REWahoo
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give
Damned if you do, damned if you don't...
Note this study was financed by Prudential Financial, no doubt with the intent to sell LTC policies....While it's true that the annual health-care costs of healthy retirees are lower than those in poor health -- $6,500 versus $8,000 for those ages 65 to 69 -- the healthy face higher lifetime health-care costs, according to a report this week from Boston College's Center of Retirement Research.
Over a lifetime, healthy retirees may pay as much as $105,000 more than those in poor health...
"First, those in good health can expect to live significantly longer," the report said. "At age 80, people in healthy households have a remaining life expectancy that is 29% longer than people in unhealthy households, and, therefore, are at risk of incurring health care costs over more years."
Second, the report said that many of those currently free of any chronic disease will succumb to one or more such diseases. In running a simulation, Boston College found that individuals who are free of any chronic diseases at age 80 can expect to spend one-third of their remaining life suffering from one or more such diseases.
Third, the report said people in healthy households face a higher lifetime risk of requiring nursing-home care than those who are unhealthy. That reflects their greater risk of surviving to advanced old age, when the need for such care is highest.
Staying healthy may cost you in retirement