Living Longer May Exacerbate Medical & Elder Care Costs in Retirement

Living to Age 100 Could Be the Norm

But, The Guinness Book of World Records documented French citizen Jeanne Calment living 122 years 164 days—that is a fact. Many have asked what did she eat? What did she drink? What was her lifestyle? But my curiosity asks, what were her medical and elder care bills? Five American women have lived at least to age 116. At the end of the twentieth century, Sarah Knause, died December 30, 1999, at age 119 years, 97 days—two days short of being a tri-centurion. Just this year, super centenarian teenager Susannah Jones died as a tri- centurion, born 1899 and dying just this last May in 2016.

Ida Mae Fuller was the first recipient of the Social Security program and she paid a total of $24.75 into the system, she lived to age 100 and received $22,888.92. Are these women just anomalies, the outliers of the Bell Curve or are they new trendsetters? Again, this all sounds utterly fantastic, but what did they pay for their medical and elder care costs?

Fidelity Investments estimates a couple retiring at age 65 will spend $220,000 on medical expenses during their retirement^. One federal government study found the average length of time since admission for all current nursing home residents was 835 days. Depending upon what state you retire in, that price tag could reach $77,380 annually for a semi-private room to $87,600 for a private room. An assisted living facility is around $42,000. Even so; assisted living could rise to $100,000 ten years from now. But these costs may be conservative in light of the greatest mortality revolution in modern times. The average woman in America lives 88.8 years. That means that half of all women will live longer. Weatherman, Willard Scott, routinely celebrated Americans turning age 100. Could you be one of them? Over 70% of seniors today use some form of eldercare. Could you be one of them? For more information on how you can protect yourself later in the retirement, just email me… steve@onthemoneynews.com http://www.onthemoneynews.com/living-longer-may-exacerbate-medical-elder-care-costs-in-retirement-on-the-money-news/