Health Insurance Before Medicare

During lunch with a friend the other day he talked about not being able to retire as early as he’d like because of the cost of health insurance for him and his family until he and his wife are eligible for Medicare. This is a topic that has been on my list to write about since I started my blog but talking to him brought it back to the top of the list.

Health insurance is one of the biggest obstacles to early retirement for many people, especially if they have children still under their policies at target retirement age. Even if the (potential) retiree and spouse are eligible for Medicare, if there are adult children still covered by them, the cost of that insurance could negate the ability to retire. The extreme cost of health insurance and healthcare are more reasons to start planning early, connect with a financial advisor, and do your research to get an idea of what those costs could be at the time you want to retire through when you are eligible for Medicare.

I am lucky and blessed to be able to purchase health insurance through my former employer, a rare benefit that I do not take for granted. That being said, I started looking into the cost of that insurance early in my retirement planning and used a very conservative (read high) cost for that bridge period between retirement and Medicare. For my wife and I that bridge period is almost 10 years. Our financial advisor then worked those costs into our plan. It turned out that thanks to a lot of research, my estimates were pretty close, just a bit higher than the actual costs, so the plan we set up was solid. I can’t stress enough how important it is to do the research on healthcare costs in retirement as early as possible so you can build those costs into your long-term planning.

Notice the research I suggest is on healthcare costs, not just insurance. If you or your spouse or children have any medical conditions, or there are anticipated issues like joint replacement, etc. be sure to get a handle on potential costs not covered by your insurance. Knowledge is power, and in this case, building that knowledge into your retirement plan could be the difference between early and deferred retirement. And as we hear more about potential future cuts to Medicare and Social Security, we need to be prepared to potentially pay more and receive less in retirement.

While health insurance and potential healthcare costs are big hurdles to jump in order to retire – let alone retire early – having a handle on what to expect will help you to feel confident about your plan. Taking the time to do the research and working with a good financial planner as early in your career as possible (and it’s never too late to start!) will pave the way for retirement with peace of mind, no matter at what age.