Welcome to Retirement Scan, our daily roundup of retirement news your clients may be talking about.
With many retirees unsure of whether their savings are enough to cover health care costs, experts say medical expenses in retirement may be more predictable than expected, according to this article in MarketWatch. Health care costs are likely to be within a certain range based on income, health, their residence, family medical history and whether clients have supplemental coverage, experts say. Women, they add, are more likely to face long-term care. “We live longer; we tend to care for our husbands. The risk is higher for women,” an expert says.
Seniors who have insufficient savings are advised to increase their income by considering a side hustle to boost their retirement prospects, according to this article in Motley Fool. They’re also advised to consider moving to a location with a lower cost of living, downsize and apply for government assistance programs, according to the article. Consulting a financial advisor and creating a budget can also help these clients manage their finances and invest their savings effectively.
Clients considering ways to minimize their student loan debt and boost their ability to save for retirement have a few options, an expert in this Kiplinger article writes. They may seek loan forgiveness, opt for expedited payment schedules and skip deferment or forbearance. "Making a financial plan that includes a strategy for paying down that debt, while allocating toward other goals, such as retirement, will help you make smart decisions,” he writes.
The big shift in future planning: Tech that predicts behavior, says Charles Schwab’s Bernie Clark.
Access to savings vehicles in the workplace is the "easiest" crack in the retirement system to fix, says Alicia Munnell, director at the Boston College Center for Retirement Research in this Yahoo Finance article. “We can do through some type of auto-IRA arrangement where employers, if they're not going to provide their own plan, have to automatically enroll their employees in an IRA and make that deposit into their account. Employees can then opt out if they want. But we need to get the coverage universal,” Munnell says.
