Similar to planning your pension or retirement fund, planning your medical insurance for post retirement is largely a case of future planning.
Taking into consideration the current global economic situation, we are living in a time of great financial insecurity. By planning ahead, we can hopefully try to cushion any unexpected financial changes, be it personal finances or state finances. These issues are hard to bracket into one general group, as everybody’s financial and personal situation is individual but these tips might help to get you on the right track for planning your future medical expenses.
1. Individual Retirement Plans: If you intend on retiring before the average retirement age of 65, you may not be covered by standard Post-Retirement plans available from private insurance institutions or by the state. Consult your medical insurance provider for more information on individual medical insurance that they may have on offer, as it could save you an unexpected amount.
2. Spousal Coverage: We all want to feel that, in the case of any medical emergency or conditions that may arise in the future, that we will still be able to support our loved ones. Depending on your individual circumstances, you may or may not be eligible for coverage under your spouse’s Post-retirement medical insurance, or they may not be eligible under yours, provided that you have a spouse, as not all of us do. You should ask your current medical insurance provider about deals and discounts that they may be able to offer for joint medical insurance, as there may be hidden savings in discounts they can offer if you have not already availed of these.
3. Budgeting: It may seem like an obvious idea that you should consider budgeting when trying to plan your medical insurance for post-retirement but, when you think about it, it is extremely likely that your medical expenses are going to increase as you age. Keeping that in mind, doesn’t it make sense that you should therefore increase the budgeted proportion of your current income to accommodate this likely future expenditure
4. Savings: Another point that may seem blindingly obvious but, when you consider that, the earlier you start saving for your retirement costs, the more money you will have to finance it once the time comes, it actually makes a lot of sense to start contributing to your retirement fund sooner rather than later, as these savings can later be used to better afford medical insurance once you retire.
5. Long-term care needs: In the event that you require long-term care in your retirement, plan this seperately to your medical insurance plans, as many medical insurance institutions do not provide insurance coverage to pay for long-term care facilities. Similarly, the government will only fund senior citizens’ long term care needs if they are in a state of financial destitution.
Consult your current or future medical insurance provider for information on long-term care options as, it may be beneficial to pay slightly more money for better conditions in a private nursing home or care-centre than the state provided long-term care facilities.
The author of this post, John is a freelance writer and blogger. He writes on a number of subjects like Finance, Insurance and Investment. He recommends Draper Insurance for all insurance related needs.
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