[quote=svelte]Reading your posts lately flu, you and I think a lot alike.
Our goal net worth is very similar, we’ve just chosen different paths for getting there.
Like you, the main reason I’m not going to retire before 65 (unless the cards happen to fall that way) is that I would prefer to stay under the work insurance until Medicare kicks in, and I’d just end up doing many of the things I’m already doing at work and getting paid for it. I don’t see myself sitting at home like a hermit, so I’d go out and interact – just like I’m doing at work. I enjoy my work, they pay me well, so why not stay awhile longer?
I took a few weeks off recently (too close to my caps!) and found that a lot of chores got offloaded to me from other family members (grocery shopping, drop off/pick up kids, errands, etc)…not exactly how I had envisioned spending my retirement. I’ll stay at work and get paid, thank you!
BTW, a co-worker recently pointed out to me that COBRA could be used to retire at 63.5 and still stay covered…hmmmm…[/quote]
Yes, medical and insurance is going to be challenging. For me, I’m going to have to have expensive procedures all the way from now until I’m dead. Same goes for my kid, that has the exact same thing. The medical plans offered via covered california just suck donkey butt in what they don’t cover, even if I were to buy the most expensive plans. And despite what people say, no it’s not as simply as going to TJ to get medical care for non routine things. That’s actually where the bulk of the need to generate $150k-200k/year in passive income is for. At least 1/2 of that will simply be for medical care that I will most likely be paying out of pocket. $25k for a very involved upper, lower, capso GI exam. the capso camera pill itself is a $900 disposable camera. Out of pocket, it’s about $25k/visit for GI and $25k/visit for MRI. Fortunately, for now, I only need to do them each 1 per year. Kid will probably need to do the same, so that’s another $25k/$25k per year. So $100k/year at least in medical expenses, and that’s with after tax dollars, and assuming no long term care, or hospice, or at home nursing, etc that comes up.. I’m not counting on medicare being around or providing enough coverage for me.
That’s why I sort of chuckle whenever someone says “tax the rich more” and those taxes materializes in taxing my W2 more. Do people really think $200k/year is living a luxurious life? I think the truth is, most people are totally out of touch of how expensive things are if you get sick, if it’s debilitating, and you’re not able to work. Those people are in a rude awakening when they get sick themselves and are financially unprepared. It’s not even a question of IF, it’s simply a question of when.
There’s a method to all this madness financial planning and calculated risk taking when you have no choice during your wealth building or accumulation phase, and there’s an equally important wealth preservation phase that often people forget once you’ve gotten there, to protect against losing it all. For me it’s not about all stocks, all bonds, all real estate, or all cash. It’s about distributing and planning against any single point of financial failure. In case we have a stock market meltdown, in case we have a real estate meltdown, in case we have inflation overrun that kills cash, For the same reason, having the foot in the door for everything also allows one to take advantage of any unexpected upside. For me, I’ve never been able to build anything from a one-hit, one-hand wonder. I simply don’t have that luck. And looking around, I suspect neither do most other people.
