Fidelity Investments said in a statement that, according to its estimates, a 65-year-old couple retiring in 2008 will need approximately $225,000 to cover medical costs in retirement. The figure represents a 41 percent increase over the 2002 estimates, when Fidelity began releasing their yearly health care costs estimates.

“With health care costs continuing to outpace wage increases and companies trimming retiree health benefits, financing health care has to be central to retirement planning,” said Brad Kimler, executive vice president, Fidelity Investments, in a company statement.

“Given current economic conditions, this is especially true for those planning to retire in the next few years or before they qualify for full Social Security or Medicare benefits,” Kimler said.

Fidelity said that the rise in retiree health care costs is due to a variety of factors, topped by higher unit costs (e.g., the price of a doctor’s visit) and higher utilization rates for health care services (e.g., more doctor visits per person).

Fidelity Investments was founded in the 1940s by Edward C. Johnson 2nd. Paul McCartney became the firm's new spokesman in 2005 in a campaign entitled "This Is Paul." Fidelity said it has custodied assets of $3.3 trillion, including managed assets of more than $1.5 trillion as of January 31, 2008.

The financial company is the largest mutual fund company in the United States, the No. 1 provider of workplace retirement savings plans, the largest mutual fund supermarket and a leading online brokerage firm, Fidelity says.