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PRESS RELEASE
July 31, 2012, 10:00 a.m. EDT
Women Nearing Retirement Underestimate Future Health Care Costs More Than Men
Nationwide Financial survey identifies differences between women and men's attitudes about retirement

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jul 31, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- While facing the prospect of living more years in retirement, women nearing retirement underestimate how much they willneed to pay for their future health care costs even more so than men nearing retirement, according to a Nationwide Financial survey released today.
According to the survey conducted by Harris Interactive of 1,250 Americans with at least $250,000 in household assets, women close to retirement estimate they will spend $4,624 each year on health care beyond what Medicare covers. That's 21 percentless than the $5,882 men nearing retirement estimate they will spend each year on things like premiums, copayments and deductibles. However, both are way off. A 2012 study found a 65-year-old couple retiring today would need $240,000 to cover medical expenses during their retirement years - and that doesn't include long-term care costs.(1)
"The fact is women live longer than men, which means theywill spend more time in retirement and that places women at a greater risk of outliving their retirement assets," said John Carter, president of sales and distribution for Nationwide Financial. "It also may increase their chances of incurring long-term care costs during their golden years. That's why it's especially important for women to plan for health care costs in retirement."
According tothe survey, nearly half of both women and men say they are "terrified" of what health care costs may do to their retirement plans. Yet, women respondents nearing retirement are much more likely than men respondents to say they have not estimated:
-- How much they will spend each year in retirement on things like premiums, copayments and deductibles (41 percent vs. 27 percent men)
-- How muchincome in retirement they will have from things like social security, retirement accounts or pensions (21 percent vs. 12 percent men)
On average, women estimate that Medicare will cover 65 percent of their annual health care costs. But, similar to men respondents, when asked how they came to this percentage, 85 percent either guessed or did not know. Only 2 percent said they were told this by afinancial advisor.
Women are also slightly more likely than men to say they are somewhat unconfident to not at all confident in their plan to live comfortably in their retirement years (46 percent vs. 39 percent men).
Opportunity for advisors
While 65 percent of women have discussed their retirement with a financial advisor - of those who have, only one in 10 talked about how much they shouldexpect to pay in health care costs apart from Medicare (compared to one in four men).
Of those who have discussed retirement with a financial advisor, 77 percent of women say they were helpful to very helpful estimating health care costs in retirement (63 percent men) and a whopping 86 percent say they were helpful to very helpful discussing the role Medicare will play in their retirement (52percent men).
According to the survey, more than half (56 percent) of women say it is very to extremely important they educate themselves on Medicare when planning for retirement and 43 percent of women say they plan to discuss health care costs beyond those covered by Medicare with their financial advisor.
"The good news is women want to have these discussions and financial advisors can play amajor role in helping women plan for and live in retirement by discussing the role Medicare will play in their retirement and helping them estimate health care costs in retirement," Carter said.
Challenges women face in retirement
Women live longer - Women live an average of five years more than men and are 10 times as likely to reach age 85.(2)
Women earn less - Women have gained ground in the...