Retirement Health Care Costs on the Rise
How much money do you think you need to cover the costs of health care during retirement? How about $200,000? According to Fidelity, that’s how much a 65-year-old couple without employer-sponsored health coverage will need if they retire today.
As health insurance premiums and health care costs increase and employer-sponsored retirement health benefits decline, the cost of care has been growing at a rate of 5.8% per year since 2002, when Fidelity first estimated retirement health care costs. The 2005 estimate was $190,000.
Knowing that these costs are going to continue to increase, each of us should be calculating and factoring life-long health care expenses into our overall financial planning.
EXCERPT FROM Wealth & Retirement Planner March/April 2006