January 2010 Newsletter
January 12, 2010 by Jean Keener, CRPC, CFDP · Leave a Comment
The January 2010 newsletter is now available. Beginning in 2010, it will be published the second week of each month. This month’s newsletter includes a brief 2009 market update, an update on the estate tax for 2010, how to conduct a home inventory, and more. Click here to read it.
Recovering from Unemployment
January 11, 2010 by Jean Keener, CRPC, CFDP · Leave a Comment
If you’ve been out of work for a period of time, it’s a huge relief when the paychecks start rolling in again. Depending on how long you were unemployed, what your finances were like before the job loss, and other sources of income in your household, getting back to work could be just the beginning of a long recovery process for your finances.
But here’s the good news. While you were unemployed, you and your family probably got used to spending less. Those habits can now be a huge benefit to your finances long-term, in some cases even allowing you to be stronger financially within a couple of years than you were before the lay-off.
To make this work, you need to resist the status quo expectation that your spending “should” return to former levels. This doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate the new job or enjoy a few small additional luxuries. But, if you can consciously choose to maintain a lower level of spending, you will have a powerful tool to quickly rebuild. With the cash you’re saving, here’s a 6-item priority list to tackle:
1) If your emergency fund is completely depleted, rebuild a small buffer first (start with $1,000 to one month’s expenses). See my blog post on 10 ways to rebuild an emergency fund for ideas on this.
2) If debt has been accumulated, create the typical debt “snowball” program by paying off highest interest rate debt first. See my December 2008 newsletter for details on this strategy.
3) If you borrowed from retirement plans, be mindful of the plan’s rules for repayment to avoid a taxable distribution which could trigger taxes and penalties that would hurt your recovery efforts. These rules could trump the ideal strategy of paying back the highest interest debt first.
4) If you let critical insurance lapse, get your insurance back to the needed levels. This is also a good time to re-assess your insurance needs. It’s possible to be over-insured, and there may be some policies you let lapse that you’re better off without.
5) As the worst debt is eliminated, start adding to the emergency fund to get to 3-6 months’ expenses while paying off the last of the debt.
6) Update your retirement or other goal projections to determine what your contributions need to look like to make up for the lost time.
Once you’ve accomplished these 6 priorities, you will be well on your way to creating your desired financial future. You’ll probably be used to living on less by this point. And you’ll have created the freedom to choose when you’ll indulge in a splurge that you’ll really enjoy, as opposed to feeling trapped with a high level of fixed expenses.
If you have other ideas on financially recovering from unemployment, I’d love to hear them. Please feel free to contact me directly or post them as a comment to this article.
Pension Max: Is it right for you?
December 15, 2009 by Jean Keener, CRPC, CFDP · Leave a Comment
If you’re near retirement and have a pension, you may be considering a pension max strategy. With all the variables involved, it can be challenging to determine if it’s really in your best interest.
First – what is pension max?
Pension max is used by married couples to increase their net retirement income while still protecting the surviving spouse’s income in the event the pension recipient dies first. Basically, the pension recipient elects a single life pension instead of one with a survivor benefit for their spouse. This results in a higher monthly pension benefit. Then the pension recipient purchases life insurance to allow the surviving spouse to replace the pension income in the event that the pension recipient dies first. In some situations, this approach can result in a higher net retirement income if the cost of the needed life insurance is less than the increased pension benefits.
Pension max always results in more premiums for the insurance company, but doesn’t always result in more income for you. How do you decide if it’s in your best interest?
First — at the risk of stating the obvious — if you’re not married, there’s no reason to consider it. Depending on your estate goals and health, there may be other strategies that make sense.
Second – the health and age of the pension recipient matters a great deal. If the pension recipient is in excellent health and can likely qualify for preferred life insurance rates, pension max has a lot better chance of being a good idea.
Third – you need to determine how much and what kind of life insurance is needed to replace the income. As the pension recipient gets older, less life insurance death benefit will be required to replace the pension income. Usually some combination of tiered term-life policies and a small amount of permanent insurance fit the bill.
Fourth – the surviving spouse should have an idea of how they will use the life insurance death benefit to replace the pension income. For many, a single-premium immediate annuity makes the most sense, however other draw-down investment scenarios can also be considered.
Fifth – you need to consider taxes in your calculations on both the life insurance benefit and the increased pension benefit.
- Life insurance death benefits are generally not subject to income taxes. With an unlimited marital exemption, the estate tax will not be an issue when the first spouse dies. However, depending on the overall size of the estate and the death benefit, it could be an issue when the second spouse dies.
- The increased pension benefit will be subject to income taxes. So when you’re comparing the net effect on your income, you need to calculate how much your pension will be worth after taxes because you will be paying the life insurance premiums with after-tax dollars. This is an easy area to ignore, but depending on your tax bracket the effect of taxes can make or break the plan.
Sixth – consider the convenience factor. If there’s just a very small financial benefit to using a pension max strategy in your situation, it may still make sense to forego it. You need to weigh the simplicity of just taking the pension against the extra effort of going through life insurance underwriting and paying the premiums ongoing.
If you’re seriously considering using a pension max strategy, it’s a good idea to have an uninterested third party talk through the analysis with you. A fee-only financial advisor who doesn’t have a big insurance commission at stake based on your decision will be able to offer objective advice. And even though you spend some money on the advice, it may help you save much more over the long term and at very least feel confident that you made the right decision based on your unique situation.
2010 Key Numbers
December 2, 2009 by Jean Keener, CRPC, CFDP · Leave a Comment
The key numbers guide from Forefield has been updated for 2010. Not a lot of changes from last year, but still a convenient reference. It includes limits on retirement plan contributions, tax brackets, tax credit and deduction phase-outs, social security benefits, medicare, and much more. 2010 Key Numbers
October 2009 Newsletter
October 2, 2009 by Jean Keener, CRPC, CFDP · Leave a Comment
The October newsletter is now available. It includes a reminder about the October 15 deadline to recharacterize 2008 Roth IRA conversions, a market update, how to calculate your net worth and why net worth is the financial number to watch, and more. To read the newsletter, click here.
New Texas Teacher Long-Term Care Insurance Option
September 4, 2009 by Jean Keener, CRPC, CFDP · 1 Comment
Beginning on September 1 this year, the new long-term care insurance provider for the Texas Teacher Retirement System (TRS) switched from Aetna to Genworth. During open enrollment from September 15 – November 15 this year, teachers will have the option to sign up for this insurance. If you’re thinking about getting long-term care insurance anytime soon, now is the time to take action while you have the greatest number of options.
How do you know if the TRS Genworth group option is right for you?
The first thing to do is to get a quote for the TRS group policy through the Genworth website. To do this, go to www.genworth.com/groupltc For active employees, the group ID is TRS. For retirees, the group ID is TRSRetiree. The access code for both is groupltc.
After you’ve received your quote, you’ll want to go out and shop for individual quotes. Some of the companies in addition to Genworth offering long-term care insurance are John Hancock, MetLife, Prudential, Mass Mutual, Berkshire, and New York Life. You’ll want to make sure you’re comparing apples to apples, so print out the options you selected for the Genworth TRS policy to show to your insurance agent.
If you want an objective second opinion on when you should get long-term care insurance or the “right” amount of long-term care coverage to purchase for your situation, that’s something an independent financial planner like myself can help with.
If you find that the Genworth group TRS program is providing the best pricing and benefits for you, then it’s easy. You’ll want to go ahead and sign up if you’ve decided now is the right time for you to get long-term care insurance.
If you find an individual option could provide superior benefits at the same cost or comparable benefits at a lower cost, you’ll have some additional work to do. You need to go through under-writing and make sure you qualify. You will need to answer some health questions and possibly have an exam. This process can take some time, so you should start now. Only after you’ve been offered coverage through the other company can you really make a decision about which option to choose.
If you’re declined by the other company — good news — you still have the TRS group option. During the initial enrollment period, Genworth is providing a coverage guarantee to active employees. The coverage guarantee is why it’s so important to investigate this group option now if you have any health issues that may prevent coverage on an individual policy. According to the Genworth website, “During your enrollment period, if you are an actively at work employee on the day you apply, and on the day your coverage becomes effective, your coverage is guaranteed without answering any health questions. Also, during this time your spouse will have streamlined underwriting which limits the health questions they´ll have to answer. If you decide to apply after the enrollment period, you will be required to complete a full health questionnaire and go through underwriting. There is a chance that a health condition may prevent you from qualifying for coverage.”
Just to give you one example of this process, I compared the TRS group option for one couple. In this couple’s particular situation, the couple’s group coverage through TRS was going to cost slightly more than purchasing a comparable individual policy through Genworth directly, about the same as through MetLife, and a little less than through John Hancock.
Also of note, in the 3 individual quotes received, the prices were based on 100% of the maximum daily benefit being available for home healthcare vs. 75% for the Genworth group policy. 75% may be enough because home healthcare can be less costly than skilled nursing care. But if you can get 100% for the same or less premium — all other things being equal – it’s definitely the smart move.
In addition to price and features, it’s important to look at the ratings of the insurer, claims-paying experience of policyholders, and length of time the company has been in the long-term care arena. For this couple, it made more sense to go with one of the individual options. However, if they had health issues that would have kept them from qualifying for the individual policy, taking advantage of the TRS group policy during this initial enrollment period would have been a wonderful opportunity. It’s also important to note that everyone’s situation is different, so you need to complete this process for yourself.
Bottom line: if you’re thinking about getting long-term care insurance anytime soon, now is the time to take action while you have the greatest number of options.
For more information on making this decision, you can visit these links:
TRS long-term care information
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services site on long-term care information
Medicare’s site on long-term care
My blog post on 5 claims to watch out for in Long Term Care Insurance
My blog post Long Term Care is a Women’s Issue
September 2009 Newsletter
September 2, 2009 by Jean Keener, CRPC, CFDP · Leave a Comment
The September 2009 newsletter is now available. It includes information on 2010 retirement plan contribution limits, health insurance protection for college students, KFP’s new Dallas office, and more. To read it, click here.
Be skeptical: 5 claims to watch out for in long-term care insurance
August 24, 2009 by Jean Keener, CRPC, CFDP · 3 Comments
Long-term care planning is an important aspect of a financial plan, especially for those 50+. And insurance is often a component of that plan. But it’s important to know exactly what you’re buying, to compare pricing and features with comparable companies, and to buy the insurance for the right reasons. You don’t want to be swayed by unsubstantiated sales pitches. Here are some claims you’ll want to be skeptical of.
Claim #1: A long-term care policy is a great tax write-off
Though it’s true that premiums paid on a tax-qualified LTCI policy can reduce your tax burden, you must itemize deductions to be eligible. When you’re older, perhaps you’ll no longer itemize deductions. And even if you do, LTCI premiums fall under the write-off for medical and dental expenses, which is limited to expenses that exceed 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income. So, for example, if your adjusted gross income is $60,000, you are able to deduct only that portion of your unreimbursed medical and dental expenses (including LTCI premiums) that exceeds $4,500.
And there’s another caveat. Even if your LTCI premiums exceed 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income, you can’t include all of the premiums in your deduction for medical and dental expenses. Instead, your premiums are deductible according to a sliding scale that depends on your age. So what might look like a great tax write-off at first glance may not be so great after all.
Claim #2: You should buy a policy now so you can lock in the price forever
With most LTCI policies, your age at the time you purchase the policy is a factor in determining your premiums. However, this doesn’t mean that your premiums will stay the same as long as you own the policy. In fact, your premiums can increase if your insurance company establishes a rate increase for everyone in your class, and that increase is approved by the state insurance commissioner.
As a relatively new type of insurance, LTCI may be particularly susceptible to rate increases, because insurance companies lack a sufficient amount of underwriting data to predict the number and size of claims they can expect in the future. And unfortunately for you, if your insurance company does raise your premium, it may not be so simple to take your business elsewhere. Any premium on a new LTCI policy will still be based on your age, which will be higher, and your health, which may be worse. So no matter when you buy your policy, make sure you can afford the premiums both now and in the future.
Claim #3: It doesn’t matter how the policy defines “facility”
Currently, there are no national standards on what constitutes a long-term care facility. This means that an “assisted-living facility” or “adult day-care facility” may mean one thing in a particular policy or state and another thing in a different policy or state. This can pose a problem if you buy the policy in one state and then retire to another state–there may be no facilities in your new state that match the definitions in your policy. To protect yourself, make sure you understand exactly what types of facilities the LTCI policy covers before you buy it.
Claim #4: It’s not necessary to check the financial rating of the insurance company
A large number of unexpected long-term care claims could potentially devastate an insurance company that isn’t financially strong. So before you buy an LTCI policy, it’s always a good idea to check the company’s financial rating by using a rating service like Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, A. M. Best, or Fitch. You can also check with your state’s insurance department for more specific financial information on particular companies.
Claim #5: You should get rid of the policy you have now and buy a new one
Although in some cases a new LTCI policy might have an attractive added benefit that your old policy doesn’t, red flags should go up if an insurance agent encourages you to ditch your old policy for a new one without providing a clear explanation of the added benefits. For one thing, your premiums are based on your age and your health at the time you purchase the policy, so all other things being equal, your new policy will be more expensive. For another, you run the risk that a pre-existing condition won’t be covered under the new policy.
If you’re unhappy with your current policy, an alternative may be to upgrade it rather than replace it (though the agent earns a larger commission if you replace it). Unfortunately, there are unethical agents who make misleading comparisons of LTCI policies in an attempt to get you to switch policies for no reason other than their commission. If you’re considering switching policies, make sure you understand exactly what the new policy offers, whether this additional coverage is important to you, and what you’re giving up.
Long Term Care is a Woman’s Issue
August 20, 2009 by Jean Keener, CRPC, CFDP · Leave a Comment
I just read a great article in the Journal of Financial Planning about the “Double Jeopardy” women face with long-term care. Written by Mary Quist-Newins with American College, she succinctly describes the increased risks women face as both caregivers and receivers in planning for long-term care.
According to Quist-Newins, the first risk is caregiving. She writes:
For many women, the first exposure to LTC occurs when they provide services or financial support to a loved one. Women are the vast majority of professional or formal caregivers; they’re also the primary deliverers of informal home care. Approximately 75% of those providing home care are female, most often daughters. Women also spend 50% more time giving care than men.
While the high cost of facility care is common knowledge, the costs and consequences associated with giving care in the home are less well known. Consider these stark realities:
- Nationally, more than 6.4 million working women provide direct or indirect caregiving assistance. By 2010, 10.1 million employed women will bear this burden. As boomers age, these numbers could double by 2050.
- According to research from the National Center on Women and Aging, family caregivers lose an average of $659,130 over a lifetime in reduced salary and retirement benefits.
- Forty-four percent of female caregivers report high levels of physical strain or emotional stress, while employed caregivers are more than twice as likely to develop depression.
- Women who become caregivers are nearly three times more likely to end up in poverty and five times more likely to depend exclusively on Social Security.
The second risk is care receiving. In this area, Quist-Newins notes that women’s average consumption of nursing care is 3.7 years vs. 2.2 years for men. “As a result, the average American woman is likely to incur more than double the LTC expense of the average male.”
The last risk Quist-Newins writes about is denial. She cites studies showing that only 18% of women have talked with their spouse about long-term care and only 35% have considered how they will pay for long-term care.
In my practice, long-term care is a frequent topics with my clients 50+. One of the biggest reasons people put off structuring a long-term care plan is competing financial priorities. Because a need for long-term care is not definite and planning for it can involve purchasing costly insurance, it often gets bumped to the bottom of the priority list. And from an immediate financial perspective, that’s sometimes the right decision. This article serves as a good reminder. Even if buying the insurance today doesn’t make sense, creating a plan today that financially prepares us to implement a long-term care plan in the future is a must – especially for women.
If you’d like to read the full article in the Journal of Financial Planning, click here. For other resources on long-term care planning, visit www.medicare.gov/LTCPlanning.
August 2009 newsletter
August 5, 2009 by Jean Keener, CRPC, CFDP · Leave a Comment
The August newsletter is now available. It includes information on 2010 social security and medicare numbers for planning purposes, whether creditors can go after your 401(k) and more. To view it, click here.