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The Daily Dispatch
Senior Lifestyle ’11
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Are you prepared to live to 90?
Being able to live a long and full life is good news, of course. But you will have to plan well to be sure that you don’t run out of income when you may need it the most.
(ARA) — While living to the age of 90 was once a rare feat, it is becoming increasingly common. You may be surprised to learn that the fastest growing demographic in the country is people over the age of 85. According to the latest life insurance mortality tables, 38 percent of men and half of women age 65 today can expect to live to the age of 90 or beyond. Being able to live a long and full life is good news, of course. But you will have to plan well to be sure that you don’t run out of income when you may need it the most. Here are some suggestions from Dr. Robert Pokorski, The Hartford’s chief medical strategist, for planning a retirement that may include a 90th birthday celebration: • Consider buying a life insurance policy with an optional longevity rider. While the main purpose of life insurance is to provide income to your heirs when you die, paying extra for a longevity rider
will allow you to begin receiving installments of your own death benefit when you turn 90 and meet the rider’s eligibility requirements. You are then free to use it to simply enjoy life or to help ensure you don’t outlive your retirement savings. A $500,000 policy works like this: When you reach the age of 90, you can elect to receive a guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit of up to 1 percent of the death benefit of your life insurance policy. In this example, you may receive monthly payments of as much as $5,000 per month for eight years. Even if you eventually withdraw the entire death benefit, a guaranteed residual death benefit will be provided, subject to the terms of the rider. Your heirs will still receive 10 percent of the benefit — in this case, $50,000. • Consider purchasing an annuity to cover many of your fixed expenses later in life. Making conser-
vative investments like this can help ensure that you’ll have a reliable source of income to cover such necessities as rent or mortgage payments, utilities, prescriptions, groceries, insurance and transportation. Any other retirement savings you have can be used to cover the cost of travel and entertainment or to pay for unforeseen expenses. • Postpone retirement. While you might consider putting off retirement to be a bad thing, you may decide to continue working in order to increase your monthly Social Security benefit. Delaying Social Security from age 62 to 67 will increase the amount you will receive each month by 30 percent. Postponing retirement will also increase any pension benefits you will receive in the future. You could even use the time to try working in a new field that has always appealed to you. • Plan for a health emergency. Nobody likes
to think about becoming ill, but planning for health-care emergencies is a part of smart retirement planning, especially when you consider that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 70 percent of retirees will need to pay for chronic care sometime during their lives. Some insurers offer life insurance policies with an accelerated benefits rider. If you become chronically ill and meet the claim criteria, you can use the money you receive from the death benefit any way you like. You can, for example, use it to pay a family member to take care of you. Turning 90 is a milestone worth celebrating. With good planning, you could live a long and comfortable life without worrying too much about your finances. Consumers who want to learn more about The Hartford’s life insurance policies can call 1-877-439-0772 or visit www.hartfordinvestor. com/livingbenefits.
Seniors often fall victim to telemarketing fraud Seniors are too often victimized by telemarketing fraud. Studies from the American Association of Retired Persons have shown that many elderly fraud victims simply don’t suspect the person soliciting money on the phone could be a criminal. The FBI reports that there are as many as 14,000 illegal telemarketing operations going on at any given time. These illegal operations generate as much as $40 billion a year. Relatives of seniors are understandably concerned, particularly if those seniors live alone and no one is around to monitor how
many calls they’re receiving from telemarketers. Concerned relatives can share the following information with seniors to reduce their loved ones’ risks of being victimized by telemarketing fraud. • Legitimate marketers are not in a rush to sell products or secure donations. A legitimate marketer or charity will not try to pressure prospective buyers into making a purchase over the phone or prospective donors into making immediate contributions. Explain to seniors that a legitimate marketer will accept a person’s desire for written information about the products
or charity and will gladly send such information to a prospective buyer or donor’s home. • Payments are typically not picked up by a courier service. Telemarketing fraudsters often employ couriers to pick up payments. This is not the action of a reputable charity or business, and seniors should never agree to buy a product or donate money to any telemarketer who offers to send a courier to their home to pick up payment. • Sweepstakes cannot legally require payment to win a prize. It is not legal for contests or sweepstakes to require “winners” pay a
fee before they can enter a contest or claim a prize. Seniors should be made aware that this is the law and that any contest or sweepstakes demanding payment is bogus. • Be especially wary of companies offering to recover money paid to fraudulent telemarketers in the past. Companies offering to recover past money lost to fraud are often fraudulent themselves. These companies will offer their fraudulent services for a fee. • Money lost to a fraudulent telemarketer is likely lost forever. Men and women concerned
about elderly friends or relatives being victimized by telemarketing fraud should explain to their loved ones that money lost in a telemarketing scam is not likely to be recovered. This should help highlight the importance of receiving official documentation from any telemarketers before buying a product or making a donation. If seniors are aware their money isn’t likely to be recovered should it be going to a criminal, they are much less likely to make hasty decisions over the phone. To learn more about fraud, visit the National Consumer League’s Fraud Center at www.fraud.org.