C 4 • Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader
Planning: Review your will ▼Continued from page 1
the ultimate Social Security benefit you will receive when you take Social Security. WHAT ABOUT YOUR HOME? Your home is not just a place to live. If you own all or most of it, it’s a key financial tool to leverage other things. Most folks entering retirement own their homes with little or no debt to the mortgage company. That opens up a lot of options for them. Many retirement-age people are selling their homes because they want to downsize or they want to consider assisted living. Sometimes, it’s the adult children of an older person who are initiating a move for reasons of safety or to bring a parent closer to them. The financial question about a home is what to do with its cash value. All homes are worth quite a bit
of money; most are appreciating. Can you build value more by keeping the home or by selling it and investing the cash in some other place? A person who decides to sell and rent must be sure to forecast rent increases through the years. Rent often increases every 12 months or so. Maybe keep the home? No mortgage, no rent. But there will also be no additional cash for other uses, unless you look into a home equity loan line of credit or reverse mortgage. Study either option carefully; they have pitfalls. LEGAL AFFAIRS It’s now, while you are of sound mind and body, that you consider what you should do for your loved ones and heirs who are left behind when you are gone. Everybody needs a will. If you don’t have a will, some anonymous court official from the great state
of Washington will decide what happens to your assets and property. A will keeps you in charge of what goes where for what purpose. It’s smart to invest in good legal advice. Website or print-out forms could be inadequate and not comply with state laws. There are several attorneys in Jefferson County who spend most of their time working with clients on wills, trusts and other forms of estate planning. If you have a will, review it every five years to verify its validity, update provisions and ensure that it continues to conform to state law. An “estate asset” is everything you own, including the face value of life insurance policies, the current value of all your retirement plans, your home and any other real estate, and your personal property. You may pass an estate of unlimited value to your spouse at death with no unfavorable
tax consequences. When that spouse dies, however, your children could face substantial taxes. What if you become mentally or physically incapacitated, and are unable to make decisions for yourself or others? Look into a durable power of attorney granted to someone you trust, such as your spouse or an adult child. Jefferson Healthcare promotes the study and use of “advance directives,” which primarily include a directive to physicians (also called a living will) and a durable power of attorney for health care decisions. These lay out your wishes on how you want a future difficult decision to be handled, such as if you suffer a stroke or some other medical emergency that makes it impossible for you to express your wishes. At what point do you give your permission for medical staff to end the efforts to artificially sustain life if there won’t be a meaningful recovery? How much intervention do you want? Your conclusions in these documents can also be presented through a physician orders for life-sustaining
treatment (POLST) form, according to Jefferson Healthcare. This document is kept handy at home, in your doctor’s office and at the hospital for future reference. Without that paperwork, the medical profession is obligated to do all it can for as long as it can to sustain your life artificially. Your family could be forced to go to court to have someone appointed as your guardian to make those decisions. Save them the work by preparing the proper documents now. ROLE OF INSURANCE Your post-retirement policies should be designed to help pay for unexpected expenses on autos, homes, medical costs, lost income, disability, death and other unfortunate circumstances. Here are some to consider: Life insurance: At retirement, life insurance usually becomes far less important than while we were working full-time. The kids are grown, and only the spouse is at home; if you’ve planned well for retirement, he or she is probably OK as is. If not? Consider life insurance. Life policies can serve to protect your pension and take care of your spouse and
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your children. Disability insurance: Many working people carry disability insurance to make sure the bills get paid if work is lost due to sickness or injury. When we retire, we have no job income to protect. Our options for private disability insurance evaporate, leaving only Social Security. Health insurance: Many employees have health insurance through an employer. Leave the job and, by law, you can continue that coverage for 18 months at your own expense. Except in the case of disabilities, Medicare coverage does not begin until age 65. If you retire earlier, you’ll still need medical coverage, yet an individual policy will be enormously expensive. This is where you need extensive research and probably the help of a broker. Health insurance for younger retirees is a huge problem and could dictate a longer working career than you had hoped. Even at 65, when Medicare coverage kicks in, it won’t cover everything. You may need supplemental insurance to make up the difference. Do some comparison shopping for policies to select the one that best fits you. Again, a broker can help. Long-term care insurance: There are a variety of policies. They are not cheap, and you must read the fine print. Cheap is a relative term in the long-term care world. The policy premiums may be large, but not nearly as large as the expense of a stay in a hospital or nursing home for an extended period. Costs can top $100,000 a year. And what about the fine print? Carefully read what the policy covers and what it does not. Challenge and define the terms. Does it only apply to certain agencies in your county? Does it contain a lengthy “exclusion period,” meaning the insurance does not kick in for 60 or 90 days? Does it allow you to receive care in your home or are you forced to move to a facility? Know what to expect when the policy is needed. Also know that premiums can and will rise over time. Auto insurance: Here’s some good news: Retirees can often get a good break on their auto insurance. Retirees tend to be careful drivers. As noted at the beginning of this summary, thinking ahead is the key to enjoying retirement. Whether you’re 40, 50, 60 or 70, the opportunity to take steps to smooth your retirement path is waiting for you.
Raising heart health awareness in Jefferson County Each February marks American Heart Month and the first Friday in February is National Go Red For Women. Jefferson Healthcare Foundation and Jefferson Healthcare launched WellHearts, an educational event focusing on improving women’s heart health as well as an educational series on heart health. Women make up more than half of Jefferson County’s population, but did you know that 1 in 3 women die of heart disease and stroke each year? For women and men, it’s never too early, or too late to take action to prevent and control the risk factors for heart disease. Although significant progress has been made in increasing awareness among women that heart disease is their No.1 killer, most women fail to make the connection between heart disease risk factors and their personal risk of developing the disease. Studies show that only 1 in 5 women believes heart disease is her greatest health threat. This disease is largely preventable, but kills more
The Emergency and Specialty Services building will open in September 2016 with expanded cardiology services. Cardiology services will be housed on the second floor and have been specifically designed to support preventative cardiology, cardiac procedures, and most importantly our heart patients. Jefferson County has a large population of heart patients and so planning to address this increased need has been critical to not just treating our heart patients, but focusing on preventing heart disease. Jefferson Healthcare Cardiac Services Main Floor 834 Sheridan Port Townsend WA 98368 360-385-2200
women than all forms of cancer combined. These are the facts that can be changed through effective prevention programs and education on healthy eating, exercise and other lifestyle changes. Current evidence supports a range of strategies to improve cardiovascular health including healthcare systems approaches, which encourage, facilitate and reward efforts by providers to improve health behaviors and health factors. “In addition to expanding cardiology services, we
When was your last check up?
Cardiology Services All Done - In House
P P P P P P
Stress Testing Echo EKG Ambulatory Monitoring Cardiac Rehab Anti-Coagulation Services
Talk to your Jefferson Healthcare provider to schedule your appointment. Jefferson Healthcare Cardiac Services 834 Sheridan Port Townsend WA 98368 JeffersonHealthcare.org
feel it is important for Jefferson Healthcare to offer health education programs that can give our community the knowledge and tools to improve their heart health,” said Mike Glenn, CEO, Jefferson Healthcare.