A digest of timely information and insight about finance, investing, and retirement.

The challenge of financing health care in retirement |Kiplinger

Many people ignore the impact health care costs will have on their nest eggs as they age. In fact, only 12 percent of working Americans have taken any steps toward addressing medical expenses in retirement, according to a study cited in HealthView Services’ 2016 Retirement Health Care Costs Data Report. Most people have no idea what the burden will be when they’re left to foot health insurance premiums on their own, perhaps because they chose to retire early or because they were victims of downsizing. And the result is some serious sticker shock.

As enrollment season heats up, workers facing higher health spending | Kaiser Health News

Open enrollment season is under way, and when workers get their health-plan information, many of them can expect higher out-of-pocket costs. As employers cope with rising health costs, some are shifting more of the burden onto their workers, often in the form health insurance plans that carry high deductibles. To help rein in expenses, businesses also will ask their employees to take part in cost-cutting drug programs and new services.

Health care costs may gobble up Social Security benefits | CNBC

Health care costs could drain your Social Security benefits in retirement, especially if you’re a woman.

The average woman could spend an estimated 70 percent of her retirement check on health care costs, according to a recent study by the Nationwide Retirement Institute. The average man fares better, but still uses nearly half of his benefits to cover medical expenses.

The future of retirement communities: Walkable and urban | The New York Times

Few people in America walk to work. Most of us drive to the supermarket. But more older people these days are looking for a community where they can enjoy a full life without a car.

In the age of Fitbit and a growing cohort of active, engaged retirees eager to take their daily 10,000 steps, retirement communities have been slow to change. Eighty percent of retirees still live in car-dependent suburbs and rural areas, according to a Brookings Institution study. Enter a new paradigm: the walkable, urban space. Get out and walk to basic services.

For your retirement planning, count on living until age 95 | USA Today

If you knew your date of death, retirement planning would be a breeze. Unfortunately – or maybe fortunately? – you don’t. And that can make planning for retirement extremely difficult. If you’re like most people, you’re guessing, and guessing quite wrong. Financial advisers are starting to change assumptions about how long clients will live to make sure they don’t outlive their savings, according to a survey by Investment News. Advisers are basing retirement income plans on an average life span of 91 for men and 104 for women.

Drug price hikes may be hitting hospitals harder than consumers | Modern Healthcare

Skyrocketing drug prices have hit hospitals even harder than consumers, according to a recent study from America’s biggest hospital lobbies. Payer reimbursement can’t keep up and nearly all hospitals surveyed said it affected their ability to manage overall healthcare costs, according to the study sponsored by the American Hospital Association, the nation’s biggest hospital lobby, and the Federation of American Hospitals, which represents investor-owned hospitals. The study’s authors determined that, for most drugs, spikes in cost drove spending increases, rather than more people using drugs.