Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 11-13-2010, 07:44 PM   #21
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
youbet's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Chicago
Posts: 13,151
Good point Nords.....

It does make one wonder. What will the Chinese charge for LTC once they own the nursing homes and hospitals? Those things are probably what they'll take for collateral after they've already grabbed our farmland, sources of fresh water, highway and railroad systems, national parks and professional sports franchises.

And even if it's not the Chinese, is there a way to possibly predict what LTC care will cost a decade or 2 or 3 from now?
__________________
"I wasn't born blue blood. I was born blue-collar." John Wort Hannam
youbet is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 11-13-2010, 09:23 PM   #22
Moderator Emeritus
Nords's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Oahu
Posts: 26,856
Quote:
Originally Posted by youbet View Post
It does make one wonder. What will the Chinese charge for LTC once they own the nursing homes and hospitals? Those things are probably what they'll take for collateral after they've already grabbed our farmland, sources of fresh water, highway and railroad systems, national parks and professional sports franchises.
I was being a bit facetious because the scary foreign investors change every decade. In the 1960s & 70s it was the Russians, in the 1980s it was the Japanese, in the 1990s it was the euro or the Chinese... yet every year they all keep buying Cokes and Big Macs.

Quote:
Originally Posted by youbet View Post
And even if it's not the Chinese, is there a way to possibly predict what LTC care will cost a decade or 2 or 3 from now?
I suspect that in-home sensor technology and robotics are finally going to find the purpose they've needed in order to ramp up the volume production. By the time us tail-end Boomers get up there, most of the hard problems will be solved and they'll just be tweaking the components to reduce the production costs.

You know how you can put a cypherlock on your front door to get in without a key? Now imagine that you have to remember the code (and how to enter it) to get out of your memory care unit front door without an escort.
__________________
*

Co-author (with my daughter) of “Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence.”
Author of the book written on E-R.org: "The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement."

I don't spend much time here— please send a PM.
Nords is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-14-2010, 05:55 AM   #23
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
youbet's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Chicago
Posts: 13,151
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nords View Post
You know how you can put a cypherlock on your front door to get in without a key? Now imagine that you have to remember the code (and how to enter it) to get out of your memory care unit front door without an escort.
Geeeee...... I hope they have that feature interconnected with the smoke alarm!
__________________
"I wasn't born blue blood. I was born blue-collar." John Wort Hannam
youbet is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-14-2010, 01:14 PM   #24
Moderator Emeritus
Nords's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Oahu
Posts: 26,856
Quote:
Originally Posted by youbet View Post
Geeeee...... I hope they have that feature interconnected with the smoke alarm!
Black humor notwithstanding, that's a good point. It's not intended to necessarily replace the human presence as much as it's intended to help everybody spend more time being more productive. Doctors and caregivers are expensive and spend a lot of time standing around looking for signs of trouble... or even worse, trying to figure out how to get the data they need. Elders don't want to be unsafe or isolated in their own homes but might not be able to afford an alternative, let alone want to live in a group home.

A local company sells a number of these systems to help senior stay in their homes longer. It sounds like "1984" or "nanny cam" but it can eliminate a lot of hassles for everyone. For example an elder with congestive heart symptoms might have to closely monitor their weight and their BP. Current practice is to nag them to weigh themselves every day (plus write the data in a black composition notebook on the kitchen table) and to either have a health aid visit to take their BP or for them to go to the clinic several times a week.

An alternative is a weight scale and an automated BP cuff-- both wirelessly connected to a laptop which uploads the data to a website where doctor, caregiver, and family all have their own logins/passwords. Nobody has to nag anyone, no one has to lie or be passive-aggressive, and people can spend their time doing more important or more enjoyable activities.

One elder who had chafed under the old system decided to have a little fun under the new one-- he'd weigh himself every few minutes and then check his BP, sometimes dozens of times a day. While he was cackling with glee at the extra work he was imposing on the caregivers/doctors, they were actually just watching the data pile up on the website, automatically graphed and summarized for their review...

Here's a couple links. The MP3 starts with a news summary and gets into the Ho'okele interview around minute 19.
Patient Education: Future Family: Life In The Digital Age part 2 : Video : Discovery Channel
Episode 117: Ho’okele Health

Personally I want a robobutler that can pick up bunny poop and run a vacuum cleaner.
__________________
*

Co-author (with my daughter) of “Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence.”
Author of the book written on E-R.org: "The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement."

I don't spend much time here— please send a PM.
Nords is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Pension funding trouble cashbalancetrouble FIRE and Money 3 12-23-2008 08:41 AM
Long-term care (LTC) and LTC insurance (Updated 2020) Nords Early Retirement FAQs 0 10-24-2007 11:02 AM
Funding a bypass trust SecondCor521 FIRE and Money 3 05-24-2007 12:45 PM
Funding your cash flow WilliamG FIRE and Money 1 04-15-2004 07:05 AM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:58 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.