b'can all help start the conversation aboutFocus on health care costsretirement planning and how it fits into the employee\'s overall finances. Ideally, anyAs employees approach retirement age, they advisors or coaches would incorporate thewill need specific information and guidance on employer\'s benefit offerings into thesecritically important topics, such as retiree health discussions. care costs. Consider these relevant issues:The advice can be "tailored to the benefits that- How can employees plan for health care costs during retirement?are available to the employee in addition to general education about financial issues,"- What should they do about health Fairburn suggested. "The key is to start theinsurance until they are eligible for conversation and help get employees on theMedicare at age 65?right path." - How can they leverage in retirement what Automatic retirement plan features, such asthey\'ve accumulated in a health savings automatically enrolling new hires into the planaccount (HSA)?and annually increasing the percentage of pay"More employers are focusing communication workers contribute, can also ease thearound integrating HSAs with long-term decision-making burden on retirement planretirement savings," said Steve Vernon, a participants. research scholar with the Stanford Institute on Longevity in Palo Alto, Calif. "There is the "The role of the employer is to be the biggestpotential to use HSA\'s to fill in gaps in cheerleader for retirement planning," Ciminiretirement planning."said. "Plan designs like auto-enrollment canRetiree health care costs should also factor into lead to much higher participation rates anddiscussions with younger employees, who may makes it easier for participants to reach theirchoose to use some HSA funds for immediate retirement targets for total savings." health care costs and save others for use in retirement.CONTINUED ON PAGE 6www.ohiomasonry.org 5'