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

[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.