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Retirement

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Larry View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Larry Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jun 2012 at 1:42am

Depending on what happens to Obamacare will determine a lot regarding health insurance; the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to make a ruling on it this coming week.

 

Regardless, when you turn 65 you will be eligible for Medicare but it is also wise to have some kind of Medicare supplemental insurance, which if you shop around can be reasonable.

 

I really don’t understand Obamacare that much to comment on it but it does seem like a lot of people are against it. Especially the mandate part.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ratdog Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jun 2012 at 7:21am
Originally posted by YooperPoders YooperPoders wrote:

Retirement?  Well, maybe in a couple of years.  Three partial pensions, savings and social security would do it, but still, how will we ever pay for health insurance?  Many people around me continue to work  past retirement age simply because of the health insurance.  Long term care insurance pales in comparison.
 
You're right about that, at least in our case. My wife was able to keep her BC/BS of Florida policy when she took early retirement and it covered both of us BUT it cost $800/month. After 5 years of that, I was eligible for Medicare and stayed with BC/BS for supplemental. That cut a big chunk out of the cost. My wife isn't eligible for Medicare for another year. In comparison, our long term care policy is $5,000/year.
 
-- Steve

Steve, Anne, and Paige the Rat Terrier
2013 Lexus RX 450h Hybrid AWD
2011 RP-177 (aka: The Circus Wagon)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote IPodAlong Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jun 2012 at 8:44am

When I was in college, a recreation degree was being pushed because Americans were going to learn to relax and live as they went instead of waiting for retirement to do it all.  The 4 day work weeks never materialized and the "best" employees are the ones who continue to put work first, not taking their vacation days and working well over 50 hrs a week.  Yes, I was one of those and thought I was doing the right thing but as we age, it starts to take its toll.  Weight, sugar, blood pressure, etc starts to creep up because we don't have time to take care of ourselves.  I think it's a shame that people can no longer afford to retire and the media touts working forever as a good thing.  So older people continue to work (while health deteriorates) to support their kids who can't get a job.  What a cycle!

When some good retirement benefits were going to be cut, I retired at least 3 yrs earlier than I thought I would in order to be grandfathered to those benefits.  And I just knew that within a couple of months, I'd be back at something parttime.  I can tell you that freedom is addictive.  3 yrs later, I'm loving being able to be interested in something and having time to learn about it and pursue it.  So my mental stimulation now comes not from trying to find the best methods to teach kids math, etc but to learn something new outside of that field.  I read the stuff in this Forum and some of it is Greek to me.  But when I decide I'm ready to tackle something in a thread, I start to learn about it and that is stimulating. 
 
Absolutely when you retire, you have to get interested in something.  I am so thankful the internet evolved or it would be so much harder to find out about interests.  Okay, enough.  You struck a nerve there with the retirement thing.
2010 Rp 171
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"No one can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending." -- Anon
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Seanl Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jun 2012 at 9:45am
I turn 50 in two months and I have thought a lot about retirement in the last little while. I don't think that I will be retiring early. I am enjoying my current Job to much. I have changed direction career wise a few times in my life. I am now in a career that I find interesting and fulfilling so I would like to enjoy that for a while. I took a couple of breaks during my life to pursue interests. After I got out of the Canadian Air Force in my early 20's I took my savings and bummed around Texas for about a year with my motorcycle. In my late twenties I went to college and studied something that had nothing to do with my Career. I spent a lot of my 30's working part time and doing a lot of volunteer work . I got married at 39 and settled down a little but even then In my mid forties I went back to school for 18 months to upgrade my Computer Skills. Information Tech is something I have worked at on and off since I got out of the Air Force.

Life is a long journey and I chose to live mine a little different than the norm. Some people don't understand they see me as a failure because I don't make a lot of money and I don't own a lot of stuff. My prize possessions are the Pod and My Jeep and both of them are owned by the bank right now. But I have a very short bucket list and If I died tomorrow I would not have many regrets.  

I have  one  of advantage in that I live in Canada so health care is not an issue our medicare is free and open to all regarless of age or income. By Free I of course mean tax payer paid Wink.

So I think it will be a few more years before I retire, but in my line of work you can do a lot of contract work so I could take a 6 month or a year contract take the pod and go and live somewhere new and exciting. Of course that can only happen when my wife is ready to retire.  
Sean, 2011 Rpod RP-173,2009 Jeep Liberty Rocky Mountain Edition

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 2Peas-n-RPod Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jun 2012 at 11:20am
Originally posted by IPodAlong IPodAlong wrote:

...Weight, sugar, blood pressure, etc starts to creep up because we don't have time to take care of ourselves.  I think it's a shame that people can no longer afford to retire and the media touts working forever as a good thing...I can tell you that freedom is addictive.  3 yrs later, I'm loving being able to be interested in something and having time to learn about it and pursue it.  So my mental stimulation now comes not from trying to find the best methods to teach kids math, etc but to learn something new outside of that field.

Very well said, IPodAlong!! I find that I also have to get away from my teaching field during the summer and pursue other interests away from music. My students are surprised when I tell them that I don't listen to much music during the summer because my brain is totally saturated with it during the school year. Instead, I pick up my camera and immerse myself into photography - I even took an entire summer a few years ago to attend the "Summer Intensive" program at Rocky Mountain School of Photography. Best summer ever!!

Bottom line, you can't retire your mind or body when you retire from your job...keep actively pursuing things that interest you, and keep traveling in the POD to see this amazing world of ours!!
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Larry View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Larry Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Jun 2012 at 2:00pm

Last week I heard on the news that in Spain if a person gets sick on their vacation their employer will not count those sick days as vacation days and that employee will be given new vacation days. It is interesting how employers in different nations handle paid vacation days.

According to CNNMoney.com the U.S. lags behind other countries when it comes to paid vacation days and sick days, and many developed countries mandate that employees take a vacation yearly. Among developed nations only the Canadians and Chinese work more days than the U.S. The Japanese may work longer hours but they get more vacation time than the U.S. and most developed nations also have longer lunch breaks than we do. There is a belief that our work habits are due to the “Puritan work ethic” or Protestant work ethic attributed to Max Weber. Basically it says that hard work is and honor to God which would lead to a prosperous reward.

I remember a divorced woman I used to date who lived on a dairy farm in northeastern Colorado; she got up before the sun everyday to milk cows, bail hay, etc., and then woke her kids and prepared breakfast for them before sending them off to school, and then she would drive more than 60-miles to go to work as a secretary at the clinic where I worked in Sterling, Colorado. She believed that “idle hands are the devils workshop” and felt guilty when she was not doing anything. A lot of Americans just don’t take any vacation time and they won’t retire because they feel needed or relevant working a job on a daily basis.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote this_is_nascar Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jun 2012 at 7:55am
I will retire as soon as possible.  I've seen too many people literly work until they were dead and didn't need to.  Life is to short as far as I'm concerned and working is not considered a fun thing to do for me.  I guess if you love your job, one might be willing to stay at it, but working for the sake of working (when not needing the money, benefits, etc) just doesn't appeal to me.
 
There's too much in the country to see and do.  Why delay that experience by working at a job if you don't have to?
 
"Ray & Connie"

- 2017 R-Pod RP-180
- 2007 Toyota Tacoma TRD-Off Road

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Larry View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Larry Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jun 2012 at 12:12pm

Many of us have heard about that person who wins the lottery jackpot and says “I’m going to continue working.” It is unfortunate that most people work for a paycheck but I guess there are also people who work because they love what they do.

I could make more money by going back to work but I am enjoying retirement too much; as someone else said “freedom is addictive.” And my retirement income is much less than if I were working in my field full-time but I feel it is necessary for me to learn how to live with less.

In my opinion there is a trade-off regardless what we do; married people willingly make sacrifices for each other, people with kids willingly make sacrifices for their kids, single people sacrifice the constant companionship of a significant other, and it is the same with whether we choose to work or retire. The thing is when people willingly make sacrifices they often don’t consider it to be a sacrifice.

Peace and Good Journey to All,

LarrySmile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote YooperPoders Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jun 2012 at 9:27pm
Well said, Larry!!

Roy, Deb and Coco
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tjmeisner Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jun 2012 at 9:14am
I retired June 1st, been busy everyday with the property and we made a couple of r-pod outings.  Leaving before 62 was not in my long term plans, but the company changed and has a policy of discouraging long term employment by tweaking the work schedule and insurance plans, pay rates,etc.  Grew to hate my job, now I'm home when Lynne gets off work and we have weekends together, no regrets.  On the other hand my family doctor is still working at 72, just had brain cancer surgery, first words were "When can I get back to work?"
Gonna wax the pod today, had to stop chainsawing the dead and dying ash trees as there is a burn ban here during the drought,(so much for firewood quarantines, bugs can't read).
Insuranace is more than expected and I thought my generic scripts were all $4.00, not, will get socialist security in October, can hang in there till then, got my ear to the ground for a menial part time job that is enjoyable, definitly will want some work in winter. In the interm life is good.
Tom Meisner The Chicken Ranch East prop.
Lynnette Meisner coop mistress

Fremont, Indiana      Scenery is here, wish you were beautiful.
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