Retired couple seen with $200,000 health need [View All]

[deadparrot]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An American couple that retires at age 65 will, on average, need $200,000 in retirement to cover out-of-pocket medical costs, Fidelity Investments, the No. 1 mutual fund firm, said on Monday.

That amount, considered the biggest single expense for most people in retirement, increased 5.3 percent from $190,000 last year, said Brad Kimler, a senior vice president of Fidelity Employer Services Co., a company division.

The increase mostly resulted from the rising cost of health care and has gone up an average 5.8 percent a year since Fidelity began releasing the estimate in 2002, the company said.

The number is important as Fidelity has found that most people don't take into account health care when planning for their retirement, and because the number of companies offering health benefits to retirees is declining, Kimler said.

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