DW and I constantly discuss early retirement. We will likely never qualify for subsidies, but the ability to be able to get health insurance without having to worry about being ineligible due to “pre-existing conditions” is probably the most significant part of health care reform for us. I won’t be particularly happy paying the premiums, but it’s nice to have the option.
Call me harassing, I don’t really care.
When people “game” the system and gloat about it, it makes my blood boil.
Those of us who are truly financially needy are being robbed by people that can afford to spend thousands of dollars on cameras. And that BOTHERS me as someone who just struggled to eat as an undergrad.
I am truly, incredibly grateful for the fullpays and the taxpayers who have given me a chance to pursue higher education so that one day I can return the favor to someone else. To me, this is what being part of a society is about- empowering each other, not gloating about how you stuck it to those who don’t have a choice.
People that game the system give those of us who are truly needy a bad name. I can’t tell you how many times I have to listen to rhetoric about how those on assistance are just lazy good-for-nothings or people who don’t really “need” the help and then cite this person that they know who is on Medicaid but has a 10k camera. It hurts the vast majority of us who are legitimately struggling- and not struggling “on paper”.
Internet forums twist and turn and we rarely stay on topic here. There are plenty of posts on threads that "don’t contribute’ to the conversation. I just scroll past them. Plus, each thread is not an island onto itself. There are real people behind the names and we “know” them. It’s only natural that that clouds what we read and carries over from one thread to another.
Exactly, notrichenough. And it is a luxury to be able to pay the premiums of a personal/family plan. Doing away with the pre-existing condition was a huge step forward. That said, even with the parity laws supposedly in effect, MH benefits arent what they should be. But thats a discussion for another thread.
A lot of people complain about ACA, but I’m with notrichenough on this. The “pre-existing condition” is something that in the past would have ruined our chances for affordable health care. My wife, through no fault of her own, has a progressive disease that she continues to fight the effects of every day. It is thankfully a disease that, over the past decade, can be treated much better than in the past, but it’s an expensive treatment.
MOWC, it is nice to see you here. How is your running?
I have discussed this topic extensively before and may be you missed them.
The first thing is to have smart and hard working kids. When they got into the richest colleges, you will spend far less than families of equal income/assets whose kids attending other great colleges which is less capable of aids. I am sure every single family with identical financial situation as ours pays exactly the same as we did for the same school.
I know for sure each school charge differently for the same income/assets. Because our DS’s school is more than 2X expensive than our DD’s. Same parents, same CSS profile and FAFSA.
secondly, invest what is left wisely.
Tom, I am so glad you give a $$ figure as reference. We paid a lot more than $110,000 for our kids’ college. Maybe I was giving a false impression about the FA our kids were getting. They were above my expectation but it may be just average.
Ixnay, my best wishes to your wife and family. I am grateful that the ACA has helped people like you and me (my mother also has a progressive disease that is a struggle every day).
I rationalize the $$ we spent on tuition (money well spent) as $ that might have been lost in the 2008 market crash. We lost a lot in Lehman Brothers stock. Gone. goodbye.
Back for a moment to dividend paying stocks. As you probably know, I’m not in the individual stock camp and we only own one voluntarily (Berkshire Hathaway, which has done too well to sell right now) and one involuntarily (my wife’s employer, which we sell as soon as it vests).
Many retired people like the sound of living on their stock dividends and their bond interest, and have made a mantra of “Don’t Touch The Principal.” That is good news for dividend paying stocks, but there is nothing sacred about dividends over capital growth.
Many near-retirees (of which there are many, can’t fight the demographics) hold to this dividend/principal religion, which raises the price of dividend-paying stocks – good news if you bought them earlier, but not great news if you’re considering buying them today.
I have a mantra of my own: “buy Total Stock and Total Bond in an age-appropriate and risk-tolerance appropriate ratio, pay around 5 basis points for the privilege, and enjoy your retirement.”
Tom, your reference of spending $110K-- that was for one child, yes? Not 2?
And why is that, do you think?
I don’t actually mind that much when threads wander (although this thread up to now has remained very on topic), but when posters come out of the woodwork to attack and harass one particular person, it’s ridiculous.
Unless you have evidence of actual fraud, just get over it. And please keep it out of this thread.
oldfort, what you said here is what I called baseless. Please name one thing I did that you know for sure is illegal or unethical. It is all baseless speculations because we could significantly cut our cost on every day live and then use the savings to enjoy a little.
I use paying tax as an example. Anyone here does not use any deductibles available to them?
romani, I understand how frustrated you must be when you hear certain things. And yes, we often can’t forget what people have posted from other threads.
However, if people are posting on this particular thread that normally don’t, just because DadII has posted and they must harass him, that is BULLYING. And I never thought of you to be a bully. Are people getting notifications every time he posts? PM’s from other posters saying it’s time to pile on?
This is the retirement thread. People talk about the money they have saved, invested, how they are living in ways that save money. Yes, the thread often goes off topic, but what has been remarkable about this thread is that it’s very long, and people have been respectful. All these posts, and until now, nobody has tried to derail it.
I ditto notrichenough’s comment, “Unless you have evidence of actual fraud, just get over it. And please keep it out of this thread”.
Yes, this is the retirement thread. Its not the brag thread.
I agree with romani.n Her post was poignant and from the trenches. Pouring salt in the wound of some is just unpleasant to watch. As is telling people to get out of a thread. THAT is bullying.
I don’t think anyone has told anyone to get out of a thread. Notrichenough’s comment was, "“Unless you have evidence of actual fraud, just get over it. And please keep it out of this thread”.
Please keep IT out o this thread. Not please keep out of this thread.
I am also requesting to keep nastiness out of this thread. Every other post that people make here talking about their money or their retirement plans could be considered to be bragging by some. But people here don’t consider it such because we are trying to learn, and consider other people’s choices and plans. This has been a very helpful thread for many.
jym- yes one child.
Agree, busdriver, that this thread, which many of us have participated in on and off since its inception, should be about sharing retirement information. Perhaps the big proclamation of the “serious brag” set off the tone, as that might better belong in the brag thread.
Dad II- Running is OK. This weather is killing me. Come by the Exercise thread & let us know how you are doing!
Busdriver- Is this thread closed to new posters? I have certainly been following it when I’ve had the time, and am certainly also planning for eventual retirement. Do you get to handpick who is allowed to post? May I have permission, please? I asked a legitimate question and Dad II answered it. So stay off my butt, please.
Part of my strategy is to keep working as long as I enjoy it and am not physically worn out. I have a good professional job with one of the best companies in the country. The company is thriving and growing, and did so even in the recession (when I didn’t work there, unfortunately). The longer I work (H retired in 2006) the more money we have once I quit. I don’t want to live frugally. We also spend a LOT on our pets- one thing after another. I am torn about getting another dog after this old guy (12 year old Golden) passes on, for the reasons that have been noted. Pet care when we travel is a fortune and another worry.
IxnayBob - that’s why one needs to diversify. I only put a portion of my mom’s portfolio in a guaranteed annuity. It will guarantee payment until she dies. When she passes away there will be life insurance and appreciation of investment. Unfortunately my dad put a lot of his investment in high dividend stocks, but now he has passed away, I can sell it for my mom without incurring a lot of capital gain due to step up. A portion of her investment is in mutual fund which she will not have to worry about. The annuity will supplement her SS and pension.
This thread is of course open to all posters, new, old or otherwise.
The request is that posts remain (at least loosely) on topic, and not be aimed at harassing specific posters for grievances from long ago in other threads.
Is that unreasonable?
I think it is very hard to enjoy expensive wines, alcohol, expensive hobbies and live on 20K a year. This is what Dad II often do. He makes a statement about living on 20K, meanwhile he is enjoying what many of us would consider to be luxuries, but he doesn’t say how he is doing it. It is no different when he insinuated how much money he was making, but his kids are getting full FA. Either clearly state how you are doing it or don’t say it.