We received two money related articles in our inbox, just two days apart.
One article said that more seniors may choose early retirement in order to save enough money to afford health care.
The other article says that seniors care more about their loved ones than money.

Seniors Saving Money through Early Retirement

The first article, by BenefitsPro, claims that “Medicaid expansion and the new public health insurance exchange subsidies could lead to a sharp increase in early retirement rates.” Jeff Bradley, a consulting actuary at Milliman, predicts that “the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion provisions could lead about 530,000 to 940,000 lower-income older workers to give up their jobs and sign up for Medicaid.”

Bradley provides the following example:
“A 55-year-old married couple, for example, might pay $13,461 per year for mid-level, ‘silver level’ coverage if the couple has about $63,000 in annual ‘modified adjusted gross income’ (MAGI). If the same two people have just $62,000 in annual MAGI, they would pay only about $6,000 per year for coverage.” Therefore, “If an employer wants to keep boomer workers on the payroll, ‘workforce planning for 2014 and beyond may be critical,’ Bradley said.

Seniors Favor Relationships Over Money

The second article, from UnitedHealthcare, says that “For the second consecutive year, UnitedHealthcare, the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and USA TODAY asked more than 4,000 adults to take part in a national survey on aging.” The survey uncovered three important findings:

1. “Relationships with friends and family are more important than financial considerations:  When asked what is most important to maintaining a high quality of life, four in 10seniors ranked staying connected to friends and family as the number one factor.  Thirty percent chose having financial means as the most important;

2. Healthy living is another key indicator of happiness:  Seniors who take care of their health are more optimistic about aging. Nearly two-

   thirds (64 percent) of optimistic seniors – those surveyed who expect their quality of life in the next five to 10 years to be “much better” or “somewhat better” –have set one or more specific goals to manage their health in the past 12 months. This compares to 47 percent of the overall senior population; and
3. Women and African Americans feel most optimistic about growing older:  Among the most optimistic seniors, 65 percent are women and 18 percent are African American. This compares to a national sample comprising 55 percent women and 8 percent African Americans.”

Seniors, Relationships and Money Infographic

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