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Old 08-13-2010, 06:17 PM   #81
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I am semi-retired, and wondering if I should completely retire. This thread is very interesting. I have about a million, perhaps a little less, in TIAA-CREF and a bank account. I'm living on the interest from some of my money, and that interest income gives me about $32,000/year. I live in Singapore, pay the equivalent of about $1,300/month on rent, electricity, water, cable TV, and internet. Social security will add about $8,000/year if I took it now. I'm holding off though. I'm 63.

I'm in an area that is cheap to travel from. Last week I hopped on a bus and went to a small Malaysian town. Flying to any of the SE Asian countries is very convenient.

As for healthcare, I got a plan when I turned 60, and have held on to it even though the places I've worked in provided their own insurance. My policy is called IHI, and it's a subsidiary of BUPA. I pay about $3,600/year with a $1,600 deductible. It covers me everywhere in the world, guaranteed until I give up the policy. Two more years and I am on Medicare.

Cheers,

Rob
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I got IHI (International Health Insurance) which is a part of the British BUPA, the largest health insurance company in the world. As an American, you can enroll in IHI only when you are overseas as an expat. You cannot enroll when you are in the states. After you enroll as an American Expat overseas, it covers you in the states when you return. I've been told than many many times.

The customer service for IHI is excellent, and I've only had to use it once for a double hernia. I paid the first $1,600, and they picked up the rest.

On a side note, I just semi-retired from being a high schoool teacher and living in Singapore now. For the first time in my life, I am jobless, but I'm 63. I'm trying to reinvent myself. I get a little worried that some of you think a million dollars is not enough. I have a little that ($990,000). When you say a million is not enough, do you mean you and your wife and kids, or just you? For me, I'm single, and I'm hoping the million I have, mostly with TIAA-CREF, is enough. I will work part-time, but I don't want to feel I need to.

I'm glad we can all share idea like this. Thank you.

Rob
Rob,

It looks like you will be fine. We are 10 years younger (see my signature line), so we are a bit more than 8 years away from early SS, and 11 years from Medicare. We also have a higher cost of living in the US, though we could downgrade to an apartment to take out our RE values and pay the same as your $1300/month to reduce housing costs.

Same as others, the concern is the health care cost. We are paying $450/month for the 2 of us plus a 21-year old son in college. And that is for an HSA with $10,000/yr deductible. And we have a clean bill of health, with no chronic conditions or any hospitalization history! We have had no claims, yet they increase our premium regularly like clockwork.

So, you can see why we would need more than $1M, though I do not want to reveal how much we currently have :-). I need to see more in my accounts to feel safe. But you are fine. Enjoy your retirement!

Cheers.
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Old 08-13-2010, 07:09 PM   #82
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How is everyone handling health insurance?

The way I'm approaching health insurance is with a HSA and the "S" is for spending rather than saving. I take advantage of the triple tax benefit with HSAs, and if by the time I qualify for medicare (still years away) I have $1 left in my HSA, I'll call that a success.

Of course, with the health reform, that can add more variables to consider in the future.
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Old 08-13-2010, 10:50 PM   #83
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I could easily retire off of $500k in the US if it weren't for health care. That would be the only thing that could throw a wrench in it. In which case I would probably work part-time for cheaper health insurance, or become an expat. I'm almost half way at $200k.
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Old 08-14-2010, 08:01 AM   #84
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Anyone can retire at anytime with any amount of money. Just got to be flexible and creative, which unfortunately is sorely lacking as people age. So they rely instead on a pot of money. Do you see the problem right there? One moves from relying on oneself to relying on something.

As for healthcare, which is a scam run by the MAFIA, one should opt out. Take care of your body. Get treatment overseas. Offer pennies on the dollar as payment. It should *never* cost $50k for a couple nights in an emergency room, unless the intent is to robbery.
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Old 08-14-2010, 08:05 AM   #85
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Someone obviously hears goat footsteps on the bridge overhead...
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Old 08-14-2010, 08:15 AM   #86
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Someone obviously hears goat footsteps on the bridge overhead...
Somebody with big ears?
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Old 08-14-2010, 01:46 PM   #87
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While I don't think health insurance is a Mafia scam, I do agree philosophically with what oilspill wrote. Self-reliance is self-reliance whether that is taking care of one's body and using creativity or whether that is moving one's 401k to an IRA, investing on one's own rather than using financial advisors or annuities, and not counting on inheritances or SS to ensure retirement.

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Old 08-14-2010, 01:52 PM   #88
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It should *never* cost $50k for a couple nights in an emergency room, unless the intent is to robbery.

Sorry for the mini-thread hijack, but I just had cataract surgery in one eye and I was charged $2,400 for the operating room (which was in a surgery center not hospital)! I spent all of two-three hours there, and that didn't included any doctors fees.

Seemed awfully expensive to me...
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Old 08-14-2010, 02:25 PM   #89
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Talk about self-reliance, I pride myself on being fairly handy.

I can fix mechanical things like autos, appliances, tools, and most electronic things (I am an EE, duh!), and general home repair (but I will not work on a hot roof in 115deg F in this goddamn dry heat). If things can be put back in working condition by soldering, duct taping, or expoxy-ing (that's a new verb for you), I have done it.

But how do I learn to give myself a root canal, kidney stone removal, or a colonoscopy? Anybody knows where I can get medical instruments like shown in this past thread, http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ser-45157.html ?
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Old 08-14-2010, 03:27 PM   #90
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I ER'd at age 29 with $59, a case of lentils, a taste for buzzard jerky, and a plan to use the system to my advantage.

I keep my livin' expenses low so that I don't have to work for the man. I'm not gonna let some corporation take my life away. Nosiree ! Between welfare and food stamps I git what they owe me.

Workin' is for suckers !

Stop workin' and start livin now ! The good life awaits you !
This is one of my favorite posts, MB.
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Old 08-14-2010, 04:47 PM   #91
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Someone obviously hears goat footsteps on the bridge overhead...
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Old 08-15-2010, 02:55 PM   #92
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This is one of my favorite posts, MB.
Well thank you very much. I enjoyed writing and posting that little gem.
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