Thursday, November 20, 2014

Making A Plan

Hubby Tony and I are a long way from retirement, but some people we know have made the leap, and it's a popular discussion topic among our friends.

Right now we're both healthy, and expect to be around for a long time.  Based on a cool Life Expectancy Calculator Tony could easily live another 25 years, and I could have another 30.  That would give us a lot of years of freedom after we've stopped working.  I'm optimistic that we'll be able to tap into Social Security, but I've heard you should also have scarily large amounts of money put aside to supplement it.  We want to make sure we're covering all the bases, so today we had an exploratory appointment with a financial adviser to find out what advice her firm could offer us.

The adviser had given us a detailed questionnaire to fill out and bring with us.  Tony did most of the work, but he asked me for my opinion on some of the non-factual ones, like when I actually wanted to retire, and how much we wanted to budget for yearly travel.  Today the adviser went through the questionnaire with us and asked a lot of questions, filling up several sheets of a yellow legal pad with notes.  We also talked briefly about things like the pros and cons of long-term care insurance.

In a couple of weeks we'll get a written report from her and then figure out what direction to go in.

10 comments:

  1. it's a sensible thing you are doing. and all advisors are not equal...choose carefully.

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    1. This advisor comes highly recommended from a friend of Tony's, who has used her for several years.

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  2. I am a great believer in the fact that you can't start too early thinking about this. Good on you. As for the pros and cons of long-term care insurance? Never even thought of that. Thank you!

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    1. The advisor told us she sometimes meets with people just out of college who want to manage their student debt while thinking about their long term future, too. Now THAT'S planning!

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  3. Long term care insurance is great in theory. However, it is very expensive, and should you stop paying the premiums, you lose all that you have paid in. I did an annuity instead through the school district and can use the money as I see fit.

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    1. We're not sold on the idea of long term care, but we're also not ruling it out, either. It would be nice to have the flexibility you have.

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  4. We had a financial advisor once. He advised us to invest in the stock market and we did, quite heavily. Then, poof, it all went away. Like a fairy tale, if you will. We were supposed to be retired by now and traveling. I am beginning to appreciate my grandfather's buried Prince Albert cans with his savings tucked away.

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    1. Yours isn't the first horror story I've heard about disappearing investments.

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  5. Great move, Kathy. It’s never too early to plan for something as important as retirement and it’s smart that you’re doing it as a couple. We feature this post in our Weekly Digest because it can cause people to pause and think about how they’re doing financially and what they want for their future. You can read it here http://www.ltcoptions.com/weekly-digest-conscious-aging-long-term-care-insurance-scams-avoid/. Thanks for sharing this experience and I’m looking forward to your updates as you progress with your plan.

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