Do you have health insurance? It is undeniable that health insurance makes healthcare more accessible, including preventive services such as screenings and regular check-ups with your doctor.
 
Consider the fact that only a third of the uninsured U.S population scheduled a preventive visit with their doctor in 2018. On the other hand, 74% of adults with health insurance saw their doctor for a preventive visit during the same year.
 
If you don’t have insurance, or have a policy that doesn’t meet your needs, it’s important that you learn more about healthcare coverage to find a policy that matches your needs and your budget.
 
Ask yourself these important questions before purchasing a policy:
 

1. What is the Affordable Healthcare Act? The purpose of the Affordable Healthcare Act is to make health insurance more accessible by extending Medicaid coverage, creating a marketplace where you can shop for policies, and requiring insurance providers to offer coverage to clients in spite of pre-existing health conditions.
   
   

• However, this law also makes it mandatory to purchase healthcare. If you’re not insured, the government levies a fine with your income taxes. The amount of this fine is $95 or 1% of your income (depending on which is greater) and will go up next year. In 2019 this fine was cancelled, however the states of CA reinstated this fine for 2021.

 

1. Are you eligible for Medicaid or Medicare? You’re eligible for Medicare if you’re over the age of 65 and have been paying Medicare tax for at least 10 years. Medicaid coverage is available on a state level, which means requirements vary depending on where you live.
   
   

• The Affordable Care Act sets the minimum income that makes you eligible for Medicaid at 133% of the federal poverty level. It’s possible that your state offers coverage to individuals who earn more.
  
  
• Even if you’re eligible for Medicaid or Medicare, you can also purchase additional coverage if you feel that these programs do not entirely meet your needs.

 

1. What are your options if you don’t qualify for Medicaid or Medicare? You still have many options:

 

• You can purchase insurance on the Healthcare.gov website and possibly qualify for other subsidies.
  
  
• You might also receive coverage through your employer.
  
  
• If you’re under the age of 24, your parents can include you on their policy.
  
  
• In addition, you can also find alternative personal policies outside these realms.
  
  

1. What factors should you consider when choosing a policy? It’s important to select a health insurance policy that corresponds to your needs and budget. Consider these factors before purchasing coverage:
   
   

• Monthly premiums. This corresponds to the amount you will have to pay on a monthly basis to receive coverage.
  
  
• Deductible. This is your portion of your medical expenses – before your insurance even starts to cover your expenses. Most policies include a co-pay for doctor appointments and a larger deductible if you need surgery or another expensive form of treatment.
  
  
• Amount of coverage offered. What percentage of your medical expenses will the insurance company pay? Is there a maximum amount?
  
  
• Reputation of your health insurance provider. Choose a company with good reviews. Your insurance provider should value customer service and process claims quickly and efficiently.

 

1. Which factors influence your health insurance premiums? Your premiums are based on how likely you are to need coverage for medical expenses. These are the factors healthcare insurance providers look at:
   
   

• Your age. Purchasing healthcare coverage while you’re young and healthy will help you secure low premiums.
  
  
• Your location. The cost of living in your area can affect your premiums.
  
  
• Smoking. Using tobacco could result in your premiums being 50% higher than the premiums offered to a non-smoker.
  
  
• The type of plan you purchase. Premiums are higher for policies with lower out-of-pocket amounts.

 
There are many downsides to not having healthcare, including putting off screenings for a number of health conditions and not scheduling regular check-ups with your doctor. Should you become ill or injured, you would end up with huge medical bills.
 
A more important question to ask yourself might be, “Can I afford not to have health insurance?”

Q: : I have a significant net worth and am concerned about the estate taxes my family will have to pay when I am gone. Do I have any simple options for handling this issue

A: One tool that is commonly used by those with considerable wealth to deal with estate/inheritance taxes is life insurance, more specifically an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT). This is actually a very common estate-planning tool for the affluent.
 
There are many benefits to this type of trust:
 
1.Wealthy individuals do not always have wealthy heirs. Handling paying for estate taxes, which can be as high as 40%, can be terribly burdensome for many. Your heirs may be forced to sell real estate, stocks, bonds, or even personal property to raise the necessary cash.

2.In a nutshell, your heirs don’t have to pay taxes on any assets within the trust.

3. In nearly all cases, life insurance proceeds are exempt from taxes and can be used to pay any estate taxes that may come due.
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Life insurance can be a great estate-planning tool. Keep in mind that trusts can be complicated, and it’s important to find an attorney with the knowledge and experience to set it up properly.
 
Life insurance provides cash for handling taxes and other expenses. For smaller estates, even if taxes aren’t a critical issue, life insurance can provide great flexibility and peace of mind for all involved.

Is a free retirement planning program worth your time and effort? Quite simply, many people want to know this, because they don’t even have the time or energy to plan their retirement for themselves. Also, they may not have the knowledge necessary to make the right investing decisions.
Usually, the options available to you will be either to hire a financial planning advisor, which will cost a pretty penny, or to plan it out yourself. A free retirement planning program can be a great alternative to these choices, because it will provide you some important tips and your retirement planning process.
However, keep in mind that most of these free retirement planning programs are simply an introduction to the retirement planning process. They will not give you enough information to help you really have map out your retirement planning yourself, at least to the extent you will need.
For instance, you may already ready know the kind of lifestyle you want to live in your retirement years to, and you might already know how much money that will cost you. However, the most important step is finding the right investment vehicle to help you get there. Generally, a free retirement planning program will not help you with this vital step.
For this, you will generally need to hire a financial planning advisor to help you find the right investment vehicle for you. Now, you may have to pay some money for this process, but it will be well worth it in the long run.
Also, you certainly might want to consider learning about investing yourself and making your own investing decision. Not only would this be the cheaper option, as you wouldnt have to hire somebody to tell you what to invest in, but it is the far more lucrative way to go financially.
Very simply, whenever you can spot good investment opportunities on your own, you have the chance to become wealthy. There is virtually no financially well off person today who doesnt have the ability to spot a good investment opportunity on their own; without good financial knowledge, you can never hope to have as much money as you otherwise would.
The best way to go about doing this would be to simply read books about successful financial investors and wealthy people, and find out what theyve done to achieve their wealth. Whether it be starting a business, investing in the stock market or investing in real estate, simply finding somebody whos already done it and modeling their success is a very powerful way to become financially independent. This is by far the quickest way, because you can avoid a lot of the mistakes that those you are modeling made when they were first learning the tools of the trade.
You would not want to entrust your retirement plans to a free retirement planning program, particularly since they are merely to give you a general overview of the retirement planning process. Follow these important steps and you will achieve the retirement planning you want, quickly and easily.

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he Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) began in 1920 and has given disability, survivor and retirement benefits for the majority of civilian employees in the Federal government until 1987 when the new Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) was created. Nevertheless, over two million people carry on receiving Civil Service Retirement System retirement and survivor benefits every month.
Retirement benefits are presently financed by both Government and employee contributions to the retirement fund, and the benefits are provided based on the duration of service and the average pay over the highest three years of pay.
What are the eligibility requirements for Civil Service Retirement System benefits? An employee is qualified to retire voluntarily if the following provisions are met: at least five years of creditable civilian service; is separated from a position subject to Civil Service Retirement System coverage; is covered by Civil Service Retirement System for at least one year within the two-year period immediately preceding the separation; and meets age/service combinations of age 55 with 30 years of service, or age 60 with 20 years of service, or age 62 with five years of service.
For employees who separate from service and have met the criteria except for the age/service combination may be permitted to a deferred annuity at age sixty-two. To be qualified, the employee must not take a refund of retirement deductions upon separation.
In determining the service which may be used for an employees eligibility for retirement under the Civil Service Retirement System, is not restricted to service in positions subject to CSRS retirement deductions, it may also comprise service where the pay of the employee is not subject to retirement deductions, such as under a temporary appointment.
Honorable active military service may also be qualified, subject to conditions: it was executed before the separation date upon which is the basis for entitlement to annuity; it is not comprised in computation of military retired pay except for certain service-connected disability requirements; if the military service was executed after December 31, 1956, some employees will have to create a deposit for the service to receive firstly or for other employees, to retain credit after the age of sixty-two.
Although the service used in determining an employees eligibility for retirement is typically the same as creditable service for computation purposes, there are some exceptions: periods of CSRS service refunded, will not be creditable unless a redeposit is made; if the refunded service was executed before October 1, 1990, it will be qualified even if no redeposit is made but the annuity will be actuarially decreased; non-education service is made on or October 1, 1982, is not qualified if a deposit has not been made.
October 1, 1982 prior service is creditable by the annuity will be decreased by ten percent of amount owed; active military service executed after December 31, 1956 is not creditable for employees first employed in a covered position after September 30, 1982 except if a military deposit for the service is made; and unused sick leave is commendable in computing benefits.
Sick leave is changed into days or months of service using the Sick Leave Chart in the OPM operating manual, but it can never be used for eligibility.