The years of your life that start with retirement and carry on are a special time. For many, years of hard work, family obligations, and personal sacrifice have all led to this road, which many consider to be easy street. The truth is your senior years are in part dictated by the choices you made in all the years preceding them. If you spent the first half (or more) of your life being smart with your money and planning for the future, do not make the mistake of stopping your good habits just because you believe you have reached your destination. Maintaining a level of financial fitness during this stage of life is crucial and can prevent all your previous hard work from ceasing to matter.
Revisit Your Plan
If you made plans like a will, or life insurance policy early in life, now is the time to revisit them if you have not already. Your situation may have changed, and you will want your important life documents to support the stage you are in now. Life insurance is a good example of a plan that can be used in a variety of ways, depending on your needs.
Initially you likely took out a policy to ensure financial protection for your loved ones in the event of your death. While this is not an unsuitable plan to continue, think about how your costs of living may change in your senior years. Someone who is terminally or chronically ill can sell their life insurance policy to a viatical settlement broker to create a cashflow to be used while you are still alive to cover your long-term health care costs. This sale transfers ownership to the buyer so while you no longer hold the policy, you receive its cash value instead.
Be Realistic
Having money discussions with your loved ones can be difficult and might make you feel that you are losing some of your independence or giving up too much control, however if you can manage to have these discussions early on, the result is quite the opposite. Be realistic about the fact that there may potentially come a time where you are not able to be in control of your finances, should this fate befall you, who do you want to assist you? And more importantly, does that person or team of people know your wishes? Having these talks helps you become more financially literate and doing so in advance of a crisis eliminates a lot of the emotions that could potentially be involved or cause undue stress.
Beware of Fraud
You probably already know some ways to protect your wealth, but seniors are a demographic of people that unfortunately by default are at a higher risk to be financially preyed upon by criminals and scammers. The money that you have once you have stopped earning a traditional income has to last you for an unknown amount of time, and you should protect it as fiercely as possible. Your financial advisor can help direct you towards ways to tweak your habits so that they are more secure than ever, as well as help you know what to look out for, and potential solutions available in case you fall victim to fraud.
Senior Outlook Today is your go-to source for information, inspiration, and connection as you navigate the later years of life. Our team of experts and writers is dedicated to providing relevant and engaging content for seniors, covering topics such as health and wellness, finances, technology and travel.
