Americans are behind on retirement savings and also having trouble paying for health care expenses — and among those 50 and older, workers saving for retirement fear that health care costs will threaten their ability to retire.
An Investopedia study finds that even affluent Americans' preparedness for retirement isn't exactly going swimmingly, with 52 percent of respondents feeling behind on their target savings and many expressing concerns that they will be unable to retire on time, according to their individual goals.
In addition, 60 percent of workers 50 years old and older, the survey finds, are worried that something may delay their retirement. Their top fear as to the cause of the delay? Health care costs.
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And a Kaiser Family Foundation study finds, logically enough, that the public's top priority for lawmakers is reducing what Americans pay for health care.
According to the Investopedia study, there's a direct correlation between a respondent's level of financial knowledge and their confidence in their retirement savings plan, with 58 percent of those who term themselves novices at investing also feeling that they're lagging on retirement savings. Those who claim to be experts, the study finds, are seven times more likely to be ahead of their goals.
And those are the affluent ones. The KFF study cites two recent Kaiser Health Tracking Polls on the public's current experience with and worries about health care costs, including their ability to afford premiums and deductibles.
"For the most part," the study reports, "the majority of the public does not have difficulty paying for care, but significant minorities do, and even more worry about their ability to afford care in the future."
Among those with health insurance, 43 percent have a tough time just paying the deductible, and approximately a third say that they have trouble affording their premiums and other cost sharing; all shares have increased since 2015.
In addition, 29 percent have problems paying medical bills, and for some those problems go beyond unpaid bills — with 73 percent having to cut back spending on food, clothing or basic household items.
More than a quarter — 27 percent — say they have put off needed health care, while 23 percent say they've skipped a recommended medical test or treatment and 21 percent say they have not filled a prescription for a medicine.
The study reports that while health care-related worries and problems paying for care are particularly prevalent among the uninsured, individuals with lower incomes, and those in poorer health, those most likely to have these problems are women and members of racial minority groups.
While the politicians in Washington are busy fighting about how to repeal the Affordable Care Act and what, if anything, to put in its place, a majority of Americans, regardless of party identification, believe lowering the amount individuals pay for health care should be a "top priority" for President Trump and Congress and in fact put it at the top of the list of health care priorities.
In addition, more than half of Americans say the same about lowering the cost of prescription drugs, including 67 percent of Democrats, 61 percent of independents and 55 percent of Republicans.
Now if only the politicians could achieve that kind of unity.
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