The futility of saving for retirement (grandfather, student, opinion, generations)
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I want to also add mental exercise. first, get off the depressing band wagon. Notice how very few people here will post the "good" stories about retirement or old age. Why is that?
I can't speak for others, but I'm too busy.
I skied 22,000 vertical feet today, mostly in the moguls and trees. Tonight we're going to a play down at the U with friends, and then tonight there'll be some whoopie.
we pay a net cost of about 6500 a year for both of us . that is after a 1600 tax credit from ny and what we get back on the federal .
Playing around with the online calculator last night ... for Genworth, a possible premium is $5000 without inflation protection for $200 a day, 3 years. Lowest tier rate, of course, so no doubt the actual premium would be higher yet. This WITHOUT the $1,600 tax credit and no full asset protection.
I'm not a fan of Medicaid-asset protection but when you read of the large state disparities - like some states protect tax advantaged accounts (Washington, I believe) ... others only count the income from them once RMDs are started as a Medicaid asset (Florida) ... it does create the sense of "unfairness" that encourages turning to attorneys for those life estate deeds and the like.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mathjak107
so as you see most don't even segregate the money when they self insure . it is all business as usual and the money is just part of the general funds generating the income for both of them . .
so once reality hits they run to a lawyer to protect themselves .
Presumably they had substantial assets but didn't want the premium cost -EVEN to protect the spouse?
So you've got the States trying to keep Medicaid viable by encouraging the use of LTCi but then at the same time Courts undercutting the financial viability of the program by side-stepping spend downs. Sure, liens can be placed on the estates (as is the current case for a primary home) - but what are the chances that the community spouse won't ensure that there's little left to collect?
How then to make this undesirable? Perhaps Medicaid could become so crappy that no one WOULD want to rely on it as a safety net.
I learned SO MUCH about life in that job, even as an adult woman who spent most of my life in the Corporate world before buying my store.
Runs, thanks for your anecdotes. I hope you've had the opportunity to pass along some things about running a business to others - they would certainly benefit from your insights.
Playing around with the online calculator last night ... for Genworth, a possible premium is $5000 without inflation protection for $200 a day, 3 years. Lowest tier rate, of course, so no doubt the actual premium would be higher yet. This WITHOUT the $1,600 tax credit and no full asset protection.
I'm not a fan of Medicaid-asset protection but when you read of the large state disparities - like some states protect tax advantaged accounts (Washington, I believe) ... others only count the income from them once RMDs are started as a Medicaid asset (Florida) ... it does create the sense of "unfairness" that encourages turning to attorneys for those life estate deeds and the like.
Presumably they had substantial assets but didn't want the premium cost -EVEN to protect the spouse?
So you've got the States trying to keep Medicaid viable by encouraging the use of LTCi but then at the same time Courts undercutting the financial viability of the program by side-stepping spend downs. Sure, liens can be placed on the estates (as is the current case for a primary home) - but what are the chances that the community spouse won't ensure that there's little left to collect?
How then to make this undesirable? Perhaps Medicaid could become so crappy that no one WOULD want to rely on it as a safety net.
beats me as to the answers . i am not smart enough to figure them out . so i just play the cards and do what i need to do so we are covered and protected .
our policy started life as 350 a day with a 5% inflation increase each year so we are well over 400 a day at this point . snf's run 120-140k in our area . the ones i like are in the 140k range
A big chunk of that increase in life expectancy is a result of a decrease in infant mortality. If you instead look at conditional life expectancy -- life expectancy given that you've already made to age 5, the gap shrinks; life expectancy given that you've already survived to age 30 it shrinks a lot.
Sorry - you're wrong. Socialism? Let's talk about Families who cannot care for their elderly and keep their jobs at the same time. And then get sick when they try to juggle the care. I have 6 siblings. 4 of them had to rotate care of my mother because otherwise some would lose their jobs.
You want to blame the "gubmint"? How about regulating the prices that private corporate health care charges for nursing home care. My mother's bill after 7 years from ALC to hospice was $10K a month.
And regulating the cost of medications.
Stop throwing "socialism" around like you know what it is.
Perhaps you are unaware that the USA has been socialist since 1933. That's when people embraced the idea it was a "good thing" for government to TAKE from one to GIVE to another.
Not only did glorious socialism jack up taxes, it triggered inflation, and drove up the cost for hiring labor - since you had to pay all that socialist overhead. [TANSTAAFL]
It also has an effect on employers who seek to hire "undocumented aliens" under the table (absent socialist tax overhead).
And prior to glorious socialism, privately endowed hospitals and clinics staffed by religious renunciants offered free / low cost health care. No more. They were forced to comply with the dead weight of socialism and now we have wonderful secular health care [/sarcasm].
Frankly, if we got government entirely out of healthcare, we would see a dramatic drop in cost, as well as availability.
Remember, before government criminalized the unlicensed trade in medicine, America had four times as many medical schools, and far more practitioners.
IMHO, government is no solution when it is the source of the problem.
When one reads about how much it costs to end up in a nursing home($50-$60k/year unless it's a really
bad one that looks like something out of a horror movie)...it must be obvious that there is no way most of us will be able to save enough to cover those kind of costs.
How much can one possibly save?.. .Is it really realistic that we would have saved $500K or even $300K to be able to stay in a nursing home for 5-10 years? and unfortunately you don't die.... Especially if you have no family to help you at that point in your life ... And then when the money runs out they will jump on any leftover assets you may still own and dry those up...what happens next??? Why even try??
Long term insurance seems very expensive,and probably not enough for a long term stay
Early death,whether natural or on purpose seems more and more like the best retirement plan.
Does anyone really have a desire to live in their 90's? I sure don't/
When one reads about how much it costs to end up in a nursing home($50-$60k/year unless it's a really
bad one that looks like something out of a horror movie)...it must be obvious that there is no way most of us will be able to save enough to cover those kind of costs.
How much can one possibly save?.. .Is it really realistic that we would have saved $500K or even $300K to be able to stay in a nursing home for 5-10 years? and unfortunately you don't die.... Especially if you have no family to help you at that point in your life ... And then when the money runs out they will jump on any leftover assets you may still own and dry those up...what happens next??? Why even try??
Long term insurance seems very expensive,and probably not enough for a long term stay
Early death,whether natural or on purpose seems more and more like the best retirement plan.
It's hard to save for many in the US, IMO.
And Medicare is the ticking time bomb that nobody talks about.
A big chunk of that increase in life expectancy is a result of a decrease in infant mortality. If you instead look at conditional life expectancy -- life expectancy given that you've already made to age 5, the gap shrinks; life expectancy given that you've already survived to age 30 it shrinks a lot.
it goes the other way as you get older . at 65 life expectancy is far greater than at birth .
For instance, a child born in 2014 has a life expectancy (average age at death) of 79. However, the median age of death for the same child is 83, and the modal (most common) age at death is 89!
a 65 year old couple has an 89% chance of one of them seeking 80 and a 73% chance of one seeing 85
Last edited by mathjak107; 02-27-2018 at 02:18 AM..
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