Wichita, KS
How do all of you who retired early account for health care costs into your budget?
I retired early. Health care insurance is not cheap.
Turning 65 and getting Medicare was a welcome, life-enhancing event.
(Topic ID: 223399)
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Quoted from dar8dar:I’m 61 soon to be 62 I put the max amount in my HSA for over 3 years and didn’t use any now I can pay for insurance the next 3 years out of that account until Medicare kicks in
When that HSA deduction was started the rules were different. At the time, any monies put into an HSA was an annual thing. Any monies you did not use were forfeited to the govt. So, if you did not get sick and use the HSA money it just disappeared. Of course, retailers stepped I to fill the gap. Eyewear sellers were endlessly hawking for you to use your FLEX dollars on a new pair of glasses.
I gave that policy the middle finger salute and never considered it again. By the time the policy was amended I was too close to retirement to consider it.
Quoted from Who-Dey:I have no bills and my health insurance will be paid for from my pension, rental property income and my 401k if needed. I hate to spend my retirement savings on health insurance but health insurance is part of retirement if you retire early and the reason I put money back into my 401k was............to retire, so that's what I'm going to use it for.
My situation is also a little different than most peoples. I don't have any kids to leave my money to so I'm going to use it on myself. I also live a pretty modest lifestyle. I don't drive fancy cars or take 5,000 dollar cruises etc.
The #1 thing that I want more than anything right now in my life is to get the hell out of where I work at and to not have to work swing shift anymore so that's what I am going to do. That is much better than driving a new car or living in a new 250-300K home to me. Everyone is different though so to each their own.
We have a lot in common. I hate making monthly payments on anything other than utilities. If I don't have the cash, I don't buy. I was bending wrenches since before I could drive. I have never owned new car and never had the desire for a new vehicle.
My small house has served me well for 40 years. I paid it off in 1995. It has only gotten crowded since I got into the pin hobby 
If your pension will pay for your health insurance, you possess a real nice benefit. My brother-in-law was able to retire at 55 because the company he worked for provides for retiree health care.
Be careful on pulling money from your 401K. Until you are full retirement age, you will pay a penalty for early withdrawal. You will also have to pay taxes on your 401K withdrawals.
Quoted from BMore-Pinball:Nobody needs a lot of money ... until they do
You can budget and be thrifty .. but crap happens
I had to use Obamacare for a year after I retired. Monthly premiums were going to get boosted to $220.00 per month with a $6700.00 deductible. So, if you did not get sick, you were pissing away $2400.00 per year. If you did get sick, really sick, you would be out your $2400.00 plus $6700.00 for a total of $9,100.00 before the insurance company ever kicked in a dollar. If that happened to you in December and your medical issues extended into January, the deductible started over. So, one could be out $16,000.00 in 2 months time as the insurance company kept counting its stack of jack.
And the insurance companies only covers you with direct withdrawal from your checking account. No checks accepted.
I got hit with a surprise $2500.00 bill. I bargained (you can do this) with the hospital and said I would pay cash and got them to reduce the bill to $1500.00. And I kept paying the monthly premiums.
Quoted from ReadyPO:I will be probably be retiring from my part time job (National Guard) in one to two years. There is a pension associated with this that will start at age 59 for me, but one of the best benefits is health care coverage (Tricare) that converts to Tricare for Life at age 60 and is essentially free to 65, then becomes a wrap around with Medicare part B (have to pay the part B premium). Between the time after I retire from the Guard and 60, I can have the same coverage but it will cost more than my civilian job - I'll switch to that for a few years.
I think retiring from the Guard will FEEL like a full retirement, so I plan to keep working my one job and get back 20+ hours on average a week ...
My brother-in-law did 20 years with The Guard. He gets Tricare. The company he worked for pays for full retiree health care. And he gets Medicare, as well.
He is covered nine ways from hell. But yet, when I talk to him about some sort of Nat'l health care plan, he says it won't work. His attitude is "I've got mine. Fuck the rest of ya. "
Quoted from Who-Dey:age 62 so that's going to be a nice raise also.
I retired at 62 and started SS at that time. I have SS and two pensions live on. I make less than $30K per year. But 85% of SS income is not taxable income. Only 15% counts as taxable income. I can make up to $36,000 per year before I have to pay Federal Tax. I figure that little tax benefit makes < $30K per year feel like I am making $50K and paying tax.
So, I can only make about $8,000.00 per year before I have to start paying taxes. This is one reason I have never bothered to look for a part time job.
And with the new 1040 tax rates, I can take $8,000.00 from my IRA and not have to pay any taxes. So I am busy drawing it down by $8K per year in an effort to have the IRA stripped clean a few years down the road without having to ever pay any taxes on withdrawals.
Quoted from Who-Dey:That's the way to do it sounds like Cotton. Not sure what kinds of things you can do but cash jobs are certainly nice also.
Jack of all trades. Cash jobs would be nice. But I have not developed any contacts.
Quoted from Slugmeister:Ahh yes the rampant drinking.After 4 years in the Army and 33 with the Airlines I'm ready to change my pitch up.No more drug tests for me.Legal high quality potent weed.And so many flavors
Ahhhh...yessssss. The joy of never having to pee in a cup again. Are the bars going to go broke with your new directions?
6 months later
Quoted from o-din:Part of what got me here was learning decades ago to stay out of debt. Don't need anything that bad, that I have to borrow money to own it. No car payments or anything like that. Helps that I can fix almost anything. Some can't I guess. I don't pay anyone to do anything I can do or figure out how to including my own yard. And, the more you make, the more they take. Keeping this house in the family for generations instead of cashing out so I could live at the beach has also proved to be the right decision.
I also learned to value my own time more than making lots of money for others so they can own a yacht or an expensive RV. Homie don't play that game. Working too many hours for someone else can wear you down.I've been sleeping on the couch for the last few weeks because it is the first place I hit when I come in at night and it is so comfy. Can't even see a clock from there. Just the sun shining in first thing in the morning.
Same here, man. I bought a Ford Pickup on payments and could not wait to get it paid off. Other than that and a mortgage on my house, it is cash all the way. If I can't pay for it I don't need it.
After being in my house for 15 years with a 30 year mortgage, I had some extra cash and paid it off.
After I was laid off for good and too young for Medicare I had to go the Obamacare route. That was costing me $220.00 premium per month with a $7500.00 deductible. The first $7500.00 was yours plus the premium. I could not wait to turn 65 so I could get Medicare. Now I spend around $200.00 month with a $184.00 annual deductible,
My questions to you all who are retiring early is how are you dealing with health insurance?
Quoted from rotordave:That is the secret recipe, right there.
So easy!! But so few people do it.
If you haven’t got the cash in your pocket, you don’t need whatever it is. Pretty easy rule to live by.
rd
I appreciate quality. But I have a taste for worthless trinkets. I made a rule many years ago that something caught my eye I would wait 3 weeks before I would go buy whatever it was. By then I had usually had forgotten about it.
And then I got a pinball machine
Quoted from DRDAVE:Retired from corporate life this year at 56. Pursuing my pinball restoration passion fulltime now but have been at it since the mid 1990's.
When you love what you do, you never work a day in your life. =)
www.pinballdoctor.com
Until it becomes your bread and butter.
I wish you well. I am enjoying my retirement time immensely.
Quoted from Budman:For all of you who are retired....did you have a plan of what you were going to do after calling it quits or did you just wing it? I’m getting close with no idea what I would do to fill my day. I think I need a purpose/ reason to get out of bed each day.
No plan. I built airplanes, was good at what I did, and after 30 years in aircraft, I had some work I really enjoyed.
At 61.5 I was laid off. At 9am I was employed. At 9:05 am I was being walked out the door.
The first year stank as I was getting adjusted with reduced income and dealing with the health care challenges the U.S. offers.
And then I got a pinball machine. It has been an interesting five year ride.
I’m thinking about perhaps volunteering at our local no-kill animal shelter for something a little different to do.
You have to find something you can be passionate about. Sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee every day gets old real fast.
My sister-in-took up tennis while still in her 60s. She is 81 now and still hammering those tennis balls and going to tennis tournaments. Covid has been a challenge for her.
If you are someone who worked 6-7 days a week for years, retirement was a big adjustment.
Quoted from seeburg220:I spent the first 6 months traveling across the U.S. in a 1978 GMC motorhome I had fixed up. 27 states. Landed in Florida and enjoyed year round sunshine and got a pt job at a small airport to stay busy. In essence, I winged it. No regrets![quoted image]
I have always liked those GMC motorhomes. They looked very stable while going down the highway while the Winnebagos were rocking from side to side.
Which engine does yours have? 455 or 403?
What kind of gas mileage? 8 miles per gallon?
Quoted from seeburg220:Once they were gone through, they were very stable. However, when I bought this one, like so many others, it was a nightmare to drive. I almost wrecked driving home from Ohio after I bought it. It was only after I had Jeff at Sirum GMC in Okeechobee, FL and his crew work on it, that it became a dream to drive.
I had the 403. The 455 was stopped mid-production in 1977, unfortunately. The 403 did okay, but it could have used fuel injection. I had forgotten how smelly a Quadrajet carb could be. Mileage 8mpg, like they all are.
I sold it in Florida, because I didn't have a garage to keep it in and the sun down there is brutal on fiberglass. I wish I would have kept it. I own an '08 Winnebago now, and while it's more comfortable and bigger, it's not as fun to drive. I may get another GMC someday.
footnote: here's one like mine, but a 1977. I cried when they crashed it....
I’m crying, too. Sad. Hollywood.
Quoted from o-din:Although I'm feeling very healthy despite all the vices, and I certainly have it easy and have made the best of it, this was never my dream.
Fullerton is one of the nicest cities most anybody could want to live in, but I spent most of my first 18 years trying to find a way out of here and live near the beach so I could surf at will. When I finally did, despite all the hard work, I surfed my ass off. Sometimes three or four sessions a day and on into the evening. Seems like a distant memory now.
Perhaps if I got a Mousin' Around I might be more content?
[quoted image]
I wish I had your uninsulated, bare wall garage and that nice Cali weather.
Quoted from RWH:Exactly and while we do have a good amount each in 401 savings we can't just assume we'll die before say 72, we have to plan for the long haul and at $1,800+ alone for her and just general living costs it will get ate up within a decade or so.
When I turned 65 I got on Medicare. Medicare Part A costs nothing and covers very little. Part B, which costs $144.00 month; You don’t have to buy it but you a fool if you don’t.
But Part B, while it covers more than just Part A, is still limited. So, you need to buy Part C which is private insurance you buy. Part C is subsidized by the Federal Govt. My cost is 122.00 per month.
The insurance companies come courting you when you approach 65 because the Govt. subsidy pay them every month like clock work.
With Medicare your annual deductible is $184.00 per year.
So, with my Part B costing $144.00 month and Part C costing me $122.00 per month for a total I am spending $266.00 per month for full medical coverage and with only a $184.00 deductible.
Contrast that with Obamacare for $ 220.00 per month and a yearly $7500.00 deductible. So, if you really need Obamacare and get sick the first $10,000.00 per year is on you. This makes Medicare a screaming bargain.
The downside is prescription drugs . If you want drug coverage expect to pay around $100.00 month for the coverage, whether you use it or not.
All in all, because of healthcare costs, I never have been as happy as the day I turned 65. It was like someone lifted the weight off of Atlas’s shoulders.
Quoted from sulli10:LOL all the major milestones one hits in life if they are fortunate :
18 (Draft card, could vote and we could legally drink...well back in the day)
21 (more important now than in the past, you were an adult)
25 (Quarter Century, closer to 30 than 20 ugh!)
30 (do not trust anyone over 30)
40 (life begins at 40)
50 ( the new 40)
62 (Social Security eligible )
65 ( Medicare eligible thank god, closer to 70 than 60...F me!)
Tough time to retire with COVID going. Got all the time to do what you want but can not go anywhere to do it....
Stay safe
You left out 16. ( Driver's license ).
.................21 ( buy alcohol---legally )
13-18 ( Talking 'bout my generation. Hope I die before I get old ). We 60s' kids were a bunch of cheeky little bastards 
Quoted from ReadyPO:One of the best benefits of my military service is the health care. Since most of my career is as a National Guardsman, full retirement health care does not kick in until age 60, but from 60 to 65 its 100% covered with just minimum deductibles and after that, a wrap around with Medicare Part A and Part B. While I am still active, it is pretty cheap, but in the "grey" area (from retirement to age 60), its a premium plan - however, you can enroll at ANY TIME, should the need arise. For that period, I will go back on my full time employer's insurance.
I tell all the young soldiers the health care is the best deal that comes with a full military retirement, but it's hard to them to think that far out.
Since many people are not veterans, I did not mention my VA healthcare. It just looked like some items needed a little clearing up. Having VA healthcare is nice benefit. Plus, I live one mile from Bob Dole Regional Medical Center ( If I can't get them on the phone I just drive over )
My brother-in-law stayed the full 20 in the Nat'l Guard. He gets government medical, the company he retired from pays for full retirement medical benefits, and he gets Medicare. But yet, he kept saying Obamacare would not work ( in a way he has been right. Obamacare in its current form does not do much except for people with pre-existing conditions).
My sister-in-law is the same way. My brother (deceased) retired from the Navy; He was given an opportunity to buy some kind of healthcare policy. My sister-in-law is golden. She has that policy, she has the govt. Tri-care, and social security. She said the same thing. Obamacare would not work. She came down with Stage 4 breast cancer. All the drugs, all the doctors, the hospitals never cost her a penny.
I started paying attention, and in my experience, everybody who said Obamacare would not work all had solid gold health care without any kind of worry. Sort of like I got mine, but you can go screw yourself.
5 years ago I kept hearing Obamacare was going to go away and be replaced "with something great". I'm still waiting for something great.
Everybody should thank the late John McCain or there would be nothing at all.
If I had it to do over again, when I left the Navy, I would have signed up for the Reserves. But I was young and dumb and did not wanting anyone telling me how to cut my hair (complete idiocy on my part).
EDIT: To be elgible for VA healthcare, you have to have one full calendar year of close to poverty wages to be accepted. I was laid off from my good paying job in June. The money I made in the previous 6 months made me ineligible. So I had to wait for the next year for my annual wage to be low enough for the VA to let me in. It was 18 months of Obamacare, biting my fingernails and hoping I did not become ill.
Quoted from zr11990:I go to work every day and deal with scumbags pushing cars that I finance myself and maybe they will pay and maybe not
Sounds like you are selling cars for a living. And a big part of the day can be "just looking out the window". Yes? I had a tote lot for 3 years. It is a tough business and an entire different universe of people to deal with; Everybody needs a car and has no money; And they think you are made of it. It sucks when you have to go out a repossess a car.
nd
Tough love here: You and your wife need to find something you both can be passionate about: Together. Does not matter much what it is.
You have zero pins in your collection and hang on a pinball site. Go buy a pinball machine, maybe? If you have room in your office, place a pin in there. It will give you something to do besides looking out the window waiting for the next prospect.
If a pin won't do it for you, Look for a square dance club. I did that years ago and it can be a lot of fun; You don't have to be good at it. Just be willing to try. It used to not cost much and you will meet people. And it is good exercise.
Quoted from JohnnyPinball007:I recommend getting a credit card that has really good cash rewards. Pay it off every month, and you end up with free money to spend, safety of not carrying cash, and protections if you need to charge back anything.
Discover card user since 1991. With a Visa for those times a shop will not take Discover. For the convenience. In today's environment it is hard to move around unless you carry a couple of hundred. The card gets rid of the hassle.
I might be a little looser in the grocery store, but the same principal applies. I know what I have in the bank. I have paying interest. The card gets paid off every month.
Quoted from o-din:"Warning for smoking"
Yeah, then I can start running 10Ks again. haha. They sure have gotten expensive. Like it's some kind of luxury or something.
I smoked to 46 years, starting at age 13 or 14. I vaped my way out of it and my last smoke was in June 2013. I put down the vape battery about 6-7 months after that. MY GF quit cold turkey two years before me.
But the last ten years I was lighting up, I rolled my own with an injector machine. They were costing me around $1.25-$1.50 per pack. My GF was also a smoker at the time and saw the money is was saving and started rolling her own, too.
There are all kinds of injectors. I used this one. Don't knock it until you try it.
Oh yes, Congress was taking heat from the tobacco companies from the tax angle and jacked a one pound of cigarette tobacco from a $12.00 price to $50.00 for one pound. But they left pipe tobacco alone so I went out with smoking RYO pipe tobacco. I don't what it is today.
Quoted from MrBally:Martin Milner's other big series, harder to find reruns though....
Get a Roku controller. Search "Route 66". All for seasons are there. Some at the free sites. Some pay for sites.
Quoted from yzfguy:I don't think square dancing is for everyone.... Nevermind during a pandemic!
Yeah, I was not thinking about Covid when I wrote that. And I realize square dancing is not for everyone.
I just trying to move the needle a little bit. Go bowling. Take up tennis. Find something besides cars for fun. Anything that gets your ass up in the air and around people ( yeah, I know, Covid ). Join a gun club. Take piano lessons; You might not be worth a crap but learning how to read music and trying to learn the piano will keep the mind busy. Get a dog and head off to the dog park and meet people and talk about your dog.
I'll close with this. For anybody: Don't knock until you try it.
Quoted from bluespin:Once we’re past covid, join a gym and take an exercise class. See if your city, or one nearby, offers free or cheap exercise classes. Good way to meet people your own age.
I've been waiting for this, John. I want to start swimming to exercise something besides my my flipping fingers.
Quoted from xsvtoys:Yes, its a bit of a running joke that all those people living in the immediate beach area as well as the police department seems to forget we are way out here. Even though plainly in the city limits.
You are right, I remember Westminster Mall was really a cool place in the 80s and also into the 90s. It is a sad, sad shell of itself now. It was mostly empty even before CV hit. Most of the big anchor stores are gone. And most of the smaller stores inside are gone as well. There is a big Target on the front side now that is the main thing that keeps it alive. I believe they will soon be starting another high density housing project on the back side of the mall. We have those all over the place now. If you haven't been to HB in 10 years or more, you would not believe it if you saw it now.
Simon Properties owns lots of malls. Simon bought J.C. Penney's to keep an anchor store in their malls.
I was around before the malls gutted main streets all over the country.
With all the homeless out in LA and San Fransisco ( if I can believe what I see on youtube) I can see high density housing projects coming. Especially with Cali's to-the-moon housing prices.
I hope they do it better than what happened with Pruitt-Igoe in St. Louis years ago. If you build them but don't maintain them then consider them a sop to the construction companies.
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=picher+igo+st+.louis&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
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