Around 60 percent of those surveyed described themselves as “terrified” of what health care costs could potentially do to their retirement plans. But one thing they did not do was turn to their financial advisors for help with this issue. In fact, a solid majority – 59 percent – of the respondents said that most financial advisors are “not equipped” to discuss retirement health care costs with their clients.
Retirement is an important part of estate planning. The trick is knowing how much you’ll need to save. This is no easy task, especially with so many uncertainties in the later years.
As reported in a recent article titled “Overcoming retirement fears” in LifeHealthPro, Legg Mason surveyed 500 affluent investors (those with at least $200,000 in investable assets) and found that 88% were confident that their money would fund their retirement comfortably. Nonetheless, they still had some doubts about retirement. According to the survey, the concerns included:
- Having a catastrophic event that uses up my retirement funds;
- Living longer than my retirement funds last;
- Government not following up on obligations;
- Not saving enough for my retirement; and
- Low interest rate environment.
The biggest concern appears to be a devastating illness, which would be the type of “catastrophic event” as mentioned above. Another survey of high-net-worth individuals (defined as those with at least $250,000 in household assets), conducted annually by Nationwide Financial, revealed that roughly 60% of those surveyed described themselves as “terrified” of how future health care costs could potentially impact their retirement plans.
Don’t be terrified. Speak with an estate planning attorney and get some peace of mind about the future.
Reference: LifeHealthPro (June 5, 2014) “Overcoming retirement fears”
