Interesting to hear others experiences. I am 60 and trying to plan my retirement. It seems to be a balancing act between how long you will be healthy and what your financial needs / wants are.
It is a tough decision on when. We are in decent financial shape, but health care is the challenge. The company did away with structured retirements about 12 or 13 years ago, so I have one but it is small. The company began making contributions to the 401K shifting the risk to the employees. In addition, they killed the retirement healthcare supplement just last year, so to get the same plan I have now for the wife and myself will be the largest expense. We have 0 debt other than what we put on CC's and pay off monthly.
With SSI and Medicare in trouble, I worry about running out of money. But, I am also fed up with work.
Gonna have to figure it out.
Health care (health insurance) is indeed the major obstacle for many of us. I am fortunate to receive most of my care through the VA system at little or not expense. My wife was squeezed out of her position in a down-sizing at age 57, we were able to do a COBRA conversion of her group plan for a year or so at moderately expensive cost, then had to go on the market for an individual plan.
For those who have not had the experience of shopping for health insurance, the monthly premiums are very comparable to house payments, the coverages available are minimal, deductible amounts compare to automobile prices, and co-payments are more than a little bit scary.
We went from $340 per month for her group plan to $850 for an individual policy. Deductible went from $1500 to $7,000, co-pay at 80/20.
Then came the Affordable Care Act (laughing as I write this!). Monthly premium went to $1342, deductible went to $15,000, co-pay at 70/30. No real choice existed, take what they offered whether you like it or not.
All of this was just in time for the cancer diagnosis, hospitalization, and surgery. Show up at the hospital business office with a check for $31,000 to get things moving, then a few months of statements arriving regularly from anyone and everyone involved (surgeons, anesthesiologists, radiologists, consultants, laboratory services, you name it and here they come).
At 65 Medicare becomes the norm. Please don't think that is any kind of panacea! Pick your plan carefully, then shop for the best supplemental policy you can find (and afford). After both we were able to save about $800 per month on the premiums, but the deductibles and co-pays remain a constant reminder every month.
I still have VA care and I am enrolled in Medicare (not much of an option, they take the premiums out of my Social Security checks before I ever see the payments). Fortunately I have not experienced any Medicare claims yet; probably another experience to anticipate.
Dental care, vision care, some other benefits you may have become accustomed to with a group plan under an employer, all will become a thing of the past.
We are fortunate to be debt-free, no house payments, no car payments, no recurring debt. We live pretty well, but the costs for Medicare and supplemental plans are about half of our budget.
The golden key for us has been being debt-free. I cannot imagine how people expect to retire while paying rent or house payments!
