One of the biggest issues concerning retirees and those heading towards retirement is the project costs of health care when they finally decide to retire.
We spend hours working with financial advisors going over “what if” scenarios for our retirement years. Can we afford this boat? Can we afford that lifestyle? All this time is spent trying to maximize that almighty dollar that we have worked so hard to accumulate.
During all this time spent planning for our financial futures, about 8% of all current and soon to be retirees have even planned for the costs of health care in retirement, 8%!!
Imagine if out of all 32 teams in the National Football League, only 2 decided to practice and come up with a game plan? Those other 30 teams would not last long. The difference is, if those NFL teams do not plan, they will undoubtedly lose the games they play. If you do not plan, you are going to get hit with mandatory costs of healthcare that both you and your financial advisor did not even know existed…. and yes, I did say mandatory.
“Ok, so what is mandatory?” You ask? We are not talking about high blood pressure pills or those stylish orthopedic shoes, both of which you can do with out (not recommending it, but they are not mandatory).
So if we are not talking about having to buy new shoes, what are we talking about and how do we find these projected health care costs in retirement?
Easy, these costs are the mandatory costs of Medicare. In order to receive your Social Security check you need to be enrolled in Medicare. So what is the big deal? The cost of Medicare is automatically deducted from your Social Security check. Fantastic!! Now, how much will this little wrinkle cost you? See for yourself, use our quick calculator to get a general idea of your projected Health care costs in retirement.