Fidelity’s latest estimate of what a 65-year-old couple needs to have saved for medical costs in retirement has gone up again, to $250,000.
That’s a 56% increase from the $160,000 the investment giant estimated a retiring couple would need in 2002. The estimate assumes the couple qualifies for Medicare but doesn’t have employer-provided health insurance, and does not include nursing home care.
Fidelity also surveyed 376 married retirees about their health care expenses and found some interesting figures:
- Health care costs average $535 a month, or about 19% of an average couple’s total monthly expenses of $2,842
- About one in 10 reported their health care costs are $1,000 a month or higher
- Average health care costs ranked second to the largest expense, food, which averaged $659 a month and slightly higher than
housing-related costs, which averaged $494 - Nearly one half are paying more out of pocket for health care costs than they anticipated
Medicare does a good job of protecting retirees from catastrophic medical costs, but there are still plenty of out-of-pocket expenses and premium costs for supplemental insurance. That’s yet another reason to boost your retirement savings while you can–extra contributions now may give you a greater level of comfort down the road.
For more, visit the Fidelity.com site.
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