• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Our Firm
    • About Our Firm
    • Attorney and Staff Profiles
  • Services
    • Asset & Business Planning
    • Dental Practice Law
    • Estate and Gift Tax Figures
    • Estate Planning Services
    • Family-Owned Businesses & Farms
    • Financial Planning Assistance
    • Incapacity Planning
    • IRA & Retirement Planning
    • Legacy Planning
    • LGBTQ Estate Planning
    • Medicaid and Elder Law
    • SECURE Act
    • Special Needs Planning
    • Trust Administration
  • Elder Law
    • Coping With Alzheimer’s
    • Emergency Medicaid & Nursing Home Planning
    • Guardianship & Conservatorship
    • Hospice Care
    • Medicaid Planning
    • Veteran’s Benefits
  • Resources
    • DocuBank
    • Elder Law
      • Elder Law & Medicaid Definitions
      • Elder Law Reports
      • Elder Law Resources
        • Carmel, Indiana Elder Resources
        • Fishers Indiana Elder Law Resources
        • Greenfield, Indiana Elder Law Resources
        • Greenwood Elder Resources
        • Indianapolis Elder Law Resources
        • Lawrence Elder Law Resources
        • Plainfield Elder Resources
        • Zionsville Elder Law Resources
    • Estate Planning
      • Estate Planning Checkup
      • Estate and Gift Tax Figures
      • Estate Planning Definitions
      • Estate Planning Reports
        • Advanced Estate Planning
        • Basic Estate Planning
        • Estate Planning for Niches
        • Trust Administration
      • Incapacity Planning Definitions
      • Is Your Estate Plan Outdated?
      • Top 10 Estate and Legacy Planning Techniques
    • Free Estate Planning Worksheet
    • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Asset Protection Planning
        • Business Succession Planning
      • Elder Abuse
      • Elder Law
        • Medicaid
        • Medicaid Planning
        • Planning for Long-Term Care
      • Estate Planning
        • Avoiding Estate Taxes
        • Frequently Asked Questions for Families Without an Estate Plan
        • LGBTQ Estate Planning
        • Women and the Need for Estate Planning
      • Financial Planning
      • Incapacity Planning
      • Legacy Wealth Planning
      • Pet Planning
      • Philanthropy in Your Estate Plan
      • Probate
      • Power of Attorney
      • Small Estate Administration
      • Trusts
        • Trust Administration
        • Trust Administration
        • Serving as Executor
      • Understanding Your Social Security Retirement Benefits
      • Wills
        • Contesting a Will
    • Newsletter
    • Pre Consultation Form
    • Probate and Trust Administration
      • Bereavement Resources
      • How to Know if You Need Extra Help With Your Grieving
      • Loss Of A Loved One
      • Probate Resources
        • Carmel, Indiana Probate Resources
        • Greenfield Probate
        • Greenwood Probate
        • Indianapolis Probate
        • Plainfield Probate
        • Indiana Probate
        • Zionsville Probate
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Trust
      • The Mourner’s Bill of Rights
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Will
      • Trust Administration & Probate Definitions
  • Reviews
    • Our Reviews
    • Review Us
  • Areas We Serve
    • Boone County
      • Lebanon
      • Zionsville
    • Hamilton County
      • Carmel
      • Fishers
    • Hancock County
      • Greenfield
    • Hendricks County
      • Brownsburg
      • Plainfield
    • Johnson County
      • Franklin, Indiana
      • Greenwood
    • Marion County
      • Central Indiana
      • Indianapolis
  • Blog
  • Contact Us

Frank & Kraft, Attorneys at Law

Indianapolis Estate Planning Attorneys

CONNECT WITH US TODAY(317) 684-1100

Attend a Free Workshop
Home » Retirement Planning: See the Entire Picture

Retirement Planning: See the Entire Picture

October 20, 2015Estate Planning, Retirement Planning

Retirement Planning: See the Entire Picture

If you ask any middle-aged person, he or she will invariably tell you that time passes incredibly quickly. It can be surprising to come to the realization that your 50th birthday is waiting just over the horizon, because you still consider yourself to be young.

In a relative sense, a 50-year-old person is still young, but it is kind of late to initiate your retirement planning efforts. For most people, it takes a long-term, sustained effort to accumulate the resources that will be necessary to support a comfortable retirement.

If your place of employment is offering you the opportunity to participate in the 401(k) plan, you can look at this as a start. Taking advantage of any match that the employer may offer is huge, because this is nothing more or less than free money. When you are making steady contributions over decades, you may be pleasantly surprised when you look at the balance.

You can also make the most of your Social Security benefit. It is possible to begin to draw a benefit when you are as young as 62 years of age, but your benefit would be reduced by as much as 30 percent.  Plus, you would be penalized if you earn a significant amount of income.

On the other hand, if you wait until you are eligible for your full benefit when you are between 66 and 67 years of age, you can earn unlimited income without experiencing any reduction in your monthly benefit. You can also choose to delay the application submission until you’re as old as 70. This would result in an increased benefit.

When you make the right choices over an extended period of time, you can enjoy your active retirement years to the utmost.

Looking Past the Active Years

People typically think about travel, golf, and leisure activities when they envision retirement activities. This is as it should be, but every prudent person should look past the active years, because there is a potential expense that looms large.

The majority of elders will someday need help with their day-to-day needs, and living assistance is very expensive. Medicare does not pay for long-term care, so this is a major wild card that enters the mix when you are creating a retirement budget.

Medicaid eligibility is a possibility, but you can’t qualify if you have significant assets in your own name. You are penalized if you give away assets shortly after you find out that you need long-term care, so that is not going to help in the near term.

There are things that you can do to effectively divest yourself of assets at the ideal time.

Retirement Planning Consultation

If you would like to discuss your retirement planning goals with a licensed professional, we would be glad to help. Our firm offers free consultations, and you can contact us through this page to set up an appointment: Indianapolis IN Elder Law Attorneys.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Paul A. Kraft, Estate Planning Attorney
Paul A. Kraft, Estate Planning Attorney
Paul Kraft is Co-Founder and the senior Principal of Frank & Kraft, one of the leading law firms in Indiana in the area of estate planning as well as business and tax planning.

Mr. Kraft assists clients primarily in the areas of estate planning and administration, Medicaid planning, federal and state taxation, real estate and corporate law, bringing the added perspective of an accounting background to his work.
Paul A. Kraft, Estate Planning Attorney
Latest posts by Paul A. Kraft, Estate Planning Attorney (see all)
  • Updated Federal Gift and Estate Tax Figures for 2023 - January 26, 2023
  • Why Estate Planning Is Important for Multi-National Couples - January 24, 2023
  • When Do I Need to Update a Trust Agreement? - January 19, 2023

Other Articles You May Find Useful

Top 10 Estate Planning Tips
Indianapolis estate planning attorneys
The Pros and Cons of Sharing Your Estate Plan with Loved Ones
question mark
Answers to 5 Common Estate Planning Questions
Inheritance and bequest
Is an Inheritance and a Bequest the Same Thing?
estate plan
Why Do I Need an Estate Plan?
LGBT History Month
Reviewing Your Estate Plan for LGBT History Month

Primary Sidebar

Frank & Kraft, Attorneys at Law

Download our free Estate Planning Worksheet

There's a lot that goes into setting up a comprehensive estate plan, but with our FREE worksheet, you'll be one step closer to getting yourself and your family on the path to a secure and happy future.

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkdin
  • Youtube

Blog Subscription

Where We Are

Frank & Kraft Attorneys at Law
135 N. Pennsylvania Street Suite 1100
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2485
Phone: (317) 684-1100
Fax: (317) 684-6111

See Larger MapGet directions

Office Hours

Monday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Map

frankkraft_sidbr_map

Footer

  • Advantages of Working With Our Firm
  • About The American Academy
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • Contact Us

Connect with Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkdin
  • Youtube
footer-logo

Frank & Kraft Attorneys at Law
Attorney Advertisement

© 2023 American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.

© 2023 · American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc. | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Sitemap | Contact Us