Cantissimo Senior Living Blog

Most Americans reaching age 65 achieve a significant milestone: Medicare eligibility. Launched in 1965, Medicare is a national health insurance program created and administered by the U.S. government and funded primarily via payroll taxes. Prior to its inception, over half of Americans, 65 or older, had no health insurance.

The program started with coverage for hospital stays (Part A) and other medical expenses like doctor fees (Part B). These two parts, known as "Original Medicare," operate as a "fee-for-service" system where a provider (e.g., hospital or doctor) gets paid for each service delivered.

With every move, you have to make some serious decisions. In retirement, you need to consider several additional factors as your income is now likely limited. Many people apply for less strenuous jobs, and it's popular to consider moving to a smaller place to be frugal. Although everyone has a different way of coping with the situation, renting a storage unit could be considered a prudent approach when downsizing your house or moving to a senior living community. If you're trying to decide whether a storage unit might be right for you, here are some pros and cons to consider.

For seniors living on a fixed monthly income, practicing sound financial habits is important to maintain a desired standard of living. In this article, we explore various cost-cutting strategies and lifestyle changes to can consider to continue living comfortably well into your golden years.

Planning for long-term care expenses seems to involve a lot of wishful thinking for many. As noted in another Cantissimo Senior Living blog post, a survey found that about half of respondents said they had done little or no planning for these needs.

One example of wishful thinking is that government programs like Medicare or Medicaid will pay long-term care expenses.

Among the many ways of paying for long-term care, life insurance and annuities have been growing in popularity.

Life Insurance

In its original form, life insurance was intended only to pay beneficiaries upon the death of the insured. Since its inception, however, life insurance has evolved to include many additional options. Some of these options can help pay for long-term care.

With the cost of housing rising every year, more and more seniors are looking to find roommates in retirement. For many retirees, this may be the first time living with a roommate in decades. In addition to housing costs, there are many advantages to living with a roommate, as well as a few less favorable things to consider. Continue reading to learn more about whether getting a roommate might be right for you!

When it comes to preparing for retirement, most consumers have only a vague idea about planning for potential long-term care expenses. Yet, well over half of Americans 65 or older will eventually require some form of long-term care.

There are multiple ways to pay for long-term care. However, the potentially enormous costs could quickly exhaust one's assets. An attractive alternative for managing this considerable risk could be long-term care insurance (LTCI).

The majority (76%) of those over 50 say they would prefer to continue living in their own home as long as they can. However, this is not always possible, and other senior living options like assisted living may need to be considered. Yet, such long-term care options can be costly. For instance, one year of assisted living can cost over $50,000. If memory care or skilled nursing is required, the annual cost can be twice as much.

Unless one has long-term care insurance or can qualify for Medicaid, most people will need to tap all their assets, to pay for long-term care. This may include the equity in one's home.

There are four ways to leverage home equity to finance long term care:

Most of us have heard of a Health Savings Account (HSA), but many don't understand the important details about these accounts.

HSAs were intended to provide a way for Americans to save money for out-of-pocket healthcare expenses before meeting the deductible of a high deductible health plan (HDHP). In fact, an individual or family must have an HDHP to open an HSA.

HSAs were primarily intended to soften the financial burden of healthcare expenses for HDHP account holders of all age groups. However, an HSA can be particularly advantageous in paying for long-term care expenses at age 65 or over.

Some Medicare beneficiaries want more healthcare benefits than Original Medicare can offer, even with Medigap supplemental policies. Medicare Advantage Plans (sometimes known as Medicare Part C) fill this need by providing more benefits for beneficiaries who agree to extra costs and less flexibility.

The Medicare Advantage Alternative

Offered by private insurance companies, Medicare Advantage Plans provide Part A and Part B coverage as an alternative to Original Medicare. Medicare pays a fixed amount to these insurers for each beneficiary enrolled in their plans but requires these companies to follow specific rules. These rules allow the companies flexibility to offer more services. However, to do this, they may handle out-of-pocket costs differently and impose certain restrictions on enrollees.