Investing & Retirement

A Retiree Shares His 5 Best Money Moves in Retirement

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WHEN FOLKS TALK about their best financial decisions, they’ll often mention the investments they bought. But my list is quite different. Here are the five best money moves I’ve made during my dozen years in retirement:

1. Updating my estate plan. When I was my mother’s primary caregiver, she was the major beneficiary of my estate. If something happened to me, I wanted to make sure she could afford the care she needed.

My mother passed away in 2019. I was married in 2020. Afterward, I updated my living trust and changed the beneficiaries on all my retirement accounts. My wife is now financially secure if I should pass away before her. If I didn’t take these actions, it would have been a failure to fulfill my moral and financial obligation to my wife.

2. Consolidating financial accounts. If I was to give my wife a nickname, it would be JIT. My wife likes to buy things just-in-time—only when they’re needed. She also doesn’t like clutter. She likes her life orderly and easily understood.

In 2020, I consolidated all my financial accounts. I now have 95% of my money at Vanguard Group and the rest at a local credit union. My finances are now simple and transparent, which is just the way my wife likes her life. My heirs will have fewer accounts to deal with when I’m gone.

3. Choosing traditional Medicare. If you live long enough, you’re probably going to have a health scare. I’ve had two of them since I retired. The unknown is what’s so frightening about them. Not knowing what’s wrong with your failing body can turn your world upside down.

One good thing about traditional Medicare is that you don’t need approval for tests or to see a specialist. You can cut through the red tape and other nonsense to get to the root of your health problem fairly quickly. When my specialist recommended a CT scan, I made an appointment for the test before I left his office. I got a CT scan three days later. If I had Medicare Advantage, I’d probably still be waiting on the referral.

If you can afford the higher costs associated with traditional Medicare and a Medigap policy, they can expedite your medical care and put your world back together faster.

4. Delaying Social Security to age 70. The main reason I took my Social Security benefit at 70 is because it gives me a peace of mind. I wanted to make sure my wife and I are financially secure in our later years. If I should die before her, my larger check should cover her basic living expenses.

5. Taking a trip to La Jolla. After my wife and I got our COVID-19 vaccination shots in March 2021, we went on a weekend trip to La Jolla, California. We stayed at a hotel and ate at a good restaurant. It was a welcome break amid our long struggle with the pandemic.

The $400 we spent on this trip provided an emotional boost we truly needed. The change of scenery gave us a necessary reprieve from COVID-19. It was some of the best money I’ve spent in retirement.

Dennis Friedman retired from Boeing Satellite Systems after a 30-year career in manufacturing. Born in Ohio, Dennis is a California transplant with a bachelor’s degree in history and an MBA. A self-described “humble investor,” he likes reading historical novels and about personal finance. 

This article first appeared on HumbleDollar. If you’d like to receive the site’s free weekly newsletter, sign up here.

This post was last modified on January 19, 2022 9:27 am

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