Baby boomers worry about finances, medical expenses

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

The “golden years” may lose some luster for many baby boomers worried about the financial pressures that come with age

Many of the nation’s 77 million boomers are worried about being able to pay their medical bills as they get older, a new poll finds. The concern is so deep that it outpaces worries about facing a major illness or disease, dying, or losing the ability to do favorite activities.

Another major concern among the boomers: losing their financial independence.

The struggling economy, a longer life expectancy, ever-increasing health-0care costs and challenges facing Social Security are putting added pressure on the boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964.

According to the Associated Press-LifeGoesStrong.com poll, 43 percent of boomers polled said they were “very” or “extremely” worried about being able to pay for their medical costs, including long-term care. Almost the same number, 41 percent, said losing their financial independence was a big concern.

“I always say I am going to work until I’m in the ground,” said Ellie Krall of Manalapan, N.J., one of the boomers polled. “I don’t see myself being able to fully retire like people were able to do years ago.”

Krall, 50, manager of an orthopedic office and mother of an 18-year-old son in college, said she’s worried about paying for health-care costs down the road and isn’t banking on Social Security.

The oldest boomers are turning 65 this year, but it’s the younger ones such as Krall who might be feeling more apprehension.

“Boomers are not all created equal,” says Olivia Mitchell, professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and executive director of the Pension Research Council.

Many older boomers still have a defined-benefit pension plan, probably some decent retiree medical insurance and Social Security, said Mitchell, a boomer herself who has studied pensions and retirement extensively.

“The youngest boomers — the people who were born in the ’60s — face more uncertainty about their pensions, their Social Security, their housing and their medical care,” Mitchell said.

Her advice: “Push your retirement back two or three or five years if you can. As long as you are still working then you’re not drawing down on your nest egg,” Mitchell said in an AP interview. “What most people don’t realize is how expensive it is to live in retirement.”

Many people in their late 60s, and some into their 70s, are still working. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 29.1 percent of people age 65 to 69 worked at least part time last year. And almost 7 percent of people age 75 or older were employed in 2010.

One significant cost facing new retirees is health care. A study by Fidelity Investments estimated that a 65-year-old couple retiring this year with Medicare coverage would need $230,000, on average, to cover medical expenses in retirement. The estimate factors in the federal program’s premiums, co-payments and deductibles, as well as out-of- pocket prescription costs.

The projection does not factor in long-term care, such as the cost of living in a nursing home — something most boomers in the Associated Press-LifeGoesStrong.com poll haven’t planned for yet.