Planning to retire may sound exciting to those of us who have many years still to work, but for those lucky people nearing that date, things start to get real. Suddenly, there are so many decisions to make, especially if your retirement is at age 65 or older. You have to consider Medicare options, pension options, and Social Security claiming options as well as decide what to do with your retirement plan at work. With all these elections to be made, it’s no wonder that retiring can cause a lot of stress.
At Hovis & Associates, our slogan, We Make Medicare Simple!, is just the starting point. Our professionals can not only help explain and sign you up for a Medicare plan, we can also assist you with pension and Social Security claiming strategies. Should you select a joint-and-survivor or a single-life pension option, and what do these mean? Should you claim your Social Security benefit now, wait until Full Retirement Age, or delay until age 70? These are all questions our financial professionals can help answer.
Many retirees also have a retirement plan through their employer. These 401k or similar-type accounts present more decisions for soon-to-be retirees. Before making any recommendations, we talk with clients to understand their financial goals and income needs. Perhaps the money is needed to supplement monthly income, or maybe it’s simply set aside for unexpected or one-off expenses during retirement. Once we get clearer insight into each client’s financial picture, we can present the various options available, compare the costs of each option, and recommend some solutions to help meet his or her specific wishes.
Preparing for retirement poses many questions that employees have not faced before. No two clients are alike; so, no one solution will work for everyone. That’s why it is important to have professionals you can trust helping you along the way. Hovis & Associates has Medicare experts and financial professionals on staff to help smooth the road to retirement. If you are planning to retire and looking for a team to assist in the decision-making, we would be honored to be your partner.