Insurance needs in retirement

[nun]

I'm 6 weeks away from ER at 52. I have my finances sorted out and now I'm looking at my insurance needs. I'm single so I don't need things like life insurance, but I thought I'd ask what insurance I need. Here is my plan so far.

Buy my employer's COBRA dental plan as it is only $50/month, gives excellent coverage and I have a couple of crowns possible in the near future, according to my dentist.

Buy an ACA health plan and get a subsidy by keeping my income low. I could spend $450/month continue my company cadillac plan under COBRA or get a 2k/6k silver plan for around $330/month which would be reduced to $105/month with the subsidy.

Car insurance. I have a 7 year old Honda Civic with $120k miles. My annual mileage will go from 17k to under 5k without my commute. I'm going to reduce my collision and comprehensive coverage so the annual cost of car insurance goes to around $450.

House insurance. I don't want to mess with this so I'm leaving it as is at around $1200/year

I'm looking at buying a 1 or 2 million dollar umbrella policy.

Have I missed anything?

 

[meierlde]

I'm 6 weeks away from ER at 52. I have my finances sorted out and now I'm looking at my insurance needs. I'm single so I don't need things like life insurance, but I thought I'd ask what insurance I need. Here is my plan so far.

Buy my employer's COBRA dental plan as it is only $50/month, gives excellent coverage and I have a couple of crowns possible in the near future, according to my dentist.

Buy an ACA health plan and get a subsidy by keeping my income low. I could spend $450/month continue my company cadillac plan under COBRA or get a 2k/6k silver plan for around $330/month which would be reduced to $105/month with the subsidy.

Car insurance. I have a 7 year old Honda Civic with $120k miles. My annual mileage will go from 17k to under 5k without my commute. I'm going to reduce my collision and comprehensive coverage so the annual cost of car insurance goes to around $450.

House insurance. I don't want to mess with this so I'm leaving it as is at around $1200/year

I'm looking at buying a 1 or 2 million dollar umbrella policy.

Have I missed anything?

It used to be that you would get a lower rate if the car was used for pleasure only, not to work or school. check with your agent to see if that applies to you. (Or if you shop let it be known that you don't commute to work) when the discount was still around it was around 10% because you avoid driving in rush hours.

 

[Options]

I'm 6 weeks away from ER at 52. I have my finances sorted out and now I'm looking at my insurance needs. I'm single so I don't need things like life insurance, but I thought I'd ask what insurance I need. Here is my plan so far.

Buy my employer's COBRA dental plan as it is only $50/month, gives excellent coverage and I have a couple of crowns possible in the near future, according to my dentist.

Buy an ACA health plan and get a subsidy by keeping my income low. I could spend $450/month continue my company cadillac plan under COBRA or get a 2k/6k silver plan for around $330/month which would be reduced to $105/month with the subsidy.

Car insurance. I have a 7 year old Honda Civic with $120k miles. My annual mileage will go from 17k to under 5k without my commute. I'm going to reduce my collision and comprehensive coverage so the annual cost of car insurance goes to around $450.

House insurance. I don't want to mess with this so I'm leaving it as is at around $1200/year

I'm looking at buying a 1 or 2 million dollar umbrella policy.

Have I missed anything?

Congratulations on being only six weeks from ER. You must be as elated as I am jealous (I'm 54 Tuesdays from ER: no Mondays, every other Friday off). My situation mirrors yours and I have no other insurances beyond the types you've mentioned.

 

[brewer12345]

Sounds good to me. Get that umbrella quick!

You might consider a higher deductible on homeowners if you want to shave the premium.

 

[bld999]

+1 on increasing the home deductible.

Also, I know you said don't mess with h.o. ins, but I would check to see if the loss limit on the structure is ok.

Does the auto policy have towing/recovery? With 120k, I would get that for sure. AAA is easy.

Valubles, jewelry, collectibles of big value?

 

[Shawn]

House insurance. I don't want to mess with this so I'm leaving it as is at around $1200/year

I am in a similar situation (54, no dependents). I may ER at any time, but find myself in perpetual OMY syndrome.

My insurance company informed me a year or so ago that if I will be eligible for a 5% discount on my homeowners premiums once I retire and reach 55. I do not know if this discount is standard practice at most insurance companies, or if it is specific to my company. However, it might be worth asking your insurance company if they offer a discount for being retired.

Yes on the umbrella insurance. I do not have it either and deserve a grade of F-. It is high on the list.

 

[pb4uski]

Sounds like you have things covered.

I would check to see what the dental coverage covered if those two crowns become a reality. As I recall, the coverage under our dental plan was pretty skimpy - in fact so skimpy that it wasn't worth keeping so I self insure. If it is worth keeping, then keep it, have the crowns done and then consider dropping dental and self insuring.

 

[walkinwood]

I think you have your bases covered. Call around for pricing on your home, auto & umbrella policies & ask for pricing for different deductibles. And remember to do that every other year or so.

My dentist is up front with pricing, and if that's the norm, you should be able to determine if the dental insurance makes sense. You could also check out other so called dental insurance policies in light of your upcoming dental work.

Unless there's a need to stick with a doctor what is not included in your ACA plan, I think you'll find it hard to beat the advantages of the subsidy - if you can control your income.

You must be excited!

 

[SumDay]

Congrats to you!!!

Have you considered long term care insurance? That's about all I can think of, and not everyone needs or wants to pay for it...

 

[nun]

Sounds like you have things covered.

I would check to see what the dental coverage covered if those two crowns become a reality. As I recall, the coverage under our dental plan was pretty skimpy - in fact so skimpy that it wasn't worth keeping so I self insure. If it is worth keeping, then keep it, have the crowns done and then consider dropping dental and self insuring.

The dental is excellent, 100% for crowns and root canals. As my dentist has been eyeing a tooth with a big old filling in it for a crown I think the COBRA dental is a good thing to keep.

 

[meierlde]

One other item if your paying for a disablity policy you can stop that, as retirement implies an income not directly dependent on if you can work.

 

[nun]

Congrats to you!!!

Have you considered long term care insurance? That's about all I can think of, and not everyone needs or wants to pay for it...

I already have that.

 

[nun]

One other item if your paying for a disablity policy you can stop that, as retirement implies an income not directly dependent on if you can work.

Yes I am stopping disability insurance, but now I remember that I am keeping a basic life insurance policy with my employer that costs around $5/month so that I maintain my eligibility for my employer's dental and health plan when I reach 55.

 

[scrabbler1]

I'm 6 weeks away from ER at 52. I have my finances sorted out and now I'm looking at my insurance needs. I'm single so I don't need things like life insurance, but I thought I'd ask what insurance I need. Here is my plan so far.

Buy my employer's COBRA dental plan as it is only $50/month, gives excellent coverage and I have a couple of crowns possible in the near future, according to my dentist.

Buy an ACA health plan and get a subsidy by keeping my income low. I could spend $450/month continue my company cadillac plan under COBRA or get a 2k/6k silver plan for around $330/month which would be reduced to $105/month with the subsidy.

Car insurance. I have a 7 year old Honda Civic with $120k miles. My annual mileage will go from 17k to under 5k without my commute. I'm going to reduce my collision and comprehensive coverage so the annual cost of car insurance goes to around $450.

House insurance. I don't want to mess with this so I'm leaving it as is at around $1200/year

I'm looking at buying a 1 or 2 million dollar umbrella policy.

Have I missed anything?

I can echo what others have posted here.

When I went on COBRA in my last 17 months of working (this was 5 years ago), I made sure to keep dental coverage because I knew I had some costly dental work needed and this would be my last chance to get it while I still had coverage. I then figured out that those COBRA premiums, copays, and deductibles were about the same as 2 visits per year with a minimal amount of extra work.

I have signed up for an ACA Silver plan which will cost me just over $300 a month, net of subsidy, which is a lot cheaper than the last comprehensive plan I had which cost me nearly $700 per month (until I dropped it in 2011), and a broader plan than the hospital-only plan I had from 2011 to the end of last year.

Because I live in a large co-op complex, I did not feel I eneded an umbrella plan because I was paying for similar coverage through my co-op's insurance. However, I did raise the liability limits of my auto policy from 100/200 to 250/500. You should make sure you let your auto insurance company know about the change in your car's use class because Pleasure use will cost you less than Drive-to-Work use. And let them know about your big upcoming decrease in annual mileage because that will save you, too. I have a 7-year-old car so I nearing the point at which I can drop Collision.

 

[racy]

I would check to see what the dental coverage covered if those two crowns become a reality. As I recall, the coverage under our dental plan was pretty skimpy - in fact so skimpy that it wasn't worth keeping so I self insure. If it is worth keeping, then keep it, have the crowns done and then consider dropping dental and self insuring.

+1 When I retired from megacorp & lost their dental insurance, my dentist advised me that self-insuring would likely be less expensive than purchasing my own plan.

 

[Newventurer]

One thing to consider on your auto insurance - a while back I dropped to liability coverage only as the loan on the vehicle I was driving was paid off. What happened, and what I had not considered, was that I was involved in a hit and run (other party ran) and it left me footing the bill for the vehicle repairs.

Lesson learned. I am not just responsible for my actions, I am still responsible for the actions of the unscrupulous.

Also I just found out that my bank offers an AD&D policy of $30k for free when a member of their preferred club (requires min balance of course). Also free credit monitoring. These are things that I never paid attention to before, but when you open your eyes and have the time to start looking, there is a lot of low hanging fruit out there.

 

[scrabbler1]

One thing to consider on your auto insurance - a while back I dropped to liability coverage only as the loan on the vehicle I was driving was paid off. What happened, and what I had not considered, was that I was involved in a hit and run (other party ran) and it left me footing the bill for the vehicle repairs.

Lesson learned. I am not just responsible for my actions, I am still responsible for the actions of the unscrupulous.

Also I just found out that my bank offers an AD&D policy of $30k for free when a member of their preferred club (requires min balance of course). Also free credit monitoring. These are things that I never paid attention to before, but when you open your eyes and have the time to start looking, there is a lot of low hanging fruit out there.

There is an obscure liability coverage called Uninsured Motorists Property Damage which can protect your car from hit-and-run accidents and from damage to your car from uninsured drivers (the way UM Bodily Injury protects you yourself from injuries due to uninsured drivers). However, this coverage is not available in all U.S. states so you might not have had the chance to buy it once you dropped collision. UMPD is pretty cheap because of its limited nature so it would be worth it to include in your policy.

Edit: I see you live in Texas, a state which does allow UMPD to be sold.

 

[Walt34]

One thing to consider on your auto insurance - a while back I dropped to liability coverage only as the loan on the vehicle I was driving was paid off. What happened, and what I had not considered, was that I was involved in a hit and run (other party ran) and it left me footing the bill for the vehicle repairs.

Does your company not offer uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage? We've always had that - it covers that situation and if there are injuries to you it covers what the other driver's insurance would have covered had they been properly insured. That includes loss of income if you can't work, damage to your car, and your medical costs among others.

Uninsured drivers are somewhat of an issue in WV because DMV only checks coverage once a year when the tags are issued or renewed. So the dirtballs pay one month's premium and then let the policy lapse.

MD is a bit better in that state law required insurance companies to notify the MVA when a policy lapses and they send a nastygram to the owner saying "Send in either the tags or proof of insurance". The problem they don't actually dispatch anyone to snatch the tags but only "flag" it in records so if the police stop the car they will impound the car and send in the tags.

 

[SteveL]

You can save a few bucks on your car insurance by dropping the medical coverage. As long as you have your own health insurance, your auto medical is duplicate coverage. You won't be allowed to collect from both. This also applies to PIP coverage if you are no longer working. Some states don't allow PIP, so check your policy.

 

[Mulligan]

Does your company not offer uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage? We've always had that - it covers that situation and if there are injuries to you it covers what the other driver's insurance would have covered had they been properly insured. That includes loss of income if you can't work, damage to your car, and your medical costs among others. Uninsured drivers are somewhat of an issue in WV because DMV only checks coverage once a year when the tags are issued or renewed. So the dirtballs pay one month's premium and then let the policy lapse. MD is a bit better in that state law required insurance companies to notify the MVA when a policy lapses and they send a nastygram to the owner saying "Send in either the tags or proof of insurance". The problem they don't actually dispatch anyone to snatch the tags but only "flag" it in records so if the police stop the car they will impound the car and send in the tags.

The "dirt balls" can play that trick here too. I have fortunate not to have had this experience, but a few friends have. And try getting blood out of a turnip. Reinstitution of the stockades with a few strategically placed whip lashings would serve as a reminder to keep policy in force.

 

[Chuckanut]

+1 When I retired from megacorp & lost their dental insurance, my dentist advised me that self-insuring would likely be less expensive than purchasing my own plan.

Perhaps. I had a lot of cavities as a youth and the fillings seem to be slowly degrading and causing new problems, so I kept my dental insurance. So far it is has paid off.

 

[scrabbler1]

You can save a few bucks on your car insurance by dropping the medical coverage. As long as you have your own health insurance, your auto medical is duplicate coverage. You won't be allowed to collect from both. This also applies to PIP coverage if you are no longer working. Some states don't allow PIP, so check your policy.

Most states which allow PIP it is mandatory. Medical Payments, the coverage allowed in non-PIP states, is always optional. It is also offered in some PIP states and is optional there, too. Depending on the state, PIP may include non-medical coverages, mainly wage income loss (which won't matter if you are retired). But sometimes PIP includes other lesser coverages such as essential services and death benefits.

PIP and Med Pay will likely have lower deductibles than personal health insurance, if any at all, something else to be aware of.