Personal Finance Issues After Retirement

Posted by Nick Niesen on November 8th, 2010

Age brings about a number of new expenses. Expenses keep on increasing as the years keep growing. Old age merely brings about a rise in a number of expenses. Visits to the doctor have to be made. Medicines need to be bought. And there are so many more bills. However, even as expenses keep on multiplying, the income with which these bills can be paid remains stagnant. Post-retirement, one has to be dependent on one's pension and on the monies that accrue from the various investments that one has secured for oneself. Given these sources of income, it does become difficult to pay for the expenses of daily life.

However, with a little bit of research and some application, one can use the mechanisms of personal finance to add quality to life post retirement. For starters, let us take the case of bank accounts. Now, there are various kinds of bank accounts that people can apply for. But which bank account would be a good choice if one has just retired? Ideally, one should be looking at a bank account that offers a high rate of interest. High interest savings accounts are a dime a dozen these days. Joint bank accounts are worth looking at. Elderly couples often pool their monies together and start a joint account, thus, earning higher interest amounts on a regular basis. Just check with the bank that is nearest to you. Moreover, senior citizens are eligible for some other offers that cater specifically to their needs. So anyone who falls into this age group need to be on the lookout for deals like this.

Credit cards are often the knight in shining armor for aged people. After retirement, a lot of people find it difficult to carry on with their earlier standards of living. Thus, many end up running up their credit card debt as they pay for various recurring expenses, with medicines being one of the recurring ones. Now, credit card debt cannot be run away from. It had to be settled in the near future. However, senior citizens can approach their credit card providers and try to negotiate a reduction in debt. Many a provider is eager to comply with such requests.

Naturally, leaning on the credit card is not the smartest financial advice that you can get. All the same, you can certainly use the credit card judiciously and let it help you when you are in dire need. For that purpose, you must make sure that you are not splurging on any goods and services that are not really required. Of course, it can be argued that every thing is "required. But that is not the way a smart consumer thinks.

Of course, sometimes cash advances and credit card payments are not sufficient. Turning to loans can be quite costly for people who do not have a fixed salary. Things are simpler for people who own property for a secured loan is usually cheaper. However, nowadays, cheap unsecured loans are not such a faraway dream either.