Medicare won’t cover this key expense, and it’s eating into retirees’ savings

Medicare won’t cover this key expense, and it’s eating into retirees’ savings
Medicare does not cover dental expenses, and 37 million seniors or 65% of the beneficiaries, do not carry separate dental coverage, according to this article on CNBC, which cited data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Dental expenses can eat away a considerable amount of retirees’ savings, but these costs are important to prevent health complications and other medical expenses. ”Oral health affects your physical health, and in turn, it can lead to higher expenses for medical services,” says an expert with Kaiser Family Foundation.

MedicareForms-Bloomberg

The right retirement formula is based on the value of your home
Clients should use the value of their home as basis for determining the amount they will need to secure their retirement, writes an expert on MarketWatch. As proposed by an expert with Wells Fargo Advisors, clients should compute the retirement income as the market value of the person’s current home multiplied 0.3, and divide the product by 0.04 to determine the value of assets needed to retire comfortably, writes the expert. “The house is everything. This is why people downsize when they retire. It isn’t really about needing less space. It’s about taking down your spending.”

What to know about Social Security if you outlive your spouse
Surviving spouses are advised to take advantage of the Social Security survivor benefit on their decreased spouse’s record to augment income, according to this article on personal finance website Motley Fool. They are entitled to the survivor benefit if their spouse earned at least 10 work credits and qualified for a retirement benefit. They can also file for survivor benefit even if they are eligible for their own retirement benefit once they turn 60, but the amount of payout will be permanently reduced.

Retiring soon? It's time to spring clean your finances
Seniors who are approaching retirement should consider spring cleaning their finances, according to this article on TheStreet. They should ramp up their retirement savings by making last-minute contributions to their IRAs and adding their tax refund to their savings. They should also max out their 401(k) contributions and ensure that the tax withholding on their W-2 is enough to cover their liability to the IRS.

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