2 feet
Maybe almost two feet from the wall, but you never actually get there? Unless that is a trick question.
I guess itâs kind of like saving for retirement. You keep saving, but itâs never quite enough, and you never actually reach your goal.
Maybe Iâm too literal, but I would think the answer depends on which direction youâre facing.
Re: post #9193 and the 4% rule. To each his own and YMMV, indeed. I will side with history: https://www.rbcwm-usa.com/resources/file-687839.pdf.
Will this variable percentage rule work?. 3%, 5%, 7%, 8%, 9% (1% increase every 5 years).
@dadof1, I wouldnât side with history.
I donât see another comparable time in history to what we have now in the financial markets.
I meant walking closer to the wall. Cute hayden. 
It wasnât a trick question. 2 ft is right.
I threw that question out here because if you spend 50 percent of your assets every year, you are going to be broke.
If you donât believe me, try it.
I guess the question some are asking is how little can one comfortable live on, and for how long. As usual, the answer is, âit depends,â on so many factors including current health and spending habits, how long one is likely to live, whether one gets a long-term chronic illness and how much that costs, etc.
Yay- @dstark . but not even a like? It seemed like a no brainer and I got the point you were making.
I think that the variable most beyond control is whether or not one gets a long term chronic illness . . . We do our best to try and plan for such eventualities, but stuff happens . . .
Some of us get our long term chronic illness early, even tho we have no risk factors and are doing everything right. Itâs still scary! Having excellent, reasonably-priced medical insurance that canât be cancelled is a MAJOR plus for us.
@HImom agree, it is very unpredictable when health insurance is needed. Granted if you donât have it there is a safety net but it is a whole lot better to try to not use that. It is really hard to predict the cost of insurance in the future , and I think that element is the most difficult cost to plan for in the future budget. That said I am retired now so here we go. I did stay at the job long enough to keep the insurance and pay only part of it, but I realize that could change in the future.
Yes, we are grateful that Hâs family plan premium is 25% paid by us and the rest by his former employer. We feel very fortunate and HOPE it doesnât change or have the coverage watered down.
Getting great medical care so one can continue to live an active and productive life is priceless! We did get H both Medicare A and B, but D and I are too young and (relatively) able to qualify.
@rockymtnhigh, you are right. I have corrected that error and given you a like.
Well deserved. My apologies.
Talking about insurance, anyone have a recommendation for a good health insurance company (not an HMO), in California? My son, sadly, is aging off my policy, and I dread having him go off the low cost, high quality plan like he has now. I think his company just gives him money towards whatever insurance he wants.
@busdriver11, not in CA, but we were forced off BCBS high deductible plan onto CIGNA PPO because of DWâs change of employer, and I think Iâve never missed an insurer more. CIGNA is a royal PITA, seeming to have turned delays and rejection into a fine science.
Will definitely stay away from CIGNA then. Also Kaiser, no HMOs. We have BCBS, low copayments, no deductible, rarely any grief with anything we file, no referrals needed, one of those old time union plans that are disappearing like crazy. Too bad they wonât let your kid stay on your policy past 26 for an additional fee.
@busdriver11 â will also give a no vote to United Healthcare. While the monthly premiums are a few hundred dollars less than Anthem, I know why: they deny many prescriptions that Anthem used to cover. (Dermatological, so perhaps not important if you do not have teenagers.)
Generally much more difficult to deal with than Anthem ever was, and three of our providers are now OON, so effectively zero coverage.
We are not in CA, but my company has had success with BCBS, Harvard Pilgrim and Tufts in Massachusetts (and the latter two were HMOs). We have also used Cigna and had the same kind of bad experiences and switched after a year. Given our experiences with high quality HMOs, I am curious @busdriver11: Do you have a problem with HMOs generally or with Kaiser specifically?
Sounds like BCBS is the way to go. And shawbridge, my problem is with any sort of HMO like care, not Kaiser specifically. After years in the military getting substandard care, and watching my parents deal with Group Health (soon to be Kaiser) for many decades, I am very turned off by anything like that. Itâs hard to believe my parents are still alive, under the Group Health plan. My doctor friend calls it âGroup Deathâ. Donât even want my kids to have to go that route.
Personally, I am a fan and lifetime subscriber of BCBS, as are our kids. I made H switch from Kaiser to BCBS when we married because I had just deposed all the OBs in Hawaiiâs Kaiser because our client died. I love the choice we have to go to in network docs all over the US (and even out of network for more out of pocket cost).
That said, I love HMOs that focus on preventative care as well as acute care instead of the traditional medical model that devotes most sources just for acute care. Also, I know a lot of amazing docs who work for HMOs because it allows them a MUCH better quality of life, including relatives and a former Board member of my nonprofit.
I still like to have choice of docs and we do travel to have care by providers that we feel are essential to optimizing our health, which I believe would be more problematic and require prior authorizations if we were HMO members. Right now, I can go to whatever doc or specialist I need to, WITHOUT getting the paperwork that is prior authorization approved.
In our state, the cost for our excellent BCBS and the HMO are pretty similar for premiums, and Iâm willing to pay the maximum out of pocket/year as needed to continue to keep the docs who have been providing us with amazing care. I suspect our total copays may be lower/year if we were to switch to HMO, but have never explored it.