Health Care Planning in Retirement Overview Part 1

- [Tim] According to a nationwide survey of US adults

age 50 and up, four in five people can't accurately estimate

how much they expect to pay for healthcare in retirement.

It is vital to the retirement planning process

that financial professionals and their clients

get a better idea for the cost they can prepare for.

I'm Tim O'Mara with the Nationwide Retirement Institute

which was founded to provide financial professionals

with the tools and insights they need

to help their clients navigate the most important topics

in retirement.

And this is health care, planning for costs in retirement.

- Fewer and fewer companies are offering

their retired employees company health care benefits

in retirement.

We already know that 10,000 baby boomers

are turning 65 every day

and that is gonna continue until 2030.

This means that many retirees will no longer

have company paid health insurance,

which in turn means they'll need assistance

with Medicare and may have other gaps to consider.

- [Tim] In a recent Harris Poll commissioned by Nationwide,

older adults were asked how much that they think

annual health care costs are in retirement.

44% weren't sure or couldn't estimate but in total,

84% of people underestimated or didn't know.

Now it's possible many people don't think about those costs

because they know they will have Medicare

and may mistakenly think it will cover all their needs.

Medicare recently celebrated its 50th year

as America's nationally subsidized health insurance,

after several presidential administrations

tried and failed to install

a national senior healthcare solution,

Medicare was founded in 1965 to help meet

the healthcare needs of citizens over the age of 65

who were not covered by healthcare insurance of any kind.

For financial professionals and their clients,

understanding how Medicare works, its options and costs

is a key component of a comprehensive plan

for life in retirement

and it's an issue where clients are largely uninformed.

- Medicare is awash with jargon

and presents clients with an avalanche

of time sensitive information

that requires decisive answers.

The choices someone makes can have a huge impact

on their retirement income and quality of life.

- Surveys generally show that most people haven't discussed

Medicare with a financial professional

and they probably should.

Medicare is a critical component of health coverage

in retirement and as more and more insurance companies

exit the market for senior health insurance,

Medicare, alongside social security,

is a nearly universal retirement issue.

Join me for part two in this series

as we break down the options and implications of Medicare

and learn how to translate questions about Medicare

into a broader conversation about managing income

and expenses in retirement.

(gentle upbeat music)