A Healthy Way to Save for Retirement

The white paper strives to serve as a blueprint for a preemptive strike in which employees, at the urging of their employers, shift their focus from saving for retirement expenses and devote energy to being as healthy as possible in order to minimize the health costs that they may have to pay in retirement.

The research shows that a moderately healthy retired couple will require around $250,000 to pay for unreimbursed health care expenses during an average retirement. Disturbingly, the average balance for retirement is slightly higher than $25,000.

“Employers understand an effective wellness plan may help reduce health care costs, but plans may also boost the success of their retirement plan as well. We propose employers make wellness part of their workplace culture and provide a healthier work environment that enables employees to potentially spend less on health care,” said Lee Dukes, president of Principal Wellness Company, a subsidiary of the Principal Financial Group.