Thank you for sharing the article. I don't know that I'll be particulary spendy in my early retirement years, but I want to live in the nice nursing home. Being single with no children, I will probably end up in a home at a younger age than those who have someone to take care of them during the years when they're going downhill. I had a great-grandmother live to be 96, and a grandmother on the other side is still alive at 86 (her sister is 91, and the oldest sister died in her 90's). Right now my biggest concerns are cutting lifestyle (increasing my gas mileage as it were). I should be more focused on improving my health for the "how far you have to go" part, but that puts me in the sticky situation of not wanting to take care of myself so that I *don't* live to be so old...
Long term care is definitely a concern. Who know how much it will be in the future. I guess if we end up not having enough, our backup plan could be the same as my parents'; move to Philippines. Ha!
My parents pay almost $2000 a month for health insurance. Granted, my dad had colon cancer and now has advanced kidney disease, but even my 100% healthy mom's premium is quite high. I'd factor in more than this, sadly enough.
I hope to retire from current employer where my premium will be the same as when employed. It's currently less than $300/mo for 2 people. Not sure about medicare, etc. I would be surprised if it's $2000!
They have private insurance on top of Medicare, b/c Medicare doesn't provide coverage for my mom, and doesn't cover everything my dad needs treatment for. I would not rely on Medicare for retirement, or even your current employer - policies change. But hey, maybe Obamacare will solve all of this.