The Federal government is constantly growing and expanding. In a 2015 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) noted: “The Federal Register indicates there are over 430 departments, agencies, and sub-agencies in the federal government.” How is a retiree supposed to be aware of all of the possible programs they may benefit from? A good financial advisor will take a look at your entire retirement picture and confirm you are invested properly for your age and appropriate risk/security level, that you are maximizing your social security benefits, that you are aware of possibility to access your home equity with a reverse mortgage, and that you have the appropriate insurances and coverages to protect you and your family; but they probably aren’t versed in all of the public and private programs available.
A great financial advisor will be aware of some of these programs, but the National Council on Aging (NCOA) has an aging benefits checkup program that verifies your qualification for over 2,500 public and private benefit programs in all 50 states. Most of these programs are for lower-income seniors and may not necessarily fit their clients, but it may be worth a few minutes to check. The program has helped over 8 million people find over 33 billion in benefits. You may find assistance with Medications, Education, Park discounts, Healthcare, Income, Food, Housing, Tax guidance, Veterans, employment, caregiver, pension info and assistance, and many more programs or guidance. Simply go to https://www.benefitscheckup.org/ and get started by entering your zip code and answering the questions to find the benefits you are interested in. This may not be something you need, but perhaps a family member or a friend could live a better retirement knowing programs they qualify for. Feel free to share this article with anyone you think may be interested.
