Your Retirement Questions: My Answers, Ep #23 

<p>What are the insurance options for anyone who wants to retire early? What’s the difference between long-term care and hybrid long-term care? Why would I never recommend a <em>Medicaid Irrevocable Annuity Trust</em>? These are just a few of the many questions I answer in this special Q&A episode of the Retirement Made Easy podcast. Be sure to listen! </p> <h2>You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...</h2> <ul> <li>[0:52] Rapid-fire questions & answers</li> <li>[2:41] Insurance options for those retiring early</li> <li>[4:39] Should you invest in Whole Life Insurance? </li> <li>[6:00] The difference between regular and hybrid long-term care</li> <li>[9:00] How often should you meet with a financial advisor?</li> <li>[10:51] Why I’d <em>never</em> recommend a Medicaid irrevocable trust</li> <li>[15:51] Can you live off of social security benefits alone? </li> <li>[19:23] Should old be a portion of your investment portfolio?</li> </ul> <h2>Insurance options for those who want to retire early</h2> <p>The #1 reason people wait to retire until 65 is because health insurance is so expensive. But if you do want to retire early, what are your options? One option is to work until you’re 63 ½ and jump on COBRA for 18–36 months—but it’s insanely expensive. Another strategy is to meet with health insurance specialists to look over options available in the marketplace (“Obamacare”). Lastly, you can look at private health insurance options. Check this out <em>before</em> you announce your retirement.</p> <h2>The difference between regular and hybrid long-term care </h2> <p>If you should ever need long-term care, this type of policy pays a promised monthly amount of money toward that care. People dislike it because you can pay for the policy for years and may never use or need the coverage. That money is just gone. It’s like paying for homeowners insurance when your house never burns down. But it does afford you peace of mind if something were to happen. </p> <p>Hybrid long-term care policies are usually c