Get the Most Out of Retirement Checklist for Happiness, Health, Purpose, and Financial Security

by Hurme, Sally Balch

• ISBN13: 9781634256513
• ISBN10: 1634256514
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2017-02-07
• Publisher: American Bar Association

Summary

How to Get the Most Out of Your Retirement.

Whether you're planning for or already living in retirement, there's a lot that goes into making the most of every day. From crafting a budget and managing your money to last a lifetime to simplifying your life so you can really focus on what you want to do next, Get the Most Out of Your Retirement walks you through the process.

You'll get step-by-step, practical tips to:

• Nurture new and old relationships
• Find meaning through volunteer and work opportunities
• Take classes and pursue hobbies
• Decide where to live
• Retire abroad
• Get organized and clean out the clutter
• Stay within your budget
• Simplify the legal paperwork
• Live healthfully
• And more!

Our generation has decades of [bonus] years ahead that our parents didn't have. This is the one book you'll need not just to manage the business of life wisely but to make your retirement rich with health, happiness, and meaning.

Sally Balch Hurme is author of the bestselling Checklist for My Family: A Guide to My History, Financial Plans, and Final Wishes as well as Checklist for Family Survivors, the 2015 Grand APEX Award winner, and Checklist for Family Caregivers. A lawyer with more than 20 years of experience advocating for people 50-plus and helping them understand complex issues, she recently retired and shares her professional expertise and personal experience in this newest book in her Checklist series.

Author Biography

Sally Balch Hurme, J.D., is currently a project advisor with the AARP Health Law Education team. In her more than 20 years at AARP, she has advocated on a wide range of issues, including consumer fraud, fi nancial exploitation, elder abuse, surrogate decision making, advance care planning, predatory mortgage lending, health care fraud, and fi nancial security. She is well recognized as an elder law advocate who is quoted frequently in national media, including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CNN.com, Money, Kiplinger's Retirement Report, NPR, and AARP The Magazine.

Although she has written more than 20 law review articles on elder law topics, Hurme has focused her professional career on explaining the law so that everyone can understand it. She has lectured in Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Great Britain, and Moldova on elder abuse and surrogate decision making. She is also in demand as a speaker, having given more than 100 presentations on elder law topics in at least 40 states.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1 Ready…Set…Retire

• Reflect on the broad strokes of your life up to now
• Take stock of who you are
• Peek ahead
• Reimagine your life
• Think outside your box
• Chose how you spend your time
• Be connected
• Get going
• Stay centered
• Expect the unexpected
• Keep talking
• Get organized
• Revel in unstructured time
• Continue to be a vital member of your community
• Plan for Plan B

CHAPTER 2 Adjust to Changing Relationships

• Prepare your work for your departure
• Coordinate with your spouse on retirement plans and activities
• Maintain—and enhance—your current relationships
• Grow new relationships
• Nourish caregiving relationships
• Understand the scope and limits of legal relationships

CHAPTER 3 Get Organized and Clean Out the Clutter

• Record basic facts about yourself
• Pull together important papers
• Know how long to keep records
• Take care of special possessions
• Get rid of what you don't need
• Tally your income and expenses

CHAPTER 4 Build a Retirement Team

• Touch base with your employer's human relations department
• Keep track of all who provide personal services
• Develop your roster of health professionals
• Know the different types of financial professionals
• Rely on a team of insurance agents
• Find the right legal professionals

CHAPTER 5 Welcome Your New Adventures

• Find or expand volunteer opportunities
• Learn something new
• Make a travel bucket list
• Work your way into a new job
• Start your own business

CHAPTER 6 Decide Where to Live

• Check to make sure my home is safe
• Compare the livability of the communities you are considering
• Determine what's important about where you live
• Consider dividing your time between two locations
• Investigate “villages” in your community
• Explore if an active living community is right for you
• See if a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) is what you want
• Understand what is and isn't provided in an assisted living facility
• Look into skilled nursing facilities
• Understand the differences in how property can be titled
• Be prepared for emergencies

CHAPTER 7 Retiring Abroad

• Set your priorities
• Narrow down ideal retirement destinations
• Ask the embassy about residency requirements
• Figure out how you'll manage your finances
• Consider how to handle your legal affairs
• Check access to and coverage for health care
• Get prepared to leave

CHAPTER 8 Take Control of Financial Matters

• Organize information about how you bank
• Review how financial accounts are titled
• Check to make sure your savings bonds are still a sound investment
• Keep original documents that are valuable or irreplaceable in a safe deposit box
• Make sure your investments match your investment objectives
• Pay attention to investment fees and expenses
• Document the terms of any personal loans
• List credit and debit cards
• Recognize the signs of scams and financial exploitation

CHAPTER 9 Manage Retirement Accounts/Benefits

• Document your retirement plans and know the withdrawal rules
• Track down all pension benefits
• Understand Social Security benefits and how to navigate the system
• Check out the benefits available to veterans and their caregivers

CHAPTER 10 Insure a Good Retirement

• Locate all insurance policies
• Go over the terms of all insurance policies
• Update the beneficiaries on life insurance policies
• Review your health, disability, and Medicare insurance options
• Review insurance coverage for residences
• Keep vehicle insurance current
• Consider long-term care insurance

CHAPTER 11 Deal with Legal Matters

• Document your health care preferences
• Prepare an organ donor card
• Plan the disposition of your body
• Plan your funeral
• Consider options for paying for your funeral
• Know your veterans' burial benefits
• Create or review your estate plan
• Identify a source of funding to close your estate
• Select an agent to manage your financial affairs
• Discuss your advance planning with those who need to know

CHAPTER 12 Take Care of Yourself

• Exercise to stay strong
• Eat the good (for you) stuff
• Keep up your spirits
• Take advantage of preventive services
• Carry with you a personal medication record
• Know your family medical history