Your Wealth Puzzle » Health Insurance

Who Wants To Be Ready For Retirement?

yourwealthpuzzle — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 09:16:00 +0000

Are you financially ready for your retirement? You want to be ready, don’t you? Or do you want to be one of those individuals who have to keep working when they retire?

Since we are living longer now a days, retirement for most of us will be one of the longest periods of our life. For some of us, our retirement years could be over 20 years. With that in mind, you may need almost as much money during your retirement years as you do during your working years.

If you use the process of investing, you will be ready for retirement. 401k investing is a combination of many puzzle pieces; individually the pieces are not as powerful as they are combined.

Dollar cost averaging, asset allocation, account diversification, 401k retirement account maxing, 401k retirement plan matching and IRA investing all work together like a puzzle. These individual puzzle pieces when put together create a beautiful picture for you called your retirement. Let’s get you ready.

Getting You Ready For Retirement

You earned millions!! Where did it all go?

Giving you some reality.
Over your working lifetime you will have earned millions of dollars.
You may need that much for 20 + years of retirement life.
From your very first job – projected out until you retire – it’s safe to say that you will have earned millions of dollars.
You did not keep it all – so where did it go?
Your earnings went to pay for taxes, inflation, living expenses, insurances, savings and investments.
Be realistic.
Your monetary needs will change only slightly when you retire.
In retirement you will still need money for taxes, inflation, insurances and living expenses.
When you retire, expenses do not just go away.
In retirement sometimes expenses increase.
You may need to pay for health care, health insurance, travel expenses or other fun expenses that you didn’t have to pay for before.
Your retirement investments will have to pay for all of those expenses.
Start saving for your retirement, now!!

You can’t get it back, moving forward.

It’s gone.
The money you have earned and spent over your life time - – is gone.
But there’s hope.
Start managing the money you do keep like a pro.
How you manage the money you do get to keep is crucial to getting you ready for retirement.
Money management is done best under a process.
Money professionals and wealthy individuals all use a process to accumulate wealth, so should you.

Use The Process of Investing: It Works.

Dollar Cost Averaging – buys your investments on sale.

By dollar cost averaging you are investing the same dollar amount on a regular basis regardless of market conditions.
This process buys some investments at a high price and some at a low price.
The highs & lows are averaged together – your money is well spent.
The pro’s dollar cost average.
Dollar cost average regardless of what you hear about the market and the economy.
When the market is down, you are actually buying your investments on sale….so getting more for your money.

Proper Asset Allocation – lowers the impact of market dips.

Asset allocation is the percentage split between the different investment styles within your investment accounts.
Aggressive, moderate and conservative are the different investment styles.
These investment styles are called asset classes.
401k accounts are usually invested in mutual funds.
Cash or a cash equivalent are conservative.
Bonds are conservative.
Balanced funds are moderate.
Large cap funds are moderate.
Mid cap and small cap are aggressive.
And international funds are definitely aggressive.
Spreading your 401k contributions among the different asset classes will lower the impact to your account balances when the market drops.

Good Diversification – helps lessen the effect of market swings.

If you spread your investments between cash or a cash equivalent, bonds and stock investments, you will have a diversified portfolio.
Staying diversified will help smooth out the upward and downward swings the market puts your investments through.
Market swings can cause your investment returns to fluctuate.

Maxing Out – gets you tax benefits.

To take advantage of the tax benefits, max out your 401k contributions every year.
Your taxable income drops.
You keep more of your money in your pocket.
More money in your pocket gets you ready for retirement at a faster pace.
You are accumulating money for retirement that doesn’t get taxed until you withdraw it.
When you do withdraw it, you should be in a lower tax bracket, so taxes will be less.

Employer Matching – gets you FREE MONEY!!

If your employer offers to match your 401k contributions…FREE MONEY!!
With an employer match, your employer is handing you free money.
You cannot turn down free money.

Individual Retirement Account’s – other retirement options

IRA’s can be a supplement to your 401k investments.
An IRA can be used as a retirement investment if your employer does not offer a 401k retirement plan.
Your contributions can be tax-deductible.
Your earnings on the account balance can be tax deferred.

How you manage your money throughout your lifetime will determine what kind of retirement you will have. Getting ready for retirement is not about what you make but what you keep.

Good money management means keeping more of your money in your pocket. With more money in your pocket, you will accumulate wealth quicker; and be ready for retirement with relative ease.

Getting ready for retirement can sometimes be a bumpy ride. Things get in the way of accumulating your wealth; job changes, unexpected expenses; unplanned for situations. If you follow the process of investing that we discussed, you should be able to smooth out the bumpy ride.

Health Insurance, Critical Illness Insurance

yourwealthpuzzle — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:41:27 +0000

In today’s market place health insurance brokers do not offer just one kind of a medical insurance quote – but a variety, including specialty health insurance policies. One specialty health insurance sold by brokers is critical illness insurance.

Critical illness insurance can be invaluable at the time of an illness. Without insurance a critical illness can sometimes lead to personal bankruptcy due to the loss or decrease of your income when you are sick.

The best time to ask your health insurance broker for a critical illness insurance quote is when you are healthy. If you purchase critical illness insurance or any other type of health insurance when you are in good health, you are insurable and the premiums can be reasonable. At the time of an illness, you become uninsurable.

Critical illness insurance can be purchased as an individual policy, through your employer or as a supplement to a health insurance policy.

Health Insurance Brokers

yourwealthpuzzle — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 11:46:46 +0000

Health insurance companies are becoming selective when paying their insurance settlements or claims. According to the Department of Labor, approximately one out of seven health insurance claims are denied upon initial review.

If your health insurance claim gets denied, you may have to some homework. Start with the insurance company – not the health insurance broker. Even though the broker may advise you on the best approach, health insurance brokers generally are not involved in the appeal process.

There are two main reasons for health claim denials – incorrect coding or the procedure is determined to be medically unnecessary. If you think your claim was denied for one of those reasons you may want to consider an appeal.

Sometimes appeals are successful and sometimes they go unresolved. If you do some research before you start the appeal process you may increase your chances of success. Have as many facts available as possible. Make sure you talk with the people who have the authority to make changes. And, do not get discourage, appeals can be a long process.

International Health Insurance

yourwealthpuzzle — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:22:16 +0000

Family Health Insurance or International Health Insurance

Be aware that when you travel abroad, your family health insurance policy may not cover all of your health insurance needs. When you travel overseas, you may need to purchase an international health insurance policy.

Your best approach before you travel internationally is to check with your health insurance broker. The worst approach would be to assume that your family health insurance policy covers everything and then be in for a big surprise when you are overseas without insurance coverage.

Most family health insurance policies usually do not cover trip cancellation or trip interruption or medical emergencies when you travel internationally. Most international health insurance policies do cover trip cancellation, trip interruption, medical emergencies, hospital and doctor bills and emergency medical evacuations. When you shop for an international health policy, be sure to ask what the policy covers and what is excluded.

And most international health insurance policies are available for short periods of time – like the time most people plan a vacation for….5 days, 7 days, 10 days. Ask your health insurance broker

Life Insurance Rates and Health Insurance Quote In Common

yourwealthpuzzle — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:06:30 +0000

Life Insurance Rates and Health Insurance Quote

Life insurance rates are a lot like health insurance rates – the rates are determined by a standard set of criteria. Affordable health insurance is attainable if your are healthy and fit within that standard criteria.

Some of basic criteria that insurance companies use to determine life insurance rates may include your age, your health, your height and weight. The criteria for a health insurance quote generally includes the same criteria.

A health insurance company evaluates risk based on this criteria and can change any quotes they give you. A health insurance quote you receive is an estimate, before they evaluate the risk. If the company determines that the risk (you) being insured was evaluated incorrectly at the time of the quote, they can change that quote or estimate before binding it.

When you inquire about health insurance and ask for a quote, be as detailed about as possible. Your health insurance broker should be able to guide you in this respect.

Low Income Health Insurance

yourwealthpuzzle — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:41:46 +0000

Low Income Health Insurance

Whether you are shopping for low income health insurance or cheap health insurance, the health insurance rates are based on the same criteria. When you ask your insurance broker for a medical insurance quote, the health insurance rate will be based on the plan you choose, the coverages you select and your health.

If an HMO or PPO health insurance plan is too expensive for you, you may consider a Health Savings Account (HSA). The premiums can be substantially lower, but also remember that the deductibles are higher. Additional coverages will cost more than a health insurance plan without those coverages.

If you have pre-existing conditions, you may not get coverage for a period of time if at all. However some plans will cover you with a pre-existing condition but at a higher premium. Coverage depends on what type of pre-existing condition you have. Check with your health insurance broker.

Short Term Insurance & Health Insurance

yourwealthpuzzle — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:25:44 +0000

In these hard economic times how do you cover health insurance needs? One way is to get short term insurance if your health insurance coverage is only needed for a temporary time.

A temporary time frame would be if you are in between jobs, or recently graduated from school and are waiting to start a job. Or perhaps you just started a new job and have a waiting period before the employers’ medical health insurance takes effect If you have a job that is seasonal so you have no employee benefits, you can get short term insurance for your health insurance coverage.

Cost is the reason you only want to use short term insurance for your temporary needs. The premiums can sometimes be slightly higher than a health insurance plan through your employer or union. Do your research, the premiums health insurance companys charge will vary.

Health Insurance Online

yourwealthpuzzle — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:18:56 +0000

When insurance sales agents talk to you about budget insurance, ask if they are referring to health insurance online, short term health insurance or temporary health insurance. Budget insurance can be any one of those health insurance plans.

Temporary health insurance, short term health insurance and health insurance online can usually offered at discounted premiums, which is why they can be considered as a budget insurance.

Budget insurance policies generally do not have a personal, direct agent that you work with, but instead an individual licensed to sell insurance through a toll free phone number. The advantage of that is they are available to service your personal insurance needs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Direct Insurance or Group Health Insurance

yourwealthpuzzle — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:31:15 +0000

Direct insurance or direct purchase is a type of individual health insurance vs a type of employer or government insurance plan. Individual health insurance is purchased by an individual from some private insurance company, vs received from ones employer or a government program.

Individual health insurance is usually purchased by the self employed, or someone who works part time and is not covered by employer benefits. Sometimes someone who retires before they are eligible for medicare purchases direct insurance.

When purchased through ones employer or union, health insurance plans are referred to as a private health insurance or group health insurance. These group health insurance plans can either be an HMO, a POS or a PPO. Ask your health insurance broker which plan you are covered under.

A government plan is not a direct purchase plan because it is not purchased through a private insurance company. Government health insurance plans are medicare, medicaid or military.

Health Insurance Brokers or Online

yourwealthpuzzle — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:07:51 +0000

Obtaining health insurance quotes is a fairly simple process. You can work through health insurance brokers or get a health insurance online quote.

When you work with a quote online, you may become confused about the insurance terms that are used. Or you may not know which insurance product best fulfills your insurance needs, in which case you may want a health insurance broker. At any point while working the quote online, you can engage a health insurance agent or broker to work with you. Simple contact the agent listed in the contact information on the site with the quote information.

What a health insurance broker or agent can offer you that online quotes may not is servicing. They both can see group or personal health insurance and also supplemental health insurance but both may not be able to service you.

Personal health insurance is purchased by individuals or families who do not get health insurance at work. Supplemental health insurance is purchase to offset medical costs. The benefits are paid directly to the policyholder instead of the hospital or doctor.

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