If you’re asking me, I don’t know. That’s all they said in our meeting, and I’m only 51 and H 54, so I’m not worrying about medicare too much now. I figure there’s a good chance it will all change by the time we get there.
But I would start with your HR department if you have one.
Medicare can cost more than this if your income exceeds certain amounts.
Yeah she was probably talking about our teachers. We don’t make but so much here. Again everything is dependent on your situation.
no part of Medicare is compulsory, If you don’t want/need the coverage, you don’t have to buy it. (My good friend has an employer retiree plan in lieu of Parts B & D, so she only enrolls in A.) But if you ignore the auto enrollment at age 65, you might pay a penalty.
In our case, my employer sent us a letter confirming they are providing a “creditable coverage policy.”
My insurance company has an online method for requesting a letter of creditable coverage.
I’m not a grandparent but this article made me think about the possibility in the future and what (I think) I would want.
DH and I have been fortunate enough to retire early and travel…so there will be less of the “we need to travel while we still can” stuff.
I hope our kids would talk with us about what they wanted from us. I know I would “volunteer” my expectations because frankly, I’m a communicator. 
lol
I never expected anything from my parents, and my D does not expect anything from me. I have volunteered to help, and D makes sure to let me know that she appreciates it. I love the bond I have with my GD.
I absolutely do not understand an adult child who is upset that their parent is not available to watch their kids so that they can take a vacation. Really??? That is the height of selfishness, IMO. You want a vacation? You’re a parent now; bring the kid(s) along. You can’t take them to that exotic locale where you want to sit in the beach & sip adult beverages? Go somewhere family friendly, enjoy your kids during the day, and maybe have a cocktail in the room after they go to sleep, if that’s important to your relaxation.
I watched GD while she & SIL took a 5 year anniversary trip to Cancun for a long weekend. But I offered to do it. There’s a huge difference between offering & expecting.
Maybe I’m cranky because neither my parents nor my in laws watched my kids for me aside from a few hours here & there (my parents only). But I don’t think so, because I never really considered asking them to do it. I loved family vacations with my kids.
The article feels like entitled children who still expect to have their parents cater to their every whim. Even as they are now the parents.
After raising two kids I think the best attitude to have as a parent is to expect no help from anyone and then be pleasantly surprised when people offer.
After my youngest was 18 months old we decided for my better half to stay home it was a great decision. Sure it affected our pocketbook, but we didn’t have to rely on anyone nor be beholden to anyone.
Parents are not built-in babysitters. Children are not grow-your-own home health aides. Should either volunteer for the other, accept graciously, but no expectations.
We weren’t the youngest when we started having our 3 (I was 29 and H was 33). They are now 35,31,26 - and no signs of grandchildren yet! That’s fine but pointing out that as seems to be a trend (having kids later), those grandparents they are “counting on” may be into their late 60’s or older before grandkids roll around. For some that age, child care for hours or days on end may not be feasible.
My MIL watched my niece(M-F for many years)) and my oldest(two days and only for about year) in her early 50s. Then my younger nieces came along and she was in her mid 60s and it was definitely harder. She had to tell them to find daycare or a nanny.
Sadly the end result for my two was they did not have as close a of relationship with her because she couldn’t spend time with my kids as she was always watching the nieces. My kids got used to their grandparents not coming to their activities.
OK back to retirement stuff. Sorry for the diversion.
Can’t people do both? We watched GD (one day a week and as needed at other times) for the first year. We still cover for sickness/emergencies and weekend babysitting. We also travel. We agreed to do this (and wanted to) but with the caveat that we would sometimes travel. All good.
We lived 800 miles from family when our kids were young. Our parents helped with our siblings kids (never full time, but when needed). I ended up quitting my job and staying home because H traveled for his job, I could have continued to work if I had had some help even occasionally.
Because of this , I am willing to help. I do not want my D to have to make the choice I had to.
YMMV
I thought the article was going to be about total daycare coverage, since many grandparents do that. The main discussion was about vacations. It makes sense to book that months ahead if they want the grandparents to commit. Or perhaps last minute, assuming schedules work.
We never did kid-less vacations, but we did have nice family help when we had to go on relocation trips (Survey trip to decide, then a longer house hunting trip). It was more than my local NY mom could handle, so we took the kids, aged 1 and 4, to Ohio grandparents - they were thrilled but worked hard! Then different relatives closer to us on the other trip.
I found this article really interesting and probably merits its own thread so as not to derail this one too much. In the first example, I think it wasn’t unreasonable to expect what had been modeled for her, but she shouldn’t have counted on it, for sure.
I have tons of other thoughts but about to do the monthly reconciliation of the budget with dh. FUN!
I think that things are different for my children than they were for us.
For one, both my daughter and daughter in law have careers, full time jobs and more work responsibilities. I was a mother first and a part time worker second.
I was younger and we had a lot less money than my children who are older. There wasn’t many child free vacations. One to a relative’s wedding.
My mom helped when she could, but she worked full time. And when she retired, they moved 500 miles away.
I was supportive of her move, my sibling felt cheated. Different stories as we have discussed.
I still wasn’t a huge fan of the article. I had a friend who was very angry her mother didn’t quit her job to watch her grandchildren. I wasn’t a fan then and I’m not a fan now. If it’s given freely, then accept it. But don’t be disappointed when parents who have spent their entire lives, working and raising children, want to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
While that makes sense in the abstract principle, sometimes financial constraints on the middle and lower income people mean that multiple generations have to live together (at lower cost than separate households) so that the grandparents can babysit and then later have other family be home health aides.
Our companies’ insurer requires those over 65 to go on Medicare. Because I am still working, my premiums are pretty high. My wife, who has a much lower income, still has a high premium because it is under my SS, I believe.
Someday maybe it will decrease, but when I have to take my RMD and am still working, I will be paying a lot. Not a lot I can do about it.