Fidelity Investments ran the numbers and determined that a 65-year-old retiring in 2026 will spend $185,500 on healthcare during retirement. They published this finding as if it were news. As if someone asked.
The figure assumes you live long enough to spend it. Bold assumption from a company that needs you to keep breathing so they can manage your assets. The incentive structure writes itself.
One category may push costs higher, according to the headline. They don't say which one. Could be prescription drugs. Could be long-term care. Could be the administrative fee for explaining what a deductible is to someone who has asked seventeen times. The mystery builds suspense. Riveting stuff from the financial services industry.
Retail traders will read this and panic-buy healthcare ETFs at the top. They will diversify into pharmaceutical stocks the day before a patent cliff. They will open a Roth IRA for their medical expenses and forget the password. Fidelity knows this. They are counting on it.
The real story is that Fidelity spent money to calculate a number that every insurance actuary already knew. They branded it. They press-released it. They got headlines. Now some 64-year-old in Ohio is refreshing his brokerage account wondering if he should sell his bonds and buy into a medical REIT because a company that charges expense ratios told him to be scared.
The average retiree will ignore this entirely and spend whatever they spend until the money runs out or they do. Fidelity will still collect fees either way. That is the only number that matters. The rest is marketing wrapped in a actuarial table, delivered with the confidence of someone who has never missed a premium payment in their life.
Your retirement plan is now a healthcare budget with a stock portfolio attached.
Photo by on Unsplash
Leave a Comment