So I went to healthcare.gov and looked at what plans would cost us without ACA subsidies if we were to retire 2016, in Florida (where we plan to relocate to) but at our projected ages in 2 years (50 and 54).
The cheapest combo of premiums plus max OOP came to a total of $19,680 per year.
I know we won't necessarily hit out max OOP each year, but I thought it would be comforting to model a "worst case scenario" and see if our portfolio could handle it.
I added this amount to the rest of our projected budget, and ran FIRECalc with all of our other data.
FIRECalc says we would have a 95% success rate for a budget $1500 lower than the projected worst case scenario budget, assuming social security is still in effect by the time we hit normal retirement age (not asking for speculation on that. I don't want to stir any more political hornet nests, lol.)
This was very comforting to me, even though it wasn't 100% at the full projected worst case scenario budget. I figure:
1) In any year we hit max OOP on medical costs, we can always decrease our spending in other areas - I have $5K allotted to travel, so we would take it from there.
2) The likelihood of continuing to hit max OOP year after year is relatively low....knock on wood. Even so, it could happen. It gives me comfort to at least plan for worst case scenario and see that it is possible to handle it, with adjustments to our spending. I would rather have more padding in the budget, but, right now it feels like I'd be willing to take the risk. We will see in 2 years if I still feel the same way.
3) We have two more years to see how much our investments grow and also see how much hubby's pension and our SS amounts grow. Those amounts will certainly affect FIRECalc results and hopefully will increase the amount we can safely withdraw.
Thanks to all so much for all of your insights - love this board!