How to AVOID Losing Your Money In Retirement

One of the biggest things that retired Americans are doing that costs them serious money is home improvements.[i]  Either by fixing up their existing home to sell or merely to finally have the home of their dreams, newly retired seniors are throwing away their money believing that these kind of home improvements will actually prove valuable.

In reality what occurs is that the improvements cost more than the added value is worth when they do end up selling their home. Or the improvements are not as beneficial to them as they thought they would be, and the money spent would have been more valuable to them had they kept it.

Another thing seniors lose money on is coupon chasing.  The idea that you can save a dime by traveling 10 miles, doesn’t make sense for working individuals, let alone seniors who are living on a fixed income.  Yes, time is still money when you retire. And the less time you have to spend in your car or traveling to “save money” is time you can use in creating real value.

Remember wealth isn’t merely how much money you have or how much you can save, but wealth is what you end up accomplishing in life.  Spend your time with others and experience the wealth that only comes from making someone else’s life more enjoyable rather than trying to pinch your pennies and become stingy in doing do.  Stinginess is the fastest way to poverty that is known.

Traveling is another expense associated with the loss of money.  Though traveling is nice, think twice before filling your calendar with extravagant travel. Augment your actual travel with other adventures such as watching videos of interesting destinations, touring local museums, attending concerts and hosting parties with friends and family. Reading books about other locations or stories with varied settings and cultures can also prove to be a “mini travel vacation”.  Gathering with others to discuss these books creates a shared and richer experience.

Doctor visits are one of the most expensive things that seniors encounter. There is no reason that you should spend more money on health care simply because you have more time on your hands than you did prior to your retirement. The medical profession has done a superb job of making you believe that you will live longer if you visit your doctor more frequently in retirement.  But according to the John Hopkins study, 250,000 people die in the US every year from medical errors, while other reports show death rates as high as 440,000 annually![ii]

It is a known fact that seniors spend more time in hospitals and more time going to doctors appointments.  Seniors living in Florida spend more time going to doctors than seniors who live in mid-western and western states.[iii]  Spending more time making and keeping doctors’ appointments as a senior, increases your odds of becoming one of those early death statistics due to medical error.

If you want to stop throwing money away on health care expenses, consider the value of chiropractic care. Seniors who implemented chiropractic care reduced their health care costs between 2.9% to 60%, depending on their diagnosis.[iv] And that is money that you can use somewhere else instead of throwing it away.

Finally, taxes are another area where seniors lose money.  Many seniors were never informed about how Al Gore voted to make your Social Security taxable income.  And yet you can lose money by being taxed on up to 85% of what you are paid on Social Security, even though it was promised never to be considered taxable when Social Security was initiated.

Avoid losing money when you retire. Better yet, proper planning today can give you more money to keep from losing in the future.  Call our office today, 702-660-7000 so you don’t lose out in your retirement.

[i] https://www.newsmax.com/thewire/retirement-finances-seniors/2019/08/19/id/929043/

[ii] https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/22/medical-errors-third-leading-cause-of-death-in-america.html

[iii] https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2016/02/21/which-older-americans-see-the-doctor-most/#6c225c722d24

[iv] https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0dd8/1e2bc5e8265135dd03182fb6f04a99ef4e7f.pdf