Healthcare

How to Avoid Retirement Woes

It’s no secret healthcare costs are going up. Medical expenses have been steadily increasing for years. In 2007, costs were up almost 12 percent. However, the rate of increase slowed to 6 percent during the past five years and that trend is expected to continue for the foreseeable future, according to a June 2018 report from PwC.

It’s certainly no secret that healthcare costs have escalated in recent years, and there’s no reason to believe that the end is in sight.  But whether you have a comprehensive health insurance policy or have purchased a catastrophic policy, there are ways to save on healthcare costs.

Here are just a few:

The average American spends more than $10,000 per person annually on healthcare expenses, including premiums, deductibles and coinsurance amounts.  For a large family, that amount can quickly become unsustainable. In the past, it was common for employers to absorb the majority of these costs, leaving the employee responsible for only a small portion.

Health insurance used to be a fairly simple process. But today, whether obtaining health insurance privately or through an employer, we’re being offered a variety of insurance plans with varying benefit levels, making the choice more difficult.

There is a simple and unsettling reality in the United States. Most Americans are not financially prepared for retirement.

More than one-half of working Americans know little or nothing about Medicare costs.¹ Not knowing can be expensive.