Friday, March 13, 2015
From the desk of Peter Blatt J.D., LL.M.
A Lesson Learned from Publix Supermarket and Ways to Save Money
Recently, while out shopping at Publix Greenwise, I overheard an odd conversation. On a side note, I made a delicious, fish taco with chipotle cream sauce for dinner that night. The recipe appeared in a Cooking Light magazine and it has a kick to it. While at the counter the customer before me was negotiating over the price for the fish. She was asking for a discount because of the cost compared to another supermarket (in this case regular Publix). The person behind the counter did give her the price, and then I asked for a ‘me too price reduction’ and the fish for the taco’s became tilapia. The haggle reminds me of the roundtable we had over how to save money and not outlive our money during retirement. I have enclosed a list to start you thinking about reducing your expenses. Let me know if anything should be added to our list or if you want clarification.
Ways to Save Money/ Not Outlive My Money
- Maximize your Social Security and Pensions
- Allocate more to Roth IRAs or Roth 401k’s
- Allocate to a more balanced investment model as you get closer to retirement
- If working, save more than you think you need (save your bonus)
- Adjust your withdrawal rate throughout retirement
- Set goal of reducing expenses in 18 month periods
- Prepare for large expenses: Long Term Care, Disability (end of working years), Death of Spouse
- Prepare proper Legal documents for avoid probate (my law firm, Blatt Legal can help)
How to reduce your cost of retirement:
- Pay off Mortgage vs reduce mortgage vs refinance vs. reverse mortgage
- Downsize/ right size your home
- Sell a vehicle or go carless
- Reduce Investment Fee and move away from high priced mutual funds
- When retire don’t cash out your 401(k), roll it to an IRA
- There is a reduction in benefits if you sign up for Social Security early (if have taxable income social security is reduced prior to full retirement age), and there is a late enrollment penalty if you delay signing up for Medicare Parts B and D (also shop for a new Medicare D plan to make sure your medication is covered)
- Travel for less: Off peak times
- Find Senior Discounts (AARP)
- Some discounts:
- America the Beautiful senior pass to National Parks
- Amtrak (15% discount)/ Greyhound (5% discount)
- Phone service plans (eg. Verizon 65 Plus Plan)
- Restaurants (IHOP)
- Rental Car Discounts eg. 30% off Hetrz
- Hotel (20% off Weston and Sheraton)
- Clothing (eg. certain days get senior discount)
- Flowers (eg. Teleflora flowers 20% off)
- Movies (eg. AMC over age 60)
Hope this list sparks your interest. As always,
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