Inflation and health care top retirees' concerns

Fuel to the fire for advisors looking to make a case for products including universal life is a new survey which suggests that more folks worry they will run out of money in retirement, mostly due to concerns about inflation and the rising cost of health care.

A survey by the Society of Actuaries found that people already retired were most worried about inflation and affording long-term care. Pre-retirees, meanwhile, ranked affordable health care as their top concern, followed by inflation and long-term care coverage. Overall, pre-retirees showed greater worries than those already in retirement, the study found.

Anna M. Rappaport, a consulting actuary based in Chicago and supervisor of the report, said that one theory for the difference in the levels of concern could be that “for the pre-retiree, retirement is still an unknown.”

Rappaport said she was surprised that people weren’t more worried.

“Now they’re not as concerned as we think they should be,” Rappaport said. Rappaport added that Americans appear to be underestimating the financial impact of the death of a spouse. About 60 percent of those responding to the survey felt there would be little impact when a spouse dies, but Rappaport said that surviving spouses often experience significant drops in income and benefit coverage, especially women.