Personal Finance After 50 For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Introduction

Some things get better with age. Aging presents opportunities for increased wisdom and broader perspective as well as some increased challenges. One of those challenges has to do with finances. The new, and sometimes more complex, financial decisions that confront folks in their later working years and then in retirement can be tough to work through.

For example, consider the types of questions we, your humble authors, have been asked from folks in our advisory businesses:

• Can we afford to change careers, cut back on work, or simply retire? How much can we comfortably spend per year given our assets? Should I plan to move to an area with a lower cost of living?
• My employer is offering me pension options. How do I choose among them?
• I just left my employer (by choice or through layoff) and have some money in a retirement account. What should I do with it?
• How should I manage my investments now and in the years ahead? When should I begin collecting Social Security benefits?
• What’s the process for withdrawing money from my retirement accounts, and how can I minimize my tax hit from doing this?
• Should I buy an annuity? If so, what type? Are reverse mortgages a good idea?
• What types of additional medical insurance — long-term care insurance, Medicare supplement, and so on — do I need pre- and post-retirement?
• An agent is telling me to buy more and different types of life insurance. How much do I need and what type of life insurance should I buy?
• Do I need a will? Do ...