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Old 08-03-2015, 02:09 PM
mlb
 
Location: North Monterey County
4,971 posts, read 4,425,588 times
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Yup.

https://www.medicare.gov/your-medica...t-penalty.html
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Old 08-03-2015, 02:16 PM
 
Location: NC Piedmont
4,023 posts, read 3,780,654 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Escort Rider View Post
Good point, and good example. If someone has niche employment and one can no longer hold that job, one is in deep trouble if there are no other marketable skills. I have a cousin, now mid-fifties, who was a welder. Good welders are in demand and the pay is pretty good too. So he would work a few months, goof off a few months, then go back to work. He could always find work - that was his ace in the hole. But all of a sudden a couple of years ago he developed lung problems and couldn't work. He doesn't have the kind of literacy and people skills to do retail or office work. Result? He is now destitute, dependent on relatives to live rent-free in a miserable hovel. Apply for disability or other public assistance? Nope, too proud. It is not a pretty picture. An unexpected health problem has screwed him big time. In hindsight, he should have worked regularly and built up some savings, as welding is all he knows.
I kind of get where people are coming from with this attitude, but not really. I think it is often more fear that others will think they are freeloading because they held a narrow view of the programs before. Putting aside whether you agree with being forced into paying into it or not, it's shared risk and if you are one of the unlucky ones that needs it you should apply for it. My opinion only, of course.
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Old 08-03-2015, 02:50 PM
 
Location: Central NY
5,945 posts, read 5,085,265 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mathjak107 View Post
We live in a a rent stabilized apartment and have a multi 5 figure travel budget for retirement .

retirement is what you want it to be . for us it isn't about just paying bills , it is about living dreams , wants and wishes . if it was only about paying bills i would have kept working .

That is a nice way to do it if you get lucky and can get that. Not everyone is lucky. People get laid off from jobs. Health problems develop that force them into early retirement.

My retirement is nothing like I wish it was. I am stuck. It is what it has to be. Can't lump everyone in same bag of sugar.
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Old 08-03-2015, 02:54 PM
 
105,764 posts, read 107,756,464 times
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nope you certainly can't and it goes both ways . which is why anyone who makes general comments about anyone else's budget being to low or to high can't speak for anyone else .

you see it all the time in these discussions where folks go if you need more than x amount you must be squandering money away or if you own a house you shouldn't need more than x amount .

but they fail to realize just like we all need different incomes when we work we all need different incomes when we don't.

i know i always viewed our retirement as the reward for scrimping ,saving , stressing over investments all our lives.

we always planned on living better in retirement than we did while working and raising a family.

so when folks tell us how we shouldn't need more than x amount because the median amounts are in that range my answer is bull! my vision of our retirement is very different from anyone elses vision and what someone else sets as a budget .
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Old 08-03-2015, 02:57 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles area
14,017 posts, read 20,837,799 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ReachTheBeach View Post
I kind of get where people are coming from with this attitude, but not really. I think it is often more fear that others will think they are freeloading because they held a narrow view of the programs before. Putting aside whether you agree with being forced into paying into it or not, it's shared risk and if you are one of the unlucky ones that needs it you should apply for it. My opinion only, of course.
I was not defending or excusing my cousin, just giving an example (case study?) to illustrate a point. I think if I were in his shoes, I would swallow my pride and apply for public assistance; I have witnessed close up the level of misery that he is enduring, and I know I would not endure that same level of misery unless there were absolutely no alternative.
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Old 08-03-2015, 03:06 PM
 
Location: NC Piedmont
4,023 posts, read 3,780,654 times
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I apologize if my tone sounded like I was throwing rocks at others. I currently have kid/college, mortgage for a large house and other bills that offset my high income which I expect to be diminished or gone before retirement and I keep running into advice trying to use my current salary as an example. If I have to switch jobs I probably won't be able to find one with more than 60% of current. I am really lucky right now and I hope it holds a few more years. I really would prefer to live much more simply than I currently do. I would rather live in a smaller place that is less expensive with less to take care of. I - me, not trying to push others to choose the same.
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Old 08-03-2015, 04:55 PM
 
260 posts, read 233,786 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mathjak107 View Post
nope you certainly can't and it goes both ways . which is why anyone who makes general comments about anyone else's budget being to low or to high can't speak for anyone else .

you see it all the time in these discussions where folks go if you need more than x amount you must be squandering money away or if you own a house you shouldn't need more than x amount .

but they fail to realize just like we all need different incomes when we work we all need different incomes when we don't.

i know i always viewed our retirement as the reward for scrimping ,saving , stressing over investments all our lives.

we always planned on living better in retirement than we did while working and raising a family.

so when folks tell us how we shouldn't need more than x amount because the median amounts are in that range my answer is bull! my vision of our retirement is very different from anyone elses vision and what someone else sets as a budget .

Of course, this is completely correct Our individual retirement income and goals merely reflect our already existing diversity: so can anything useful really be said in a thread which asks how much you need to retire or is an inherently pointless question?

Perhaps we just need the reassurance from our peers that when we leap into the retirement unknown we will have a safe landing somewhere and somehow.
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Old 08-03-2015, 05:01 PM
 
105,764 posts, read 107,756,464 times
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without the ability to see the future no one really can even say that about even their own retirement plan , self included .

i retired friday and i did all my home work , crossed the t's and dotted the i's . but a lengthy even moderate down turn right at my start can hurt whatever plan i put in place .

since we can't even say for sure how are own plan will do it is even harder to reassure anyone else about theirs .
especially since in life there is so more to our expenditures than the expenses we post .
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Old 08-03-2015, 05:25 PM
 
260 posts, read 233,786 times
Reputation: 1381
Quote:
Originally Posted by mathjak107 View Post
without the ability to see the future no one really can even say that about even their own retirement plan , self included .

i retired friday and i did all my home work , crossed the t's and dotted the i's . but a lengthy even moderate down turn right at my start can hurt whatever plan i put in place .

since we can't even say for sure how are own plan will do it is even harder to reassure anyone else about theirs .
especially since in life there is so more to our expenditures than the expenses we post .
That is my point. it is an inherently pointless question because of our diversity but because of our uncertainty as we all enter this unknown territory, we need to reassure each other by talking about it ad nauseam and reiterating our viewpoint.

Threads like this are less a function of information but more about self assurance and fear.
Or is this a statement too far?!
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Old 08-03-2015, 05:42 PM
 
105,764 posts, read 107,756,464 times
Reputation: 79385
i think you hit it on the head
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