50+ In Wyoming, Poised to FIRE, But Health Considerations

[Conundrum]

I too was concerned about health coverage as I have preexisting conditions. Check out
https://www.healthsherpa.com it was recommended to me and I have found it really helpful to model costs. Its easy to use and calculates quickly if you want to jump from scenario to scenario.

Have you considered taking a bit of your taxable account out annually to drive your MAGI below 400% FPL. If you can get below 250% the savings are giant.

You should be very proud of your financial accomplishments. You dun' good!

 

[WyomingLife]

I too was concerned about health coverage as I have preexisting conditions. Check out
https://www.healthsherpa.com it was recommended to me and I have found it really helpful to model costs. Its easy to use and calculates quickly if you want to jump from scenario to scenario.

Have you considered taking a bit of your taxable account out annually to drive your MAGI below 400% FPL. If you can get below 250% the savings are giant.

Conundrum -- Thank you for the terrific advice and kind words. I very much appreciate you and the others wading through my very long post and then offering superb advice. Thanks to this board's responses to that post, I have a lot to mull over, analyze and execute upon. I'm looking forward to wading back into these forums from time to time, hopefully with much smarter questions so as not to pester folks.

 

[watchman3135]

3.5M is nice and i'd say nearly worry free. I plan on doing this at 54 on 1.3M and and I am looking at Colorado vs Wyoming. Wyoming gets a huge plus for not taxing retirement income.

 

[WyomingLife]

3.5M is nice and i'd say nearly worry free. I plan on doing this at 54 on 1.3M and and I am looking at Colorado vs Wyoming. Wyoming gets a huge plus for not taxing retirement income.

Thanks for the kind words, watchman. Best wishes to you; I suspect you are a lot better with money that we are, so you are going to be fine. Colorado is wonderful, too.

 

[HI Bill]

You seem to be well-prepared, even to the extent of planning for LTC, and FIRECALC says you're good to go. Assuming you don't have any desire to do extensive travel, leave a large bequest, etc., I'd say, IMHO, you're good to FIRE! Enjoy!

 

[Truckinalong]

I'm a few years behind you but you are not alone in your worries. It helps me at least to know I am not alone.

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f38/when-you-know-medical-costs-will-be-high-93963.html

 

[WyomingLife]

I'm a few years behind you but you are not alone in your worries. It helps me at least to know I am not alone.

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f38/when-you-know-medical-costs-will-be-high-93963.html

Thank you, HNL Bill.

You, too, Truckinalong. I just read your linked post regarding your situation. Best wishes to you and your spouse. I recently took comfort from the following information provided by a friend, though I am no expert and have not separately researched it.

I asked him the following: "What happens if the ACA goes away?" (And I agree that is a politically unlikely outcome without some workable replacement stood up in its place.)

He said: "The state insurance markets revert back to what they were before."

Me: "How did the pre-ACA markets work for those with pre-existing conditions and without access to company plans?"

He: "You could just go to an insurance company and negotiate a deal."

One of these evenings I should research how insurance worked before the ACA for those without company plans and not yet 65 years old.

 

[lhamo]

I hope this won't sound callous -- it is something that has figured in to my personal planning:

How comfortable are you/your DW with your own eventual mortality?

For me, having watched my mom endure a fairly rapid decline (under 2 years) from Congestive Heart Failure and my MIL a slow an agonizing one (Parkinsons, complicated by cancer surgery (successful, but who knows for how long) and a poorly healed hip fracture, my personal preference is to avoid an extended decline and the stress (emotional and financial) that would place on my family. I will remain in a right to die state, and take advantage of those laws if I ever get a terminal diagnosis. I would also most likely elect not to aggressively treat anything higher than Stage 3 cancer -- would focus on preserving quality of life for as long as possible, and then enact right to die provisions.


My point here is that if you have already come to terms with your own mortality, then much of the worry about losing health insurance is pointless. Am I glad to have coverage now? Definitely. But in its absence, my plan would be to live the best life I can for as long as I can, but not bankrupt my family along the way.

 

[HI Bill]

"How did the pre-ACA markets work for those with pre-existing conditions and without access to company plans?"

He: "You could just go to an insurance company and negotiate a deal."

But the deal meant they'd provide coverage, but NOT FOR YOUR EXPENSIVE PRE-EXISTING CONDITION, or not at a rate you could afford. I'm in the unfortunate situation of needing a $2K eye injection every 7 weeks to retain the vision in one eye. If the pre-existing condition insurance exclusion returned, I'd have to pay about $15K annually for my shots....

 

[Dtail]

But the deal meant they'd provide coverage, but NOT FOR YOUR EXPENSIVE PRE-EXISTING CONDITION, or not at a rate you could afford. I'm in the unfortunate situation of needing a $2K eye injection every 7 weeks to retain the vision in one eye. If the pre-existing condition insurance exclusion returned, I'd have to pay about $15K annually for my shots....

Is the math or statement above correct? Isn't 2k every 7 weeks roughly equal to 15k annually?

 

[googily]

I have nothing to add to all of the great replies, but just wanted to say welcome. My mother's side of the family is multi-generation Wyoming (northern tier), and Mom was about the only one who went east. I've spent a lot of time out there (maybe in the same place you are, judging by the few breadcrumbs you gave), and had considered retiring to a home I owned there, but circumstances changed. I do still own some property in the state, though.

You've gotten some great advice from folks here, and it sounds like you are well on your way.

 

[Truckinalong]

I hope this won't sound callous -- it is something that has figured in to my personal planning:

How comfortable are you/your DW with your own eventual mortality?.....

, but not bankrupt my family along the way.

Quoting the most relevant points for me, excellent response. Dealing with or watching someone else go through medical issues tends to bring comfort at least for me with mortality. It's inevitable and me or DW don't worry.

The bankrupt is more stressful than the actual stress of health decline. Neither wants to create a scenario for the other where one is gone and the remaining spouse is destitute yet relatively healthy.

 

[haha]

Me: "How did the pre-ACA markets work for those with pre-existing conditions and without access to company plans?"

He: "You could just go to an insurance company and negotiate a deal."

One of these evenings I should research how insurance worked before the ACA for those without company plans and not yet 65 years old.

Fat chance on negotiating successfully with an insurance company. This advice is not very good IMO.

Ha

 

[HI Bill]

Is the math or statement above correct? Isn't 2k every 7 weeks roughly equal to 15k annually?

Yes, 52 weeks per year/7 weeks = 7.43 shots per year, x $2,000=$14,857.

 

[Dtail]

Yes, 52 weeks per year/7 weeks = 7.43 shots per year, x $2,000=$14,857.

Yes, my point was I thought you were trying to make a point that if we went back to pre-existing conditions, that your costs would be much more, but then was presenting the math that shows similar numbers in either situation.

 

[WyomingLife]

I hope this won't sound callous -- it is something that has figured in to my personal planning:

How comfortable are you/your DW with your own eventual mortality?

Not callous at all, and thank you for the observation. We're on the same page with you.

The lone tree out front is older than 30 years, I'm sure, and you don't have to hike far to come across rocks that are 3 billion years old. So at some level, putting "30" into FIRECalc's "year" block and clicking "submit" seems like fretting over a bunch of nothing.

Time to thumb back through Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning" ....