Want to know one of the biggest retirement planning secrets?

First, you need to know that retirement will probably last longer than you expect!

This is the one thing that comes as the biggest retirement planning surprise to most retirees. That’s right. And, once this is discovered, many people wonder why they didn’t know.

Why would anyone keep this secret? It’s not that professional financial advisors and attorneys aren’t mentioning it when they discuss retirement planning. The real issue is that most people don’t start saving or thinking about retirement until much later in life. The fact is that most people spend about 20 years in retirement. However, that is changing as medical advances continue to lengthen life span expectancies.

The longer we live, the sooner we have to start saving for retirement. Once upon a time, 75% of one’s income was enough to save and get one through retirement. Retirement plans considered that the common wisdom. But if you don’t earn a lot of money, you could need as much as 90% of what you earn annually.

With longer life expectancies, healthcare is – or at least should be – your biggest concern when planning for retirement.

The average recurring cost for Medicare beneficiaries is almost $2,000 per year and at age 85 or older nursing home costs average more than $24,000; some pay over $66,000. Medicare premiums and deductibles are about $3,000 a year. Nursing homes cost between $150,000 to $200,000 per year. And in fact, a retired couple may need up to $220,000 for healthcare costs over the course of retirement.

The retirement secret that should be shouted repeatedly is “start saving as soon as possible and hire a reputable estate and asset protection attorney to help you make the most of your savings!” Most people want to live a long life. If that long life comes with complicated health issues, it’s going to cost. So, it makes sense to start planning for the worst-case scenarios financially. And the good news will be if you stay healthy you’ll have more freedom in your retirement and more assets to leave to your beneficiaries.

The post Retirement Planning Secrets: One of the Biggest! appeared first on Felinton Elder Law and Estate Planning Centers.