Suze Orman Warns Average Retiree Faces Surprise Expenses That Eat Up 3 Months of Social Security Checks

Most retirees depend on Social Security as an important part of their income. Unfortunately, these benefits don’t go nearly as far as many people think. In fact, finance expert Suze Orman recently issued some stern warnings about how much of the typical Social Security check gets eaten up by just a few big expenses many seniors face. 

Based on Orman’s data, the average retiree actually ends up spending around three months’ worth of their Social Security checks just on three costs alone.

Here are the big expenses retirees get stuck with, along with some tips on how to make sure you are prepared for these expenses so they don’t leave you broke during your golden years. 

Suze Orman warns that these three expenses come at a huge cost

According to Orman, three huge expenses that often catch retirees off guard include:

• Rainy day expenses: Orman explained that retirees typically spend around $2,400 per year on “unexpected” yet inevitable “surprise” costs. She gave examples of things like maintenance and repairs for homes and vehicles. 
• Healthcare: Medical care is, unsurprisingly, a big expense for seniors. Orman said out-of-pocket medical expenses typically average around $2,000 per year, despite the fact that many retirees assume Medicare is going to cover all of their costs. Some other experts have put this number even higher, especially for retirees who have high prescription drug needs. 
• Family assistance: Many retirees help other family members — often, adult children. Orman said that the average retired household ends up devoting around $1,700 per year to these costs. 

Collectively, when you add up just these three big expenses alone, this leaves retirees spending around $6,100. Since the average Social Security check in 2026 comes in at $2,071 among all retired workers, according to the Social Security Administration, seniors who spend the average amounts cited by Orman could end up devoting a total of around three of their annual retirement benefits to these expenses alone.

That’s a quarter of all of the Social Security checks that seniors get during the whole year. 

Retirees need to be prepared with money to supplement Social Security

Of course, you do have the option not to spend money on some of these things. You don’t necessarily have to help out your family members, for example. But many people do want to help their kids, especially during times of economic hardship.

And, some of the costs on Orman’s list, like healthcare and car repairs, typically aren’t really optional for retirees who need medical services or who have aging homes or vehicles that they are living in or need to use to get around.

The fact is, Social Security benefits simply cannot cover everything that seniors need to pay for after they have left the workforce. Having additional income coming in from savings is a key part of making sure that retirement is financially comfortable and that seniors aren’t left struggling with bills they can’t pay. 

If you are preparing for your retirement, you need to keep in mind that there are plenty of big expenses you’ll continue to be responsible for covering when your paychecks have stopped. You should invest for retirement as early as you can so you don’t have to worry about where the money comes from, and you should consider working with a financial advisor to figure out how much money you will need in retirement and where those funds are going to come from.