07 Dec Younger workers fear rising health care costs

By Donald Jay Korn
Source: eba.benefitnews.com

Workers in Generations X, Y and beyond may be decades from retirement but they already have multiple concerns about their future finances.

In a Harris Interactive online survey for T. Rowe Price, more than half of respondents listed seven different retirement worries:

1. Health care costs (76%).

2. Rising taxes (67%).

3. Viability of Social Security (63%).

4. Inflation (61%).

5. Long-term care (58%).

6. Outliving their savings (52%).

7. Housing values (52%).

“Investors are concerned about rising health care costs, and they should be,” says Stuart Ritter, senior financial planner with T. Rowe Price. “According to the Employee Benefits Research Institute, health care costs are the second-biggest expense for those aged 65 and older, behind housing, and it’s the only spending category that steadily increases with age.”

To raise the necessary cash, working longer may or may not be an option, but saving and investing more is often indicated. “One of the perennial lessons younger investors can learn from current retirees is to save at least 15% of their earnings and begin as early as possible,” Ritter stated. “The ones who do are the ones more likely to enjoy the retirement flexibility and lifestyle that financial independence can provide.”

Donald Jay Korn writes for Financial Planning, a SourceMedia publication.