do think about mortality. Luckily for us, our mothers are both still alive and active—both in their 90s—so that bodes well for us. But if you have suffered the loss of a spouse, you know there are many stages of grief that you navigate. Everyone is different and although there’s no right or wrong way to deal with grief, we do offer some guidance (page 41). If you are going through the loss of a spouse, I do hope some of the info on these pages help you to cope and take comfort.
Something else much less sad but still keeping me up at night is the subject of hair loss. I have been losing hair lately, and it’s extremely concerning as it can be a symptom of an underlying medical issue. Read the causes and some treatments in “Hair Loss 101” on page 26. I learned that I need to talk to my dermatologist! I may have to add another treatment to my regimen of serums, facials, and Botox! I am 65, but I don’t have to look 65 (is 65 the new 45?). Vanity is my middle name and although people say I should embrace my wrinkles because I’ve earned them, um, no.
There’s Super Bowl Sunday (for you football fans) and Valentine’s Day (for you romantics) to enjoy this month. Even though it’s our shortest month, it’s a leap year, so we get an extra Saturday in February. There’s lots to do this month, so get reading….then get going!
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Happy couple photo by ©Monkey Business - stock.adobe.com. Health savings photo by ©phuangphech - stock.adobe.com.<br />
1Pay off your house before you<br />
retire, if possible. It’s much easier<br />
to live on a fixed budget, travel, and<br />
enjoy life when you don’t have to<br />
worry about a house payment!<br />
2Get long-term care insurance<br />
at 60. Don’t wait until you have<br />
health issues—it’ll be too late to qualify.<br />
LTC protects you, your spouse, and<br />
your family from having a catastrophic<br />
medical/housing bill and helps raise<br />
the standard of care. Think of it as your<br />
Super Bowl-winning defense!<br />
3Cultivate the savings habit.<br />
Nothing is more fundamental to<br />
financial well-being, but nothing is<br />
rarer in today’s America. As widely<br />
reported recently by CNBC and others,<br />
almost a third of Americans would be<br />
unable to handle an unexpected $400<br />
expense without borrowing, and a<br />
fourth has no retirement savings and/<br />
or skipped needed medical care in<br />
2018 because they couldn’t pay for it.<br />
4Consider some ROTH conversions<br />
(IRA funds converted to ROTH)<br />
if you will not need the funds at 70.<br />
For taxpayers who may have fewer<br />
ways to shield income from taxation<br />
after retirement (which includes many<br />
self-employed individuals utilizing<br />
the business expense deduction),<br />
converting a traditional IRA to a Roth<br />
IRA can make a lot of sense. You’ll<br />
pay some taxes on the conversion<br />
now, and your ongoing contributions<br />
to the account will no longer be<br />
tax-deductible, but the account will<br />
continue to accumulate tax-free, and<br />
the distributions you take in retirement<br />
are not subject to income tax.<br />
5Retirees should strategize<br />
retirement income distributions.<br />
Most of us spend our working lifetimes<br />
focused on accumulating as much as<br />
we can for a comfortable retirement,<br />
but we forget that there are smarter<br />
ways to take the money out when<br />
we start using it in retirement. For<br />
example, if you have maintained<br />
proper diversification and rebalancing<br />
of your assets during your saving<br />
years, you can utilize that same<br />
strategy to prioritize which “buckets”<br />
should be tapped first.<br />
6Stay diversified/stay your course.<br />
Year in and year out, the most<br />
successful investors are those who<br />
tune out the background noise of<br />
financial headlines and predictions<br />
and stick to their long-term strategy<br />
of diversification, rebalancing,<br />
and staying focused on long-term<br />
outcomes. Concentrate on what you<br />
can control; the rest of it will take care<br />
of itself.<br />
<strong>February</strong> 2020 | Sac<strong>Boomer</strong>.com 35
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