Retirees Need $360,000 to Cover Medical Costs Post Age 65 (per Couple)

This is from the Employee Benefit Research Institute:

The estimated savings that new Medicare beneficiaries will need to cover the costs of health care in retirement continues to drop as the growth of projected future health premiums slows, according to a new report by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).

EBRI found that retiree health care savings targets declined from 6 percent and 11 percent from 2012 estimates for a person or couple age 65. For a married couple, both with drug expenses at the 90th percentile throughout retirement, who wanted a 90 percent chance of having enough money saved for health care expenses in retirement by age 65, targeted savings fell from $387,000 in 2012 to $360,000 in 2013.

Because women have longer life expectancies than men, they generally need more savings than men to cover health insurance premiums and health care expenses in retirement post-65. EBRI found that in 2013, a man would need $65,000 in savings and a woman would need $86,000, if each had a goal of having a 50 percent chance of having enough money saved to cover health care expenses in retirement. To achieve a 90 percent chance, $122,000 would be needed for a man and $139,000 would be needed for a woman. ...