If you become disabled, you may face huge bills for daily help. And, no, Medicare doesn’t cover it.
When you try to gauge the biggest risks to your financial security in retirement, health care costs usually top the list. But there’s even bigger danger that doesn’t get as much attention: long-term care costs.
By whatever measure you use, many Americans aren’t saving enough for retirement. In its latest annual retirement readiness study, the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that some 57% to 59% of Baby Boomer and Gen X households are on track to retire comfortably. But if you factor in long-term care costs, the percentage of households running short of money in retirement soars by 100% or more after 20 years for those in middle-class or upper-income quartiles, according to new study by EBRI. The analysis assumes that Baby Boomer and Gen X households will retire at 65 and spend average amounts for food, housing and other living expenses, in addition to long-term care costs.