Medora Lee writes for USA Today on escalating health care costs in retirement and how much you should be saving. Understandably, what you should be saving is often out of sync with what you are able to save. One recent study found that only four in ten Americans have retirement savings.
The Employee Benefits Research Institute or EBRI estimates that $351,000 is the average of what a couple will need to pay for health care costs in retirement, if you account for Medicare premiums, deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs as well as prescription drug costs. And, couples might need as much as $413,000 if they have high prescription drug expenses.
Single men will need on average $184,000 in savings for health care and single women will need $217,000.
These figures do not include expenses for dental, vision or hearing care or care in a nursing home or assisted living facility, which Medicare does not pay for. These expenses can easily total more than $50,000 a year. Not surprisingly, the cost of health care has more than doubled in the last 23 years.
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