When it comes to financial planning for health care in future retirement..
It is very important to factor in what your health care costs might be, in order to gain an accurate depiction of your possible financial standing. All too often trusted financial planners, counselors, advisors and even mentors forget to mention this essential piece of the retirement puzzle, health care. Little do many know that forgetting such a crucial factor can ultimately lead to the derailment of your entire financial retirement plan, regardless of the Medicare coverage that you may have available to you. At Healthcare Retirement Planner our number one priority is to provide consumers with the proper tools and education needed to build an effective financial retirement plan and maintain it throughout their golden years.
Legislative Changes Affecting Health Care Costs In Retirement
Are you familiar with changes in legislation that have had an impact on retirement and health costs? Certain recent Congressional provisions have resulted in increased taxes, decreased Social Security benefits and increased mandatory health care costs in retirement for retirees. So what does this mean for you as a future retiree? It means that thanks to these provisions your cost of health care in retirement is now a mandatory expense. It also means that those who have no assets going into retirement will be forced to pay this increased health care costs out of their decreasing Social Security benefit check. For those who do have assets going into retirement, you are not off the hook – regulations now make it obligatory that you pay even higher average prices for your health care in retirement.
Health Care In Retirement – The Choice Is Really Not Yours
Since 1993, thanks to a change in the Program Operations Manual systems for Social Security, it has been mandatory that when eligible seniors enroll in Medicare the default health care for retirees. Otherwise, if the eligible senior does not, then they will forever forfeit their rights to any past, present or future earned Social Security benefits. Luckily, in 2003, changes were made that allowed for late enrollment in retirement. However, if you enroll late in Medicare then you face a Late Enrollment Penalty that will remain attached to your name for the remainder of your retirement. So, in actuality you have no choice as to whether or not you wish to use Medicare as your sole health care choice, you have to and if you don’t you are penalized.
In Retirement, Expect To Pay Health Care Costs, You Are Required Too
Gone are the days when you could take advantage of your hard earned Social Security however you please and roll the dice on your health care costs in retirement. In today’s society you are forced to use Medicare for health care coverage purposes and furthermore forced to pay the premiums from your Social Security check. Therefore, it is wise to educate yourself prior to retirement on what the health costs in retirement actually are. This is in an effort to properly plan for the impact that such obligatory costs will have on your Social Security benefit.
What Is The Impact?
Many people eager await their retirement days with long lists of places that they will travel, the things that they will do and even perhaps stuff that they will buy. Not many, however, look past the “dream” that retirement it to see what a financial burden it actually can be if not properly prepared for. Do you know what it actually will take you to retire? In terms of health care, do you have any idea what percentage of your retirement income will be spent on your health? Recent studies have revealed that 7 out of 10 people anticipate their average costs to account for a mere 10 percent of their retirement income. In actuality though, this factor is more like an average of 30 percent. Imagine how many plans that’ll wreck if not accounted for!
What Is The Average Health Care Cost?
According to the industry, last year a retired couple spends about $220,000 on health care in retirement. Mind you, this does not include any long-term care. Regardless, of how good some Medicare coverage may be, it does not cover all expenses and is not calculated correctly. In fact, it is estimated that it only covers an average of 51 percent of medical expenses. A lot of factors go into what your health care costs will be and so it can be difficult to formulate a reliable guesstimate on your own.
How Do I Figure Out What My Costs In Retirement Will Be?
As mentioned, many factors go into determining how much you can expect to pay for health care in retirement on average. Some important factors include:
• Your age
• Your overall health and health history
• Whether or not you have employer-provided health care coverage
• What Medicare plan you select and whether or not you purchase gap coverage
This is just a few out of many factors that must be considered in formulating an accurate depiction of what you can expect to pay for health care in retirement.
How Do I Learn More?
A great option is to take advantage of online tools, such as Healthcare Retirement Planners FREE online calculator. This tool, with just a few simple questions answered, will provide you with a reliable estimate on what your health care costs in retirement might be. This will help you now to prepare your financial plan so that you may better enjoy the finer things in retirement. Contact us today to learn more.
What is HealthcareRetirementPlanner.com
Healthcare Retirement Planner (HRP) is a comprehensive solution that helps identify potential problem areas in a retirement plan and design options to minimize the problem.
On an ongoing basis, HRP conducts research and aggregates all data to be used in its analysis algorithm. Pulling from areas such as The Congressional Budget Office, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, polling individual insurance carriers across the United States along with private research firms, and positions HRP as having the most accurate information and calculations available.
Within the calculation process there are many variables that need to be considered, as the solutions are customized to each individual’s retirement plan. Variables that are required to analyze financial situations include, but are not limited to: age, gender, location, overall retirement income, types of retirement income, inflation and COLA. HRP has simplified this process.
The process of using HRP is straight forward. Simply by answering a few simple demographic questions, entering retirement asset information and income, along with assorted growth rates, you are supplied with a detailed year by year analysis that projects out 20+ years as to how the investors’ current financial plan will be impacted by their Medicare costs and the impact on their Social Security benefit.
Who is HealthcareRetirementPlanner.com?
We are comprised of Financial Professionals, Medicare Specialists, Technology Experts and the foremost authorities on how this one cost will affect your bottom line especially when your health is on the line.
There are many financial institutions that do tremendous work when it comes to asset building, planning for college or creating stock/bond/mutual fund portfolios, but addressing concerns of affording health care costs…well for that, there is us.
Healthcare Retirement Planner was created with one purpose in mind: to provide data, education and tools necessary to help the financial industry create better financial futures and to plan for one of the biggest expenses in not only retirement, but life – their health.
In a time where health costs dominate the media, the political landscape and your bottom line, retirement planning with all of the facts have never been more important.
Origin of Our Data for Healthcare Cost in Retirement
On an ongoing basis, HRP conducts research and aggregates all Healthcare data to be used in its analysis algorithm. Pulling from areas such as The Congressional Budget Office, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, polling individual insurance carriers across the United States along with private research firms, and positions HRP as having the most accurate Retirement information and calculations available.
Disclosure
Healthcare Retirement Planner offers research and Service to the Financial Industry, however we do not sell retirement products the general public