[REWahoo]

Welcome to the board tangomonster, and congratulations on having a very nice nest egg! You asked for advice, so here goes...

Compared to DW and I you are 5 or 6 years younger, have three times the savings, and half the annual expense requirement. We have the very same issue with health insuance, and it was by far the biggest issue we faced when making our decision to pull the plug and retire last year, but we did it and both sleep well at night.

When COBRA runs out late this year, we are looking at a high deductible HSA for me and the state insurance pool for DW (she has no serious health problems but pre existing conditions that will result in exclusions). We are also looking at $1,000/mo premiums and share your concerns about how those costs may skyrocket in the future. But we both sleep soundly at night because there is almost always a fallback position: part-time (or even full time :P) work.

We figure if health insurance costs get beyond our ability to pay/comfort level, we will draw straws and the loser will find part time employment with health benefits. It appears there are lots of those jobs available in our area (call centers, school bus drivers, home depot, etc.). Not an ideal solution, but a heck of a lot better than continuing to work for several more years out of fear of health premium costs.

I see two distinct advantgages you have that we don't: your much larger nest egg plus pensions. You can afford a lot of health care premiums in the next 13 years with those resources available to you.