At age 80, concerns about money are way down on the worry list. With a five to eight year life expectancy, the hope is that income inequality won't move fast enough to affect the kinds of support that we've come to rely upon....
Social Security
Medicare and supplements
Pharmaceutical costs
The current change is most obvious in the exploding costs of medicine. In just two of the medications that I use, the price increases are out of control. Colchicine, which used to cost $.10/ tablet, is now $5.00/tablet. The infamous EpiPen which used to cost about $20.00 is now $600.00 (recently $300.00 for the generic).
Social Security is essentially an unfunded liability, with no solution in sight. Four DW and I, not a particular concern, as reason tells us this won't disappear overnight.
Medicare... not a major concern as we expect this will not disappear over our lifetime.
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The good:
Most of our limited assets are in IBonds, which we hope will partially keep up in the case of galloping inflation.
We do have limited long term care insurance for homecare or nursing home, but only at $100/day.
Our living expenses are very low.
We have no debt.
Our major worry is for the future of younger people, including our own children and grandchildren. As safety nets for catastrophic medical costs disappear, and student debt becomes unmanageable, the pay-as you-go way of life seems to be disappearing for the average citizen. There's a lingering fear of the lean years that we were growing out of as children in the 1930's and 1940's, and the much less serious economy dips in more recent years.
Uncertainty won't go away, but the majority of ER members have their heads on straight, and are realistic and prepared for changes as they occur. Hopefully the advances in knowledge and productivity will keep our nation strong, but optimism is not a substitute for reality checks.
