00:00 Allie
Bob, let’s get right to it. Here’s our first question. A Yahoo Finance reader asks how can I tell if a continuing care retirement community is right for me?
00:10 Bob
Of course. So, Ally, this might be a good option if you want security as you age and access to a variety of levels of care as you age. So, CCRC has it all. It has independent living, assisted living, nursing and memory care. But this is a lifestyle and financial decision. So, on the financial side, CCRCs often have a high entrance fee, ranging from $400,000 to a million dollars, and there are fees that average $4,200 per month, and those fees typically go up about 4% each year.
00:54 Bob
Then you need to think about the type of contracts that may be offered to you. One type costs more upfront but locks in future costs. The other costs less initially, but can result in a much higher bill because you need extra maintenance, and the other type is in the middle. So, you also want to consider the financial health of the facility and the quality of services and amenities, as well as whether residents have tenure and possibly tax incentives.
01:21 Bob
So, if you are considering moving to a CCRC, consider working with an advisor who has experience in this area, as there are many million dollar mistakes out there.
01:34 Allie
Yes, no one wants to make a million dollar mistake. Here’s another question. What changes is the Social Security Administration considering for disability benefits, and how might they affect me?
01:45 Bob
Yes, it’s an interesting question as the administration looks at the biggest overhaul of disability benefits in decades. And one change changes the outdated job list, which was last updated more than 30 years ago, to take into account more current data. This can lead to more accurate decisions, but it can also mean that fewer people are eligible. And another suggestion is to give less weight to age. Thus, currently older workers are often easier to retrain, as it is more difficult for them to retrain at 55 or 60.
02:16 Bob
But if the age is lower, many over-50s could lose benefits or be pushed into early retirement, permanently reducing their checks. So even this modest tightening could put 500,000 people off SSDI over the next 10 years, analysts say. Big problem.
02:32 Allie
I understood. And finally, our last question of the day. I am trying to decide which pharmacy to use for my Medicare Part D prescription drug plan and there are two types to choose from, in-network and preferred. But the Medicare website doesn’t tell me the difference between the two. What’s the difference?
02:49 Bob
Yeah, so we’re right now in the middle of Medicare’s annual enrollment period, or annual election period, depending on who you’re listening to. According to medicare.gov, it is not on the Medicare Planfinder website, but it is buried on the medicare.gov website. The difference is that the chain pharmacies, the UH plans, have contracts with these pharmacies, these pharmacies have agreed to offer the UH discount to members of certain Medicare plans. Some Medicare plans only cover your drugs if you fill them at a network pharmacy.
03:22 Bob
As for in-network preference, if your plan has one, they can save you money on the cost of free drugs, such as copay or coinsurance fees, because they’ve agreed to charge less than other pharmacies in your plans’ network. So, by the way, there are out-of-network pharmacies, but you should generally avoid them and stick to preferred or in-network pharmacies.