 Oracle Karl is going to peer into his magical crystal ball to see what the future effects of all this economic stimulus will have on your retirement.
 When is the best time to claim for Social Security (SS)?
You can get benefits anytime between ages 62 and 70. The earlier you claim, the smaller your payment for life! The maximum payment is going to be at age 70. Generally, it’s best to wait as long as possible to claim. There are two reasons for this.  Americans are eligible for Medicare when they turn 65. This also applies to non-U.S. citizens if they are legal residents and have lived here continuously for over 5 years.
If someone is permanently disabled and under 65, they are also eligible for Medicare after receiving Social Security disability benefits for at least 24 months.  There is a lot of confusion and misinformation about how to qualify for Medi-Cal to help pay for nursing home costs.
Many people that would qualify don’t even bother applying and end up broke. Adding to the confusion is that California draft regulations are different than any other state.  RPA Tax Group, LLC – The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement known as the SECURE Act, was signed into law December 20, 2019. It was attached to the $1.4 trillion spending bill to keep the government running.
It became effective January 1, 2020. It is the first major retirement legislation since the passage of the Pension Protection Act in 2006. Here’s what you need to know.  45% of Americans or 133 million suffer from a chronic illness like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s/dementia, heart disease and arthritis.
1 in 10 people age 65 and older and 1 in 3 people age 85 and older have Alzheimer’s/dementia. Paying for caregiving help is not cheap. You could easily spend almost $100,000 a year!  In this article I’m going to pull back the curtain on the Long-term Care Medi-Cal application process.
There are three separate processes. The first is the original application. Second is the annual redetermination and the last is the recovery questionnaire. The goal with the original application is to get approval in the shortest time frame possible. The annual redetermination goal is to maintain eligibility and with recovery, it is to avoid recovery against the beneficiary’s estate for benefits paid out.  Paying for college can be daunting but remember that your child will have scholarships and loans to fill the gap between what you can contribute and the total cost they’ll have to pay. Whatever you can contribute will be valuable. Also remember that in the years ahead you’ll gain interest on every dollar you put away, so even small amounts can add up.
 With nursing home costs in California exceeding $100,000 a year, draining one’s life savings in a very short period of time is a real possibility.
No one wants to end up in a nursing home but based on the way that our health care system works, you may end up there like it or not. |
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