This is Motleyful Answers. I'm Alison Southwick, and I'm joined, as always, by Robert Brosecamp,

personal finance expert here at The Motley Fool. Hey, bro, how you doing?

I just signed. Just so fine, Alison. How are you?

I'm just great. In this week's episode, Ron Lieber, you remember him? He's a writer for the New York

Times. Well, he's back to talk about scams and why younger people in particular have a higher

risk for being built. All that and more on this week's episode of Motleyful Answers.

So, bro, what's up? Well, Allison, one of the most important steps in retirement planning

is basically determining how much it'll cost.

However, this could be a challenge when the price tag of one of the biggest items in your budget could be anywhere between $150,000 and more than a million dollars.

At least that is how much a 65-year-old couple retiring in 2021 could spend on their lifetime retirement health care expenses

according to Health View Services.

The range is so wide because the cost will depend on all kinds of factors, such as where

you live, even your income since Medicare premiums are based on your tax return,

your current health status, and of course, any future ailments that may happen to you.

And to add insult to the cost of injury, that estimate doesn't even include the possible

price tag of long-term care.

Actually, it turns out that health care is unique among the retirement expenses for three reasons.

First, it's likely to be the expense that will go up the most when you retire,

unless, of course, you go out and buy an RV or something like that. Vanguard estimates that on

average, the cost of Medicare premiums are almost triple the amount that employees paid for

health insurance coverage when they were working. People who retire before Medicare

eligibility at age 65 can expect to pay more than six times what they were paying for employer-provided coverage.

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