Managing your finances in your 60s largely focuses on retirement. You may continue working for a few years, or you may have already stopped. You want to protect the money you’ve saved over your lifetime and ensure you have prepared properly to take care of yourself and your family.
You’ve also aged to where you may start to be treated differently. You could become a target for scammers, which is unfortunate, but you also garner benefits such as discounts at your favorite stores. Plus, you may find new joy in leisure activities you’ve never tried before or time spent with your grandchildren.
Whether you’re planning for retirement or still going strong at work, you should keep planning for the future. Use these tips to keep yourself and your finances on track.
Grandparents would do anything for their grandchildren, and scammers know this. Beware of receiving texts, calls, or emails from someone claiming to be your grandson or granddaughter, requesting that you wire them money for an emergency. This is likely fraud. Should you be uncertain about the communication, you can always hang up the phone and contact your family member directly to make sure they’re okay.
Planning for retirement at 60 means assessing your anticipated income and making sure it will cover your expenses. You may need to consider cutting back on discretionary spending or refinancing your debt to improve your financial outlook.
Becoming a senior has its advantages. Many places offer discounts to people in their 60s and older. Movie theaters, restaurants, and even wireless companies will give you lower prices just because of your age. Not sure about a discount? Ask. The worst that can happen is someone tells you no, but often these money-savers get overlooked.
New programs become available to you as you age. You may not have given Medicare much thought before you entered your 60s, but this federally funded health insurance program is open to Americans over age 65. The system can help you get affordable and vital health care, but you won’t receive it unless you take the initiative to investigate what’s available.
There are programs that can lower costs on prescription medications, too. Those can get expensive, so anytime you find a way to curb health care costs, that’s more money you can put toward your retirement.
Retirement isn’t the end of the road. It’s actually the start of a new journey. You should continue to review your financial documents as well as your estate planning to guarantee everything is distributed as you’d prefer.
Meet with a financial advisor regularly to ensure your savings are in order and take a look at your documents. You don’t want anything missing a signature.
Use these tips for managing money in your 60s and beyond, and you can work toward a retirement that fits your vision. For more financial tips by age, visit our WalletWorks page.