Longevity might be a dream come true for some. People envisioned longer life expectancy to be the best time for them to do things they haven’t done while they were working, enjoy leisurely trips, move to their dream home or spoil themselves once in a while.
But for others, it’s a dream gone awry.
Why?
Living longer means people will spend more time in retirement and would put a strain on their retirement nest egg. In addition to this, the risk of requiring long term care puts more pressure on making their retirement last over the cost of their lifetime.
According to a study by CDC, the average life expectancy of Americans is 78.6. This means that a lot of the U.S aging population is at risk of needing long term care since around 70% of Americans 65 and above will require long term care.
To help you protect your retirement funds from devastating cost of long term care and deal with longevity like a pro, we compiled five articles that can provide you with tips and best solutions to common longevity issues.
Single, Older Woman Seeking: Retirement Security
Shen Lu’s article highlights older women’s money issues that are deeply rooted in the gender pay gap and women spend less time working to take care of their children or aging family member. This is backed up by the 2016 National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS), that women who are 65 and above are 80% more to be in poverty than men of the same age.
Women are afraid that they might run out of money during retirement due to expensive health care and long term care cost. To help women secure their future, Shen shared tips from experts including delaying social security benefits until age 70, making the most of catch-up contribution, shop for long term care insurance coverage, fight for salaries and raises and start saving early.
Read Next: Top 5 Reasons Why Women Need Long Term Care Planning the Most
How Couples Should Plan for Retirement
In AARP’s article, Keep Separate Finances? Retirement Could Change Things, they recommend having separate accounts but not secret. Couples today keep their finances separate while both of them are working and earning. In fact, this strategy is known to help keep the peace between couples. Also, this arrangement can work perfectly during retirement as long as there is full disclosure plus an agreement that they have each other’s backs in case financial trouble happens.
It’s important for couples to have mutual planning for retirement. They should strategize their retirement savings and be honest about their retirement assets so the couples will know who is more financially capable and for how long.
Check out: 11 Money Conversations Couples Should Have Before Retirement (Expert Roundup)
The Key To Living Longer: Fear Being Alone Far More Than Going Broke
For Financial Samurai, being alone is far scarier than going broke. There’s no guarantee you’ll be able to find someone as good when you lose someone. But when you lose money, you can recover through hustle and ingenuity.
In order to live longer and be happier, Financial Samurai believes that you can improve your odds by finding ways to look at the positive, turning on your grateful switch, focusing on solutions, taking care of your mental and physical health and by staying hygienic. You can find the complete list of things you can do to be happy here.
Related: 5 Proven Strategies for Growing Old and Alone that Actually Work
Seniors and Technology in Assisted Living
According to A Place for Mom, seniors and technology get along pretty well. Seniors today are catching up with younger individuals and using technology while in assisted living.
Senior living communities have integrated technology in their daily routines to keep them connected, to keep them mentally active and to make sure that they are safe most of the time. The use of technology in assisted living has help residents to socialize, continue learning, keep in touch with their loved ones and has greatly improved their quality of life.
Want to Have a Good Retirement? 50 Tips for a Healthy, Wealthy and Happy Retirement
Kathleen Coxwell of New Retirement shares 50 Tips for a Healthy, Wealthy and Happy Retirement. For her, it’s not just about sitting with your feet up and watching the world go by. Retirement is the perfect time to live out your greatest dreams and do things you want to do at least once in your life.
Living longer has a bright side too and you can experience that by having a sense of purpose and meaning, thinking about health and not wealth, making exercise fun, thinking about income and not investments, making your travel dreams a reality and more.
Read: 50+ Retirement Tips You Should Follow Before Turning 60 (Expert Roundup)
Now, you’re all set in dealing with longevity and all the issues surrounding it particularly the exorbitant long term care cost. We hope, we’ve provided you with information that can help you handle longevity issues like a pro.