I just got the nod from our financial advisor, and....

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ProjectBazza said:
But I'm at this weird "transitional period" (my term) where I can pull from my finances (over 59-1/2), but I'm too young to go on Medicare, and since I need health insurance from somewhere....
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The need for health insurance has kept me working far longer than I really wanted or needed to. My BIL is a year older than me and asked for a layoff and bought COBRA coverage 18 months out from his Medicare eligibility in March. He said it cost him about 8k out of pocket and was worth every cent.
 
It took me almost a year from the time I first walked into the Dr. office office for my shoulder until surgery. Over a year including post surgery physical therapy
 
BSB67 said:
It took me almost a year from the time I first walked into the Dr. office office for my shoulder until surgery. Over a year including post surgery physical therapy
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Yeah....I agree. I've had arthroscopic surgery on both of my knees (meniscus tears), and I'm familiar with the drill.

I'm trying not to be bummed out about this, as I don't have all of the facts yet, but I have a sneaking suspicion I'm going to be having surgery again sometime in the near(-ish) future, which is going to push-back my retirement.
 
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Uncle Bob said:
The need for health insurance has kept me working far longer than I really wanted or needed to. My BIL is a year older than me and asked for a layoff and bought COBRA coverage 18 months out from his Medicare eligibility in March. He said it cost him about 8k out of pocket and was worth every cent.
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A few years ago I wasn't planning on letting health insurance keep me from retiring, as my wife had good coverage as well (I was going to sign-up on her plan). But then she took a new job, and their health insurance sucks....

As for the BIL, 18 months I could see....But I just turned 60, so I have 5 years before I can sign-up for Medicare!

Just have to wait and see, I guess.
 
I have another few months. I am fortunate to have a pension which includes keeping my health insurance until 65. I am turning 62 in May. Can't wait to finish my 71 Barracuda.

IMG_0799.JPG
 
rklein383 said:
I have another few months. I am fortunate to have a pension which includes keeping my health insurance until 65. I am turning 62 in May. Can't wait to finish my 71 Barracuda.

View attachment 1716354381
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I'm not afraid to admit that I'm somewhat envious of you, and on both accounts- the pension (insurance), and the car!

:thumbsup:
 
ProjectBazza said:
Looks like I've hit a small snag in this plan.

I have bad knees, but relatively good health insurance, thank god. I thought I could get things taken care of right away after the first of the year (one year's max deductions and all that), but it seems I can't get-in to have my knees looked at....really looked at (CAT scan) until mid-March sometime.

And after that comes diagnosis, P/T, and possibly surgery...with more P/T...(yadda, yadda....).

Whoops!

Right now the calendar says I have 90 (working) days to go, but the healthcare providers may put a delay on my original date.

(****!)
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Health care was a major concern for me as well, as I was diagnosed with a rare liver disease (Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC)) on February 6, 2022. This disease has no known cause, treatment or cure. With that said, I go through a barrage of tests, procedures, bloodwork, etc... every 6 months. With a couple of years of collecting results/data my Hepatologist told me I'm in what he calls "routine surveillance" mode. This barrage of testing will continue, from what I understand, for the rest of my life.

Fortunately, I was employed, by Chrylser, in a salaried UAW position which provides a nice pension and awesome medical coverage (in addition to medicare when I turn 65). I retired Novemeber 30, 2024.

My new philosophy on life is "I do what I can, when I can, while I can"!

Prayers that everything works out in your favor
PrayerHands (10).jpg
 
rklein383 said:
I have another few months. I am fortunate to have a pension which includes keeping my health insurance until 65. I am turning 62 in May. Can't wait to finish my 71 Barracuda.

View attachment 1716354381
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Well, dang, I turn 62 in May as well!
But I don't have a 71 Cuda, which is one of my bucket list cars.:BangHead:
 
ProjectBazza said:
A few years ago I wasn't planning on letting health insurance keep me from retiring, as my wife had good coverage as well (I was going to sign-up on her plan). But then she took a new job, and their health insurance sucks....

As for the BIL, 18 months I could see....But I just turned 60, so I have 5 years before I can sign-up for Medicare!

Just have to wait and see, I guess.
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Shitty that you may have to postpone your retirement Jim, but better to be as healthy as you can be first.
 
missing linc said:
Shitty that you may have to postpone your retirement Jim, but better to be as healthy as you can be first.
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Thanks, Randy.

And I agree whole heartedly (take care of your health), and as John Steinbeck once wrote, "The best laid plans of mice and men..."
 
DartGTDan said:
Health care was a major concern for me as well, as I was diagnosed with a rare liver disease (Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC)) on February 6, 2022. This disease has no known cause, treatment or cure. With that said, I go through a barrage of tests, procedures, bloodwork, etc... every 6 months. With a couple of years of collecting results/data my Hepatologist told me I'm in what he calls "routine surveillance" mode. This barrage of testing will continue, from what I understand, for the rest of my life.

Fortunately, I was employed, by Chrylser, in a salaried UAW position which provides a nice pension and awesome medical coverage (in addition to medicare when I turn 65). I retired Novemeber 30, 2024.

My new philosophy on life is "I do what I can, when I can, while I can"!

Prayers that everything works out in your favor View attachment 1716354392
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Thank you!

I have to be honest: I'd not heard of PSC before, ever, so I looked it up....

I sincerely hope you keep "acing" those tests every 6 months, and God Bless!

And Congratulations on your retirement! :thumbsup:
 
Just got a call from the orthopedic office....

They had a last minute cancellation, and I'm going-in for an MRI, both knees, this Wednesday afternoon! Didn't know they could do a "two-fer", but I'll take it.
 
67 and I tore my meniscus in August in a bouncey house being a good grandpa. Got an injection and tried to take it easy and do some massage. What did you do for your knees?
 
69conv said:
67 and I tore my meniscus in August in a bouncey house being a good grandpa. Got an injection and tried to take it easy and do some massage. What did you do for your knees?
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I played hockey my entire life, up until I was 50, and I was (past tense) a pretty strong bike rider. 100-150 mile rides were pretty common for me.

Had arthroscopic surgery on both knees in 2015 (torn meniscus in both), and one "took", the other- not so much, and I've just been living with it. Or trying to, at least...

But it's gotten progressively worse, so they're going to do the MRI to see if I need another arthroscopic procedure, or an entirely new knee.
 
Well, it was fun to think about, at least.....

Thanks to "things beyond our control", we've lost over $55,000 worth of investments in the past two weeks alone, and unless and until "some people" get their **** together and stop the volatility in the market, retiring right now is a fool's errand, plain and simple.

I've busted my *** for 45+ years to get to this point in my life, but some self-important idiots have managed to ****-up my life due to their ******* tariffs, their ******* layoffs, and their basic ******* incompetence.

(****!!!!)
 
ProjectBazza said:
Well, it was fun to think about, at least.....

Thanks to "things beyond our control", we've lost over $55,000 worth of investments in the past two weeks alone, and unless and until "some people" get their **** together and stop the volatility in the market, retiring right now is a fool's errand, plain and simple.

I've busted my *** for 45+ years to get to this point in my life, but some stupid ******* people have managed to ****-up my life due to their ******* tariffs, self-importance, and basic ******* incompetence.

(****!!!!)
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Unfortunately Jim, I have a feeling we will both be in the same boat. I checked my investments this week and it looks like a few more years of slavery for me, unless something changes in the short term.
Been nearly 48 years since I first started working, and I'm ******* tired!
:BangHead::mad::mob::wtf:
 
missing linc said:
On a side note, my knees have been hell for the last two weeks, not happy about that either.
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Sorry to hear about your knees, Randy. Back when I cycled, I had friends who would ride only after they had received a semi-recent cortisone shot. I've always put that off, for no good reason really, but I couldn't take it anymore and had my first shot about 6 weeks ago, and I gotta say: I sure wish I hadn't gained 30+ pounds over the years, as my knee feels so good I feel like I could hop back on my road bike and whip out another century!

Of course the rest of my body couldn't do this anymore....

Hope you get some relief soon, my friend!
 
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missing linc said:
Unfortunately Jim, I have a feeling we will both be in the same boat. I checked my investments this week and it looks like a few more years of slavery for me, unless something changes in the short term.
Been nearly 48 years since I first started working, and I'm ******* tired!
:BangHead::mad::mob::wtf:
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I just don't get it. How this could happen, and happen so damn fast? We're not rich by any means, but our portfolio is to the 7-digits point that we could both comfortably retire, if it wasn't for health insurance (we just don't want to pay for it out-of-pocket). Fortunately my wife loves her job, and she plans on working until she's at least 65 (7 years from now), so we figured that me retiring now, at 60, was a "slam dunk", as I could go on her health insurance for 5 years until I can collect Medicare.

But now? Hell! The way things are getting fucked-up, will Medicare even be around in 5 years?

So now, instead of retiring, all I can do is take a "wait and see" attitude, and hope we don't lose another $55k (or more) in the coming weeks.
 
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ProjectBazza said:
I just don't get it. How this could happen, and happen so damn fast. We're not rich by any means, but our portfolio is to the 7-digits point that we could both comfortably retire, if it wasn't for health insurance (we just don't want to pay for it out-of-pocket). Fortunately my wife loves her job, and she plans on working until she's at least 65 (7 years from now), so we figured that me retiring now, at 60, was a "slam dunk", as I could go on her health insurance for 5 years until I can collect Medicare.

But now? Hell! The way things are getting fucked-up, will Medicare even be around in 5 years?

So now, instead of retiring, all I can do is take a "wait and see" attitude, and hope we don't lose another $55k (or more) in the coming weeks.
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Yes, it is rather troubling how fast investments can vanish, compared to how long and difficult they are to build. Between my wife and I, we are far from wealthy, but I had hoped that I would be able to retire in 2 to 3 years max. My wife is retired, she just turned 67 last week, but I am 'only' 61, will be 62 at the end of May. I have pretty good health benefits through my employment, but that will end when I stop working unless I continue to pay for it out of pocket.
 
ProjectBazza said:
Well, it was fun to think about, at least.....

Thanks to "things beyond our control", we've lost over $55,000 worth of investments in the past two weeks alone, and unless and until "some people" get their **** together and stop the volatility in the market, retiring right now is a fool's errand, plain and simple.

I've busted my *** for 45+ years to get to this point in my life, but some self-important idiots have managed to ****-up my life due to their ******* tariffs, their ******* layoffs, and their basic ******* incompetence.

(****!!!!)
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I'm sorry to hear. But I'm wondering why someone so close to retirement would have such a large portion of their portfolio in investments that would be subject to such volatility.
 
mopowers said:
I'm sorry to hear. But I'm wondering why someone so close to retirement would have such a large portion of their portfolio in investments that would be subject to such volatility.
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You're making an assumption that "...a large portion of (our) portfolio..." is subject to volatility.

And on this you are incorrect.

But if you're comfortable losing $55k in such short of a period in time, I guess Congratulations are in order.
 
Just remember, nothing is "lost" unless you pull before it out before it goes back up. Hopefully you can let it ride until it does, and it will!
 
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