Panorama Community Magazine term care expenses, which currently range from about $50,000 per year for home health care to over $100,000 per year for a private room in a nursing home. • Keep building assets for retirement. While you’re working, constantly try to put away as much money as possible for your retirement years. Each year your salary goes up, increase your contributions to your 401(k) or similar employer-sponsored retirement plan. You may also want to contribute to an IRA, depending on your goals. And within your retirement savings, make sure you devote a reasonable percentage of your investment dollars to growth-oriented vehicles that align with your goals and risk tolerance. • Seek out sources of guaranteed income. As a retiree, you will receive Social Security benefits – and the longer you wait before claiming them, the bigger your monthly checks will be. But you might also consider investments that can provide a source of income you can’t outlive, such as annuities. • Revisit your strategy before you retire. As you near retirement, you may want to review your investment strategy, possibly adjusting your risk level so that your portfolio would be somewhat less susceptible to market volatility. This is also a good time to review your spending needs in retirement. • Maintain a reasonable withdrawal rate. Once you are retired, you’ll likely need to start withdrawing from your 401(k), IRA and other investment accounts. To avoid taking out too much money too early in your retirement, you’ll need to set a reasonable, sustainable withdrawal rate based on your assets, age and retirement lifestyle. A financial advisor can help you determine an appropriate rate. It will take dedication and determination to help ensure your money doesn’t run out during your lifetime. But you’d probably agree that it’s well worth the effort.
APRIL 2022
How to Improve Your Financial Health
(Family Features) Your financial health is just as important as your physical and mental health. Money affects almost every aspect of your life and can be the determining factor in many of your dayto-day decisions. Being financially healthy isn’t just about how much money you have in the bank. It also encompasses your financial capability and how you feel about money or how money makes you feel. Start by doing a self-check to determine your financial health. Look at where your accounts currently stand, including the statuses and balances. The balances in your accounts can be used to calculate your net worth, which is a numerical indicator of your overall financial health from an accounting standpoint. Also consider your feelings and relationship with money, including the emotions you experience when someone brings up topics involving money. Then determine if you are a saver or spender. Understanding how you feel about your finances and why you have these feelings can help you improve your overall financial health along with these tips from the financial experts at kinly, a financial services
company helping Black America build generational wealth. Set Financial Goals To improve your financial health, start by setting short-term, mid-term and long-term financial S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time bound) goals. S.M.A.R.T. goal setting can help you be more specific, provide a way to measure your progress, allow you to create a plan to make things more achievable, ensure your goals are in line with other objectives and provide deadlines, so your financial goals don’t get lost in the shuffle of day-to-day life. Create a Money Plan A money plan is a guide that details how you want to use your income monthly. This plan should consider the money you want to save and the money you want to spend. As you add your list of expenses, use this opportunity Continued on next page I don’t want to make the wrong decision for the one person who always made the right ones.” Now is the time to make the right decisions for you and your family. As preplanning specialists, we can make certain that all of your wishes are carried out and that you spend only what is needed. We’d like to answer any questions you might have. Call us today to find out what you can do to make all of the right decisions.
Harman
Funeral Homes & Crematory Inc.
Patricia Spivak Certified Public Accountant patti@spivakcpa.com Masters Degree — Taxation
570-788-6292 184 South Hunter Highway, Drums
Continuing the Tradition of Quality Service Since 1876 PO Box 429, 669 W. Butler Drive, Drums 570-788-0977 • Brian M. Harman, Supervisor PO Box 129, 1265 Rock Glen Road, Rock Glen 570-384-3312 • Jason K. Harman, Supervisor Sara E. DeAngelis - Funeral Director
www.harmanfuneral.com
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