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If you are on Medicare or nearing your 65^th birthday, you’re likely overwhelmed with all the mail, phone calls, etc. urging you to switch your Medicare supplement plan. Before you dive in, you should know a few key things.

What a year it has been! I have a new appreciation and definition of an essential worker. If not for grocery store stockers, cashiers, delivery drivers and medical personnel, etc., the rest of us wouldn’t have been able to work from home or “stay home”. 

Finances and discussions regarding money are weaved into every aspect of our lives. This includes saving allowance money as a kid, getting your first job, paying for college, buying a house, having children, retirement, and estate planning; the list is endless. Financial implications reach across the lifespan.  In fact, “Finances” gets its own section in the 8 dimensions of wellness used by social workers as a tool to explore with their clients what pieces of their lives need care and attention.

Where to start? We went from a virus that was impacting China and named after a beer to the cancellation of major sporting events, schools and public gatherings. We’ve also had travel bans instituted to Europe and multiple state and local governments declaring a state of emergency. It feels and is scary and awful! Coronovirus has invaded the U.S. in the most unwelcome way. 

We just finished dinner Sunday night and it’s time for our regular family budget meeting…uggh… I thought we just did this? Clothes are piling up in the laundry room, toys are scattered like land mines throughout the house, and one more cup in the sink will cause an avalanche of baby bottles, sippy cups, etc. Additionally, my 3-year-old announces that he will NEVER use the potty again and incidentally, won’t be going to bed either. Good grief…so we get the kids down, straighten up a bit and get the computers, legal pads, apps, and calculators out to begin the arduous task of projecting expenses and formulating a series of compromises that will supercharge our finances for the coming month. But wait! “I need a snack for this” and “Maybe we should have a glass of wine” or “Better take the dog for a walk…and hey look…The Bachelor is on..!” are all common procrastination phrases that will likely ensue. (Bachelor excuse is not mine FYI).

As the calendar moves steadily towards a New Year and a new decade, it’s common for people to consider resolutions for the year ahead. Fitness and weight loss goals are the most popular. Loads of people start off at the gym in January, less make it back in February and most give up on their fitness resolutions by early March. In my opinion, the best way to ensure to success is to build accountability into your resolutions.

As a former accountant and current financial planner for the past 20+ years, helping clients become “work optional” is one of the greatest joys of my job. On the other hand, having to tell someone that they really can’t afford to retire is arguably the worst, especially when they had not even considered that my “retirement” advice would be “keep working!”

Is your mailbox overflowing with materials from companies discussing Medicare enrollment, Medicare Advantage plans, and other pharmacy-related plans? All of these letters tell you that you must decide now! The amount of information is overwhelming—how will you possibly sort through it all and figure out what you need to do? 

Financial planning. That’s a term that I never heard growing up. My dad sold life insurance. That wasn’t a glamorous profession but he worked hard to make sure that families had enough life insurance to make sure their families would be financially okay if the primary breadwinner passed away unexpectedly. After the wife of one of his clients was killed in a tragic car accident, he also came to understand that stay-at-home wives provided a lot of valuable services that were now costly to replace by a bewildered single father grieving for his wife.