One of the great hopes a person typically has when it comes to retirement is that they will have enough saved up to properly cover their retirement. Thus, one retirement-related thing a person may put a good deal of focus on is how much in retirement savings they have. However, there are things beyond just the amount they have saved up that can impact how likely a person is to be in financially solid shape during their retirement years.
One reason for this is that there are a wide range of things that could pose financial challenges for an individual in their retirement. Examples of such things include:
- A retiree developing significant and expense-filled health care needs, such as unexpected long-term care needs.
- A retiree living longer than they expected.
- An investment a retiree made not going as planned and yielding losses.
- Inflation deteriorating the spending power of a retiree’s savings.
How able a retiree is to weather these sorts of challenges if/when they arise can greatly depend on what sort of advanced planning they did for these challenges. This is why, in addition to building up savings, setting up strategies for addressing potential retirement challenges can also be a key part of getting ready for retirement.
There are a variety of different types of planning that may be able to help a person on this front. One that may be able to help with addressing the challenges of future health care needs is long-term care planning. Through such planning, individuals can get safeguards (such as trusts) put in place aimed at helping them deal with long-term-care-expense-related issues in the future. Elder law attorneys can help individuals with figuring out what sorts of long-term care planning strategies are a good fit for their circumstances.
Source: U.S. News & World Report, “Financial Pitfalls of Growing Older and How to Deal With Them,” Emily Brandon, March 7, 2016