A lot changes when you retire. Your day-to-day life is different and you may do more traveling, have new hobbies, or even a new home. Life may be different now—but you still need to protect yourself and your family with insurance that’s appropriate to your circumstances.
Old policies may no longer meet your needs, but be cautious about cancelling policies without doing a careful evaluation first. One size does not fit all. Here are a few guidelines to consider.
Health insurance
As you age, your health care costs tend to increase, so health insurance is vital. If you retire before the age of 65 and no longer have health insurance from your district, go to healthcare.gov to view your insurance options. If you lose your health care coverage not by choice, you have some flexibility and potential benefits for purchasing insurance.
Once you’re on Medicare, you may want to consider a supplemental policy to help pay for services not covered by the basic plan.
Consider dental insurance and vision insurance to help cover preventative checkups and new health issues as you age.
Long-term care insurance
Our life expectancies are longer than ever, which means we’re more likely to need some sort of long-term care during our lifetimes. Most costs for extended care needed during recuperation from strokes, accidents, illnesses, and operations are not covered by health insurance or Medicare.
Life insurance
You may want to keep your life insurance for the next generation. Beneficiaries on your retirement accounts may need to cash out within 10 years, and life insurance can help offset that.
Home/renters/umbrella insurance
It’s important to maintain coverage on your home and possessions. Without insurance, any loss you suffer would have to come from savings. If you move, be aware of any new hazards in your geographic zone or how your needs might change (with a new pool, for example) and how that could affect your liability coverage.