Cut Prescription Drug Costs

Years ago, you may have never thought twice about taking the medicine that your physician prescribed for you. So why should you have to after retirement? The pharmaceutical companies offer many assistance plans that enable you to receive the medicine you need without zapping all your income!

There are lots of people at retirement age that are living on a fixed income and cannot afford all of these high price medicines. Here are a few ways to help you save some money on your prescription.

When the physician starts writing out a prescription for you to have filled, ask him if he would have any samples that he could supply you with. There are several drug companies that distribute samples to their doctors so they can hand them out to their patients. So take advantage of this one way to save a few dollars.

Also, many doctors' offices participate in drug savings plans and can possibly supply all your medications at no cost or at a minimum $5 or $10 a month co-payment.

Always ask about this possibility. It has saved my aunt hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in medicine costs over the long haul.

Since many drugs are so expensive, the drug companies have now made some equivalent generic brand drugs. When you go to your pharmacy to get your next prescription filled, consider asking for the generic brand. This strategy alone can save up to 50% on your prescriptions.

Another good way to save some money on your medicines would be to use over the counter medications. Ask your physician or pharmacist if any over the counter drugs would be close to your prescription and if you could possibly use them instead. These medicines are normally cheaper.

Comparison shopping for medicines may seem odd, but you may want to try it the next time. Medicine prices vary greatly among chain stores. And believe it or not, sometimes those small local drug stores have the best prices! It pays to check it out.

These are just a few ways to cut the costs of prescription drugs. Never just quit taking your medication without discussing it with your physician first. That could do you more harm than good. If you still have money issues, then ask around about a discount drug program or ask your doctor if you might be able to split your medication and take less.

ING Retirement Planning

Making A Retirement Plan

Choosing a company to help invest money for an individuals retirement plan is an important decision; ING retirement planning experts can take the guess work out of saving.

ING's retirement team can help investors choose the best combination of stocks, bonds, and savings to create the best portfolio for each individual. ING has a terrific website to allow potential investors to tour their services and get useful information about retirement plans and definitions of common retirement terminology.

ING retirement specialists have lots of great information about the different ways to invest in the future; their knowledgeable staff can help customers decide how much money to save and where to invest that saved money.

For example if an employer offers a company sponsored retirement plan, ING retirement specialists suggest taking advantage of those plans; one part of their website explains that using a plan with employer matching, for example, is like getting free money for retirement.

Also taking advantage of pre-tax retirement deductions is advised by the ING retirement experts because as long as money is be contributed to the savings account the money will not be taxes; in addition to creating a nice "nest-egg" investment, it will also reduce the years overall taxable wages.

One of the most commonly known pre-tax savings plan is a 401K account; most employers will match a percentage of the employee's investment once they are vested in the company; the ING retirement staff can help the employee understand the terms of the investing and decide the benefits to them of the plan.

ING retirement experts can also help to create a portfolio of investments that will work well for any individual; the staff will help each customer define their needs and goals and create an investment strategy around those goals.

Their website has a calculator which can help a potential investor determine the type of investor they are and choose the best plan of savings and investments to match their personality and goals.

ING retirement professionals can help their customers diversify their portfolios to yield the maximum return; many portfolios will consist of several kinds of investments, some will be steady like bonds with a constant predictable return while others will be a higher risk like stocks which may rise and fall sharply over the years.

ING is a full service investment firm that cares about their customers; they offer a full team of experts to every investor to help them make the best financial decisions for them. ING retirement experts make plans for one person not any person, making the investors goals the priority.