The Glaring Retirement Mistake 88% of Americans Are Making
Only 12% of working adults have taken steps to address or plan for medical expenses in retirement, according to data from the
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How much will you spend on healthcare as a senior?
The amount you spend on healthcare in retirement will depend on a number of factors, the most obvious of which is your actual health. But you should still get a ballpark of what that number might look like so you can boost your savings to cover it if need be.
The latest projections tell us that the average 65-year-old male today will spend roughly
If you're wondering why that number is so high, it probably has to do with the fact that Medicare will only cover a portion of your total healthcare costs. There are a number of services, like dental, vision, and hearing, that the program won't pay for.
Furthermore, Medicare itself isn't actually free. Rather, you'll pay a premium for Part B, which covers preventive care and diagnostics, and Part D, which covers prescriptions. Furthermore, the services that Medicare does cover typically come with a copayment, not to mention a deductible. And unless you opt for a Medicare Advantage plan, there's technically no limit as to what you might spend on healthcare in a single year.
There's also long-term care to worry about, especially since it's not included in the aforementioned figures. It's estimated that 70% of seniors will need long-term care in their lifetime, and the associated costs could be catastrophic. Case in point: The average nursing home stay in the country costs
However, there is some good news among all of these very scary numbers. If you make an effort to plan and save for the costs you might eventually come to face, you can avoid having them destroy the retirement you worked so hard for.
Saving for your future needs
Now that you know what healthcare might cost you down the line, you can take steps to ramp up your savings efforts to help cover them. Currently, workers under 50 can contribute up to
Another key move to make involves applying for long-term care insurance, which can help defray the costs you might very well come to face. Generally speaking, your 50s are the ideal time to apply, because the younger you are, the more likely you are to not only get approved, but also snag a health-based discount on your premiums. But if you're already in your 60s, it pays to apply as well.
Like it or not, healthcare is the one cost that tends to go up in retirement, and given that medical costs are rising at a much higher rate than
The
If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known "
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