Whew! You have finally moved into your new home. You'll be living out of boxes for a while, but hopefully, all the planning and effort paid off.
While putting up your feet for a well-deserved rest, take a few moments to think about how you'll adapt to your surroundings and establish new routines.
Moving in your younger years probably meant simply recruiting a pickup truck-owning friend with the promise of pizza and beer. Now past age 50, moving takes on a bit more complexity. It requires forethought and planning to reduce the chance of a stressful experience. In this post, we'll cover four phases for making a move:
As noted in a recent post, Moving in Retirement? How To Decide Where To Go, the state of your health might dictate the location for your next move. After a frank health assessment, you can decide which alternatives make the most sense for your situation.
So you've decided to move. Congratulations! You are about to embark on a great adventure. However, you have many more decisions ahead.
As noted in our recent post, Should I Move in Retirement?, there can be several triggers for considering a new home later in life.
Among these, a health situation could urgently drive the question of where to live into immediate focus.
If you find yourself in this situation, the first step is to thoroughly assess your condition and the implications for your living situation. Consulting with medical professionals and family is crucial in this assessment. The result should be a living plan that provides the best support for your healthcare needs.
The elements of the plan need to consider several questions.
For many, there comes a time in life around fifty years of age (or later) when the question arises: "How long am I going to live here?"
There could be several possible triggers for this question:
You may find more than one of these triggers comes into play for your situation.
When Medicare was introduced in 1965, prescription drugs were not covered. However, in December 2003, Medicare Part D was signed into law to cover the cost of medications. Unlike Medicare Part A and Part B, however, Part D is optional.
Medicare Part D is offered via plans marketed by private companies. Each plan publishes its own list of covered drugs called a formulary. Formularies contain both brand-name and generic drugs. A formulary typically will have two or more drugs in the most popular categories to allow for more choices.
Formularies are not static. Medicare rules allow a plan to make changes to its formulary and drug fees during the year because:
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.
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.
Original Medicare (Part A and Part B) offers many benefits, but it has some "gaps." The most prominent gap is there is no limit on out-of-pocket expenses, which encompass deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance.
One way to fill many of these gaps is through a Medicare Supplement Insurance policy (also known as Medigap) sold by private insurers. Medigap policies come in several different versions but must adhere to strict government standards. These standards allow easier comparisons between policies and protect consumers from unscrupulous insurers.
Along with Medicare Part A, Part B is the other part of Original Medicare. A recent blog post described Medicare Part A coverage for inpatient care (hospital and skilled nursing), hospice care, and home healthcare.
Medicare Part B covers medically necessary costs for: