variPhase Blog

With the start of a new year comes a restart in health insurance deductibles and co-pays whether you have Medicare, employer health insurance or purchase your own coverage.  As part of your financial plan and budget, the beginning of the year is a good time to review your health care plan...

Missing a deadline to change your health insurance plan can be costly.  So if you buy your own Medicare insurance plan or under-65 health insurance plan through the healthcare marketplace, make sure you act before the open enrollment period ends.  Missing a deadline might mean missing out on better coverage or...

As summer comes to a close and before the frenzy of the holidays begins, it is a perfect time to take a look at your financial progress this year.  Are you on track to meet your goals?  Have you taken care of the details regarding investments, savings and insurance you...

  One retirement cost that people tend to underestimate is the cost of health care.  The costs are usually higher than expected; they are unpredictable; and, ironically – the longer you live the more your total spending on health care will be.  Failing to adequately include health care costs in your...

  4 Money Tips for the New Year January is the time to look forward to how you’ll make your life more financially secure in the New Year.  Whether you are working or retired, these four tips will help you get off to a financially smart year:   Healthcare Costs–...

Medicare Costs in 2017   An important part of retirement planning is understanding your health care costs.  For people currently enrolled in Medicare it is smart to know what your costs are for Medicare including premiums and deductibles.   Medicare costs for 2017 were recently released by the Centers for...

  If you are receiving Social Security payments you will see a very small increase in 2017 –just .03% which for the average recipient amounts to about $5.00 per month.  But it is better than last year when there was no Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for people receiving Social Security...

  Confused about the pros and cons of taking Social Security benefits at different ages?  You are not alone.  A new study from the General Accounting Office (GAO) found few people understand how much their benefit will be or the financial impact of taking benefits before full retirement age. And the...

  Your retirement planning better include realistic estimates of health care costs because the costs continue to rise, especially prescription drug costs. A 65-year-old couple retiring in 2016 will need an estimated $260,000 to cover health care costs in retirement, according to Fidelity's Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate. This is a...

  There is a wide gap between the expectations of parents and their adult children about the help they will provide as their parents get older. In fact, when it comes to money and healthcare in retirement, parents and their adult children just aren’t on the same page, according to the...

Increases of 10% to 20% in long term care insurance premiums have become standard fare over the past few years.  But the announcement that government employees will see a rate increase of 83% in November is a shock. Here are 5 tips for deciding what to do with your long term...

 Don’t look for a big bump in Social Security benefits in 2017.  An increase of  0.2% (or $2.00 for $1000 in benefits) per month is projected for Social  Security benefits in 2017, according to the recent Social Security Trustees  report.  The final number comes out in October and could be slightly...

Cash Back Credit CardsIf you are worried about all security of your debit card at retail locations, you might want to consider using a cash back credit card instead.  Why?  You have greater protection and far less hassle than if your debit card that is connected to your checking account is...