— Dodgers Nation —
Dodgers May Struggle to Find Major Upgrades This Offseason
by Nelson Espinal
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— Dodgers Nation — By CHRISTINE BENZ of Morningstar People often underestimate some expenses when planning for retirement. In my conversations with older adults about their in-retirement finances, they’ve repeatedly mentioned the cost of dental care. The reasons are straightforward: Our teeth get worse as we age, and yet dental care isn’t covered by Medicare (except for emergency dental procedures for people who are hospitalized). There are three main avenues to covering dental costs during retirement: dental insurance, a Medicare Advantage program that covers dental care, and paying out of pocket. Buying stand-alone dental insuranceOlder adults can purchase stand-alone dental insurance with monthly premiums typically around $25 to $50. Coverage varies widely, however, with plans typically capping the dollar amounts they’ll cover in a year. Annual caps range from $1,000 to $2,500, providing scant protection against extensive and costly procedures. Many plans impose waiting periods that prevent you from receiving major procedures such as crowns or root canals within the first six to 12 months of coverage. Dental insurance will often entail using specific providers. Dental health management organizations are the most restrictive, though they’re also the most economical. The bottom line: The insurance premiums plus the annual coverage limits don’t point to a great economic case for carrying dental insurance into retirement. One countervailing argument is that people without dental insurance are more likely to go without dental care, according to data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Medicare Advantage dental careMany Medicare Advantage plans include dental care, along with vision care and hearing aids. Medicare Advantage is the managed-care, private-insurance version of Medicare; enrollees have to choose from a list of providers, so this won’t be a great option if your favorite provider isn’t on the list. From a big-picture standpoint, it would be a mistake to let dental coverage—or any other ancillary service that a Medicare Advantage plan might offer—drive the decision about whether to opt for Medicare Advantage or traditional Medicare with a supplemental plan. True, Medicare Advantage plans can be more affordable, but their out-of-pocket limits can be high. Moreover, provider networks can be limiting, and plans may require referrals to see specialists, which can slow down care. Additionally, people switching out of Medicare Advantage into traditional Medicare will need to undergo medical underwriting for Medigap coverage. The bottom line: All of these considerations suggest that dental coverage should be a secondary factor when determining healthcare coverage in retirement. If Medicare Advantage makes sense for your situation, consider dental coverage an extra perk. Paying out of pocket for dental careIf you decide to cover dental care using your own assets, it can help to do a little fact-finding to estimate how much to budget. Look back on your dental costs over the past five years, before factoring in insurance; budget for routine preventive care. In addition, your dentist should be able to share a price list for common procedures. Consult with your dentist to get ahead of procedures you may need in the near term. Then decide whether to get them done while you’re working and covered by insurance or wait until retirement. Health savings accounts are ideal assets to earmark for dental care in retirement. Most dental procedures, save for cosmetic ones, can be covered by tax-free HSA withdrawals. Moreover, it’s important to use HSA assets during your own lifetime (and/or that of your spouse), because the tax benefits effectively cease after your death; withdrawals by nonspouse beneficiaries are taxed as ordinary income. Alternatively, if your high dental expenses happen to coincide with other major healthcare outlays in a given year, you may be able to deduct those expenses on your tax return. (Dental expenses can be bundled with other healthcare outlays from the standpoint of deductions.) However, you can only deduct medical expenses in excess of 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. In addition, the higher standard deduction amounts, plus the new senior deduction, mean that many older adults will be better off claiming the standard deduction than they will itemizing. The bottom line: For people with adequate financial assets, forgoing insurance and self-funding dental coverage can make sense. It gives you more control over where you receive dental care. Additionally, once you factor in insurance premiums and annual caps, you won’t necessarily be that much ahead with insurance versus paying out of pocket. Your provider may also offer a discount if you’re not going through insurance. This article was provided to The Associated Press by Morningstar. For more retirement content, go to https://www.morningstar.com/retirement. Christine Benz is director of personal finance and retirement planning for Morningstar and co-host of The Long View podcast. Subscribe to her free newsletter, Improving Your Finances. Related links: Think You’re Ready for Retirement? Start With This 9-Step Checklist https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance/retirement-readiness-checklist Christine Benz: Why I Hired a Financial Planner https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance/why-i-have-financial-planner Your HSA Needs a Succession Plan https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance/your-hsa-needs-succession-plan — CBS Sports Headlines — Heavy rains cause flash flooding on Georgia-Tennessee border, forcing water rescues and evacuations Thunderstorms with heavy rain have caused severe flooding in twin cities along the Georgia-Tennessee border NEW YORK (AP) — More drops for AI chip stocks are dragging the U.S. market lower on Thursday, even as the majority of Wall Street rises following strong profit reports from AppLovin, Tapestry and other companies. The S&P 500 fell 1.2% in early trading, coming off its best day in three months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 165 points, or 0.3%, as of 9:45 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 2.4% lower. Stock markets worldwide felt pressure from continued drops for companies in the artificial-intelligence industry, and South Korea’s Kospi index tumbled 5.3%. Such stocks have been swinging for months on worries that the build out of further AI data centers may slow because of how expensive it’s become to borrow money. Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections added another challenge. The nationwide victories by Democrats raised the possibility that governments could force pauses in construction of more data centers. Nvidia fell 4.1% and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500, a day after dropping 3.2%. Advanced Micro Devices tumbled 10.7%. CoreWeave, a company that rents access to AI chips to customers over the cloud, fell 6.8%. In other markets, though, the initial knee-jerk reaction to the midterm results faded. The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil rose 2.3% to $96.76 and recovered a chunk of its nearly 9% drop from the day before. Uncertainty still reigns about what will happen in the war with Iran and when the global energy industry can return to normal. The rise in oil prices helped Treasury yields hold a bit steadier a day after falling in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.89% from 4.90% late Wednesday. It had been at 4.95% on election night and above 5.30% last month. Helping to support Treasury yields was a report suggesting layoffs remain limited across the country. Fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week. A separate report, meanwhile, suggested overall productivity for U.S. workers improved by more during the summer than economists expected. That could help the economy grow without adding pressure to the nation’s high inflation. And thrumming in the background of Wall Street, companies continue to report stronger profits for the summer than analysts expected. Stock prices tend to follow where corporate profits and interest rates go over the long term, depending on them much more than on who controls what in Washington. AppLovin soared 29.9% after the marketing platform reported both revenue and profit that topped analysts’ expectations. It also approved a program to send up to $3.2 billion to its investors by buying back its own stock, bringing the program’s total potential value to $3.6 billion. Tapestry rallied 9.8% after the company behind the Coach and Kate Spade brands likewise delivered a stronger profit than expected. It also raised its forecasts for revenue and earnings this fiscal year. They helped lead gains for the majority of stocks within the S&P 500. In stock markets abroad, indexes rose in Europe following a mixed finish in Asia. London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6% as the Bank of England increased its main interest rate for the first time in three years to help limit high inflation. The bank said its next moves on interest rates largely hinge on what happens with the Iran war, which sent oil prices and inflation higher worldwide. “We’ve seen encouraging news in the past 48 hours,” Bank Gov. Andrew Bailey said at a press briefing. “The best thing that can happen is to resolve the conflict in the Middle East; there’s no question about it.” AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report. Russell Brand has been convicted of rape and sexual assault
Russell Brand was convicted Thursday of rape and sexual assault charges on allegations dating back more than 20 years. |
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