susana1954
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Post by susana1954 on Mar 18, 2022 9:36:14 GMT -5
I talked with a LTC broker a few years ago, and LTC--or at least the ones he was showing me, which were from some of the top firms--isn't set up the way it used to be. Instead of the company paying 100% for as long as you are in the nursing home, there is a bucket of $$$ that you drew against. You couldn't use the entire bucket either--it was more like co-insurance, set up so that you privately paid part of it . . . probably from retirement assets and SS. And it wasn't cheap either.
My major problem was DH. If he needed care, there wouldn't be enough money to fund him and pay premiums for me so the policy would have to lapse. He was uninsurable. So I saved the $$$ in retirement accounts and hoped for the best.
DH ended up needing care, which I provided by myself. People act like home health care and/or hospice help in situations like this; they don't. They did bathe DH and monitored his vitals. Hospice also provided supplies. But I even had to figure out a way to get the drugs from the pharmacy that they were paying for . . . and they wouldn't give us more than a week at a time so that chore was constant. Don't get me wrong: I appreciated what I did get, but it is in no way the same thing as a home health care aide.
It was tough, and I wouldn't have made it much longer. I had, in fact, hired someone to help one day a week, but they never got to start since he died 3 weeks after going into hospice. But I worried constantly about money as well as the situation.
I think taking care of a spouse is harder than taking care of a parent in terms of finances. If a parent sells the house and spends everything on LTC, that is life. But a spouse can be left basically impoverished, at least in comparison to the middleclass lifestyle he/she had been living. It is really scary!
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pulmonarymd
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Post by pulmonarymd on Mar 18, 2022 10:06:15 GMT -5
You have no idea about what I have seen. My MIL had dementia, fell, broke her hip, and needed care at home before she wound up in a nursing home. My wife is still angry with her father over the situation. My FIL had a few years of failing health, refused our pleas to get home health care, had a bad fall, and went downhill from there. My wife went there almost every day after work to bring him food and to see what he needed. He was angry she would not quit her job to take care of him, and I expect he really wanted to move in with him. Between that and what I see at my job, I am well aware of what the system is like. I am sorry, but expecting taxpayers to pay for care so a family can pass down wealth is abusive to the taxpayers. Reforming the tax system is a different topic. But for every person who is "abused" by the system, there are others who take advantage of it. I have seen people refuse to apply for Medicaid for a family member because the kids are living in the house, forcing a nursing home to eat the cost month after month. Yet they still have to pay for the patients care, and they cannot just discharge them to an unsafe environment. The system is broken. Our legislators need to fix it. Good luck with that. It's easy to say when your family has plenty. And my mom fell and broke her back on her birthday. I had classes out of town all day, and was supposed to go to a networking thing there that night. My brother, who lived 0.6 miles away from her, was supposed to actually visit "our" mother for her birthday and to check on her, but didn't. She had been laying on the hardwood floor for most of the day. It's a good thing I skipped the networking thing, but it wasn't good for my job prospects. Again, making unsupported assumptions about me. You have no idea what I do or do not have or had to go through. You are assuming that because I am a physician that I have no worries. You have no idea where I started. My wife has a deadbeat brother. All of the responsibility for her parents fell on her shoulders.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Mar 18, 2022 10:30:38 GMT -5
It's easy to say when your family has plenty. And my mom fell and broke her back on her birthday. I had classes out of town all day, and was supposed to go to a networking thing there that night. My brother, who lived 0.6 miles away from her, was supposed to actually visit "our" mother for her birthday and to check on her, but didn't. She had been laying on the hardwood floor for most of the day. It's a good thing I skipped the networking thing, but it wasn't good for my job prospects. Again, making unsupported assumptions about me. You have no idea what I do or do not have or had to go through. You are assuming that because I am a physician that I have no worries. You have no idea where I started. My wife has a deadbeat brother. All of the responsibility for her parents fell on her shoulders. So you don't have plenty? Just because you start from humble beginnings doesn't prevent one from getting a let them eat cake attitude afterward. In fact, there seems to be a preponderance of I got mine, IDGAF about the rest among that group. (Talking in general here.) At least your wife was able to avoid quitting her job. And, y'all probably wouldn't have had any financial issues had she chosen to quit anyway. Our family of 4 went to living on a $35k salary. I know there's assholes in the world, but why do the responsible ordinary people always have to bear the brunt? We can't afford to continually punish all the people who make good decisions. It disincentivizes making good decisions. Do you think it's a good idea to disincentive saving?
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Opti
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Post by Opti on Mar 18, 2022 10:31:13 GMT -5
I talked with a LTC broker a few years ago, and LTC--or at least the ones he was showing me, which were from some of the top firms--isn't set up the way it used to be. Instead of the company paying 100% for as long as you are in the nursing home, there is a bucket of $$$ that you drew against. You couldn't use the entire bucket either--it was more like co-insurance, set up so that you privately paid part of it . . . probably from retirement assets and SS. And it wasn't cheap either. My major problem was DH. If he needed care, there wouldn't be enough money to fund him and pay premiums for me so the policy would have to lapse. He was uninsurable. So I saved the $$$ in retirement accounts and hoped for the best. DH ended up needing care, which I provided by myself. People act like home health care and/or hospice help in situations like this; they don't. They did bathe DH and monitored his vitals. Hospice also provided supplies. But I even had to figure out a way to get the drugs from the pharmacy that they were paying for . . . and they wouldn't give us more than a week at a time so that chore was constant. Don't get me wrong: I appreciated what I did get, but it is in no way the same thing as a home health care aide. It was tough, and I wouldn't have made it much longer. I had, in fact, hired someone to help one day a week, but they never got to start since he died 3 weeks after going into hospice. But I worried constantly about money as well as the situation. I think taking care of a spouse is harder than taking care of a parent in terms of finances. If a parent sells the house and spends everything on LTC, that is life. But a spouse can be left basically impoverished, at least in comparison to the middleclass lifestyle he/she had been living. It is really scary! LTC is nursing home level care. An HHA is the lowest on the totem pole and best for someone who only needs assistance with daily living tasks. They are not a nurse and not certified to get meds nor order them. In bad situations it is usually best if things are set up when a patient is in a Rehab or hospital using social workers who can explain the tradeoffs. I think most people have no idea what healthcare workers actually do and who is licensed to do what. And things will vary too depending on what provider you use for hospice or nursing care, etc. Working in a hybrid facility has given me an education into what is possible and also what is probable. I would agree with you that taking care of a spouse is more problematic than taking care of a parent, especially from a financial standpoint.
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bean29
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Post by bean29 on Mar 18, 2022 10:51:30 GMT -5
For my fil, with my wife’s employee discount, it was $22/hr for in home care. Before he finally acquiesced, it cost $14k for the last month. Assisted living had 4 levels of care, ranging from $4400-$5900/month, depending on needs for a 1 bedroom apartment. He got meals and utilities except for a phone. Transportation to doctors appointments and other outings. He died after 1.5 months. We sold his condo for $250k, clearing $225k. He could have lived there for years without touching his SS and pension. The amenities were great. He would have had social interaction with people of his generation, instead of sitting in his condo by himself or with an aide, waiting for my wife to stop by after work for an hour. As I said, money gives you options. If he would have listened to us and been willing to plan, his last year would have been better and he may not have suffered as much. He fell 8 times in 6 months before he saw the light. These numbers are all from December 2020-April 2021. This is exactly what I am thinking with my Mom. I have not personally visited any facilities yet, but the report they did on my Mom said they thought she had mild depression. I thought yeah, I think she is a little down. I try to call daily, and stop by a few times a week, and so does my DB. This week one of my niece's visited with her kids (we are stepping up our game, so to speak). But if she is in an independent living facility, she should have more opportunities for socializing. She goes out now, to Bible Study, Stations of the Cross, Christian Women's events etc, But we are a bit nervous about her driving if she is beginning to have memory issues. Also some of her friends that are still living on their own may be having issues too. We will see. Mom has a few small annuities, a modest pension, SS and the value of her house. I would imagine it would be used up in about 2 years. For now, I think she will be happier in her home.
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pulmonarymd
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Post by pulmonarymd on Mar 18, 2022 11:00:17 GMT -5
Again, making unsupported assumptions about me. You have no idea what I do or do not have or had to go through. You are assuming that because I am a physician that I have no worries. You have no idea where I started. My wife has a deadbeat brother. All of the responsibility for her parents fell on her shoulders. So you don't have plenty? Just because you start from humble beginnings doesn't prevent one from getting a let them eat cake attitude afterward. In fact, there seems to be a preponderance of I got mine, IDGAF about the rest among that group. (Talking in general here.) At least your wife was able to avoid quitting her job. And, y'all probably wouldn't have had any financial issues had she chosen to quit anyway. Our family of 4 went to living on a $35k salary. I know there's assholes in the world, but why do the responsible ordinary people always have to bear the brunt? We can't afford to continually punish all the people who make good decisions. It disincentivizes making good decisions. Do you think it's a good idea to disincentive saving? We are comfortable. But you seem to believe that I know nothing about how people live. In addition, financial worries are not the only type of problems have. I have prostate cancer. My wife had 6 miscarriages. Those are not a problem to you? No cause of stress? You act like you are the only one to suffer. I remember my father being laid off and having to be retrained for a new job. I will not apologize for my station in life. I worked for it. I gave up 10 years of my life to do this. I think the system sucks. But, it is what we have. So people need to plan for it as it is, not as it should be. If we want it to change we need to elect better representatives.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Mar 18, 2022 11:33:54 GMT -5
So you don't have plenty? Just because you start from humble beginnings doesn't prevent one from getting a let them eat cake attitude afterward. In fact, there seems to be a preponderance of I got mine, IDGAF about the rest among that group. (Talking in general here.) At least your wife was able to avoid quitting her job. And, y'all probably wouldn't have had any financial issues had she chosen to quit anyway. Our family of 4 went to living on a $35k salary. I know there's assholes in the world, but why do the responsible ordinary people always have to bear the brunt? We can't afford to continually punish all the people who make good decisions. It disincentivizes making good decisions. Do you think it's a good idea to disincentive saving? We are comfortable. But you seem to believe that I know nothing about how people live. In addition, financial worries are not the only type of problems have. I have prostate cancer. My wife had 6 miscarriages. Those are not a problem to you? No cause of stress? You act like you are the only one to suffer. I remember my father being laid off and having to be retrained for a new job. I will not apologize for my station in life. I worked for it. I gave up 10 years of my life to do this. I think the system sucks. But, it is what we have. So people need to plan for it as it is, not as it should be. If we want it to change we need to elect better representatives. I'm really sorry about your health issues and your wife's miscarriages. General stress is not the subject of this thread, but stress related to finances(social security) and elderly care. What a couple here are proposing is to pay for Medicaid shortfalls to the detriment of families of marginal means, further exacerbating income and wealth inequality. My personal experiences that Ive shared here are completely related to that subject.
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Opti
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Post by Opti on Mar 18, 2022 11:41:02 GMT -5
Huh. I thought this was a social security thread that drifted into end-of-life issues. Medicaid is a write your representative type of issue IMO. No matter what people opine here about it, it will be decided by those who put bills forth and vote on them.
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pulmonarymd
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Post by pulmonarymd on Mar 18, 2022 11:45:14 GMT -5
We are comfortable. But you seem to believe that I know nothing about how people live. In addition, financial worries are not the only type of problems have. I have prostate cancer. My wife had 6 miscarriages. Those are not a problem to you? No cause of stress? You act like you are the only one to suffer. I remember my father being laid off and having to be retrained for a new job. I will not apologize for my station in life. I worked for it. I gave up 10 years of my life to do this. I think the system sucks. But, it is what we have. So people need to plan for it as it is, not as it should be. If we want it to change we need to elect better representatives. I'm really sorry about your health issues and your wife's miscarriages. General stress is not the subject of this thread, but stress related to finances(social security) and elderly care. What a couple here are proposing is to pay for Medicaid shortfalls to the detriment of families of marginal means, further exacerbating income and wealth inequality. My personal experiences that Ive shared here are completely related to that subject. You made assumptions about me with little basis. My diagnosis and surgery occurred during an incredibly stressful time for me(COVID). My wife had to try to care for me. Her father, being unreasonable, called my wife, and she went to help him do something that his aide could of. She wound up falling off his porch because the aide opened the door as she went to open it, fracturing her thumb, which the required surgery. So we both had to recover from surgery while still ensuring my FIL got care. But sure, money is the only issue to cause stress when dealing with an older person with failing health. Caring for an older person is difficult stressful regardless. My point through all of this has been that having resources gives you options. Not having resources leads to fewer choices. Not sure why you felt the need to attack me and continue to minimize our issues.
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pulmonarymd
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Post by pulmonarymd on Mar 18, 2022 11:48:43 GMT -5
Huh. I thought this was a social security thread that drifted into end-of-life issues. Medicaid is a write your representative type of issue IMO. No matter what people opine about here about it, it will be decided by those who put bills forth and vote on them. Because when to take SS will impact your future health care and economic decisions. Since your benefit increase by 8%/year, you will have almost twice as large a benefit at age 70 than you will at age 62. Looking to the future, it will lose less purchasing power to inflation if you wait, and having more resources when you are 85 and in failing health gives you options. If you have to take it early because of circumstances, do what you have to, but otherwise, from a financial stadpoint, waiting is a better choice.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Mar 18, 2022 11:57:36 GMT -5
I'm really sorry about your health issues and your wife's miscarriages. General stress is not the subject of this thread, but stress related to finances(social security) and elderly care. What a couple here are proposing is to pay for Medicaid shortfalls to the detriment of families of marginal means, further exacerbating income and wealth inequality. My personal experiences that Ive shared here are completely related to that subject. You made assumptions about me with little basis. My diagnosis and surgery occurred during an incredibly stressful time for me(COVID). My wife had to try to care for me. Her father, being unreasonable, called my wife, and she went to help him do something that his aide could of. She wound up falling off his porch because the aide opened the door as she went to open it, fracturing her thumb, which the required surgery. So we both had to recover from surgery while still ensuring my FIL got care. But sure, money is the only issue to cause stress when dealing with an older person with failing health. Caring for an older person is difficult stressful regardless. My point through all of this has been that having resources gives you options. Not having resources leads to fewer choices. Not sure why you felt the need to attack me and continue to minimize our issues. Yes, it is stressful. My assumption was ot that you had no stress but that your issues were not financial. Is that not the case? So, with that information why would you: a. Propose policies that place even more demands upon family caregivers, and b. Support policies that take away options for people?
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Mar 18, 2022 12:00:57 GMT -5
Huh. I thought this was a social security thread that drifted into end-of-life issues. Medicaid is a write your representative type of issue IMO. No matter what people opine here about it, it will be decided by those who put bills forth and vote on them. That's what I was discussing. Discussions like these are what are turned into talking points, and ultimately, policies. Why do you think Russians and Republicans put so much effort into social media?
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pulmonarymd
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Post by pulmonarymd on Mar 18, 2022 12:22:46 GMT -5
You made assumptions about me with little basis. My diagnosis and surgery occurred during an incredibly stressful time for me(COVID). My wife had to try to care for me. Her father, being unreasonable, called my wife, and she went to help him do something that his aide could of. She wound up falling off his porch because the aide opened the door as she went to open it, fracturing her thumb, which the required surgery. So we both had to recover from surgery while still ensuring my FIL got care. But sure, money is the only issue to cause stress when dealing with an older person with failing health. Caring for an older person is difficult stressful regardless. My point through all of this has been that having resources gives you options. Not having resources leads to fewer choices. Not sure why you felt the need to attack me and continue to minimize our issues. Yes, it is stressful. My assumption was ot that you had no stress but that your issues were not financial. Is that not the case? So, with that information why would you: a. Propose policies that place even more demands upon family caregivers, and b. Support policies that take away options for people? My point is 2 fold- People need to plan for the future. Making the best financial decisions gives you options. Delaying taking SS benefits helps to give you options. The current system sucks in many ways, not only financial. I am not in support of options that take care away from people. But I also think taxes will need to go up to support what I believe, and I am willing to pay them. But too many people want something for nothing. In regards to long term care, people need to be contributing to the care to help to decrease the size of the tax increase needed, as healthcare is not the only need. So yes, I believe that their assets should be used to pay for their care. I believe it is only fair. You are assuming I have no financial stress without knowing anything about me, and have discounted my experience when you were challenged. Again, you know nothing about my upbringing, how I paid for medical school, how my wife paid for her degree, and what other financial issues I have. Just because you believe I am "rich"
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Mar 18, 2022 12:38:32 GMT -5
Yes, it is stressful. My assumption was ot that you had no stress but that your issues were not financial. Is that not the case? So, with that information why would you: a. Propose policies that place even more demands upon family caregivers, and b. Support policies that take away options for people? My point is 2 fold- People need to plan for the future. Making the best financial decisions gives you options. Delaying taking SS benefits helps to give you options. The current system sucks in many ways, not only financial. I am not in support of options that take care away from people. But I also think taxes will need to go up to support what I believe, and I am willing to pay them. But too many people want something for nothing. In regards to long term care, people need to be contributing to the care to help to decrease the size of the tax increase needed, as healthcare is not the only need. So yes, I believe that their assets should be used to pay for their care. I believe it is only fair. You are assuming I have no financial stress without knowing anything about me, and have discounted my experience when you were challenged. Again, you know nothing about my upbringing, how I paid for medical school, how my wife paid for her degree, and what other financial issues I have. Just because you believe I am "rich" Challenged with what? Something irrelevant to the topic? My understanding is even bogleheads with $10M stress over money. It's not the same. If you came from humble beginnings, you should know that. My observation is also that many who have struggled to achieve wealth from humble beginnings have even less empathy for others in those circumstances, meanwhile paving the way for their offspring. I don't know if that's the case for you or not. Anyway, I can see we're getting nowhere here.
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Post by minnesotapaintlady on Mar 18, 2022 12:48:18 GMT -5
One of the advantages of being single. It doesn't matter if I have to spend down all my assets for end of life care.
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pulmonarymd
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Post by pulmonarymd on Mar 18, 2022 13:34:51 GMT -5
My point is 2 fold- People need to plan for the future. Making the best financial decisions gives you options. Delaying taking SS benefits helps to give you options. The current system sucks in many ways, not only financial. I am not in support of options that take care away from people. But I also think taxes will need to go up to support what I believe, and I am willing to pay them. But too many people want something for nothing. In regards to long term care, people need to be contributing to the care to help to decrease the size of the tax increase needed, as healthcare is not the only need. So yes, I believe that their assets should be used to pay for their care. I believe it is only fair. You are assuming I have no financial stress without knowing anything about me, and have discounted my experience when you were challenged. Again, you know nothing about my upbringing, how I paid for medical school, how my wife paid for her degree, and what other financial issues I have. Just because you believe I am "rich" Challenged with what? Something irrelevant to the topic? My understanding is even bogleheads with $10M stress over money. It's not the same. If you came from humble beginnings, you should know that. My observation is also that many who have struggled to achieve wealth from humble beginnings have even less empathy for others in those circumstances, meanwhile paving the way for their offspring. I don't know if that's the case for you or not. Anyway, I can see we're getting nowhere here. More assumptions. DId you not see the part where I said I should pay more taxes? People's lives are complicated. You continue to believe I have left a charmed life. I have a son who is a surgical resident and another who is 2 years younger. The younger one owns a condo in DC and has a significantly positive net worth, while the surgeon has a negative net worth due to his loans to the tune of $250k. It will take years for him to catch up to his brother, which may not happen.Yet everyone will assume that the MD is the one who has a higher net worth. This is the same thing in my family. My brother, who has an accounting degree is the one with the beach house, not me, despite living in a more expensive area. I admit I make a good living, but your assumptions on what my lifestyle is and what I sacrificed to get here is insulting. People are frequently in the situations they are in due to both there choices and external factors. Trying to mitigate the effects of external factors is what society should be doing, but there should be a limit to what we do to mitigate bad choices. Unless you think we should subsidize the lifestyle of someone who choices not to work and get high all day.
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Mar 18, 2022 13:54:17 GMT -5
Recently filed my SS yearly statement. The payments vary significantly. I am in the age bracket that full retirement is now 67. There is a big difference between payments at 62 and payments at 70. I'm not clear on what happens Medicare-wise if I choose to retire at 70 for SS. Be sure to sign up for Medicare at 65. It’s not related to time you take SS. I made that mistake, took SS at 66 then signed for Medicare. If over 65 then you pay a penalty every month for rest of your life. Unless you have insurance through a company of over 500 people (think it’s that #}, then you’re not penalized if over 65 when you take Medicare. BUT the company may require you to sign anyway for Medicare at 65 for life?? why on earth?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2022 14:01:08 GMT -5
One of the advantages of being single. It doesn't matter if I have to spend down all my assets for end of life care.
Yep- DS is my only heir and he knows my top financial priority is not outliving my savings. He's fine with that.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Mar 18, 2022 14:05:15 GMT -5
Challenged with what? Something irrelevant to the topic? My understanding is even bogleheads with $10M stress over money. It's not the same. If you came from humble beginnings, you should know that. My observation is also that many who have struggled to achieve wealth from humble beginnings have even less empathy for others in those circumstances, meanwhile paving the way for their offspring. I don't know if that's the case for you or not. Anyway, I can see we're getting nowhere here. More assumptions. DId you not see the part where I said I should pay more taxes? People's lives are complicated. You continue to believe I have left a charmed life. I have a son who is a surgical resident and another who is 2 years younger. The younger one owns a condo in DC and has a significantly positive net worth, while the surgeon has a negative net worth due to his loans to the tune of $250k. It will take years for him to catch up to his brother, which may not happen.Yet everyone will assume that the MD is the one who has a higher net worth. This is the same thing in my family. My brother, who has an accounting degree is the one with the beach house, not me, despite living in a more expensive area. I admit I make a good living, but your assumptions on what my lifestyle is and what I sacrificed to get here is insulting. People are frequently in the situations they are in due to both there choices and external factors. Trying to mitigate the effects of external factors is what society should be doing, but there should be a limit to what we do to mitigate bad choices. Unless you think we should subsidize the lifestyle of someone who choices not to work and get high all day. giphy.com/gifs/chloe-concerned-kaq6GnxDlJaBq
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2022 14:06:17 GMT -5
If over 65 then you pay a penalty every month for rest of your life. Unless you have insurance through a company of over 500 people (think it’s that #}, then you’re not penalized if over 65 when you take Medicare. BUT the company may require you to sign anyway for Medicare at 65 for life?? why on earth? Because otherwise people would wait till they got diagnosed with something serious or got an expensive prescription before signing up. That's called "adverse selection"- sort of like not buying windstorm insurance till after a hurricane is headed towards your city. (Hint: you won't be able to get coverage.) They want currently-healthy people in the insured population, too. I have the cheapest prescription plan I could find because I'm on only one prescription and it would likely be cheaper to self-pay- but at my age it's easy to imagine ending up with more prescriptions.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Mar 18, 2022 14:11:57 GMT -5
Be sure to sign up for Medicare at 65. It’s not related to time you take SS. I made that mistake, took SS at 66 then signed for Medicare. If over 65 then you pay a penalty every month for rest of your life. Unless you have insurance through a company of over 500 people (think it’s that #}, then you’re not penalized if over 65 when you take Medicare. BUT the company may require you to sign anyway for Medicare at 65 for life?? why on earth? Not only that, if you don’t sign up for supplements (like prescription), you get penalized for life as well. I have a year of penalties, because I didn’t sign up for prescription coverage. My prescriptions were cheap, and I didn’t need them. At that time, I was paying $120/year for my meds. When I discovered I was penalized, the next year I got to pay $35/mo (about $3 of tha5 was penalty) for a prescription plan.
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Mar 18, 2022 14:19:07 GMT -5
Challenged with what? Something irrelevant to the topic? My understanding is even bogleheads with $10M stress over money. It's not the same. If you came from humble beginnings, you should know that. My observation is also that many who have struggled to achieve wealth from humble beginnings have even less empathy for others in those circumstances, meanwhile paving the way for their offspring. I don't know if that's the case for you or not. Anyway, I can see we're getting nowhere here. More assumptions. DId you not see the part where I said I should pay more taxes? People's lives are complicated. You continue to believe I have left a charmed life. I have a son who is a surgical resident and another who is 2 years younger. The younger one owns a condo in DC and has a significantly positive net worth, while the surgeon has a negative net worth due to his loans to the tune of $250k. It will take years for him to catch up to his brother, which may not happen.Yet everyone will assume that the MD is the one who has a higher net worth. This is the same thing in my family. My brother, who has an accounting degree is the one with the beach house, not me, despite living in a more expensive area. I admit I make a good living, but your assumptions on what my lifestyle is and what I sacrificed to get here is insulting. People are frequently in the situations they are in due to both there choices and external factors. Trying to mitigate the effects of external factors is what society should be doing, but there should be a limit to what we do to mitigate bad choices. Unless you think we should subsidize the lifestyle of someone who choices not to work and get high all day. you are being bizarrely adversarial here. You and lizard queen did not agree with you on one point, but you had to keep smashing and smashing on her until this inane argument erupted. Chill out, please.
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Opti
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Post by Opti on Mar 18, 2022 14:41:38 GMT -5
Huh. I thought this was a social security thread that drifted into end-of-life issues. Medicaid is a write your representative type of issue IMO. No matter what people opine here about it, it will be decided by those who put bills forth and vote on them. That's what I was discussing. Discussions like these are what are turned into talking points, and ultimately, policies. Why do you think Russians and Republicans put so much effort into social media? The Russians do it so the people will live with what they decide. Putin doesn't canvas the citizens on what to do, he makes up stories to sell what he will do anyway.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Mar 18, 2022 14:56:47 GMT -5
"Economic studies also demonstrate that inheritances, bequests, and intra-family transfers account for more of the racial wealth gap than any other demographic and socioeconomic factor, including education, income, and household structure." cpi.stanford.edu/_media/pdf/journalism/9.16.09%20Race,%20Wealth.htm
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Mar 18, 2022 14:58:17 GMT -5
That's what I was discussing. Discussions like these are what are turned into talking points, and ultimately, policies. Why do you think Russians and Republicans put so much effort into social media? The Russians do it so the people will live with what they decide. Putin doesn't canvas the citizens on what to do, he makes up stories to sell what he will do anyway. I think you misunderstood. They both do it in US social media using bots and paid trolls.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2022 15:14:42 GMT -5
Because when to take SS will impact your future health care and economic decisions. Since your benefit increase by 8%/year, you will have almost twice as large a benefit at age 70 than you will at age 62. Looking to the future, it will lose less purchasing power to inflation if you wait, and having more resources when you are 85 and in failing health gives you options. If you have to take it early because of circumstances, do what you have to, but otherwise, from a financial standpoint, waiting is a better choice. Sadly, I think the people most likely to start it at 62 are those who would benefit most from a bigger monthly check they'd get if they delayed- but they HAVE to file at 62 because they need the income. The only other common reasons I've seen have been ill health (and thus anticipated shorter life expectancy), fear that SS won't be there if they delay, and wanting to delay withdrawing from tax-deferred accounts.
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Post by minnesotapaintlady on Mar 18, 2022 15:19:46 GMT -5
The only other common reasons I've seen have been ill health (and thus anticipated shorter life expectancy), fear that SS won't be there if they delay, and wanting to delay withdrawing from tax-deferred accounts. My reasoning would be thinking I could do better investing it than letting it grow on it's own in the form of increased payout later. But, the discussion here is leading me to believe I'd be pretty hard pressed to do so without considerable risk.
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Mar 18, 2022 15:32:48 GMT -5
The only other common reasons I've seen have been ill health (and thus anticipated shorter life expectancy), fear that SS won't be there if they delay, and wanting to delay withdrawing from tax-deferred accounts. My reasoning would be thinking I could do better investing it than letting it grow on it's own in the form of increased payout later. But, the discussion here is leading me to believe I'd be pretty hard pressed to do so without considerable risk. that is really the tough nut to crack. Which way will work out for you best depends on so many factors. The current uncertainty in the financial world would lead one to think that delaying if you can for a higher payout is a big winwin - but then the government really never actually promises or guarantees anything either, do they? If you put off from 62 to 70....what if they change the metric to your disadvantage? Your whole calculus that led to the decision would be off. There just really isn't anything that is 100% and fool proof. we have to stack little pieces of security up into a wall and hope it holds.
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jerseygirl
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Post by jerseygirl on Mar 18, 2022 15:33:02 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2022 15:36:26 GMT -5
Because when to take SS will impact your future health care and economic decisions. Since your benefit increase by 8%/year, you will have almost twice as large a benefit at age 70 than you will at age 62. Looking to the future, it will lose less purchasing power to inflation if you wait, and having more resources when you are 85 and in failing health gives you options. If you have to take it early because of circumstances, do what you have to, but otherwise, from a financial standpoint, waiting is a better choice. Sadly, I think the people most likely to start it at 62 are those who would benefit most from a bigger monthly check they'd get if they delayed- but they HAVE to file at 62 because they need the income.
The only other common reasons I've seen have been ill health (and thus anticipated shorter life expectancy), fear that SS won't be there if they delay, and wanting to delay withdrawing from tax-deferred accounts. A neighbor told us that he just signed up to take it at 62 because he's unemployed and probably won't be able to work again due to multiple health issues - bad heart, bad lungs, multiple degenerated disks in lower back. He always worked as a construction supervisor and now can barely walk once around the block at a very slow pace. I don't know what he's doing for health insurance as I doubt he can afford Cobra with his former employer and I don't know if he would qualify for Medicaid with his IRA's, two vehicles, a house and such. He's virulently and vocally anti-ACA and anything else he perceives as "liberal". He was very upset when both his parents had to go to assisted living and then skilled nursing, because they waited until that happened to hire an attorney to shelter everything in order for them to get Medicaid and the look-back was already triggered. His retirement planning was seemingly based on getting 1/2 of a large estate but that didn't happen.
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