Plan to Thrive during Your Golden Years

Most of the people that reach this page have been around the block once or twice and have most likely lived over half a century. You might have heard that "it's not how you start but how you finish." Maybe you didn't have the best start when it came to saving for retirement because, well, life happened. Now that you want to retire in the next year, five years, ten or 15 years, you know that it's time to find out how to do more than just survive in retirement but thrive.

Have you heard of the three-legged stool for retirement? It's an old concept that included social security as one of the three legs needed during retirement. Figuring out when to claim social security is often a complicated task for most individuals. There are over 2,700 rules that govern how your benefits are determined and literally thousands of claiming strategies. Additionally, 96% of people get less than they should resulting in the average American household losing over $110,000 in lifetime benefits.

Based on what age you file for social security, Medicare comes before or after social security. And Medicare can be complicated for the uninitiated. With the amount that seniors spend on health related expenses during their golden years, the Medicare decision can significantly impact how well you enjoy your retirement.