The health care tab for a retired couple will be $567,903 — and that's if you're healthy: study

The health care tab for a retired couple will be $567,903 — and that's if you're healthy: study
The average, healthy 65-year-old couple who wants to retire probably has larger health care costs than you think.
MAY 15, 2016
By  Bloomberg
The projected tab for an average, healthy 65-year-old couple retiring this year, in lifetime premiums for Medicare Parts B and D and supplemental insurance, is $288,000, according to the HealthView Services 2016 Retirement Health Care Costs Data Report. Add in out-of-pocket expenses, including dental, hearing, and vision care, and the bill reaches $377,412. That's in today's dollars. You want it in tomorrow's? Adjusting for inflation, the report projects the lifetime premium costs at $435,472. Add in deductibles, copayments, hearing, vision, and dental, and it's $567,903. Millennials and Gen Xers, this means you, too. If you need more motivation to save for retirement, flipping through the 16-page report will do it. You'll find memorable facts like these:  • A 65-year-old couple retiring this year would need 57% of their Social Security payments just to cover their health care expenses. For a couple 10 years younger, with plans to retire in 2026, that jumps to 88%. For a 45-year-old couple, it's 116%. Younger people can do the ugly extrapolation from there. • From 2015 to 2016, retirement health care costs are projected to jump 7.3%, partly because of a 16.1% rise in monthly Medicare Part B premiums (for doctors and preventive services) over that period, from $104.90 last year to $121.80 this year. • A 30-year-old woman who retires at 65 will face about $119,000 more in expenses than her male counterpart, the report forecasts. That's based on women living until age 91 and men living until 87. The figures, in today's dollars, are $548,098 for women and $429,466 for men. http://www.investmentnews.com/wp-content/uploads/assets/graphics src="/wp-content/uploads2016/05/CI105329519.PNG" • For someone who retires this month, HealthView expects health-care inflation to average just over 5.1% annually for the next two decades. But "since supplemental insurance premiums are age-based, future retirees could face an additional annual 4.5% increase (or more) for supplemental plan coverage," the report said.  • The state you live in plays a big part in your Medicare Part D coverage (for prescription drugs) and cost. HealthView took costs based on the latest projections from the most popular supplemental plan, Plan F. It found, for example, a gap of 49% between premiums for the insurance in Hawaii and Massachusetts. The tally in Massachusetts for a 55-year-old retiring at 65 and living to 89 is $116,790. In Hawaii, it's $173,583.  • With lowered thresholds for Medicare means testing, starting in 2018, wealthier retirees will face increased surcharges on Parts B and D based on their modified adjusted gross income (yes, the acronym is MAGI). "Since the levels are not currently indexed to inflation," the report says, "as salaries grow over time many middle-class retirees may eventually fall into upper MAGI brackets and face even higher surcharges."       Well, it's upward mobility, anyway.

Latest News

The 2025 InvestmentNews Awards Excellence Awardees revealed
The 2025 InvestmentNews Awards Excellence Awardees revealed

From outstanding individuals to innovative organizations, find out who made the final shortlist for top honors at the IN awards, now in its second year.

Top RIA Cresset warns of 'inevitable' recession amid tariff uncertainty
Top RIA Cresset warns of 'inevitable' recession amid tariff uncertainty

Cresset's Susie Cranston is expecting an economic recession, but says her $65 billion RIA sees "great opportunity" to keep investing in a down market.

Edward Jones joins the crowd to sell more alternative investments
Edward Jones joins the crowd to sell more alternative investments

“There’s a big pull to alternative investments right now because of volatility of the stock market,” Kevin Gannon, CEO of Robert A. Stanger & Co., said.

Record RIA M&A activity marks strong start to 2025
Record RIA M&A activity marks strong start to 2025

Sellers shift focus: It's not about succession anymore.

IB+ Data Hub offers strategic edge for U.S. wealth advisors and RIAs advising business clients
IB+ Data Hub offers strategic edge for U.S. wealth advisors and RIAs advising business clients

Platform being adopted by independent-minded advisors who see insurance as a core pillar of their business.

SPONSORED Compliance in real time: Technology's expanding role in RIA oversight

RIAs face rising regulatory pressure in 2025. Forward-looking firms are responding with embedded technology, not more paperwork.

SPONSORED Advisory firms confront crossroads amid historic wealth transfer

As inheritances are set to reshape client portfolios and next-gen heirs demand digital-first experiences, firms are retooling their wealth tech stacks and succession models in real time.