The health habits that could save retirees $100,000 or more in medical bills

Most Americans spend decades optimizing their 401(k) and IRA contributions, then retire to discover their biggest financial threat was never the stock market — it was their body. Medical debt is already a leading cause of bankruptcy among Americans and a top reason retirees say they drain their savings faster than planned, according to Kiplinger. And the pressure is set to grow: out-of-pocket healthcare expenses are projected to rise nearly 50% by 2050.

The good news, according to a convergence of recent analyses and a survey of 63 health experts by U.S. News & World Report, is that the habits most likely to keep those costs down are neither expensive nor exotic. Diet, exercise, sleep, social connection, and routine preventive screenings consistently top every list — and the dollar amounts attached to each are large enough to reframe them as financial decisions, not just health ones.

Bonnie Taub-Dix, RDN, director and owner of BTD Nutrition Consultants, who participated in the U.S. News survey, said that despite constant messaging urging people "to hack, track, and optimize our way to a longer life," the habits that ranked highest turned out to be straightforward. "The basics work and, more importantly, they're things we can actually sustain," she said, adding that "these habits don't have to cost a lot of money, if they require any expense at all."

In order to maintain your mobility, you need to improve not only your cardiovascular fitness, but also stay strong and keep your muscle mass. Also, exercise stimulates neurogenesis — the production of new connections in your brain — hence improving brain health. It also makes you feel better.— Damian Folch, MD, family medicine doctor affiliated with Tufts Medicine Lowell General Hospital

Here is what the research and expert consensus say about each habit — and what avoiding the associated conditions is actually worth.

STAYING ACTIVE: For adults 50 and older, the widely accepted target is 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise each week along with two strength-training sessions, per Kiplinger. In the U.S. News expert survey, 89 percent of respondents ranked regular physical activity as one of the two most important factors for healthy aging — tied only with diet. Strength and balance training specifically reduces fall risk, which matters enormously: total healthcare costs of non-fatal falls among older adults run $80 billion a year, with 29% paid out of pocket by older adults, families, or private insurers, according to the National Council on Aging figures cited by Kiplinger. Among older adults who do fall, the average inpatient hospital stay for fall injuries costs $18,654; an emergency department visit averages $1,112.

EATING AN ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DIET: Nearly half of the experts surveyed — 48 percent — said an anti-inflammatory diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, is the best way to manage what researchers call 'inflammaging,' a chronic low-grade inflammation linked to accelerated biological aging, according to Everyday Health. Cardiovascular health and reduced risk of cognitive decline are among the benefits of eating leafy greens, berries, lean proteins, and whole grains, Kiplinger notes. Heart disease treatment carries a steep price tag for older adults: those receiving care for the condition face average direct medical expenses of $5,397 annually, figures from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Medical Expenditure Panel Survey show. The total annual cost of cardiovascular disease for patients 65 and older — direct and indirect — reached $182.5 billion as of 2022, per the American Heart Association.

GETTING RESTORATIVE SLEEP: According to Kiplinger, the body and mind repair themselves when a person regularly logs 7 to 9 hours of quality sleep each night. Thirty percent of the health experts surveyed by U.S. News ranked restorative sleep as a crucial healthy-aging habit, placing it third on the overall list.

MAINTAINING SOCIAL CONNECTIONS: In the U.S. News survey, 59 percent of experts identified social isolation as the most underappreciated potential accelerator of biological aging, according to Everyday Health. In 2023, then-U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, drew attention to what he called the "healing effects" of social connection and community. Regular social engagement and learning new skills also lower the risk of dementia, according to Kiplinger — relevant given that Medicare does not cover most elements of long-term care in assisted living or memory care facilities.

We tend to mostly think about longevity in terms of what we eat, how much we exercise, or what products we use on our bodies. But having people in our lives who make us feel connected, valued, and supported matters more than you may realize.— Bonnie Taub-Dix, RDN, director and owner of BTD Nutrition Consultants

KEEPING KEY HEALTH MARKERS IN RANGE — AND GETTING SCREENED: Maintaining blood pressure, blood glucose, and cholesterol within target ranges helps prevent chronic illnesses, strokes, and mobility issues, according to Kiplinger. Routine preventive screenings — many covered under original Medicare — can catch problems early, when they are cheaper to treat, according to WTOP, which spoke with Tina R. Sadarangani, a board-certified primary care nurse practitioner and assistant professor at NYU who specializes in care of older adults.

The numbers behind uncontrolled markers are stark. People with high blood pressure have medical costs nearly $3,000 more per year than those without it, according to the CDC figures cited by WTOP. According to a statement from the American Diabetes Association cited by WTOP, people with diabetes face average annual medical costs of $19,736, with roughly $12,022 of that amount directly attributable to the disease; on average, their medical spending runs about 2.6 times higher than that of people without diabetes. Kiplinger puts the estimated annual median cost associated with type 2 diabetes at $5,876 per person, citing the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. The CDC puts the initial care cost for colorectal cancer — one of the most common cancers, per the American Cancer Society — at around $66,500, while annual costs in a patient's final year of life can exceed $110,000, according to WTOP.

The single largest potential saving is avoiding or delaying long-term care. As of 2026, in-home care costs $82,482 a year; assisted living runs $76,632; a semi-private nursing home room costs $118,424 and a private room $133,462, according to Kiplinger. Even delaying entry by a year or two represents savings that dwarf most investment gains.

On the question of biohacking and high-tech wellness tools, experts were notably skeptical. Forty percent of those surveyed said wearable health or sleep trackers may offer some benefit, but 31 percent took the view that such tools — continuous glucose monitors for people without diabetes and full-body scans among them — produce more health-related stress than they do benefit, according to Everyday Health.

One group facing specific, often overlooked barriers: women. Experts flagged accelerated loss of bone density and muscle during perimenopause and menopause, delayed recognition and treatment of heart disease risk, and inadequate menopausal hormone therapy management as undertreated factors affecting women's ability to age healthily, according to Everyday Health. Taub-Dix noted that women sometimes spend decades focused on weight when muscle maintenance, bone protection, and cardiovascular risk factors become critically important to independence with age.

Speaking with WTOP, Roger Miller, a licensed clinical psychologist and neuropsychology team lead with Aviv Clinics in The Villages, Florida, said the physical and cognitive changes that accompany aging can weaken the immune system and make it more difficult to ward off illness, but that keeping up with routine healthcare and screenings can help rein in costs, particularly for those enrolled in Medicare. The World Health Organization, cited by WTOP, notes that every $1 spent treating depression and anxiety yields a $4 return in better health and productivity — a figure that underscores why mental health screening belongs in the same financial conversation as cholesterol checks.

Why it matters — Healthcare is projected to be the largest and fastest-growing expense in retirement, and the habits that most reliably reduce that cost are ones anyone can start today — making this as much a personal finance story as a health one.

Reported by kiplinger.com, fool.com, everydayhealth.com, wtop.com, barrons.com