AUTHOR: luvtoride44afe9eb1e on 5/12/2025 FIRST: Fran Moore on 5/12/2025 | RECENT: luvtoride44afe9eb1e on 5/14/2025
Comments
Dennis, a timely and important reality check for all of us. I think about how “fleeting” good health can be as I see friends and family who are experiencing health challenges all the time. It is one of the reasons why my wife and I who have both had health issues and are both members of the World Trade Center Health Program, live our lives to enjoy the time we can with family and friends WHILE we can! My wife often rolls her eyes when I mention the “Die with Zero” book philosophy that I embrace (espouse to anyone who will listen to me) but she realizes that things could change quickly and dramatically due to an unexpected health challenge as you’ve experienced and described.
I hope you have a complete and fast recovery and you’re able to read Jonathan’s new book which Adam just reviewed (or listen to the audiobook version) soon.
Adam, what a great review and recommendation for Jonathan’s book. I’m sure it will become one of the authoritative books on personal finance for all who are interested in the topic. I will be getting my copy today!
Now if I could just get my grown daughters and their husbands to read it, I’d buy 4 more copies immediately!
Thanks for the advance review and commentary!
We are fortunate to have a 2nd home at the Jersey shore, within a 75 minute drive (traffic allowing) of us and our daughters, SILs and 4 grandchildren’s homes. My DW and I spend most of the summer there (going back north mid-week when Dr appointments, etc are planned) and the kids come down just about every weekend during the summer and stay with us Friday- Sunday.
We belong to a great beach club right next door to our condo which has become a big part of our social life where we have a cabana on the beach (maybe one reason for so many friends 🤷🏻♂️😂).
We don’t travel ANYWHERE during the summer! We are truly blessed to have this place at this time with our family joining us (except when the older girls are at a dance competition early in the summer and at sleep away camp for 3 weeks during the summer).
There will of course be cookouts, concerts, surfing, fishing, bike riding, ice cream and all the fun summer stuff (did I mention adult beverages with our social group?).
We look forward to this time between Memorial Day and Labor Day each year and make very few plans. Now if the damn weather forecast would improve for this weekend in NJ (rain and temps around 60 degrees 🤦🏻♂️😢) we’d be all set!
And we have 1 friend who retired (involuntarily) 2 years ago who has been struggling in retirement. He just got a temporary job in his field and hopefully he will be better with that…but sure wouldn’t be for me!
Mark,
That’s a good way to put it. I have similar feelings all the time as I watch my adult kids and other similar families in that age group and wonder “how did WE ever manage to make it through those challenging times” and make it to “ the other side”?
I guess we did enough of the right things to be able to reach and enjoy a comfortable retirement…but man, it was hard to envision it at that time!
All of the above! Wife’s Pension on the last day of each month. My Pension on the first day of each month. Social Security on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month. MYGA annuity payment on the 6th of the month, We are very fortunate to have these income streams in retirement and rarely need to tap into our other retirement accounts for spending other than certain large anticipated purchases or funding i.e.grandkids camp payments.
David, having recently completed my tax return, these reimbursements were not included in her 1099- R that we got for her pension. That said, it also doesn’t count as income for our NJ Stay, property tax benefit that we qualify for based on taxable income.
I have absolutely no issue with Medicare, Part B (Doctors and non-hospital medical). My wife and I applied for and started being covered the month after I retired at age 65 and 8 months. Along with her generous retiree 2nd health insurance benefit which covers us both it reduces our co-pays to $15/ visit. We go to whatever doctors we wish and have NEVER had Medicare questioned or denied as our primary provider.Yes, doing the math on health cost coverage and “savings” vs. what we paid in might be a bit more difficult, especially because of the ridiculous “CHARGES” that are submitted vs. the Medicare approved amounts that they pay based on, but it is still good payback vs. what we paid during our working years.
At the risk of being stoned here, I should also add that my wife’s retiree benefits include reimbursement for all the Medicare premiums we pay in retirement including substantial IRMMA premiums we pay. A very good deal, indeed!
I’ve been noticing this and thinking about these people more lately since I retired 3 years ago. We all made sacrifices to support our families during our working years, but hearing some of the stories of these “invisible” workers makes our efforts seem feeble in comparison. Like the waiter we met on a recent Europe River cruise, who was on a 3 month “tour of duty” with the line and just had a new baby born at home in the Philippines 2 weeks ago. It will be another 2 weeks until he can get back home to meet his new son. In a job that requires hard work and a pleasant and positive demeanor, this person could not have treated us and fellow guests nicer! No resentment that he missed the birth of a child. He appreciated that he had this job which pays him a good wage to support his family. Seeing people like this and hearing their stories makes me appreciate more the lives we’ve made for ourselves and less tolerant of the complaints of our grown daughters struggling with the busy scheduleS of raising our grandkids. These may not be the most glamorous jobs, but without people like our waiter to do them, life would be a lot different.
Comments
Dennis, a timely and important reality check for all of us. I think about how “fleeting” good health can be as I see friends and family who are experiencing health challenges all the time. It is one of the reasons why my wife and I who have both had health issues and are both members of the World Trade Center Health Program, live our lives to enjoy the time we can with family and friends WHILE we can! My wife often rolls her eyes when I mention the “Die with Zero” book philosophy that I embrace (espouse to anyone who will listen to me) but she realizes that things could change quickly and dramatically due to an unexpected health challenge as you’ve experienced and described. I hope you have a complete and fast recovery and you’re able to read Jonathan’s new book which Adam just reviewed (or listen to the audiobook version) soon.
Post: The Humbling Side of Aging
Link to comment from May 30, 2026
Adam, what a great review and recommendation for Jonathan’s book. I’m sure it will become one of the authoritative books on personal finance for all who are interested in the topic. I will be getting my copy today! Now if I could just get my grown daughters and their husbands to read it, I’d buy 4 more copies immediately! Thanks for the advance review and commentary!
Post: Money and Me
Link to comment from May 30, 2026
We are fortunate to have a 2nd home at the Jersey shore, within a 75 minute drive (traffic allowing) of us and our daughters, SILs and 4 grandchildren’s homes. My DW and I spend most of the summer there (going back north mid-week when Dr appointments, etc are planned) and the kids come down just about every weekend during the summer and stay with us Friday- Sunday. We belong to a great beach club right next door to our condo which has become a big part of our social life where we have a cabana on the beach (maybe one reason for so many friends 🤷🏻♂️😂). We don’t travel ANYWHERE during the summer! We are truly blessed to have this place at this time with our family joining us (except when the older girls are at a dance competition early in the summer and at sleep away camp for 3 weeks during the summer). There will of course be cookouts, concerts, surfing, fishing, bike riding, ice cream and all the fun summer stuff (did I mention adult beverages with our social group?). We look forward to this time between Memorial Day and Labor Day each year and make very few plans. Now if the damn weather forecast would improve for this weekend in NJ (rain and temps around 60 degrees 🤦🏻♂️😢) we’d be all set!
Post: Lifetime Supply
Link to comment from May 21, 2026
And we have 1 friend who retired (involuntarily) 2 years ago who has been struggling in retirement. He just got a temporary job in his field and hopefully he will be better with that…but sure wouldn’t be for me!
Post: The Mirrored Funnel
Link to comment from May 10, 2026
Mark, That’s a good way to put it. I have similar feelings all the time as I watch my adult kids and other similar families in that age group and wonder “how did WE ever manage to make it through those challenging times” and make it to “ the other side”? I guess we did enough of the right things to be able to reach and enjoy a comfortable retirement…but man, it was hard to envision it at that time!
Post: The Mirrored Funnel
Link to comment from May 10, 2026
All of the above! Wife’s Pension on the last day of each month. My Pension on the first day of each month. Social Security on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month. MYGA annuity payment on the 6th of the month, We are very fortunate to have these income streams in retirement and rarely need to tap into our other retirement accounts for spending other than certain large anticipated purchases or funding i.e.grandkids camp payments.
Post: The never ending payday
Link to comment from May 10, 2026
David, having recently completed my tax return, these reimbursements were not included in her 1099- R that we got for her pension. That said, it also doesn’t count as income for our NJ Stay, property tax benefit that we qualify for based on taxable income.
Post: The reality of Social Security and Medicare- My real life experience.
Link to comment from May 6, 2026
lol, close….NYCERs, a Nurse who ran Homecare for NYC HHC for many years.
Post: The reality of Social Security and Medicare- My real life experience.
Link to comment from May 6, 2026
I have absolutely no issue with Medicare, Part B (Doctors and non-hospital medical). My wife and I applied for and started being covered the month after I retired at age 65 and 8 months. Along with her generous retiree 2nd health insurance benefit which covers us both it reduces our co-pays to $15/ visit. We go to whatever doctors we wish and have NEVER had Medicare questioned or denied as our primary provider.Yes, doing the math on health cost coverage and “savings” vs. what we paid in might be a bit more difficult, especially because of the ridiculous “CHARGES” that are submitted vs. the Medicare approved amounts that they pay based on, but it is still good payback vs. what we paid during our working years. At the risk of being stoned here, I should also add that my wife’s retiree benefits include reimbursement for all the Medicare premiums we pay in retirement including substantial IRMMA premiums we pay. A very good deal, indeed!
Post: The reality of Social Security and Medicare- My real life experience.
Link to comment from May 5, 2026
I’ve been noticing this and thinking about these people more lately since I retired 3 years ago. We all made sacrifices to support our families during our working years, but hearing some of the stories of these “invisible” workers makes our efforts seem feeble in comparison. Like the waiter we met on a recent Europe River cruise, who was on a 3 month “tour of duty” with the line and just had a new baby born at home in the Philippines 2 weeks ago. It will be another 2 weeks until he can get back home to meet his new son. In a job that requires hard work and a pleasant and positive demeanor, this person could not have treated us and fellow guests nicer! No resentment that he missed the birth of a child. He appreciated that he had this job which pays him a good wage to support his family. Seeing people like this and hearing their stories makes me appreciate more the lives we’ve made for ourselves and less tolerant of the complaints of our grown daughters struggling with the busy scheduleS of raising our grandkids. These may not be the most glamorous jobs, but without people like our waiter to do them, life would be a lot different.
Post: One World, One Kind of Work
Link to comment from April 30, 2026