Addressing health risk

Jackson study reveals critical gaps in retirement healthcare planning

Jackson’s latest research¹ reveals many investors are underprepared for healthcare costs over the course of today’s longer retirements, raising their healthcare risk — the potential for unanticipated medical expenses or long-term care costs to drain their savings.

The research is the third installment in Jackson’s award-winning² Security in Retirement Series, conducted with the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. It reveals critical risks for retirees amid rising healthcare costs and underscores the need for proactive planning for a secure retirement.

Key findings include:

• Nearly two-thirds of pre-retired investors underestimate their healthcare expenses in retirement.
• While 70% of Americans reaching 65 each year will likely need long-term care,³ only about a quarter of investors surveyed believe they will require it. The result is a 43% point gap between perception and reality.
• Two in five financial professionals polled are concerned their clients will be unable to afford acceptable long-term care and over half cite this as a major risk.
• More than 60% of investors plan to or are considering spending down their assets to qualify for Medicaid for long-term care, possibly without full understanding the impacts on their finances and the caliber of care they receive.

Encouragingly, investors collaborating with a financial expert are far less concerned about covering the cost of long-term care and large medical expenses or about financing healthcare in general.

These and other research findings confirm the benefits of working with a financial professional to navigate the evolving retirement landscape and manage healthcare risk and other potential threats to financial security.