Health is wealth: Health Care costs a major challenge for the retirees

Financial planning, especially when it is for retirement is said to be a life-long process. The catch is even if you've amassed a considered amount of nest egg for your golden days to live on your own terms, yet there's no certainty that you'd able to do the same. A lot of factors would come into play when you set out to live your retirement days king size. However, these factors do follow a proper hierarchy when influencing your retirement plans.

Health - The penultimate wildcard for a brighter tomorrow?

Speaking about retirement doesn't make sense, unless you take into account the costs of healthcare that are to follow after you've hung up your boots. So, you see health equals wealth in multiple ways as far as a financially-stable retirement is concerned.

A recent study conducted by the Bank of America, Merril Lynch and Age Wave showed that around 81 percent of retirees have gone on record to register healthcare issues during retirement as the most major concern in order to enjoy a hassle-free and an economically independent retirement. For them, having a sound health throughout is the key to a happy retirement life. Interestingly, economic independence came a distant second at about 58 percent for the retirees when asked about their retirement goals and objectives.

Coming in third is the presence of their close relatives and friends at 36 percent, followed by leading a purposeful retirement at 20 percent, while the remaining 5 percent cited entrepreneurial adventures seeking to explore the unexplored during their golden days. According to the retirement and financial planning experts, this demographic trend would continue to play a leading role in shaping the lives of the fast burgeoning baby boomers and of course the local economy.

Andy Sieg, head of Global Wealth and Retirement Solutions, Bank of America Merril Lynch has said that for the upcoming batch of baby boomers across the country, health will be the most crucial factor to play in their retirement.

A lot of baby boomers' retirement life hinges on the fact that health issues may draw a clear distinction between that of a financially-independent and rewarding retirement to that of a worrisome and financially-challenging one. The study conducted by these organizations makes no bone of the truth that health should be considered a major factor when planning to create wealth for later life.

Unfortunately, many people are not considering health matters in their retirement plans. Merrill Lynch finds that nearly eight out of ten respondents with financial advisors have not discussed how health matters will impact retirement. Let's take a look at three reasons why health is the main ingredient for a happy retirement.

Sadly, many people omit healthcare costs when sketching out their retirement plans. To this ignorance, Merril Lynch adds that almost eight out of ten participants have worked with their financial advisors but they chose not to discuss about the impact of heath on their otherwise financially-fragile retirement life. So, what are the reasons that make health one of the most formidable factors to lead a comfortable retired life?

Health care costs a major factor for retirement – The justification

Health becomes the source of wealth, again. Though we argue money can't be used to define everything in life, but yes, it does help, always. If you invest in your health, then you'd surely reap the dividends after retirement. Your personal healthcare costs could rise sharply when you grow old and the situation could worsen as you age.

For instance, if you retire at age 65, then your expected costs for healthcare could be as much as $50,900 in just ten years time. And if your retirement extends beyond twenty or thirty years, then the same cost could run up to about $146,400 and $318,800, respectively. Basically, you need to start saving for your retirement as early as you can. The earlier you start planning and acting on your retirement, the better off you'll be, money-wise.

This will help you to offset the rising costs associated with the rise in life expectancy. Financial experts cite that baby boomers need to increase their investment in their health and develop healthy behaviors and make smart lifestyle choices.

Complementing the effort of the baby boomers, it is important for the governments, both at the state and federal level, to ensure that the health care system are prepared to meet the rising demand of the aging generation with all the necessary skills, services, knowledge and science.

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