Health Care Reform: Don't Count on Retiring Early
by Steve Vernon, FSA
| The high cost of retiree medical insurance and the barriers
to coverage due to pre-existing conditions have long been a significant
obstacle for most Americans who want to retire before age 65, the eligibility
age for Medicare. Does the health reform bill help? For some people, yes, but
the high cost of retiree medical insurance will still be a challenge for many
Americans. To learn more about how health care reform affects retirees,
please read my recent CBS MoneyWatch post, Health Care Reform: Don't Count on Retiring Early. As I mentioned in my February and March newsletters, I'm using
a new newsletter format so I can share the most helpful blogs and articles I
find in my research. Please continue reading for this month's selections,
including another post below on the effect of health care reform.
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Health Care Reform Provides Some Good News for Early Retirees
| In spite of the challenges described above with obtaining affordable medical insurance, health care reform offers some good news for early retirees
who don't have retiree medical insurance through their employer. Take
a look at my recent CBS MoneyWatch post, Health Care Reform Provides Some Good News for Early Retirees.
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Baby Boomer Job Hunt: 7 Mistakes You Can't Afford | |
Roth or Traditional 401(k): Which is Better?
| You've just finished preparing your tax returns, and it's
likely your attention is now focused on reducing your income taxes. If your employer recently added a Roth
feature to it's 401(k), you might be asking yourself if you should switch to a
Roth 401(k). While much attention has been focused on the opportunities
for Roth IRAs, the more important choice for many investors is
whether they should use a Roth or traditional 401(k) account
for their future retirement plan contributions. With decades to go
before you retire, the 401(k) offers important tax planning choices. To learn more about the Roth 401(k) and whether it's right for you, read this recent post from fellow CBS
MoneyWatch blogger Charlie Farrell.
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How To Pick a Target Date Fund
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T here's a good chance you're offered a target date fund in
your 401(k) plan investment lineup.
But you might have heard there's some controversy with these funds and that
hearings are being held in Washington DC.
So are target date funds right for you? I think target date funds can be a good investment choice
for many workers, provided they're careful about how they select their specific
fund. My recent post, How To Pick a Target Date Fund, provides some tips. You'll also see links in this post to two other good posts
about target date funds from fellow CBS MoneyWatch bloggers: Linda Stern wrote
about the popularity of target date funds in Target-Date Funds Surge 271 Percent Since 2005, and Carla Fried recently
discussed the unwarranted criticism of these funds in More Proof Target Funds Good Retirement Solution.
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This Month's Video Highlight: Change Your Habits, Improve Your Retirement
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Most people know what to do to improve their retirement
years: Save more. Spend less. Eat better. Exercise more. Spend more time
planning for the future. Yet many people just don't get around to making these smart,
healthy choices. As a result, their retirement years most likely won't be as
good as they would be if they could figure out how to choose with their rest-of-life in mind. So it's a good idea to pay attention to how
you make decisions and stick to them. This month's clip discusses one idea for creating healthy
habits, from an interview in The Quest DVD with Joe Piscatella, president of the Center for Fitness and Health.
For more informative clips, visit the Video Library on my website. |
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Thanks for your interest, and stay tuned for future newsletters which explore how to best live the rest of your life.
Best regards,
Steve Vernon Rest-of-Life Communications
P.S. If you think this newsletter will help a friend, please pass it along.
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Just Released
The Second Edition of
Recession-Proof Your Retirement Years
Simple Retirement Planning Strategies That Work Through Thick or Thin
I've updated this popular book to include investment results through the end of 2009 and the latest changes to Social Security. I've also added about 20 pages of content to cover topics that readers have requested. It's still short--under 100 pages--so it's easy to follow and easy to finish. And it still provides a step-by-step program to build reliable sources of retirement income that cover your living expenses and strategies to address the threat of high medical and long-term care expenses. The book is available for bulk purchase by employers and other organizations, or for individual purchase. Please see my website for details on all of my books and DVDs. |
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Welcome to Our Newsletter!
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We fulfill a need for trusted, practical strategies that you can use to plan your rest-of-life (aka
retirement). We rely on the latest research and analyses, and we'll
keep it simple! And that's all we provide; we don't sell insurance, investments or health products, so we can "tell it like it is."
Here's an archive of past issues.
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Steve Vernon has spent 35 years as a consulting actuary, helping large employers design and manage their retirement programs. Now he's president of Rest-of-Life Communications, where he specializes in providing unbiased, trusted information about retirement. He also consults to Mercer's US Retirement, Risk and Finance business, and writes a regular column for CBS MoneyWatch titled Money for Life.
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For information on keynote addresses, workshops or presentations on retirement issues, visit Steve's website at www.restoflife.com, or email him at [email protected]
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| � 2010 Steve Vernon/ Rest-of-Life Communications All rights reserved.
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