A Gold One
Dryer sheet wannabe
- Joined
- May 26, 2019
- Messages
- 12
Hi everyone,
I am 61 and my wife is 50 and thankfully we are both fit, active and in good health. I Fire’d at 55 after long career in Mega-Corps and an updated fire calc still shows 100% success rate for the next 40 years. Assets are invested conservatively in low cost funds and fixed income with some income producing real estate. Asset mix is roughly 40/40/20 and our annual withdrawal rate averages less than 1.4%.
While working, we lived outside the US for the 10 years prior to retirement and are currently enjoying our lives as expats living in Asia. Our standard of living is quite high, and we travel where and when we want (or did at least before the current troubles…). Our children are adults living independently near us and most of our community and social relationships are local as well. We do not foresee ever returning to settle in the states.
Historically while employed, we paid roughly $320,000 in health insurance premiums over 30 years, and for the same period had actual gross medical expenses of under 150K. For obvious reasons I know this is not a realistic basis for future predictions, but It did plant the seed in my mind that maybe there is another way of approaching managing the financial risk of health care.
Where we live, health care costs are generally about 20-30% of the cost in the states including all diagnostic tests, hospitalizations, doctors’ visits and medications. Quality of health care here is ok, but variable and with the best and most modern hospitals providing decent care. We are generally well informed medically and can go to Singapore or Bangkok for more advanced procedures or hospitalization if needed for a higher cost. I do know that a medical emergency would likely mean being treated locally. The risk of living in a country where the standard of health care may not match the west is something we feel we can accept.
Since retiring, we have not had health insurance and our costs thus far been have less than $2,000 per year for both of us. Expat health policies we have looked at are roughly $10K a year all-in (including deductibles) and will increase as we age. They also come with a risk of the policy being cancelled when the economics no longer work for the insurance company. To mitigate the financial risk of not having health insurance, I set aside $100,000 when I retired (and excluded it from retirement calculations) and add $10,000 to this fund each year. Average return on this fund is 4%. Our actual out of pocket medical expenses are paid for from of our regular expense budget.
Based on the above and our particular situation, I am still leaning to self-insuring for now, but I do have a nagging feeling that I am missing something important and given how significant and potentially impact-full this is, I would really like to hear other views from this community. Thank you!
I am 61 and my wife is 50 and thankfully we are both fit, active and in good health. I Fire’d at 55 after long career in Mega-Corps and an updated fire calc still shows 100% success rate for the next 40 years. Assets are invested conservatively in low cost funds and fixed income with some income producing real estate. Asset mix is roughly 40/40/20 and our annual withdrawal rate averages less than 1.4%.
While working, we lived outside the US for the 10 years prior to retirement and are currently enjoying our lives as expats living in Asia. Our standard of living is quite high, and we travel where and when we want (or did at least before the current troubles…). Our children are adults living independently near us and most of our community and social relationships are local as well. We do not foresee ever returning to settle in the states.
Historically while employed, we paid roughly $320,000 in health insurance premiums over 30 years, and for the same period had actual gross medical expenses of under 150K. For obvious reasons I know this is not a realistic basis for future predictions, but It did plant the seed in my mind that maybe there is another way of approaching managing the financial risk of health care.
Where we live, health care costs are generally about 20-30% of the cost in the states including all diagnostic tests, hospitalizations, doctors’ visits and medications. Quality of health care here is ok, but variable and with the best and most modern hospitals providing decent care. We are generally well informed medically and can go to Singapore or Bangkok for more advanced procedures or hospitalization if needed for a higher cost. I do know that a medical emergency would likely mean being treated locally. The risk of living in a country where the standard of health care may not match the west is something we feel we can accept.
Since retiring, we have not had health insurance and our costs thus far been have less than $2,000 per year for both of us. Expat health policies we have looked at are roughly $10K a year all-in (including deductibles) and will increase as we age. They also come with a risk of the policy being cancelled when the economics no longer work for the insurance company. To mitigate the financial risk of not having health insurance, I set aside $100,000 when I retired (and excluded it from retirement calculations) and add $10,000 to this fund each year. Average return on this fund is 4%. Our actual out of pocket medical expenses are paid for from of our regular expense budget.
Based on the above and our particular situation, I am still leaning to self-insuring for now, but I do have a nagging feeling that I am missing something important and given how significant and potentially impact-full this is, I would really like to hear other views from this community. Thank you!