Here are some alarming numbers that should help put saving for retirement at the forefront of your employees’ minds.
A 65-year-old couple that retires this year will need $240,000 to cover just their medical expenses during retirement, according to Fidelity Investments’ most recent retiree healthcare costs estimate.
What’s worse, those numbers are only likely to increase significantly.
Case in point: This year’s estimate is 4% higher than the $230,000 Fidelity projected retirees would spend on their health care in last year’s projection.
Plus, the numbers become even bleaker when you factor in the long-term increases in healthcare spending. Fidelity’s projections have increased by an average of 6% annually since it began the estimates in 2002.
It’s worth noting that the Fidelity estimates apply to retirees with traditional Medicare coverage (without any retiree medical coverage) and don’t include any costs associated with nursing-home care.