A report released on health expenses and retirement years revealed some sobering facts about the reality of life during our golden years.
The study said:
Men who are 55 years old today will need savings of $111,000 to $354,000 to retire in 2020 – and that’s just to cover health care expenses.
Women that age will need $147,000 to $406,000 in savings because they tend to live longer.
“Many workers are generally unprepared for both health care expenses in retirement and retirement expenses,” said Dallas Salisbury, chief executive of the research institute and co-author of the report.
“There are two periods in retirement – when you are healthy and when you are not,” Murphy said. “The later period sees very little travel expense but much greater medical expense.”
Many older Americans don’t have enough money for medical expenses during their retirement years because they are expending large amounts of money paying debts during their working lives. Many of these debts survive well beyond their working years, making their retirement years that much more difficult financially.
Below are some of the retirement benefits of filing bankruptcy, especially for those who are close to retirement age:
When a debtor files bankruptcy, their future income no longer goes to paying debts and can be invested into retirement accounts, or used to pay off a mortgage so that they are mortgage free after their working years have ended.
Debtors who have filed for bankruptcy are often able to take advantage of their discharge by investing more money into their retirement savings than someone who chose to avoid bankruptcy. As with any saving program the accumulated interest overtime increases the earlier they start saving.
Debtors who have filed for bankruptcy are protected from lawsuits brought by old creditors once they near or enter into their retirement years. A bankruptcy discharge means that their future income is safe from seizure.