Older Americans have just a few days left to evaluate their Medicare coverage for next year.

Medicare’s annual open enrollment period for health plans and prescription drug coverage runs until Dec. 7. Experts say it’s worthwhile for Medicare’s 67.8 million beneficiaries to make sure they have the best coverage for their needs.

“Now is as good a time as any,” said Juliette Cubanski, deputy director of the program on Medicare policy at KFF, a provider of health policy research.

While many beneficiaries are comfortable with their plans and may be reluctant to change, it’s still a good idea to look at all the options that are available, she said.

“It’s possible that you could save money,” Cubanski said. For example, you may find a plan that offers lower cost sharing for expensive medications or offers better coverage or extra benefits, she said.

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Beneficiaries should start with Medicare.gov as they start to shop for plans, according to Philip Moeller, author of “Get What’s Yours for Medicare: Maximize Your Coverage, Minimize Your Costs.”

Medicare.gov’s online plan finder can help provide an overview of the plans available in a beneficiary’s geographic area and the monthly premiums and specific costs associated with services provided through those plans, Cubanski said.

Trained counselors are also available to provide free Medicare advice in every state through the State Health Insurance Assistance Program, also known as SHIP.

To effectively compare plans, there are some helpful tips that are good to keep in mind, experts say.

Starting in 2025, there’s a $2,000 annual out-of-pocket cap on prescription drug costs through Medicare Part D.

That change is due to the Inflation Reduction Act, a federal law enacted in 2022.

Consequently, insurance will pay more for about 8% of people who take expensive prescription medications, but they may look for ways to get their money back for the remaining 92%, Moeller said.

That may come in the form of higher co-pays or deductibles or less generous plan benefits.

“The details really matter this year for Part D plans,” Moeller said. “People should do their homework and make sure that their Part D plan still does what they wanted it to do.”

Medicare Advantage plans, on average, will see deductibles for prescription drug coverage increase next year. Typically, those have been around $50 per month on average, though next year that will go up to just over $200, according to Cubanski.

“People in Medicare Advantage on average, will be facing a higher deductible for drug coverage in 2025,” Cubanski said.

Medigap, also known as Medicare supplement insurance, provides private insurance to help pay for out-of-pocket costs not covered under original Medicare plans. Average monthly Medigap premiums are $217, according to a recent KFF analysis, though those rates vary by state.

With Medicare Advantage, costs may vary from plan to plan, Moeller said, and you may pay more to see a doctor who is out of network.

Medicare Advantage enrollees face an average out-of-pocket limit of $4,882 for in-network services, according to KFF, or $8,707 for both in-network and out-of-network services.

Bottom line: “Details matter,” Moeller said.

Medicare Advantage has received its share of criticism, particularly for restricted access to care and unexpected costs some beneficiaries have encountered.

But experts say the choice between private Medicare Advantage plans and government Medicare original plans is largely personal.

“For some people, Medicare Advantage might be the right call,” Moeller said.

Medicare Advantage has certain upsides. It’s generally cheaper for consumers than traditional Medicare with a Medigap plan, Moeller said. It generally provides out of pocket protection against catastrophic health bills. It may also provide supplemental coverage for hearing, vision and dental, while traditional Medicare does not, he said.

However, Medicare Advantage enrollees may need to get prior authorization before receiving certain types of care, Cubanski said. In contrast, traditional Medicare generally does not use prior authorization.

Alternatively, if you have had a life-changing event, such as a move, you may qualify to take advantage of Medicare’s special enrollment periods.

Moreover, people who live in areas that were affected by hurricanes or wildfires in 2024 may have more time to sign up for their 2025 coverage, according to KFF.

If you need to get a mortgage to buy a house, make sure your finances are in order — especially your debt-to-income ratio.

Your debt-to-income ratio is all your money debt payments divided by your gross monthly income. It’s the “number one way” lenders measure your ability to manage the monthly loan repayments, per the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The debt-to-income ratio was the most common reason for a denied mortgage application, at 40%, according to the 2024 Profile of Homebuyers and Sellers report by the National Association of Realtors. 

Other factors that affected homebuyers in the approval process were a low credit score (23%), unverifiable income (23%) and not enough money in reserves (12%), the report found.

The NAR polled 5,390 buyers who purchased a primary residence between July 2023 and June 2024 and found that 26% of homebuyers paid all-cash — a new high.

A DTI ratio of 35% or less is typically considered as “good,” according to LendingTree.

But sometimes lenders can be flexible and approve applicants who have a debt-to-income ratio of 45% or higher, Brian Nevins, a sales manager at Bay Equity, a Redfin-owned mortgage lender, recently told CNBC.

A way to figure out your housing budget is the so-called 28/36 rule. That guideline holds that you should not spend more than 28% of your gross monthly income on housing expenses and no more than 36% of that total on all debts.

For example: If someone earns a gross monthly income of $6,000 and has $500 in monthly debt payments, they could afford a $1,660 a month mortgage payment if they follow the 36% rule. If the lender accepts up to 50% DTI, the borrower may be able to take up a $2,500 monthly mortgage payment.

“That’s really the max for most loan programs that somebody can get approved for,” Nevins told CNBC.

If you have existing debt, there are two ways you can work to pay it off, experts say: the so-called “snowball method” and the “avalanche method.”

The snowball method is about paying off the smallest debt balances first no matter what the interest cost is, which can feel less overwhelming, said Shaun Williams, private wealth advisor and partner at Paragon Capital Management in Denver, the No. 38 firm on CNBC’s 2024 Financial Advisor 100 List. 

“One is what’s best on a spreadsheet, and the other one is what makes someone feel best from a behavioral finance standpoint,” Williams said.

Yet, “the avalanche is better because the true cost of debt is your interest rate,” he said, as you’re more likely to pay down the debt faster.

Let’s say you have student loans with a 6% interest rate versus an existing credit card balance accruing a 20% interest rate. If you’re sitting with credit card debt, consider tackling that balance first, Cornell said. 

“Whichever one’s costing you the most to borrow is the one that you want to pay down as quickly as possible,” he said.

If you’ve already done what you could to either consolidate or eliminate existing debt, focus on increasing your income and avoid other large purchases that would require financing, Lawande said.

“The goal is to just preserve the cash flow as much as possible,” she said.

When shopping for a home, many buyers may hope to avoid purchasing a property subject to a homeowners association. 

But that may be easier said than done.

That’s because HOAs are on the rise in the U.S. Therefore it’s important to understand the ins and outs of these organizations before you buy.

Nearly three-quarters, or 70%, of surveyed homeowners say if they were to buy a new home in the future, they would prefer a community without an HOA, according to recent data from Frontdoor. The home repair and maintenance services company in September polled 1,005 homeowners, 85% of whom are currently part of an HOA.

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The presence of HOAs in the U.S. has ballooned over recent decades. In 1970, there were 10,000 community associations with about 2.1 million residents, per the Foundation.

In 2023, about 65% of new single-family homes were built within HOAs, up from 49% in 2009, according to the U.S. Census.

Today, HOA or common-interest communities represent about 30% of the housing stock in the U.S., and house 75.5 million Americans, according to the Foundation for Community Association Research. The entity is an affiliate organization of Community Associations Institute, a membership group for HOAs and other community organizations.

Common-interest communities are becoming more typical because they provide a financial benefit for local governments, according to Thomas M. Skiba, CEO of the Community Associations Institute, a membership organization of homeowner and condominium associations.

“They don’t have to plow the street anymore [or] do all that maintenance and they still collect the full property tax value,” Skiba told CNBC, referring to local authorities.

HOA membership is more common in some areas. Florida has the highest HOA membership rate of 66.86%, or more than 4 million homes in HOAs, according to a data analysis by This Old House, a home improvement site.

“It is truly a luxury in a lot of cases to buy a home that’s not in a community,” said Steve Horvath, co-founder of HOA United, an advocacy group for homeowners in common-interest communities.

The mandatory membership can cost homeowners as little as $100 a year to more than $1,000 a month, depending on the community, according to the American National Bank of Texas.

Such costs tend to increase over time, and rarely go down. In Frontdoor’s survey, 51% of current HOA members said they experienced an increase in their HOA fees, and 65% say price increases happen frequently.

Many Americans are satisfied with their HOA. About 60% of surveyed homeowners reported having a positive experience with their community, according to Frontdoor.

But others go through grievances. About 1 in 3 had some experience that made them want to move, Frontdoor found. Of those wanting to leave the neighborhood, 63% complained about fees while 53% cited inconsistent rule enforcement.

“Sometimes HOAs can be really intrusive,” like what colors you can choose from to paint the exterior of your house, said Jim Tobin, CEO of the National Association of Home Builders.

If you’re currently in the market for a home and are unsure if an HOA community is right for you, here are a few things to consider in the shopping process:

• Ask your real estate agent or the home seller’s agent for a copy of all the HOA paperwork like covenants, bylaws, fee schedule, rules and regulations, experts say. Also ask for meeting minutes, whether annual general meeting minutes or board meeting minutes for the past 12 months, Horvath said. Such documents can be very telling about how an HOA is operated, he said.

• Inquire about monthly or annual fees, the HOA’s budget and the history of how assessments have grown over the years, according to Skiba.

• Ask your real estate agent or the seller’s agent if the house you want to buy has any unpaid assessments, said Horvath. Such outstanding balances should be dealt by the seller as part of the sale. 

• Review any pending litigation, disputes or existing judgements within the community, said Horvath. 

• Look into the community’s reserve funds, which ensures repair and renovation. Check if the community is putting enough money aside for big expenses or if they are property funded, Skiba said.

• Ask if you can attend a board meeting or the member’s annual general meeting if possible.