Most Underestimate or Have NO CLUE...

Most people DRASTICALLY underestimate how much they will be spending each year on out-of-pocket health care costs.  THE ACTUAL expenses for a 65-year old couple that retires today and lives for 25 years is estimated to be $283,000.  Are you ready for that?  How about your neighbors, friends and relatives?  This is THE top fear according to a nationwide survey.  ...Dennis

COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--More than three in five (61 percent) pre-retirees now say they are “terrified” of what health care costs may do to their retirement plans. The annual survey by Nationwide Financial released today reveals the number of affluent pre-retirees jumped 30 percent from the fewer than half that used the word “terrified” last year to describe their concerns about paying for health care costs in retirement.

According to the poll conducted by Harris Interactive of 801 Americans over 50 with at least $150,000 in household income, three quarters of pre-retirees say their top fear in retirement is their health care costs spinning out of control. However, 64 percent say they have not discussed their retirement plans at all with a financial advisor. Of those who have talked with an advisor, only 22 percent discussed health care costs in retirement not covered by Medicare.

“Whether it is the economy, concerns about the implementation of the Affordable Care Act or skyrocketing health care costs, our survey shows America’s workers are increasingly concerned about how they will fund their health care costs in retirement,” said John Carter, president and chief operating officer of Retirement Plans, Nationwide Financial. “More are realizing they can’t count on someone else to fix this problem and that they will have to fund their own health care costs in retirement.”

According to our survey, a quarter of baby boomers (26 percent) do not expect to retire. That is up from 22 percent in 2012. Women are twice more likely than men to think they will never retire (36 percent vs. 18 percent). Two in five boomers also say they will delay their retirement if they had to buy their own health insurance. One in four say they will delay their retirement in order to keep their adult children on their employer-based health insurance plan.

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