The theme this week on the Retirement Quick Tips Podcast is: Top Challenges Retirees Face In 2023

Benjamin Franklin once said: “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes" In 2023, over 200 years after he penned that quote in a letter, I think I might add one more to the list: increasing health care costs. 

Since the 1980s, health care costs have significantly outpaced the overall inflation rate, and a long term average cost increase of 5.21% per year. 

Health insurance costs are expected to jump 7.4% in 2023 as employers and consumers absorb bills from doctors, hospitals and drug companies,  according to the Segal Health Plan Cost Trend Survey. 

Retirees, on average, can expect to pay about $1000 a month for health care related costs in retirement, and that’s even after taking Medicare coverage into account! 

That’s a big part of many retiree’s monthly costs and one that is often underestimated and not planned for when trying to understand and anticipate your expenses in retirement. 

The lesson here is two-fold: 1 is to expect that health care costs will continue to rise, since there is no solution for bringing them down on the horizon, and to budget your health care costs accurately. 

If you’re planning to retire before becoming eligible for Medicare at the age of 65, it’s even more important that you do your homework, understand what your costs will be, and ensure that you can actually afford to pay for those costs…before you make the leap into retirement.

That’s it for today. Thanks for listening! My name is Ashley Micciche and this is the Retirement Quick Tips podcast.  

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Tags: retirement, investing, money, finance, financial planning, retirement planning, saving money, personal finance