Budgeting for 2014? Use the AARP Health Care Costs Calculator

Hi blog readers!  It's Heather Heppner with the AARP Illinois Communications Team back with your Tuesday health care post.  With the new year upon us, many of you may be planning your 2014 budget - or maybe 2014 is the year you plan to retire.  Either way, a new resource from AARP - the Health Care Costs Calculator - may help!

Did you know that out-of-pocket health care costs often reach more than $200,000 for a retired couple?  Preparing for retirement often involves reviewing normal household expenses (e.g. mortgage, car payment, utilities, food) and determining whether or not your projected retirement income will cover those expenses.  But how many of us ever consider health care costs when we're planning for retirement?  According to AARP, only one-third of Americans close to retirement age have taken steps to save for this major expense.

In order to help individuals better prepare for health care costs in retirement, AARP launched a free online Health Care Costs Calculator, a major addition to our  Ready for Retirement suite of planning tools.  The new calculator estimates health care costs in retirement by utilizing a database that includes $136 billion in costs from actual health care claims.  Individuals can select from 82 medical conditions to estimate how much they may need to spend on out-of-pocket health care costs.  The calculator also assumes that individuals will be eligible for and select Medicare Parts A, B and D.

After estimating costs with the calculator, users can create a customized action plan to help save for health care in retirement.   The Health Care Costs Calculator requires no registration and collects no personal data on any user.

Happy New Year!  And until next week....be healthy!

~Heather