Qualifying to a Better Retirement with Equity Release Mortgages

Imagine this. You wake up anytime you want to. Your kids are married and they have their own home. You and your life partner have a good breakfast. You do anything you want to do every day. This is retirement. No work to worry about and no stress. But there is one question that looms at the back of every retired person’s mind. Did I save enough?

Some people actually have reached financial stability before they retire. Some retire because they are forced into it due to health reasons. Whatever the reason may be, most have not been able to save enough for their retirement. Since there is no work, retirement checks may be too small to cover monthly expenses and bills. This forces the couple to move from their lovely home to a smaller home in order to cope with the expenses.

Lenders have come up with a plan that can help the retired or elderly. Equity release mortgages are solutions for the couple to stay in their home. This also gives you a regular income based on the equity against your property. This is how you qualify for an equity release mortgage. You must be at least 55 – 60 years old and have full ownership of your property. Your property must have an assessed value of £70,000 or more and be in a reasonable condition. Some companies have more criteria for qualifications. If you pass these 2 basic criteria, then you initially qualify for an Equity Release Mortgage. If you think you do not pass the qualifications, there are other options such as investment mortgages like buy to let mortgage. But you can talk to an adviser of what will best suit your needs.

Equity release allows you to use your property equity for the loan. So once you qualify for an equity release mortgage, you may be able to enjoy your retirement better with the extra cash for you to spend. You have given society enough of your time and hard work. Now it is time to enjoy your life to the fullest with your love one.

The Solution For Life Insurance In Your Older Years

It is better to be prepared for all events you will face in life rather than meet them head on . Most people are ready only for good times like weddings and birthdays, but very few give any consideration to sudden death. Many think that it would just arrive and everything will be taken care of by itself. However, this isn’t the case for most people.

Death is a certainty in life and it cannot be stopped from happening. Most of the times, it arrives without any prior intimation and for this reason it is necessary to be prepared for such a scenario.

A Solution For The Elderly

One way elderly people can be prepare for these scenarios is by having a life insurance policy to protect their love ones in the event that they do pass away.  The great part about life insurance is it takes the burden of financial issues off the table and lets them tend to more important issues such as the loss of a loved one.

However one of the issues that many seniors contend with is that they don’t want to have to deal with things like physicals, blood test, EKG’s, and prostate exams.  These things can be overwhelming for seniors.

The solution to this problem is to go with a no medical exam life insurance policy for seniors.  These policies offer the elderly to get a policy without having to go through all the medical issues.  However, they will still have to answer several medical questions in order to approved the process can be much easier to go through in the end.

The Disadvantages

However their are some disadvantages to buying life insurance for the elderly this way.  First off, with a no medical policy you will only be able to get up to $100,000 in coverage in most cases.   In fact the older you are the harder it will be to get more coverage.

The other disadvantage is that you have to consider is the cost of the monthly premium.  With no exam policies you will have to deal with the fact that the cost of the policy will typically be much higher.  In fact, I’ve seen the cost on these polices be as much as a $150 higher than a traditional term life policies.

Final Thoughts…

As a final thought take your time to look at the different types of life insurance out there, medical and no medical exam policies.  Then contact your local insurance agent to see which will be right for your situation.

Income Limits for Roth IRA

Not all individuals are allowed to make contributions to a Roth IRA. According to the Roth IRA rules on eligibility, only those who are employed that earn a taxable income during the year are allowed to make contribution. This income has limitations, which will be based on the tax filing status of the account holder. This limit is set by the Internal Revenue Services or IRS, and are strictly followed.

The Roth IRA income limits for this year are as follows:

1. Single filers, those who are heads of the families, and those who are married but filing separately provided that the spouses are not living together may be eligible to make a full Roth contributions if their modified adjusted gross income is $107,000. Contributions are phased out starting at $107,000, and they may not be allowed to make contributions if they earn more than $122,000.
2. Joint filers, or married couples, can make full contributions to a Roth IRA if their adjusted gross income is $169,000. Likewise, contributions are phased out starting $169,000, and they could no longer contribute to Roth IRA if their income exceeds $179,000.
3. Married but filing separately, and the spouses are still living together, are not allowed to make contributions to a Roth IRA if their adjusted gross income exceeds $10,000.

As soon as one finds out that his income is within the limitations which are allowed to make contributions to a Roth IRA, it would be best if he opens a Roth IRA right away, because this is the type of IRA plan which is believed to be more advantageous especially when it comes to paying the taxes. Since the contributions to a Roth IRA are taxed right at the time these are made, the Roth account holders have big chances of enjoying tax-free distributions later on. They just need to follow the guidelines that are in accordance with the Roth IRA rules in order to enjoy such benefit.

The account holder must be 59 and 1/2 years of age or older, and the Roth IRA must have been opened for at least 5 years, before a tax-free withdrawal will be allowed. Else, aside from the regular income taxes, an additional 10% penalty will be charged.

2010 ROTH IRA and 401k Contribution Limits

It is getting to be that time of year again where you want to make sure that hit all of your retirement contributions prior to the end of the year. Here are details for 2010:

401k and 403b Contribution Limits Contribution Year Less Than Age 50 Age 50 and Older 2008 $15,500 $20,500 2009 $16,500 $22,000 2010 $16,500 $22,000	Roth IRA Contribution Limits Contribution Year Less Than Age 50 Age 50 and Older 2008 $5,000 $6,000 2009 $5,000 $6,000 2010 $5,000 $6,000
Roth IRA Phase Out Limits Contribution Year Single Married Filing Jointly 2008 $101,000 – $116,000 $159,000 – $169,000 2009 $101,000 – $116,000 $159,000 – $169,000 2010 $105,000 – $120,000 $167,000 – $177,000

I will add the 2011 numbers as I get them. Also note that in 2010 the income limits to contribute to a ROTH IRA are removed when doing a conversion to a ROTH IRA.

It is obvious that the government hasn’t done much to increase those limits. I am still hearing rumors that they are wanting to get rid of the ROTH IRA loophole, so my advice to you is to max that out if possible, since it is a great tax savings vehicle. Don’t forget that you can contribute to a 2010 ROTH IRA in 2011 prior to April 15th. So even if you haven’t started setting aside your 2010 contributions, you still have about 6 months to get that $5000 in there.

For those of you new to planning for retirement, here is what I recommend:

• Pay into your 401k the required amount to receive your full company match (if your company doesn’t have a 401k match, skip this)
• If you have credit card debt, pay it off!!! (if no credit card debt, skip this)
• Max out a ROTH IRA. Put $5000 after tax dollars into a 2010 ROTH IRA
• Max out your 401k. The current max is $16,500 for 2010
• Save Save Save – Start saving the rest of your extra cash. It is always recommended to have a buffer of 4-6 months of your living expenses saved up in case of unforeseen circumstances, such as job loss, illness, etc.

If you follow those simple steps, you should be on your way to a healthy retirement. Now only if we could get the market and economy to cooperate!!

Max Out Your 2009 ROTH IRA

If you have’nt maxed out your ROTH IRA, you may want to consider doing so prior to submitting your 2009 taxes. The IRS allows you to make a 2009 ROTH IRA contribution during 2010 as long as you complete it before April 15th 2010 (taxes due date) and you note it on your 2009 taxes.  For those of you  beginners out there, a ROTH IRA is funded with after tax money. The benefit is that as the investment grows over time, once you retire and start to take distributions from it, that money is tax free. This can be very advantageous depending on your tax situation now and when you retire, which is why the IRS puts a cap on the amount you can contribute.

This year you can contribute $5000 to your ROTH IRA if your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is below $166,000. If you income exceeds $176,000, they you not eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA for 2009.

If your MAGI is between $166,000 and $176,000, then you can contribute some amount less than their full limit. My advice here is to prepare your taxes first using the $5000 contribution, your return will tell you how much overpayment there was. Then subtract that from the $5000, and make that your ROTH contribution. Deposit those funds into your IRA, then file your taxes with that same number.


The jury is still out as to if ROTH IRA’s will be around forever so it makes sense to get in now while it is still good. If you are looking for a good ROTH IRA provider you make check out an ETRADE ROTH IRA. They have a current promotion where you can get $100 free trades when opening a new ROTH IRA by December 31, 2010.

ROTH IRA and 401k Contribution Limits

Here are the ROTH IRA and 401k Contribution Limits for 2008, 2009 and 2010. Note that some of the information for 2009 and 2010 can still change as they have not been “oficially released”.

401k and 403b Contribution Limits Contribution Year Less Than Age 50 Age 50 and Older 2008 $15,500 $20,500 2009 $16,500 $22,000 2010 $16,500 $22,000	Roth IRA Contribution Limits Contribution Year Less Than Age 50 Age 50 and Older 2008 $5,000 $6,000 2009 $5,000 $6,000 2010 $5,000 $6,000
Roth IRA Phase Out Limits Contribution Year Single Married Filing Jointly 2008 $101,000 – $116,000 $159,000 – $169,000 2009 $101,000 – $116,000 $159,000 – $169,000 2010 $105,000 – $120,000 $167,000 – $177,000

Note that in 2010 the income limits to contribute to a ROTH IRA are removed when doing a conversion to a ROTH IRA.

Make sure you use the rest of 2008 to max out a ROTH and 401k or 403b if possible. Remeber that investing sooner than later will allow your retirement to grow in the long term. Also consider the fact that since the market is currently down, what better time to buy low and watch it rise!

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