Puritan Financial Group: How to Stay Employed as a Senior

If you’re like a large percentage of older workers around the country, you’re probably having trouble planning your retirement because of financial security. Also, you’re likely to plan working longer into your senior years, or postponing retirement indefinitely. Because of these moves, it’s more important that you stay where you currently work (or have an excellent back-up plan) as you’ll find it hard to get work compared to younger applicants. Here are some steps you can take to ensure that job loss doesn’t happen at a time you need employment and money the most:

Learning new skills is important to surviving and remaining in the workplace, whether you’re a recent hire or already up the ranks. Why? This is because employers always value new ideas, innovations, or better and more efficient ways of doing things. What you can do is sign up for any training your company provides, or undergo schooling offered by the employer. This shows that you have the willingness and capability to tackle the increased demands of the workplace and the increased competition in your particular market or industry. For example, you can take a crash course in computer technology and apply it to work. What’s best is if you can make more money for your company using any new skills you’ve acquired.

On top of making money or saving it for your company because of your new talents, make sure that you and your employer know of your profitability. As long as you’re making more for your employer, you are unlikely to be laid off, especially if you’re consistent. Try to document your achievements at work using spreadsheets on your home laptop or desktop, making sure to include details on your contributions, recognitions, and recommendations received from your boss, your customers, or clients. This data is essential should you want to get a raise or insulate yourself from losing your job because of so-called company “restructurings” or “downsizings.”

Puritan Group is an author who specializes in financial topics concerning seniors. Puritan Financial Group specializes in helping seniors achieve their financial goals and get closer to retiring comfortably. For more information about how Puritan Financial Group can help you, please visit our website at http://www.puritanlife.com

Puritan Financial Group: More on Tax Incentives from the Small Businesses Jobs Act

The Small Business Jobs Act has many incentives for the small business, such as the limited exclusion of capital gains from taxation, as long as the said business qualifies by being a “qualified small business,” “qualified trade or business,” and a “C” corporation. Here’s more information on the benefits you and your company may be able to receive from the act.

One of the most important qualifications for tax incentives under the Small Business Jobs Act is the length of the investment’s holding period. Stock usually needs to be held a minimum of five years by an investor to be eligible for the tax breaks. The investment also has to be for buying stock from the stock issuer directly or from an underwriter, as opposed to the purchase of stock that was previously owned by a shareholder for property, cash, or services.

Firms that specialize in venture capital as well as individual investors are just some of the businesses that can use these tax breaks developed for small business. Virtually all investors (who aren’t corporations) should be eligible for tax incentives if they invest in eligible businesses as stated in Section 1202 of the tax code. Gains that pass through partnerships, “S” corporations, LLCs or Limited Liability Companies, and common trusts may qualify for the tax breaks if they have held the investments in question for at least five years, or transfer stock to individuals from the LLC, “S” corporation, or partnership.

There are a number of notable exclusions to these tax incentives. If the stock issuer repurchases some stock before it is issued, he or she may cause disqualification from the tax exclusion on capital gains. Investors may also become ineligible if they hold the same stock in short sale, get the option to sell it at a fixed amount, or reduce investment-holding risk with a transaction.

These incentives and the projected rate increase on capital-gain taxes can push more investors (including seniors) into investing this year. If you’re a retiree or near-retiree with a small business, find out if you can benefit from the tax incentives provided by the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 by talking to your tax planner.

This review was brought to you by Puritan Financial Group. Puritan Financial Group is owned by Puritan Financial Companies, based in Dallas TX. Puritan Financial Group is a leading provider of financial solutions for clients beginning in their peak earning years and continuing through retirement, helping them to accumulate, protect and transfer wealth.

Puritan Financial Group: The Effects of Estate Tax Changes in 2011

The expiration of estate tax regulations may seem to be a positive event for many beneficiaries. However, estates of lower value that wouldn’t have been affected by tax laws in 2009 no longer have the benefits of provisions concerning the valuation of capital gains when the associated tax laws expired. Some estates with overall value lower than the exemption level in 2009 permitted the taxpayers to approximate gains with today’s valuations.

This loophole may be solved politically; Washington is currently in discussion involving an option that should allow taxpayers to apply taxes to this year’s transactions if the said calculations are beneficial. Florida, along with a number of other states, are seeking to resolve these tax issues by allowing the courts to consider the abrupt halt of estate taxes when reading wills and formulas for inheritance.

For people with estates valued over $1 million, the recent changes in estate tax laws have concrete implications, especially if estate planning strategies were based on the earlier exemption level. Specifically, people who’ve estimated estate value between $1 million to $3.5 million need to amend their strategies from 2009 earlier. However, the efforts to amend tax strategies should go deeper, as the value of the portions of a person’s estate (which may include real estate properties, businesses or companies, and other investments) are likely to have suffered setbacks in recent years - this makes wealth reassessment important.

If you need to finalize your estate plans or want to check the efficiency of your existing plans, you may want to consult with a probate lawyer specializing in methods to pass on your legacy to your beneficiaries. Legal counsel will also help you get a better grasp of developments concerning powers of attorney, trusts, wills, guardianship, and the like. Working with an experienced probate attorney can also help you settle disputes and work with probate court.

This review was brought to you by Puritan Financial Group. Puritan Financial Group is owned by Puritan Financial Companies, based in Dallas TX. Puritan Financial Group is a leading provider of financial solutions for clients beginning in their peak earning years and continuing through retirement, helping them to accumulate, protect and transfer wealth.

Puritan Financial Group: How to Fast-track Your Retirement Planning

The trouble with saving up for retirement is the fact that you’re putting away money you can spend today. You might find yourself buying things you don’t really need, and rationalize that you’ll make up for the dent in your savings goals sometime soon. Oftentimes, many people procrastinate, even when it comes to really important matters like saving up for retirement.

To speed up building your retirement savings, you have to realize that despite the human tendency to act with the short term in mind, you’ll have to take steps to plan financially for the long-term good. Here are a few things that could help you get over the hump and start putting away money for your nest egg:

There’s a bigger possibility that you’ll do whatever it takes to reach your financial goals for retirement if you keep your goals simple, and set deadlines for these goals. Tell other people, such as close friends and family, what your deadlines are. Statistically, you’ll be in a better mindset to achieve these goals if you commit early on.

Many retirement plans include “to-do” lists, which may include items such as portfolio re-balancing and checking your income and spending figures against retirement calculators to see if adjustments are necessary, or looking at other viable sources of lifetime income. Assigning your spouse or a close friend the responsibility of checking on what you’re doing can help push you into action, and hopefully, help you take concrete action towards building your nest egg according to a schedule.

Retirement planning goals can be difficult to reach, especially as a lot of people would rather procrastinate and claim that they’ll make up for the financial shortfall sometime soon. Setting financial planning goals and letting a friend or family member monitor what you’ve been doing (and hold you accountable for any delays) can increase your efficiency by leaps and bounds.

This review was brought to you by Puritan Financial Group. Puritan Financial Group is owned by Puritan Financial Companies, based in Dallas TX. Puritan Financial Group is a leading provider of financial solutions for clients beginning in their peak earning years and continuing through retirement, helping them to accumulate, protect and transfer wealth.

Puritan Financial Group: Retirement Planning Obstacles Women Encounter

Many female workers and retirees feel that the financial service industry isn’t doing them justice. Many feel ignored by their investment planners, while others aren’t happy with the advice or aid they get, based on findings from a survey by The Boston Consulting Group. As investors, a number of women even feel that the entire industry is an obstacle, and not a clear path, to good investment advice that will hopefully result in a stable nest egg. Aside from the services provided by financial firms, experts also found that women are unhappy with the industry due to problems with financial products, as well as managing one’s finances with the “married” mentality.

Experts say that the financial services industry may force retirement strategies and formula developed for men onto women clients. The issues of life expectancy and income come into play here: on average, women earn less and live longer. This can become a problem if an aggressive strategy or product meant to augment a nest egg to last two decades of a male client’s retirement is used in the financial plans of a female client who may live beyond that. To this issue, advisers focused on women’s finances recommend higher-risk investments while the clients are young.

As a female investor ages, lower-risk or conservative investments must become a larger part of one’s portfolio. The problem is, financial planners or investment advisors may fail to offer annuities and long-term health care coverage – products that can prove to be useful to women retirees. Experts recommend that female investors look into conservative products meant for the longer term if they’re nearing retirement.

Many investment planners also quip that most married women bank on the savings of their partners to bear the brunt of their retirement expenses – this can be a problem down the road, as statistically, women have a bigger chance of flying solo in retirement, making a personal investment plan even more important. To this, professionals recommend automatic deposits into personal brokerage accounts or retirement plans, instead of mainly focusing on plans shared with partners.

This review was brought to you by Puritan Financial Group. Puritan Financial Group is owned by Puritan Financial Companies, based in Dallas TX. Puritan Financial Group is a leading provider of financial solutions for clients beginning in their peak earning years and continuing through retirement, helping them to accumulate, protect and transfer wealth.

Puritan Financial Group: Social Security and the Great American Retirement Plan

Studies show that workers at the two lowest income quartiles bank on Social Security to give them almost 85% of their retirement income. At the other end, the second highest quartile in terms of income relies on Social Security to make up more than half of their retirement funds. The highest quartile still relies on their pension payouts, although not as considerably as the other three quartiles.

It’s not that Social Security, as a government program, has insufficient funds to distribute to workers who’ve come of retirement age. Financially, the program stands on solid ground, as Congress forecasts that Social Security will be able to cover all benefits, which will be taken from its tax revenue income, up to a minimum duration of thirty years.

Although the program can theoretically afford all payouts for a few more decades, these very payouts are small (which may be why projections say that these payouts are feasible). This is a significant concern for many retirees as Social Security is typically the worker’s go-to plan. As of now, payouts only replace thirty to forty percent of the worker’s average salary from the year before actual retirement. This figure won’t be enough to fund retirement if it is the primary source of income, or more unfortunately, the only revenue stream.

The New America Foundation proposal seeks to implement “Social Security Plus,” a program to double payouts upon retirement to support seniors in their golden years. This new spin on the old Social Security program seeks to improve the financial situation and quality of life of United States retirees by doubling individual payouts, which will cost approximately $650B per year for more than fifty million Americans at the receiving end. While the possible benefits to society are quite impressive, the concept still seems far away – how will this program get funds?

This review was brought to you by Puritan Financial Group. Puritan Financial Group is owned by Puritan Financial Companies, based in Dallas TX. Puritan Financial Group is a leading provider of financial solutions for clients beginning in their peak earning years and continuing through retirement, helping them to accumulate, protect and transfer wealth.

Puritan Financial Group: Game Educates Seniors on Fraud and Scams

A number of New York City departments have taken a step forward in helping its senior citizens avoid investment fraud and other scams. The creation of the interactive video game “It’s My Money” is a fresh approach to educating retirees and other members of the populace about how to identify and stay away from potentially fraudulent investments.

The game stars I.M. Money, a character who goes through daily occurrences such as talking on the phone and checking electronic and snail mail. Aside from the chapter “Senior Scams Prevention,” which is targeted towards individuals planning their retirement, it also contains a portion dedicated to preventing identity theft. The two chapters focus on investment opportunities the central character encounters within his home. Each chapter has four parts, wherein the player has to answer questions based on his or her understanding of the presented story and a point-by-point summary.

A representative from the Department for the Aging states that this new approach to learning about fraud and theft prevention is a more effective way for seniors to identify financial scams and examine potential investments before putting in their money. With scams and financial abuse towards retirees on the rise, the free program is recommended for seniors, their families, and caregivers to prevent further senior scams.

The game can be obtained through a downloading link, with a user-friendly installation and in-game interface designed to be played by even the most technologically-inexperienced seniors. The educational value contained in “It’s My Money” is already apparent in the first few minutes that you play the game. It can be played solo, although playing in a group is recommended due to the ideas and discussion it is likely to generate.

Senior citizens are often targeted by insurance and investment scammers. “It’s My Money” can be a valuable tool to help retirees weed out good investments from bad, and protect their nest egg for their retirement. To know more about how you can avoid financial scams, play the game after downloading it at http://www.anyf.org/immoney.

This review was brought to you by Puritan Financial Group. Puritan Financial Group is owned by Puritan Financial Companies, based in Dallas TX. Puritan Financial Group is a leading provider of financial solutions for clients beginning in their peak earning years and continuing through retirement, helping them to accumulate, protect and transfer wealth.

Puritan Financial Group: Ways To Manage Your Nest Egg

If you’re looking at ways to manage your nest egg and prevent the depletion of your funds, identifying stable investments isn’t the only aspect of retirement planning you should consider – stretching your budget by cutting back on your spending is also important. If you’re a senior who drives regularly, you can lower your expenses by reducing your insurance premiums.

Aside from asking your agent for discounts, canvassing for lower rates from multiple insurers, taking a safe driving course, and paying for your yearly insurance with a lump-sum premium payment, you can also do other things to save money on your car insurance policy.

You can save on insurance premiums and manage your policies better with a multi-line insurance plan. Insurance companies that carry car and home insurance can offer you a combination policy, which is less costly than purchasing separate coverage for your home and vehicle.

Downgrading to a car of lower value can also help you cut down on your car insurance expenses. Since the risk your insurer undertakes is lower with a cheaper vehicle, you’ll need to pay much less for your insurance premiums. Aside from the savings you get with the policy itself, you’ll also save money with the cheaper maintenance costs and fuel expenses that usually comes with a smaller car.

Once you’ve decided to downsize your means of transportation, make sure that you purchase a car that comes with an alarm, an anti-lock braking system, and airbags. Since these safety features also translate to less risk for your insurer in case an accident occurs, you’ll need to pay less for your premiums as well.

If you need to save more money to fund your retirement and maximize the nest egg you have, you can take advantage of these tips to help you pay less for your auto insurance policy. Call up your financial advisor or your insurance agent to know more about how you can save with lower car insurance premiums.

This review was brought to you by Puritan Financial Group. Puritan Financial Group is owned by Puritan Financial Companies, based in Dallas TX. Puritan Financial Group is a leading provider of financial solutions for clients beginning in their peak earning years and continuing through retirement, helping them to accumulate, protect and transfer wealth.

Puritan Financial Group: Catching Up on Your Retirement Funds

After calculating how much money you have for retirement, you might have thought about riskier investment strategies to help you come up with adequate retirement funds. Although you might not have enough to retire on, the added risk can endanger your nest egg. To stabilize your retirement funds, you can use safer investment strategies, save more money from your salary, and postpone your retirement.

Getting ample funds to live on for your retirement also requires the proper management of your IRA and 401K plans. You’ll need to add more to your contributions too, by around $5,000 for 401K and approximately $1,000 for IRA. These extra contributions could net you $1.3 million when you reach 68 and retire.

These amounts may be staggering, although you’ll probably have stable finances after you’ve hit forty – your home mortgage payments may be nearing completion, and the kids out of the family home. There are additional benefits to delaying retirement. Three extra years at work, for example, could increase your Social Security benefits by $1000 every two months.

Once you retire, you can also catch up on your retirement funds with your home equity or move to a smaller home that’s less costly to maintain. The expenses you’ll need to cover in your new home may be smaller because of the lower living costs in that area, enabling you to save more. Using your home equity via reverse mortgage is also possible if you want to stay at your current home.

There are so many ways to safely and surely boost your retirement funds. Whatever you do, don’t be tempted to risk more than you can in terms of investments, even if retirement is only a few years away. Study these steps and consult with your investment advisor to know more about how you can catch up on your retirement finances.

This review was brought to you by Puritan Financial Group. Puritan Financial Group is owned by Puritan Financial Companies, based in Dallas TX. Puritan Financial Group is a leading provider of financial solutions for clients beginning in their peak earning years and continuing through retirement, helping them to accumulate, protect and transfer wealth.

Puritan Financial Group: Property Taxes and Your Retirement Plan

Seniors planning their retirement finances need to consider the effects that property taxes have on their money. Aside from high property taxes taking up a huge amount of your budget, you may find that these can positively affect the quality of living in your location. Are high property taxes necessarily evil, and if so, should you do what you can to lower what you pay?

Across many areas in the country, residential real estate rates are gradually equalizing along with the rest of the US, although some homes may still be valued lower than they were a couple of years back. If you’re fairly comfortable with your finances, challenging the amounts you’re paying for property tax can be counterproductive. While a reassessment of your home’s value doesn’t factor in your financial capability, it may be done if you feel that the assessor’s findings on the value of your home are inaccurate.

Back when the economy used to fare better (and homeowners were in better financial shape), remodeling homes was a widespread practice, and so were purchases of properties in “premium” locations – the long-term effects of these purchases and projects weren’t taken into account. In these times when resale was the main focus, renovation or remodeling costs were only thought of as contributing to the property’s potential for resale. In short, property taxes were somewhat of an afterthought; one of the inevitable costs of reselling residential real estate.

Nowadays, many homeowners are unable to make ends meet, with high property taxes being a significant drain on their finances. If you want to obtain lower property tax, you can have your home reassessed, with structural conditions such as the number of rooms, overall lot area, roof type, etc. possibly affecting the assessment and associated taxes.

This review was brought to you by Puritan Financial Group. Puritan Financial Group is owned by Puritan Financial Companies, based in Dallas TX. Puritan Financial Group is a leading provider of financial solutions for clients beginning in their peak earning years and continuing through retirement, helping them to accumulate, protect and transfer wealth.

Puritan Financial Group: Online Safety Tips for Seniors

The Internet Crime Complaint Center states that more than a third of all Internet crime complaints filed last year were from people aged fifty and up. This just goes to show that seniors and the middle-aged are fast becoming targets by investment fraudsters and other con men who are only too willing to part you from your hard-earned retirement money. You can take some easy steps to protect yourself from getting involved in scams and fraud, with some tips specifically governing the use of the Web.

Carefully choose who you talk to online, and be discreet about the information that you want to make public. You’re at relatively low risk when you only interact with people you personally know, such as friends and family, although you should still keep personal details and these types of sensitive information to yourself. Also, use chat names, nicknames, and e-mail addresses that don’t give away a lot of personal info.

E-mail isn’t secure, most of the time. Opening attachments or clicking on links in correspondence sent to you by people you don’t know can cause spam, viruses, or worms to enter your computer system. Although some of this malicious software may only inconvenience you (you’ll have to update your antivirus software or boot up your anti-spyware program to fix any problems), a number of these are used to steal personal information from your computer for financial fraud and other purposes - an activity also known as phishing. In the same vein, if you have to use credit card or bank information to transact online, make sure that you’re giving the data to a reputable and secure website.

Lastly, know where and how you should report incidences of Internet abuse. Being a responsible and defensive Internet user can help stop harassment, fraud, and other illegal activities. Protect yourself from identity theft and other forms of Internet abuse by following these guidelines, and using common sense.

This review was brought to you by Puritan Financial Group. Puritan Financial Group is owned by Puritan Financial Companies, based in Dallas TX. Puritan Financial Group is a leading provider of financial solutions for clients beginning in their peak earning years and continuing through retirement, helping them to accumulate, protect and transfer wealth.

Puritan Financial Group: Will 80% of Your Current Spending be Enough for Retirement?

A good number of financial experts recommend approximating your retirement budget at eighty percent of what you currently spend while you still work. Although this figure has been accepted as conventional wisdom by many, in-depth research on the economy and its effects on the lifestyle of many retirees prove the percentage wrong.

Although eighty percent may seem reasonable, as you no longer have to figure in costs for going to and from the office, work clothes, eating out, and retirement account contributions, there are also a lot of expenses that are going to increase. There’s even a likelihood of depleting your nest egg within the first ten years of your retirement – you might spend more in this decade because of expenses associated with much travelling, new hobbies, a more active lifestyle, and other things.

On the bright side, some findings do indicate that retirement spending can decrease as you age, although the savings you get from lowered everyday spending can be overshadowed by the rising costs of medical attention, expensive prescription drugs, and gradually increasing inflation rates.

Pegging your retirement budget at eighty percent of what you’re spending while working may not be a good buffer against nest egg depletion for some. For other retirees, eighty percent might actually be too much to aim for. Since you know your situation, spending habits, and financial capabilities best, plan your retirement budget well by working closely with a financial planner or retirement advisor so you can take other influences, such as longevity, investment value, and inflation into account. Because some spend less than they did during the years they worked, while others spend much more, blindly following the eighty-percent approximation for your retirement income may be imprudent, or even dangerous to your financial health.

This review was brought to you by Puritan Financial Group. Puritan Financial Group is owned by Puritan Financial Companies, based in Dallas TX. Puritan Financial Group is a leading provider of financial solutions for clients beginning in their peak earning years and continuing through retirement, helping them to accumulate, protect and transfer wealth.

Puritan Financial Group: How to Find and Reach a New Market for Your Online Business

If you’re a senior who works part-time or full-time in an online business, or if you’re a retiree who’s planning to do so, you can augment your retirement funds better by identifying and tapping a new yet unreached market for your online business – you’ll have less competition, and a higher possibility of actual sales in a venue that’s already filled to the brim with advertisers and businesses.

Finding a new market requires that you educate yourself on your target demographic, or the characteristics of the people who you want to sell your services or products to. You need to know more about who your potential clients are so you can promote your business in a way that’s relevant to them, and make what you want to say stand out. Once you’ve identified your market, you need to look for a way to get your message to your future clientele, such as an existing advertising network or social networking site.

Because the network is essentially the main way you convey your message to these potential clients, you’ll have to determine the viability of the network, such as how it represents and influences your audience, and the standards of relevance and quality present in the network.

Does your network represent itself in a professional and compelling manner? This can affect how your company or brand is perceived by your audience. You also need to know if your brand will be managed well – it might place your ad or profile in a bad light, or be associated with material that can damage your brand and reputation.

Is your potential client base well-represented by your network? If it is, then there’s a bigger chance that your audience becomes engaged. Some of them may turn into actual clients, which translates to actual sales. You can streamline your promotions even further and make your ads more effective with a network that allows you to customize the way you reach out to your audience, or even give you insights on how to do so.

Finding and reaching a new market can turn your upstart business into a large and successful one. Ensure that you get a fighting chance in an already saturated industry by identifying a fresh audience and reaching your potential clients by using networks (and content) that can deliver. Contact a networking specialist, as well as your financial advisor, to know how you can get on the path to the big time with your online business.

This review was brought to you by Puritan Financial Group. Puritan Financial Group is owned by Puritan Financial Companies, based in Dallas TX. Puritan Financial Group is a leading provider of financial solutions for clients beginning in their peak earning years and continuing through retirement, helping them to accumulate, protect and transfer wealth.

Puritan Financial Group: Why is It Difficult to Find Travel Insurance for Seniors?

Insurance carriers usually require higher premium payments to cover high-risk individuals, which can make it difficult for seniors to obtain travel insurance coverage. Retirees are commonly categorized by insurance companies as belonging to the top tiers in terms of risk levels, and often need to pay beyond what they can afford.

This is similar to younger drivers paying larger amounts for car insurance due to inexperience – seniors pay bigger premiums due to old age and the usual health decline that comes with it, aside from the possibility of pre-existing medical conditions. Now, if seniors want to travel, and avoid or lessen the impact of accidents and other events that can happen on vacation, what can they do to find affordable travel insurance?

You can start looking for viable travel insurance policies way before you leave for your vacation. Waiting a month or less prior to the trip before looking for insurance will probably net you a policy with high payment requirements, or worse, no travel insurance at all.

Use your current insurance carrier if they have affordable travel insurance for seniors. It’s going to be more convenient to buy insurance from a company that already has your medical history and other information in their records, compared to looking for a new provider. You can also ask your provider for references if they don’t sell travel insurance coverage that fits your needs.

Canvassing rates from a number of travel insurers can give you a number of potential policies, from which you can choose the best deals. The Internet is a good way to find insurance carriers that cater specifically to seniors. You may also find insurance carriers that don’t require the disclosure of pre-existing health conditions or medical examinations.

After you’ve found a travel insurance carrier, buy a policy that covers a number of trips. It’s already hard work to find a policy – you don’t want to go through the process every time you go on vacation. Multi-trip coverage gives you insurance coverage for a number of trips with just one policy purchase and application.

Seniors typically have a harder time finding travel insurance to cover them while they travel. Even if you find one, chances are you’ll pay relatively higher rates for your policy. If you want to find the best policy that fits your needs and budget, call up a travel insurance agent or a representative from your insurance provider.

This review was brought to you by Puritan Financial Group. Puritan Financial Group is owned by Puritan Financial Companies, based in Dallas TX. Puritan Financial Group is a leading provider of financial solutions for clients beginning in their peak earning years and continuing through retirement, helping them to accumulate, protect and transfer wealth.

Puritan Financial Group: Popular Jobs for Retirement

Whether you need the money or simply want to relieve your boredom, chances are, you’re thinking about working after you’ve officially retired. Increasing numbers of Americans are doing part-time work, and getting additional income after retirement. Here are some of the popular jobs retirees are taking on today:

Consultant

Working for decades in your previous job may have lent you expertise and experience that other companies or people can use. If your knowledge and skills are highly marketable and in demand, you can enter the consulting business. You can offer your services to other companies, or your previous employer. As a part-timer, you can even make more than what you used to full-time, because you can charge per hour and pick the projects and clients you want to handle.

Retail Store Worker

Seniors are also becoming more involved in retail positions in store chains. You can work as a stock room assistant, floor supervisor, cashier, or retail manager, depending on the relevance of your previous work experience or education. Flexible schedules are one of the draws for seniors, who also enjoy the social interaction and pay that comes with these jobs.

Store Greeter

Aside from becoming a cashier, assistant, or manager in a retail store, you can also choose to work as a store greeter, another increasingly popular job for retirees. Aside from being a relatively low-stress and (physically) low-impact means to get additional income compared to the positions mentioned previously, bored and amiable retirees are given the chance to socialize in this job.

In these tough times, retirees may have to work to augment their retirement income. Others may choose to enter the workforce once again because it gives them something to do. Whatever the reason, many Americans are taking on part-time jobs during retirement. A good number enjoy the job, the income, and the usual travel and relaxation associated with retirement the best of both worlds.

This review was brought to you by Puritan Financial Group. Puritan Financial Group is owned by Puritan Financial Companies, based in Dallas TX. Puritan Financial Group is a leading provider of financial solutions for clients beginning in their peak earning years and continuing through retirement, helping them to accumulate, protect and transfer wealth.

Puritan Financial Group: Maximizing Your Nest Egg with Investments

It’s all about living within your means and using the money you have to maximum effect for today’s retirees, considering that the current economic conditions have caused a lot of uncertainty in terms of investment returns and interest rates, for example. The national economy is keeping many retirees on their toes, although there are ways for you to enjoy the rewards of your retirement planning. This is why it’s especially essential for seniors to invest and manage their money wisely so they won’t outlive their nest eggs.

Retiring, far from conventional wisdom, actually doesn’t free you from continuing planning for your retirement. Monitoring your finances to ensure that your money doesn’t get depleted before you pass on (and making sure that if your money does outlive you, you’ll have more than enough to get by) is the general idea – other factors you need to consider under it are how to invest your money and how to withdraw it best.

Investing your money, know that you’re no longer building but rather constantly withdrawing, is one task that needs to be accomplished. The other is how withdrawals should be made to make the most minimal impact on the entirety of your retirement funds.

Playing it really safe and eliminating risk in your investments is a no-no. You’ll need long-term growth to protect your retirement assets, otherwise, your nest egg’s purchasing power declines – this may eventually force you into downgrading your standard of living later on in your retirement. Your portfolio needs to contain the right mix of different investments from various markets to guard against everything dropping in value should market conditions become unfavorable, which you’ll most likely feel if you’ve invested all your money in certain stocks, for example. Depending on your risk threshold, you can consider a mix of investments that may include junk bonds and short-to-intermediate maturities, as well as life insurance products.

Planning for your retirement shouldn’t only be about how you can live on what you’ve made prior to retirement. You also need to invest while you’re retired to guard against running out of money to live on. Check with your financial advisor to identify the risks you can take and the investments that are best for you.

This review was brought to you by Puritan Financial Group. Puritan Financial Group is owned by Puritan Financial Companies, based in Dallas TX. Puritan Financial Group is a leading provider of financial solutions for clients beginning in their peak earning years and continuing through retirement, helping them to accumulate, protect and transfer wealth.

Puritan Financial Group: Changes for a Great Financial Start

If you’re like many of today’s seniors, you may have found your current financial plans wanting, especially in light of the global and national economy in recent years. You might not have ample income, even after you’ve made good investments and used additional sources of money to fund your retirement. A radical move to help you increase your spending power may be the key to stretching your dollar to fit your budget. One unconventional option that can enable you to save more money is by reducing credit card use to minimize debt.

You can start by paying for most expenses with money orders or cash. When you withdraw from a credit account or bank account, you may have the tendency to spend more than you planned because you’re unaware of exactly how much money you have in the account. Handling and dealing in cash helps you avoid overspending, because you’ll know how much you have and notice if your money’s running low. You can take this method a step further by setting aside predetermined amounts of money for specific expenses, such as gas, groceries, other utilities, and so on. When you take out money from these bundles for particular expenses, you’ll be reminded of your limits by how much remains per bundle.

Credit cards are still a necessity, especially for urgent payments when you don’t have enough cash on hand. However, you should restrict your use of credit cards in everyday expenses, and use them responsibly if you absolutely have to pay with plastic. If you can set aside money to pay for your credit card balance every month, you won’t have to fore go credit card promos that can also save you money in the long run, such as rebates or cash-back deals.

You can adapt your financial plans to the changes in the current economic environment. Making unconventional moves, such as decreasing your use of credit cards, help increase the amount of cash in your wallet in these uncertain economic times.

This review was brought to you by Puritan Financial Group. For more information please visit Puritan Financial Group Website. At Puritan Financial Group... Life is good. We pride ourselves on providing the highest quality of service to our clients.

Medicare Supplement Insurance can be a Worthwhile Investment

Medicare is the default insurance options for today’s seniors. While Medicare covers many people that would otherwise have a difficult time getting coverage, it does not cover all needs. Anyone who has Medicare should read up on what it does and does not cover. In many cases, Medicare does not cover co pays or deductibles. Medicare Supplement Insurance can provide a means to cover the gaps in Medicare.

Medicare will cover stays at the hospital and general medical coverage. For instance, if you need a pacemaker or a wheelchair, it would be covered. A regular doctor visit is also covered. What is typically not covered is the co pay for every doctor visit. This can add up. In addition, deductibles, that can be rather high, and those deductibles will be paid by the Medicare patient.

With a Medical Supplement plan these individuals can fill these gaps and ease the cash flow impact on retirees. There are different types of plans available to pay for that deductible, co pays, and other out of pocket expenses.

Be sure to research all the plans offered and choose which one is best for you. If you are not sure, you can contact a health insurance agent or use the Internet to do your own research. Take the time to consider the different plans, and how much coverage you want given the cost of the premiums.

There is now more help for those with Medicare. Medicare Supplement Insurance can help in covering many of the costs that Medicare does not pay. Sometimes a deductible can leave the person who lives paycheck to paycheck in a bind. Now there is some help for them.

This review was brought to you by Puritan Financial Group. Puritan Financial Group is owned by Puritan Financial Companies, based in Dallas TX. Puritan Financial Group is a leading provider of financial solutions for clients beginning in their peak earning years and continuing through retirement, helping them to accumulate, protect and transfer wealth.

The Benefits And Simple Ways To Spend Less On Senior Life Insurance

As we look forward to retiring and spending life in old age, it is important to consider useful ways to provide liquidity to our estates. This allows you to spend your retirement without having to worry about finances. A good plan you can use today to fund an estate plan is senior life insurance.

Life insurance policy is important in that it provides cash for unexpected costs. Even though it is not pleasant, think about medical expenses and even funeral costs. In the event you have no money sent aside, your immediate family members will be forced to take up such costs.

Simply put, it lifts a financial burden from your loved ones. The money can also take care of any outstanding debts. It is a valuable way of protecting your loved ones. In case of death or misfortune you are at least assured that their quality of life will not be disrupted or affected.
Many believe senior life insurance policies tend to be costly.

There are many factors that can affect insurance premiums and each carrier rates differently. It is important to do your research well and work with a credible insurer. Before issuing a life insurance policy, the insurance carrier usually reviews an applicant’s life to ascertain or find how much a risk a client is.

In this case, make sure that your health, medical, family health and history reports are in order. Talk to a trusted insurance agent as they have a good understanding of a few companies that provide such services.

This review was brought to you by Puritan Financial Group. Puritan Financial Group is owned by Puritan Financial Companies, based in Dallas TX. Puritan Financial Group is a leading provider of financial solutions for clients beginning in their peak earning years and continuing through retirement, helping them to accumulate, protect and transfer wealth.

Retirement Income Planning to Mitigate Financial Risks

Three financial risks all of us face as we get older are poor health and the high medical bills that come with poor health, long term care expenses that may occur when we can no longer care for ourselves and our expenses exceeding our retirement income as a result of inflation.

You should contact a professional retirement financial planner to assist you in developing a strategy to mitigate these risks. There are several insurance and financial investment products on the market you can consider and which an experienced financial advisor can help you evaluate. One option is to contact Puritan Life for a retirement income review.

A Medigap insurance plan helps to protect you against the risk of a catastrophic health condition. There are many Medigap insurance plans all sold by private insurance companies. All have a similar basic benefit plan, but each has additional benefits that vary according to the plan. A financial advisor who is familiar with your unique health and financial situation will be able to recommend which plan best fits your particular situation.

There are also long term care insurance policies which fully cover or assist in covering long term care costs if and when you must seek a long term care alternative. There are many types of long term care insurance. Many find the costs of full coverage prohibitive. However, there are more affordable options that may meet your needs when the plans are considered together with the risk of you needing long term care. A professional financial advisor will help you to evaluate the risks you are willing to take and what types of insurance and investments will best protect you against the risks.

You may want to consider investing in a variable or inflation adjusted annuity that will provide you with a hedge against inflation and income on a regular basis. An inflation adjusted annuity’s monthly payout may be less initially than a fixed rate annuity but the payouts have the advantage of increasing over time with inflation.

Work with your financial advisor to explore all the types of annuities and optional riders. For example, you have an option of choosing an annuity to provide you with payouts for a specific period of years or for your lifetime. There are also annuities that can cover you and your spouse’s lifetime. Each option will have a different payout structure.

Your financial advisor can advise you as to which type of annuity is the best fit for your unique situation based on how much you can afford to invest in the annuity, how much you would like to receive from the annuity after you retire and the risks you are willing to take to possibly earn additional investment income .The most important step you need to take to begin or to review your retirement planning is to find a financial advisor you trust to help you to design a plan that works for you.

This review was brought to you by Puritan Financial Group. Puritan Financial Group is owned by Puritan Financial Companies, based in Dallas TX. Puritan Financial Group is a leading provider of financial solutions for clients beginning in their peak earning years and continuing through retirement, helping them to accumulate, protect and transfer wealth.

Defining a Joint Survivorship Life Insurance

There are several kinds of life insurance for seniors and all of them aim to provide financial help in the event of death of the policyholder in Puritan Financial Group. Though most of these are intended for an individual alone, there is a specific life insurance available for two people, usually a married couple. This is called a Joint Survivorship Life Insurance, also known as second-to-die life insurance.

The life insurance company does not release the accumulated money to the policyholders’ beneficiaries until the second person dies. One advantage of this type of life insurance for seniors is a standard policy could still be issued even if the other person has health problems. In rare cases when the other person is not insurable, a policy can still be issued given that an acceptable premium is agreed on.

There are several benefits of a survivorship life insurance and these are elaborated below.

Estate Taxes – Most people bequeath their properties to their spouses, and when one does, the transfer of all assets upon death will be considered tax free. With the use of a joint survivorship life insurance, the federal estate taxes owed by both spouses are paid by the death benefit from a second-to-die life insurance.

Equal Inheritance – Parents can make use of a second-to-die policy to even out the inheritance of their children. They can leave a larger amount of money to one child while a lesser amount is provided for the remaining offspring.

Post pone a Buy Sell – If one policyholder takes a part in a business shared with another business partner and both of them approved of a buy-sell agreement, the death of the policyholder will allow his spouse to inherit his interest in the business resulting for the delay of the buy-sell agreement unless the spouse dies.

Less Expensive – Since a survivorship life insurance has lesser premiums, it is more affordable than single-insured life insurance.

Provide for Heirs – The death benefit can fund other needs by the heirs. For example, policyholders have particularly purchased the insurance to benefit a special child right after they die.

If you want to invest on this type of Life Insurance for seniors, you should think of consulting a specialized lawyer first to further help you.