If retirement is in your near future, you need to make a lot of plans for your financial future, including figuring out what you're going to do for retirement health insurance.
Even if you're in good health, chances are you'll experience some health problems as you age.
Plus you'll want to have routine checkups and preventive care.
Having a good health insurance policy is key to a peaceful retirement.
Closing the Gap Part of the retirement health insurance problem is that Medicare coverage doesn't begin until age 65 but many people want to retire before then.
If you retire early, you need to fill an insurance gap between when you retire and when Medicare coverage begins.
Some options available to you include: * Continuing coverage through your employee.
Some large companies continue to provide insurance coverage for retired employees.
Even if they don't, you may be eligible for coverage through COBRA for up to 18 months * Obtaining coverage through your spouse's employer, if your spouse is still working * Looking for a cheap private medical policy Finding an Affordable Policy If you do decide you need to get a private policy, be prepared for sticker shock! These policies are not cheap.
However, you can save money by going to an insurance comparison website to find your policy.
These websites make it easy to comparison shop for insurance, which is very important because rates for the same coverage can vary by hundreds of dollars from one company to another.
Just be sure you choose a website that offers an online chat service with insurance experts in case you have any questions you need answered (see link below).
Planning for the Future Even when Medicare begins, you may still choose to buy a Medigap policy to cover your deductible, co-payments, and other out-of-pocket expenses.
Insurance comparison websites give you access to these kinds of policies as well.