Helping Your Parents Navigate Retirement Finances

When it comes to retirement, it’s never too early to start planning. As you want to have enough money saved to retire at a certain age, it’s helpful to ensure your parents also have a chance to retire successfully. Having financial discussions with your parents as early as possible can end up saving them from struggling when they retire.

Reverse Mortgage

A reverse mortgage might be a great option for your parents, but you need to take some time to learn the facts because you will likely be asked “how does a reverse mortgage work?” A reverse mortgage is a loan given to you based on the value of your home and paid by a lender. For your parents to qualify for a reverse mortgage, they need to be at least 62 years old, own their home outright or have a small mortgage balance, and they must be able to make their property charges on time and in full.

When you retire, you need to find a way to keep your income at a comfortable level, or at least access extra money when you need it. One way to do that is with a reverse mortgage. It pays you, often in monthly installments, without the need for repayment for sometimes many years, which is in contrast to a traditional mortgage. During the application process, a reverse mortgage calculator online assesses your home value and establishes how much of that value is available to you. Government standards and other factors are assessed using the reverse mortgage calculator. After you begin receiving reverse mortgage funds, you can use them to pay bills or for any other expenses or preferred purchases you want.

Educate them on Scams

The elderly become the prime target for scams, which is why it’s important to educate them as much as possible. Some common scams that target the elderly include Internet fraud, health insurance fraud, telemarketing fraud, counterfeit prescription drugs, sweepstakes, and making unnecessary investments. Alert your parents on all of the scams they might become a target for to help them make wise decisions.

Help Evaluate Financial Assets

Take some time to go over your parents’ financial assets to figure out if they have enough money to retire. Some financial assets you’ll want to discuss with them include:

• Social security
• Cash and savings
• IRA accounts
• Pension
• 401K
• Stocks

Helping your parents evaluate all of their assets will determine when they’ll be able to retire. Just because they feel like they’re ready to retire now doesn’t mean they’ll actually be able to.

Help with Budgeting

Talk to your parents about budgeting and saving money. Be sure to stress how important it is to save money now to ensure they have a comfortable retirement. Take the time to go over their financial situation with them and help them figure out ways they can cut back on spending. It’s also important to help them take the necessary steps to get out of debt because they’re not going to want to carry their debt over when they retire.

Stay Involved

Stay involved as much as you can. Don’t be forceful when it comes to talking about money with them; instead be supportive. You cannot make your parents do what’s necessary to have a comfortable retirement, but you can keep encouraging them. Help your parents as much as possible, but don’t put your own financial situation in jeopardy. Be honest with them and stay positive.

Planning for retirement should begin at an early age to ensure you have a comfortable retirement. If your parents didn’t start planning early on, they might have some struggles when it comes time to actually retiring. Be there for them and help them figure out the best steps they need to take to ensure they can retire comfortably. Try to help them figure out if a reverse mortgage is a good idea based on their situation and help them set up a budget. Stay involved in their life and offer advice whenever it’s needed.