Retreat! Part 2

[darkemeralds]

Cross-posted to Google+

Melinda, the adviser at ING who manages the deferred compensation portfolio for my employer (and who is therefore very busy helping hundreds of us late Baby Boomers prepare to retire), is a sharp, savvy woman.

The last guy I went to was at least fifteen years my junior. His office featured studio portraits of his lovely wife and several handsome matching kids, as well as prominent insignia of his religious convictions. I'm not sure he could actually see the likes of me, and he certainly couldn't see my point of view on life any better than I could see his. His financial advice, unsurprisingly, bore little relationship to my wishes and none to my strengths or talents.

Melinda, on the other hand, said, "Yeah, you work [in the World's Tallest Basement] for twenty, twenty-five years, and that's it, you've had it, you're burnt out. And yet you're still active, fit and healthy, and you want to enjoy life while it's still enjoyable."

Well, yes, Melinda. That's it exactly. Thanks for sayin'.

I don't have final figures yet, and nobody's pretending that I'll be able to retire like a queen. Unlike so many Americans, however, I have a retirement fund, and I have access to a full coverage health plan whose monthly premium will be no more than the rent on a modest apartment.

So really, all I have to do is scale back by one modest rent, and retirement is within my sights!

Comments

[lyr]

Melinda sounds very helpful indeed, and it's good to hear that your retirement plans are going forward!

[darkemeralds]

I'm beginning to believe! \o/

[silk_knickers]

Both of my parents retired "early" and neither regrets it *at all*.

[darkemeralds]

Thank you for the positive news. I'm realizing that nothing is ever certain (well, except that one will die eventually), and that I need to act based on the best promptings of my combined inclinations and information.

[executrix]

Also, just because you won't be working 60 hours a week in Some Basement or Other doesn't mean you won't be doing any gainful activity--I bet I could get you freelance assignments in a heartbeat.

[darkemeralds]

Really? Wow! Like...doing what?

Seriously. I don't have a clue! Tell me more.

[executrix]

I edit a newsletter for a company called the Civic Research Institute that publishes hard-copy newsletters of maximum tedium in a variety of social science areas, and most of them have literature review columnists who don't necessarily have to have any background in the field, just have enough academic background to be familiar with reading stuff that isn't People Magazine.

[darkemeralds]

Good to know! I'm not sure I'm capable, but the idea raises a whole host of possibilities in my mind. Thanks!

[executrix]

Also, I bet you could get a couple of $10,000-$20,000 consulting gigs a year--obviously not enough to maintain a posh office and staff, but enough to pay some bills.

[darkemeralds]

This world of consulting and freelancing is completely outside my public-service experience. I mean, I've been on the owner side, but not on the contractor side. Very interesting!

[executrix]

Sorry, I replied before and the connection conked out on me...we could take this to PM so you don't have to disclose personal info, or I always have lots of phone minutes and could do a phone date with "30+ Years of Freelancing and Haven't Starved Yet" tips n'tricks.

[darkemeralds]

I will take you up on this! I've got a few more weeks of information gathering to do on finances and timing, and when my path is a little clearer, I would love to pick your brain some more.

You have my email address, don't you? bigamethystring at gmail dot com.

[executrix]

I actually did not have that addy, so thanks! I put it on the Rolodex card (so much for my techspertise).

One thing I've learned: unless you actually phone someone who is in the middle of fighting off a barrel of man-eating seals* at that very moment, people LIKE having their brains picked, because it makes them feel smart and authoritative, which people always like feeling but often don't.

Awww--this is DW so I can't use my new Sean Maher Playboy Club icon which I uploaded to my LJ.



*This ACTUALLY HAPPENED to one of the saints in The Golden Legend

[darkemeralds]

I've read so-so-to-bad reviews of The Playboy Club, but I watched the first two episodes and am really enjoying the show so far! It's exciting to see Sean playing so much to type!

[executrix]

I don't even drink, so I don't have to worry about dying of alcohol poisoning if I drink every time Brenda says "chocolate bunny" but I have to say that, possibly because I am trying to compose my TV Snark review, the viewing time passes fairly quickly.

I think I'm going to break down and do Yuletide this year, so perhaps I should *start* drinking to nerve myself to offer TPC.

Once again I am in the situation of "2500 word PWP almost finished! All I need is the sex!"--karmageddon had a Playboy Club prompt for Fandom Free-for-All that I'm almost done with.

[darkemeralds]

Chapeaux.

[llaras]

Gah. Just thinking about the future makes me sick.

[llaras]

Um. Heh. Sorry. I meant that in a kind of sarcastic way, but it came out kind of bitter. *hands*

I blame the internet! Doesn't it know what I mean! :-)

[darkemeralds]

Hee! I know what you mean, though, and I can't say I feel my best thinking too far in advance either. Too many unknowns, and I like comfort, dammit. Comfort.

[tehomet]

Very good news. \o/ \o/ \o/

My dad really loved his job and loved the place he worked too. He retired early. And was happy about it. So... yeah. Even if you love your job, seems like early retirement is the way to go.

a full coverage health plan whose monthly premium will be no more than the rent on a modest apartment.

OT but crikey! That's how much health insurance costs in the US?! Horrors. Mine costs around a week's wages per annum.

[darkemeralds]

I was quoted a figure of roughly $700 a month to maintain my vision, dental, and medical insurance. My pension plan allows me to remain part of the very large group policy that's carried by my employer for its active employees--i.e., the one I'm currently covered by as part of my job--so this is considered an excellent deal. A bargain, practically. A self-employed individual on an individual plan would pay at least twice that for this kind of coverage.

That $700 is not the cost of health care, just health care insurance, which doesn't cover anything at all until you've racked up and paid the deductible of, I think, $500 a year. When it does pay, it covers 75% to 90% of the doctor's or dentist's bill. The remaining "co-pay" amount can be quite difficult to manage.

This is the single most powerful cause of the decline of the American economic engine, in my opinion: nothing stifles creativity and innovation like the fear of leaving your entrenched job, and nothing makes people more afraid to leave their job than the prospect of not being able to afford healthcare.

I am keenly aware of how lucky I am to be in the situation I'm in, and even so, assuming that payment will pose a financial restriction that will limit all my choices in the future.

It's a shocking state of affairs.

[tehomet]

It *is* shocking. That is terrible! And - I gather - that in America, one can't really get looked at by an emergency department in a hospital unless one has private health insurance, generally speaking. In Ireland (and in great swathes of Europe), private health insurance saves a significant bit of time on waiting lists and means one has a private room in the hospital rather than a bed in a ward. It's well worth having but it's not a crucial expense, as such. It makes me wonder what the heck your government is doing with your taxes.

This is the single most powerful cause of the decline of the American economic engine, in my opinion: nothing stifles creativity and innovation like the fear of leaving your entrenched job, and nothing makes people more afraid to leave their job than the prospect of not being able to afford healthcare.

I can totally see how this would be so.

[darkemeralds]

It makes me wonder what the heck your government is doing with your taxes

1. Iraq
2. Afghanistan
3. Corporate welfare

[tehomet]

O.o

[executrix]

tehomet: Awww, they'll see you in an emergency room if you don't have insurance, but then they'll send you a whacking great bill and possibly foreclose on your mortgage (unless they have to get in line behind the bank).

emeraldsedai: is the $700/mo. just COBRA, though? Because then after 18 months you'll need individual coverage. And if they say they provide retiree health coverage, it is perfectly legal--and frequently happens--for them to later say, "Hey, we changed our minds, we're going to reduce or eliminate our contribution."

FWIW, I'm 58 so several years older than you are, and I pay about $9,000 a year for an HMO with a $100 emergency room deductible, $30 copay for a physician visit, and a $300/day hospital copay.

[darkemeralds]

It's not COBRA, as far as I understand it. I can keep it till Medicare cuts in. The rates are almost guaranteed to go up every year, however, and they probably do have contractual clauses that let them cut me off or whatever.

Your plan sounds pretty reasonable. But isn't it crazy that we think that's reasonable?

[executrix]

Good work having retiree health benefits! They are a unicorn.

I'm in a constant state of Grump because I need $20k a year just to pay my real estate taxes and health insurance, and that's before I pay any *income* taxes or, you know, pay the gas bill or go to yard sales or buy food.

[darkemeralds]

Property and income taxes are a real consideration, though they don't bother me as much in principle as the health insurance does. Here in Portland my admittedly high property taxes support a really nice city to live in and really good drinking water, and good planning and urban design and lots of bikeways and stuff.

Also, my particular property taxes are controlled--my dumpy little house is in a dumpy little neighborhood "enterprise zone" and capped taxes have contributed significantly to the diversity of home ownership around here, so it's a good place for me to just stay.

[tehomet]

I currently make about nine grand a year (as I'm on an incentivised career break from the public service and get paid a small stipend), and I can afford private health insurance, which makes all those things (emergency room visits, GP visits, stays in hospital) free.

tehomet: Awww, they'll see you in an emergency room if you don't have insurance, but then they'll send you a whacking great bill and possibly foreclose on your mortgage (unless they have to get in line behind the bank).

Oh, lovely! And then once foreclosed upon, since in the US there's, from what I hear, no safety net (little or no homeless services and feck all social welfare), one can look forward to living on the pavement. Or sidewalk. Or whatever. Nice.

I've actually been to the States a fair few times and it is always unsettling seeing the huge prevalence of homeless people. In the richest country in the world!

[executrix]

Where your treasure is laid up, there too your heart will be--right now, the government is controlled by people who believe in "anarchy plus the constable" and deprive the government of tax revenue in order to stop it from having any safety net programs. And, of course, all of the wealth accrued in the last few decades went to a handful of plutocrats. There's no provision for products and services that the private sector doesn't think are profitable enough, and no controls on the two warring superpowers: health insurers and pharmaceutical companies.

[darkemeralds]

Well summed up, if rather bleak.

[darkemeralds]

The whole incentivised career break thing just fascinates me. You're one of at least three people in Europe I'm familiar with who is in this situation. It's like a sabbatical (to my eyes, anyway) and makes so much sense. You were called to look after your father, your system afforded you the time and support to perform that sacred duty, and to rest afterward as needed.

There are no human beings left in the American workforce, just automatons. That's the perception and the goal, as far as I can tell.

We are the richest country in the world because we have a very small number of people and corporations who have unimaginable wealth and are the bullies in the playground who aren't gonna share no matter what.

I'd honestly leave if I could.

[kis]

I'd heard you say this before of course, but it's still brilliant news! How many more months now? Eee! Months!!!

[darkemeralds]

Somewhere between 16 and 36. I should have some actual numbers in a couple of weeks, and then I can set a date.

I'm pretty excited.