US investors and their advisors are worried about their ability to enjoy a prosperous retirement and pay for medical bills at a time when 76 million Baby Boomers are expected to retire over the next two decades, according to a report.

Tiburon Strategic Advisors, a US market research & strategy consulting firm, said in an updated version of its Consumer Wealth Research Report, that retirement is the issue having the biggest impact on US financial advisors’ business.

More than a quarter of US citizens say having enough money to pay for future health care was a “major concern”; 65-year-old couples who retire this year will need at least $225,000 to cover medical bills, a rise of 40 per cent since 2002.

Among other findings, fee-based financial advisors said that retirement is their clients’ primary savings goal.

The report is one of many that have highlighted the potential costs – and potential business opportunities – that come about as a result of the “greying” of industrialised nations as people live longer, have fewer babies and as tax-funded pension systems come under financial strain.

The study said that US households can be classified into four age-based segments: the World War II generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y. About one-quarter of the US population - 300 million in total - are Baby Boomers, down slightly since 2005. The number of consumers between 55 and 64 years old is expected to grow the fastest at about 4 per cent per year.

Assets held by consumers over 60 years old are expected to increase to $10.1 trillion by 2012.

“The perceived baby boomers' savings crisis is due to six factors, including the decline in pension plans, the Social Security challenges, the stagnant savings rate, the lack of World War II generation wealth transfer, longer life expectancies, and the concentration of consumer wealth,” the report said.