And since when are posters not permitted to make an observation that was apparently also shared by several other readers. I stand my my opinion that this thread should be about sharing information related to the retirement process. The “big brags” belong elsewhere. JMO, FWIW.
Uhm, I said on this thread.
marie1234 - I believe you just deleted your previous post, but I thought you said you were a new poster, not just on this thread.
No, and I didn’t delete it. Something else is going on. And, I’m not getting involved.
You are on a roll today oldfort.
None of my kids got full FA. We actually pay the full bill for DS’s last bill.
I have publically disclosed before that all those expensive wines etc. were on my business trips.
I just answered the “how did you do that” question of MOWC in this thread and she is fine with the answer.
All these were fully discussed before and you just choose to ignore them.
Actually, I have explained more that I should for every accusation many times. But some of you just keep bring them up. Other than showing you my bank account statements, what could I do to convince you to change your mind?
When several of you piled on me, I usually just leave for a while. Well, I am not this time.
“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.”
Of course this thread is open to everyone, and I think people appreciate it when new posters come in, as it makes it more interesting. Absolutely nobody has said that anyone cannot or should not post here. However, for the people who are posting purely to harass someone, they should not be surprised at all when others who are appreciative of the non judgmental, informative tone of this thread, request that people stop it. If you were not one of those people, then I was not referring to you.
And since DadII answered your legitimate question, and has answered several others since, then I guess that should be the end of the story.
It is indeed unfortunate that it appears things are becoming personal. It would be a shame if this gets closed down as a lot of useful information has been posted.
As far as spending money on cameras, I thought that Dad II is a professional photographer based on earlier discussions so that spending a lot of money on camera equipment makes complete sense.
Let’s get back the the health insurance angle. Once upon a time we were sitting pretty with hopes of two lifetime pensions (including medical benefits). We are still in a decent situation if our jobs last a few more years, but medical coverage in retirement has become a big concern for us.
^ Assuming you mean before you are eligible for Medicaid, you can go on the exchange for your state or on healthcare.gov and figure out what it would cost. For two people, worst case of (premiums + out-of-pocket-max) will probably be in the $15K-$20K range, depending on your age and where you live.
It’s expensive, but at least you can get it.
@colorado_mom, $12-$15k sounds like a lot, but if you end up needing long-term medication, especially what are called biologics, it will seem like a bargain.
One of the most important things I learnt today.
Many time I do wonder why dividend stocks keep going up even when the news are not that great. Looks like the demand is high and will be going higher for a while.
I would also assume these dividend stock will lose their shine upon Fed raises the rate. However, I don’t see a 4% interest rate from checking accounts happening in the next 10 years.
Also, I have read some where about negative interest rate - you will pay the bank an interest rate on the money in your account. May be it is time to buy bank stocks.
notrichenough,
Don’t want to get too sidetracked into a discussion about healthcare, but many providers I know are unwilling to accept ACA exchange plans for a variety of reasons. On one professional listserv I read, a BCBS CA plan paid her about 10 cents on the dollar for a procedure, and about 20% of what the already discounted BCBS PPO rate was. This is simply not sustainable for most providers who cannot afford to pay for the privilege of seeing patients ( calculating the cost of test equipment, supplies, insurance, rent, staff, etc).
If DH does retire (he sets a target number and I raise it when he hits it,. LOL) I’ll get to medicare benefits way before he does, and he has a health issue we have to deal with. While the private plans can’t deny due to pre-existing, they can make their insurance premium very, VERY expensive.
Yes, I am worried most about pre-65 medical. DH originally planned to retire age 60 (and me, 7 years younger, at 2 years later at 55). We know that original plan won’t work. But as our jobs get harder and less stable, we’re trying to hatch a new plan that adequately considers medical.
Bob - perhaps a bargain… but still an expense that needs to be included in the planning tally.
Switzerland’s National Bank (SNB) is to impose an interest rate of minus 0.25% on large amounts of money deposited in the country.
Access to affordable and quality health care is my biggest concern in retirement. Remote scenic locations that appealed to us as potential retirement destinations are more problematic when considering the realities of getting old. At some point we will become much more dependent on the service sector, even if we try to “age in place”. We’ll need someone to help around the house, someone to drive, and will probably need to visit the doctor more often.
Despite the terrible launch of the ACA and continued problems, I hope that it will stay alive in one form or another during the next administration. I know several people whose entire retirement plan revolved around their access to healthcare. Now they can retire before Medicare kicks in and have access to care.
Agreed, colorado-mom. The cost if healthcare insurance is a big factor in the retirement planning. that, and housing, should we consider relocating to be closer to the kids, and hopefully grandkids.
@momsquad, my parents retired to Ibiza in the mid 70s, before it became very popular. It was a wonderful retirement, but at some point they decided that my father’s health was iffy. At the time, there was a great difference in services there vs here (that might no longer be the case), and they moved to … wait for it … Florida 
Why would anyone put large sums of money into Switzerlands Natinal bank if they are going to get charged 0.25% for the priviledge? It seems there would be other secure places to put your money and even if you got zero return, at least that’s better than negative. And if the big depositors stop depositing, how are they going to have money to lend?
If the banks here start to charge an interests, I would imagine the dividend stocks will jump to new highs.
So, get in, before it is too late!!!
LOL
I am a slow one to interpret this statement here and please bear with me if I ask a question whose answer is apparent to everybody here except me.
Firstly, as DAD II and others has clarified, is the meaning of this post really:
I was very pleasantly surprised to realize today that our investment (none cash) accounts have grown more than $100K in this 7 months.
Secondly, is the balance of the investment accounts growth mostly due to the fact that DAD II had invested the most of $100K from his current income stream into these investment accounts, not so much due to the investment return of his investment accounts? (If not, how much of the $100’000 increase is due to the new contributions over these 7 months. and how much is die to the investment return?)
Even if the second point is true (i.e., almost all of $100K in the increase of the balance is due to the new contributions during this 7-month period), I think it is still quite impressive. (to me, at least.)
During my highest earning and least expenditure years in my working life, I would think I was doing great (in building up my nest egg) if the balance of my investment (for me, it is mostly pretax retirement account) was increased by $100K in 36-48 months (3-4 years) rather than the relatively short 7 months like DAD II seems to have been able to achieve.
But I have been mostly a saver, rather than an investor. Maybe this is a difference. I do not like “gambling” (not good at risk taking) and pay too much attention to the protection of the principal than necessary (and therefore to allow the inflation risk to decrease the purchasing power of the money in my retirement savings.)
Another factor that may have been working against the building-up of my nest egg is that not all companies I have been working for would give their employees some variation of the “401K matching”. (Most did though, especially early in my career - they even have the pension benefits which become rare more recently.) Sometimes, employees at some company may already consider themselves lucky if the company gives them a descent health insurance benefits but zero retirement benefits (like zero 401K match.)
BTW, I guess the majority of, say, 58-60 year old couple may have their combined nest egg of the size between $300K and $800 (pretax retirement assets - excluding, for example, the equity in their house.) but I could be wrong.
I did not claim that the “median” value $550K of the range $300K-$800K in the size of a nest egg is large enough here (unless they have a not so small pension.)