Retirees most concerned about healthcare costs: Center for Secure Retirement

Health care expenses, inflation and outliving their money are the top three financial concerns that the majority (78 percent) of America's middle-income Baby Boomers have about retirement, according to a recent study released by the Bankers Life and Casualty Company Center for a Secure Retirement(SM) (CSR). The CSR's Middle-Income Boomers, Financial Security and the New Retirement study of 500 middle-income Americans between ages 47 and 65 with income between $25,000 and $75,000, found that nearly all (95 percent) of the survey participants have financial concerns about retirement, particularly around healthcare (80 percent), and are taking drastic measures to cut costs. The report cites two in three (64 percent) have taken action to reduce their healthcare expenses, including holding off going to the doctor (55 percent), postponing an elective surgery (26 percent) or changing to a less expensive healthcare plan (25 percent). Bankers Life and Casualty Company president Scott Perry says "The results of this study aren't necessarily intuitive when you consider results from a decade ago. There has been a huge shift in retirement perception."