Even affluent baby boomers are ‘terrified’ about health-care costs in retirement, according to the Nationwide Retirement Institute survey released Wednesday.
Sixty-two percent of those surveyed say they are terrified of out-of-control health care costs and 72 percent say health-care costs are their top concern for their retirement years, the survey shows.
The survey included 801 people over age 50 who have at least $150,000 in household income.
The solution, according to 26 percent, is to keep working in retirement, according to the survey, but only 3 percent actually manage to do that, says John Carter, president of Nationwide’s retirement plan business.
An area of concern revealed by the survey is that 64 percent of boomers feel the Affordable Care Act will be a drain on the U.S. economy and a detriment to their employers. In addition, 61 percent say they wish they understood Medicare better.
Despite these concerns, a vast majority (77 percent) of affluent boomers have not discussed their health-care costs during retirement with a financial advisor.
“This is a great opportunity for advisors to help clients plan for retirement,” Carter says. Planning for health-care costs “can deepen the relationship an advisor has with a client.”