health

By Maura C. Schauss, CFP® and Todd I. Youngdahl, CFP®

When it comes to retirement, there seems to be a never-ending checklist of tasks to complete in order to prepare yourself for this major milestone. You need to save enough to maintain your lifestyle, create a withdrawal strategy, work to minimize your taxes, and claim your Social Security benefits. But there’s one other critical piece of retirement planning to prepare for: signing up for Medicare. And with healthcare being one of the top five expenses in retirement,^[1] your Medicare choices are some of the most important decisions you will make.

By Maura Schauss, CFP®

Did you know that the average medical bill for a heart attack is $20,246?^[1] With a number this staggering, it’s no wonder people are more afraid of healthcare costs than sickness.^[2] 

Thankfully, there are many ways to plan for rising healthcare costs—the most popular option being a Health Savings Account (HSA). An HSA is a type of savings account that lets you set aside money on a pre-tax basis to pay for qualified medical expenses.^[3] It’s used in conjunction with a high-deductible health insurance plan.

In 2003, the government established Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) as a way for people covered under high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) to get special tax treatment towards saving money for medical expenses not paid for by their insurance. With an HSA, payers were able to receive a tax benefit for saving money to cover their deductible.