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I was feeling sorry for myself recently. Connie’s health issues prevent us from traveling, even going to our Cape house for the time being. I said to myself, time really is running out.
We seem to be surrounded by illness. Two of our neighbors now in Florida have been taken seriously ill and can’t get home. My brother in law fell on ice and broke his wrist and arm. Connie, my cousin and a close friend are all undergoing cancer treatments.
This retirement thing seems to be going down hill.
No, that’s not true at all. We are, in fact, experiencing life in older age. Nothing is really a surprise even though we may wish things to be a bit different. And then there is this overriding fact, no matter what, someone is dealing with far worse situations – like our friends in Florida.
We can afford and receive the health care we need, our out of pocket costs are minimal because of Medicare. That isn’t true for most Americans
I look back on our sixteen years of retirement with great joy. We visited 45 countries, saw and did amazing things, took several cruises, visited all the states and many national parks. Remodeled our vacation home. Bought my dream car (twice).
We’ve had the joy of watching our grandchildren grow up, spending lots of time with them and have the privilege of helping fund their college costs.
I chose when I retired. When we decided a three story house was no longer feasible, we found the ideal 55+ condo less than a mile away – no disruption to our lives.
Our financial situation is not what I ever expected it to be. It took decades to achieve – along with good fortune. I read the stories of retirees dependent on SS (like my parents were) and wonder how that happens after a lifetime of work.
I see media posts from people who claim Social Security is a scam, Medicare is a scam, saving now and only getting a few years in retirement is a scam. Nothing that doesn’t provide immediate gratification seems to be a scam to some people.
One fellow today asked why he should invest $50 and wait for it to grow the next forty years and then have only a few years in retirement when he could enjoy spending it now. Asking that question reflects a too common point of view.
It’s been one heck of a journey. Life throws things at people over which they have no control, sometimes bad things, but also opportunities. The goal it seems to me is to try and overcome the obstacles, grab hold of every opportunity and keep one eye always on the future – and never give up.
Too many people do or don’t do things that cause them harm now or in the future, but life is not a scam.
Dick – Thank you very much for your thoughtful posts over the years. I have been reading all the HumbleDollar forum posts for over 3 years now and this is my first post. As a first generation immigrant to this wonderful country, I like a lot of things about this country, except for the costs for healthcare and education. You are being naive (I am not being arrogant, but using the term carefully) about the waste that is happening in our healthcare system. Just this week, I was looking at the claim paid by my Insurance company for a colonoscopy. The surgical center billed the insurance $8600 and the insurance company paid $640. Don’t you think this is outrageous in both the sense of how much was claimed and how little was paid? The main people who are profiting from our healthcare system are the middle brokers. In India, where I grew up – you can get healthcare for as little as $5 or as much as $2000 and the quality of care is based on how much you can pay. I would rather prefer that than the thousands of people who cannot afford healthcare in our country.
Trust me, I am not naive about the health care system. I designed and managed healthcare plans for nearly fifty years. I was on the boards of several plans years ago.
Not sure who you mean by middle brokers. If you mean insurance companies, your assessment is not correct.
The fundamental problem is multiple systems paying different amount for the same service and shifting costs from one to another.
A provider will be paid differently by Medicaid, Medicare, private insurance, self-funded employer coverage and self-pay. Neither Medicaid nor Medicare pay at levels sufficient to sustain the care we need so other payers must pay more. The system isn’t fair to anyone.
Insurance companies facilitate protection just like any insurance (although we have warped the purpose of insurance) Their profits are not excessive and they don’t make money from high healthcare costs. Growing profits are from growing customers, not higher premiums. Their net profit margins are among the lowest of any industry.
Thank you for replying to my comment. You capture the essence of the problem in your statement – “The fundamental problem is multiple systems paying different amount for the same service and shifting costs from one to another.”
I have not understood why need to allow employability to be the factor that decides your insurance premiums. I am sure given your years of experience of leadership in designing healthcare plans, we can come up with better systems and surely enough companies and providers might have thought about it. What I meant by middle brokers are the vested interests, who do not want change and are somehow within the lifecycle of the medical system. Do we really need healthcare to be based on insurance?
I am not experienced in this industry, but I retired early (at 60) and suddenly I pay more than $25000 a year for a couple insurance with sky high deductibles. We can do better.