Retirement planning involves identifying expenses, sources of income, and saving enough money to cover a certain percentage of your living expenses. However, there are a few expe꧒nses that might not be on your radar. Living expenses might be lower in retirement versus working year🐼s, while other expenses may stay the same.

However, some costs might be completely different in 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:retirement, and this article highlights the most significant, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:non-obvious retirement expenses for which you'll want to be prepared.

Health Insurance

Medicare is a government-prov꧙ided health insurance program that's a🍒vailable for people age 65 or older. There are various components of Medicare that each cover a group of expenses.

Medicare Part A

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Medicare Part A covers inpatient hospital stays and nursing care. Typically, most people won't pay a monthly premium for Part A if they paid into the program via taxes in their working years. However, there's an annual deductible for Part A, which is $1,632 in 2024.

The patient must pay medical costs each year up to the deductible amount, after which Medicare Part A covers the covered hospital and nursing expenses. Also, there are no 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:coinsurance costs, which are shared costs for medical expenses, for hospital stays of 60 days or less.

Medicare Part B

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Medicare Part B covers ⛎doctor's visits, tests, flu shots, physical therapy, and chemotherapy. The standard monthly premium for most people is $174.70 in 2024. The annual Part B deductible is $240 in 2024. After the deductible, you pay 20% for most care.

However, the monthly costs are higher if your 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:modified adjusted gross incom🐲e (MඣAGI) rises above $103,000 (if you’re filing single or separately) or $206,000 (if you’re married and filing jointly) in 2024.

Medicare Advantage Plan

Some people opt to buy a 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Medicare Advantage Plan (Medicare Part C) to get their Part A and Part B coverage from a private insurer instead of through Original Medicare. These plans may also cover services that Parts A and B do not, such as dental care, eye exams, and hearing aids. In this case, out-of-pocket costs vary by plan.

These 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:plans also may restrict which doctors or hospital members use and don't work well for snowbirds and others who live in more than one location during the year. The average monthly premium for Medicare Advantage plans is $18.50 in 2024.

Medicare Part D

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Medicare Part D is Medicare's prescription drug benefit program, which is an optional benefit administered by private insurance companies. Part D provides additional coverage for prescription drugs versus the coverage already provided by theﷺ broader Medicare program.

Part D participants are typically charged a monthly premium, co-pays, and an annual deductible. The average monthly premium for Medicare for Part D coverage is $55.50 in 2024. This is in addition to the Part B premium that everyone has to pay.

In 2024, the maximum deductible for Part D is $545, while the initial coverage limit is $5,030, which is the maximum amount of purchases for retail drugs that are covered before moving to the following coverage phase.

The coverage phase is called the coverage gap or "澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:donut hole," in which you'll usually pay no more than 25% of all prescription costs. However, everything that you pay counts towards your out-of-pocket threshold, which was $8,000 for 2024. Once you've spent $8,000, you'll qualify for the catastrophic phase of coverage.

Please note that if you don't file for Plan D in a timely fashion, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:you may be charged a penalty until you do file.

Estimated Costs in Retirement

You can expect Medicare to cover about two-thirds of the cost of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:healthcare services during ☂retir🎃ement. The Employee Benefit Research Institute estimates that couples could need as much as $413,000 in savings.

EBRI predicted that a man who is 65 in 2023 will need $184,000 and a woman will need $217,000 for a 90% chance of covering 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:healthcare costs through retirement. As of 2021 (latest information), according to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), given the average lifespan for men and women, retirement could last 17 years for a man and 19.7 years for a woman.

The EBRI assumes median prescription drug expenses. If a couple's drug expenses are high—in the 90th percentile—together, they might need $413,000.

Long-Term Care

Medicare Part A covers medically necessary skilled nursing care after a hospital stay. It also covers services such as occupational therapy, speech therapy, and physical therapy. However, it does not cover long-term care when all you need is help with 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:activities of daily living (ADL), which is the type of care many older people need, especially if they live alone.

What Your Long-Term Care Costs Might Include

• Premiums for 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:long-term care insurance
• Premiums for a whole life insurance policy with long-term care benefits
• Costs during the waiting period before your long-term care coverage kicks in
• Out-of-pocket costs for everything Medicare doesn’t cover if you don’t have long-term care insurance 

You can estimate the costs of different levels of long-term care in your area using . Genworth sells long-term care insurance and conducts an annual survey of long-term care providers to give consumers an idea of potential costs.

National Median Long-Term Care Costs

🐠According to Genworth, long-term care costs as o🦩f 2023 are as follows:

• Homemaker services—$5,720 monthly; $68,640 annually
• Home health aide—$6,292 monthly; $75,504 annually
• Adult day healthcare—$2,058 monthly; $24,696 annually
• 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Assisted living facility—$5,350 monthly; $64,200 annually
• Semi-private nursing home room—$8,669 monthly; $104,028 annually
• Private nursing home room—$9,733 monthly; $116,796 annually

A 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:health savings account (HSA) funded during your working years can help you cover out-of-pocket medical and long-term-care costs in retirement.

Home Renovations 

Elderly individuals who 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:prefer to stay at home rather than move to a retiremﷺent community may find that their home needs modifications to be safe and comfortable. Her🔯e are some considerations if you can find a way to fund them.

Home Improvements to Consider Making As You Age

• Exterior ramps and interior chair lifts to help you get up steps safely
• Walk-in tubs or showers with grip bars and nonslip flooring
• Wider halls and doorways that allow for wheelchair access
• Lower countertops and cabinets with pull-out shelves that will enable you to reach everything easily
• Security and medical alert systems

Costs will depend on where you live and how extensive the work is. It's not hard to imagine spending at least $10,000 on these upgrades, but that could be a bargain compared to the cost of moving.

If you're not planning to move, you may want to budget for these 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:aging-in-place renovations on top of the usual maintenance for roofing,🐼 plumbing, HVAC,🀅 kitchen appliances, painting, gardening, and cleaning.

澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Home improvements for health🌜 reasons, such as a wheelchair ramp or widening doorways, are also 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:tax-deductible as a medical expense. There are detailed rul✅es about how much you can deduct if a particular improvement also raises the value of your home, so check with a tax expert.

In addition, Medicare covers much of the cost of some durable medical equipment (DME), such as a hospital bed, a wheelchair or scooter, or a device to lift a patient.

On the more fun side, you might also want to set money aside to update your home's appearance since you may be spending more time at home than ever before.

Income Taxes

Any money you contributed to p🧔retax retirement accounts during your working years will be subject to income tax when you withdraw🍌 from those accounts during retirement.

Accou꧟nts Whose Withꦗdrawals Are Taxable in Retirement

• 401(k)
• 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Solo 401(k)
• 403(b)
• 457(b)
• 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Traditional IRA
• 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:SIMPLE IRA
• SEP IRA
• SARSEP

Accounts Whose Withdrawals Are ꦬNot Taxable in Retirement

• Roth IRA
• 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Health savings account (HSA)

Account🉐s Whose Withdrawals Could Be Taxable in Retir🥀ement

• Employer pensions

In addition, 50% to 85% of your 澳洲幸运5开ꦕ奖号码历史查询:Social Security benefits may b🃏e taxable if your income exceeds certain thresholds. A married couple filing jointly, for example, may owe income tax on up to 85% of their Social Security benefit if their income is more than $44,000.

New Vehicles

If you drive and plan to continue operating a vehicle until the day your ℱchildren or the Department of Motor Vehicles forbids it, the car you own when you retire will probably not get you through🎐 retirement. 

You might experience an accident and have your car declared a total loss—which can happen from a relatively minor collision on an older vehicle with a low value. Your vehicle might get too old and unreliable and need toꦐ be replaced.

Or you might need a more comfortable car than the one you have now. There's a reason you don't see a lot of 85-year-olds climbing into pickup trucks. Another reason to get a new car: You can buy one equipped with the latest safety sensor alerts, such as adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, and lane-departure warnings that help compensate for slower reaction times or limited mobility.

You might want to set aside enough cash to buy a car outright. If that's not an option, budget for a down payment and a monthly car payment. When you're retired, you may still be able to qualify for a car loan based on your retirement income.

Caregiving

At age 65, you may be lucky enough to still have one or more parents, aunts, uncles, or siblings in your life. As they get older, they may become unable to meet all of their physical or financial needs. And if that happens,൩ you may feel duty-bound to help.

If you can manage it, you may want to budget for a retirement that covers not just your own expenses but also provides for the possibility of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:assisting someone you love. Be aware, by the way, that if your loved one qualifies–and you are caring for them–you may be eligible for financial reimbu🍒rsement.

The Bottom Line

Growing older and having new sources of health insurance and income means facing circumstances you never have in the past. But you don't have to go into this new stage unprepared for the expenses that might come with it. Will you be able to afford all of them?

Maybe not. And if that's the case, you can start looking into resources that might be able to help: Medicaid for healthcare, safe transport services for the elderly who can't drive, local programs that can help with home renovations, and maybe even a reverse mortgage.

The idea is to have some idea of which costs you might confront one day so you won't be caught off guard or make decisions now that you might regret later.