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Good Graph Friday: We're spending a lot of our nest egg on health care

Many Americans spend much of their working life saving up for their golden years.Here’s some sobering news: You could end up spending about one-third of that money on health care expenses.Here’s some even more sobering news: Older people Germany, U.K. and Japan are spending a lot less of their income on health costs.Research analysts at Credit Suisse took a look at what people 60 and over spen
Credit Suisse / Today

Many Americans spend much of their working life saving up for their golden years.

Here’s some sobering news: You could end up spending about one-third of that money on health care expenses.

Here’s some even more sobering news: Older people Germany, U.K. and Japan are spending a lot less of their income on health costs.

Research analysts at Credit Suisse took a look at what people 60 and over spend their money on, using 2007 data from research firm Euromonitor and Credit Suisse itself.

They found that older Americans were spending 33 percent of their income on health goods and medical services. In the U.K., people 60 and over were spending just 3 percent of their income on health costs. In Germany, it’s 8 percent and in Japan it’s 6 percent.

There were other telling differences as well.

The researchers said that Brits over 60 were spending 22 percent of their money on leisure, recreation and hotels. Americans in that age range were spending just 13 percent of their income on those things.

The Japanese, meanwhile, spent 21 percent of their income on food and beverages. Older Americans spent just 8 percent of their money on food and drink.

One thing everyone over 60 seemed to have in common: No one in any of the countries was spending much on clothes and shoes.