Today’s retirees have to wait longer to get their Social Security benefits when compared with past generations, but new research shows that the baby boomer generation is doing so in poorer health than their parents. Poor health on entering retirement might increase a person’s chances for a long-term care event or a series of chronic health conditions that can be both problematic and expensive.
The study found that those people born later, who therefore have to wait a longer period before tapping in to their full Social Security benefits, had higher rates of cognition problems like thinking challenges or memory issues, in their 50s when compared with other generations at the same age.
Furthermore, more of the study respondents were likely to categorize their own health as only fair or poor. The groups born later also had higher rates of people who reported at least on limitation on their own ability to perform basic tasks of daily living, like getting out of bed, taking medications properly, or doing the grocery shopping.
Some policy experts today believe that those who pushed the full Social Security benefit age higher did so because life expectancy numbers were increasing. Accordingly, those who supported the policy assumed that an increase in longevity would be followed by an increase in better health as people achieved those older ages. However, this research shows that such a connection may not be true, putting older people’s finances in jeopardy as they get closer to those crucial government benefits.
Without a safety net, one incident could lead to the decimation of their retirement savings. Talking about how your retirement planning and estate planning work together is important- if you’d like to schedule a meeting with a lawyer in Pasadena to learn more about how these long-term plans work together, schedule a consultation today.
