In any given year, a few common themes and questions start to become more and more common during meetings. There always seems to be a few financial topics that get the most attention and we spend a lot of time with clients addressing those things.

Recently, we’ve been talking a lot about the current economic environment, long term care insurance premiums, and taxes. Since it’s likely something you’ve also thought about, we wanted to get Eric’s thoughts on those things in this episode of the podcast.

The first question we’ve heard more and more is whether this current economic environment requires us to be making changes to our investment strategy. As people get in to retirement or close to it, things begin to change somewhat fast for them and worry can creep in quickly.

But the reality is the market is probably not all that different than how it’s been in the past. Sure, it’s not exactly the same but history often repeats itself and you need to make sure you’re comfortable in the plan that you have. You may or may not need to be making changes right now, but let’s be proactive by having a conversation and addressing where you’re at so your eyes are wide open on whatever comes next.

The second topic to discuss is long term care premiums. More specifically, they continue to rise, which has some retirees wondering if it’s worth it to keep the policy. There are questions we’d ask to help determine this but having that policy provides peace of mind for a lot of people. Most of the time, it’s not beneficial to cancel it and look for something different later in life. Let’s take a closer look at the policy to determine if it’s still a good fit before you make any changes. Rate hikes are never enjoyable, but they’re often justified to some extent.

The last question we’ve been getting deals with taxes on inheritance money. Tax rules are never easy to track on your own so it’s important to meet with a financial professional to better understand the inheritance. The different types of assets or accounts you inherited will determine what you will owe in taxes. You want to make sure you’re managing that inheritance as best you can so rely on a professional to help you with that.

As always, our Money Map review process is a great place to start if you have anything on your mind related to your finances or retirement. Get in touch and let us get that started for you.

Here are some of the things we discuss in this episode:

0:53 – Should we be making investment changes in this current economic environment?

3:08 – With long term care insurance premiums going up, should we cancel the policy?

4:37 – How much of your inheritance should you set aside for taxes?

7:00 – On the case with Heath: Estate planning  

13:05 – Mailbag question on selling your home to rent in retirement

14:37 – Mailbag question on Rule of 100

15:57 – Mailbag question on financial issues for a second marriage

17:00 – Myth busting with Matt: Social Security will run out of money