The Basics of Health Insurance in Retirement, Ep #56

<p>As you’re nearing retirement—or thinking about retiring early—you must think about your options for health insurance. If you’re retiring early, you have three options for healthcare. If you’re planning on waiting until age 65 to retire, you’ll qualify for Medicare. I cover the basics of all of these options in this episode of Retirement Made Easy!</p> <h2>You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...</h2> <ul> <li>[3:49] The surprising reason people wait to retire until 65</li> <li>[4:52] The three choices you have for healthcare to retire early</li> <li>[12:48] Learning the basics of Medicare</li> </ul> <h2>Why people wait to retire until 65</h2> <p>Why do so many people wait to retire until 65, when they could retire early? Because the cost of healthcare is <em>so high</em>. But if you retire at 65, you automatically qualify for Medicare. But some people still decide to retire at 63 ½. How do they do it? They jump on <a href= "https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/health-plans/cobra" target= "_blank" rel="noopener">COBRA</a> for 18 months to bridge the gap. If your spouse is on your health insurance and you retire, your spouse is entitled to 36 months of COBRA. There’s no denying that COBRA is very expensive, but it’s the same care that you’ve been used to. The only change is the price of the premium (because their employer is no longer covering part of it). </p> <h2>Two other health insurance options</h2> <p>There are two other options if you want to retire before 65: private health insurance or Obamacare. Private insurance would be a plan offered outside of the healthcare exchange through BCBS, for example. The premium will be very expensive for someone in their 60s. People are always surprised at the cost of the premium for good health insurance.<em> You’re likely looking at $800+ a month</em>. It’s like having another mortgage payment until Medicare kicks in. </p> <p>The second option is through the healthcare exchange, i.e. Obamacare through the Affordable Care Act. The problem is that what