R E T I R E M E N T I N S I G H T
Presented by WealthTrak Advisors
 

MONTHLY NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR CURRENT AND FUTURE RETIREES

DECEMBER 2016

“Enjoy your own life without comparing it with that of another.”    

- Marquis de Condorcet

HEALTH TIP
Lower the risk of winter falls

Snow, ice, rain: they can all raise the chances of tripping or slipping, so take precautions. Wear shoes or boots with deep treads in icy or wet conditions. Test snow or ice for slipperiness by tapping your foot on it. Take short, low steps on wet pavement – shuffle rather than stride. If the weather is bad, refrain from going out alone. Lastly, can you arrange to have snow and ice removed from the walking surfaces in front of your house? It may be well worth the expense.

BRAIN TEASER
Sounds The Same
What word starts with BR that with the addition of the letter E, becomes another word that sounds the same as the first but has a different meaning?*

DID YOU KNOW?
Soft drinks once contained

some rather hard stuff

The original recipe for Coca-Cola used coca leaves as an ingredient, which infused the beverage with trace amounts of cocaine. Until 1950, 7-Up contained lithium citrate – a chemical compound used to treat bipolar disorder.5

Teamwork Counts for Couples Close to Retirement.

Talking about a few lifestyle and financial matters in the years immediately before your retirement transition may help you and your spouse find more happiness in your “second act.”

How close are you to receiving Medicare? Should one or both of you strive to work until age 65? HealthPocket (a tech firm that evaluates health plans) estimates that the average non-smoking, 60-year-old couple would pay nearly $18,000 for a silver plan at one of the health care exchanges (assuming no subsidies). Can you delay filing for Social Security, and time your claims to position yourselves for greater lifetime benefits? If either of you are in line for a pension from your employer, this is the time to weigh the merits of a lump-sum payout that could be invested versus a lifelong income stream.

Are you both going to retire at roughly the same time, or years apart? Have someone run the numbers to show you how those different scenarios might unfold for you in terms of retirement income and retirement spending. Finally, talk to each other about your typical day in retirement – how you want to spend your time, and what you want to spend the most time doing.1

Fitness Centers Are Restyling Their Offerings for Boomers & Seniors. 

Does an 8:00am, high-intensity, aerobic workout seem a little too extreme these days? If it does, take heart – gyms and health clubs are altering their classes to suit a maturing clientele.

Low-impact yoga, aerial yoga, tai chi, and Zumba are increasingly on the menu, plus dance and aquacize classes. Strength training is popular: personally tailored workouts of less than an hour make sense for many retirees, built around exercises to condition muscles, bones, ligaments, and tendons. Another oncoming trend appears to be senior discounts – deep discounts on classes or memberships, sometimes greater than 50%. If you want to stay fit through these classes and other options, talk to your doctor before embarking on an exercise program and find one that fits your style and schedule. It may save you money; it may even save your life.2,3

On the BRIGHT SIDE
According to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine in November, the rate of dementia in Americans aged 65 and older dipped from 11.6% in 2000 to 8.8% in 2012.4