Three best ways to go broke in retirement
by Robert Laura, Forbes.com
June 28, 2017
“Nobody heads into retirement with aspirations of filing bankruptcy, becoming dependent on family and friends, or asking ‘why me.’ Unfortunately, some people end up in the poor house for a number of reasons.
One of the fastest ways to go broke in retirement is from medical bills. I learned this several years ago when I was an approved bankruptcy counselor. Basically, there was a requirement in my home state that anyone filing bankruptcy had to take a financial management course.
I set up my program with the expectation of being a light for young people who had made some bad financial decisions. However, I was horrified when my primary audience turned out to be retirees who couldn’t afford their medical bills. They were not only in bad physical shape, but no amount of financial counseling and budgeting would have or could have changed what happened to them.
In fact, A 2015 Harvard University study showed that medical expenses account for approximately 62% of personal bankruptcies in the US. To make matters worse, studies indicate that seniors are the fastest growing demographic in bankruptcy filings and a whopping 72% of those who filed due to medical expenses had some type of health insurance.
That makes it more important than ever for people approaching retirement to avoid putting off or delaying their plans to start eating better, establishing that exercise routine, and dropping a bad habit.”