Don’t Forget to Budget for Health Care
“The biggest expense category that is often ignored in retirement planning is healthcare,” said Epperson. “A recent Fidelity report found that a 65-year-old couple retiring in 2018 will spend about $280,000 on average on out-of-pocket health care expenses and premiums throughout their retirement. This assumes they are both on Medicare. This is just an average amount, and could be higher or lower depending on how healthy you are and how long you live.
“You can plan ahead for these expenses by making sure that you will be adequately insured for healthcare, long-term care and disability expenses if needed in retirement,” she said. “You can also start to stash money away now specifically for health care expenses by putting away money tax-free into a Health Savings Account as long as you also have a high-deductible health insurance policy.”