What Happens When I Retire?

Health insurance considerations weigh heavily on the
minds of people wanting to retire before Medicare
coverage kicks in at age 65. Many people put off
retirement simply because the cost of an individual
health insurance policy is too great on a limited
income.

What options for health insurance do you have if you
choose to retire before age 65? Although they are not
required to, you may be able to get COBRA-like
coverage from your employer.

As an added retirement benefit, your employer may
allow you to pick up the premium on your policy;
although paying 100% of your premium may initially
appear to be an expensive option, purchasing an
individual policy apart from a group may be even more
costly and not provide you with the level of coverage
you previously had.

Some companies are offering basic high-deductible
insurance reasonably in the hopes that they will be
able to enroll you in Medicare Part C (supplemental
insurance) when you retire.

Another option is to budget and save money to cover
your anticipated medical costs for the time period
between retirement and age 65. If you are in very good
health, this may be a viable alternative for you.

Pre-planning for retirement is an important issue; the
earlier you start planning, the better. Realizing the
Medicare does not pay all of your medical expenses,
you should budget money for medical expenses even
after retirement.