How to plan for health-care costs during retirement
American's may be making a very costly mistake when planning for retirement.
Financial expert and author of ‘Everyday Millionaires’ Chris Hogan said Americans don't realize that they need money for their own health care during retirement.
“Retirement is one of these things that I’m trying to get people to wake up and actually acknowledge that the government is just not going to save the day,” he told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday. “People believe that Medicare is just going to step in and cover all those costs but people don’t understand the out-of-cost expenses of doctors’ visits and even long-term care are things that Medicare won’t cover.”
A new study by T-Rowe Price found that nearly 70% of retirees are most worried about the cost of health care as they head into retirement, despite 71% of recent retirees saying they have enough to pay for health care.
But Hogan believes that starting to save, utilizing retirement and health savings accounts, including 401(k) and 403(b) plans, can help to ease these concerns.
"The more money we have put away," he said, "the better we prepared we can be for the future."
Hogan also said talking to an insurance professional can "walk you through the nuances" of Medicare coverage and costs.
"There are a lot of terms that can scare you," he said. "But I want you to be informed."
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Hogan said there are also things we can do to help ourselves.
"With prescription drugs," he said, "Finding out the generic brand versus the name brand can save us hundreds of thousands of dollars over the span of our retirement.”