A Growing Urgency: Boomers Unprepared For the Realities of Retirement

Mar 29, 2019 / Amanda Chase, Horsesmouth Assistant Editor

For the first time in a Bankers Life Center for a Secure Retirement study, more middle-income boomers now consider themselves retired than not retired. And as 10,000 Americans continue to turn 65 each day, retirement care—whether at home or in a facility, due to injury, chronic illness or decline in physical or cognitive function—is becoming an increasingly urgent issue which boomers need to plan for and address.

In this study, “A Growing Urgency: Retirement Care Realities for Middle-Income Boomers,” the Bankers Life Center for a Secure Retirement seeks to understand how prepared middle-income boomers are for the possibility of needing care in their retirement—their changing expectations, insufficient preparation activity and dangerous misconceptions. Here are some key findings:

  • 81% of middle-income boomers have made at least one formal preparation for when they pass away, while only 32% have a plan for how they will receive care in retirement, should they need it.
  • 18% report that planning for retirement care is a high priority for them.
  • 74% are somewhat or very confident in their ability to manage their and their spouse’s healthcare costs as they age.
  • 30% have less than $1,000 saved in financial emergency funds. 79% have no money set aside specifically for their long-term care needs.
  • 40% cannot accurately guess the cost of a home health aide, and 35% of boomers can’t accurately guess the average monthly cost of a nursing home.
  • 56% of middle-income boomers mistakenly believe that Medicare will pay for their ongoing long-term care.

You can find out more about the study and the Center for a Secure Retirement here.

 

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