I’m not sure of why the delay, maybe it is the paperwork, though it is at the same brokerage firm. I figured out a different option, though. They have a brokerage link that you aren’t rolling anything over, but even though they make you sell the fund, you can buy something with 90% of the funds transferred that day, and the other 10% the next day. This brokerage link gives me options to all the ETFs I’d ever dream of. I didn’t think much about it when my union negotiated it the last contract, but now I realize that this can pretty much do what I need with no rollover required.
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I stumbled across this excellent video explaining 2025 Part D calculations for the new $2,000 max OOP for covered drugs. If you take expensive drugs, you’ll find it especially enlightening. Let’s just say it’s not as simple as you might think, and a $0 Part D plan may not actually be less expensive in the long run, depending on the drugs you take.
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Video won’t open…
Click on the left side. I got it to open on my second tap (first tap in the middle didn’t work).
Yikes, that took some time. I got it to work.
I’m going to replace the link with another - that hopefully works better. It’s a really good video.
I skimmed a fair amount but understand the concept he explained. I already looked at the Medicare Part D calculator and figured with my expensive drug, I will pay more in 2025 than this year. But it’s one of the negotiated drugs so should go down in 2026. I hope. I will take another look to see if I can figure out if any of the plans the calculator shows are enhanced vs basic. My other meds are all generic.
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It definitely varies with your particular drugs. For some, they may all cap at $2,000. For others, you need to investigate using the Medicare site to find total annual costs. For example, Eliquis is covered by WellCare Value Script, which has very low premiums ($0 in some states). But in my zip code, although WellCare premium is $0, it’s not the least expensive option. A plan that costs $86.40/month is! For the year, that total cost is $1,540.80 … and the plan with $0 premium is $2,000. Six plans with premiums ranging from $0.40 to $110.10 have a total for the year of less than the $2,000 that WellCare totals. In other words, don’t make assumptions. Be sure to run the calculations on the Medicare website for your drugs and pharmacies.
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On Medicare’s website you can put in your prescriptions and compare plans and pharmacies side by side and see what is best for you. I take a lot of prescriptions but didn’t realize how inexpensive they are from any of my 3 preferred pharmacies, although the online one was quite high which seemed odd. The total for all of them over the year was under $600 - really surprising to me but it appears they are all generic so the $2,000 cap didn’t even end up being part of the consideration. Had I stayed with my original Part D provider it would have been much more expensive due to the higher monthly premium…that ended up being the difference in my case, and I did end up switching from Aetna to WellCare.
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Listened to this interesting podcast today E187 Retire on Campus at Arizona State in Tempe
Now Tempe is not our ideal location/climate. And this cruise-like retirement complex is too pricey for us and most retirees. (Buy-in is between $600k and $2 million, 80% refundable when you leave or die. PLUS $6k/month fees, which do include many services and 1000 points/dollars for dining at their decently priced restaurants.) But I can’t deny the idea of living on a campus has some appeal.
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it may not have been this specific place, but a couple of years ago, a bunch of resident seniors were pressing the ASU leaders to reduce teh noise at night. Evidently, there was an outdoor theater nearby that played music on the weekends and was packed with young peeps, disturbing the curmudgeon’s sleep. 
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One of the women in my stitching group and her husband are leaving our community for that ASU retirement community. Her husband’s diabetes has impaired his mobility and made it difficult for her to deal with all his needs. Mirabella is a life-plan community with various levels of onsite health services. Both were educators in their careers (how they met) and are very attracted to the lifelong learning opportunities on campus. It appears to be an ideal option for them.
Mirabella is a high-rise, and their unit is on an upper floor for noise mitigation.
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Very cool! The couple interviewed had education background (she was a university president). They live on the 19th floor, 2 bedrooms with 1400 sq feet. So probably not much noise. It was cool that there was a healthcare group that makes home visits there, accepts medicare/supplemental. They are in their 80s but sound quite active. They have a car ($130/month, including the required valet parking), but not necessary since there are walkable restaurants and free transport within 5 miles. Airport is close.
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We have chosen a different path than the folks above. We have worked to make it easy to stay in our house – one level living except for my office and rooms for either ShawD and family (assuming that comes to pass) or live-in help (or both). No stairs required to get in the front door. We might need to replace a brick walk-way with something smoother.You do have to drive to most anything. But, I’m assuming there will be uber/lyft and/or autonomous cars to drive us where we need to go.
This does not necessarily do as good a job for the last few years as an independent living/assisted living/nursing home/hospice place, but is and will be a true delight to live in for many years.
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This appeared in WSJ originally.
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One thing I believe people don’t anticipate is that your energy level as you age goes way down. You just don’t want the hassle of managing property, and you start to neglect what you have because you can’t stay on top of it. It’s not even necessarily a matter of money. It’s a matter of focus and energy. That is why I think we will move to a CCRC perhaps earlier than we absolutely have to, while we can still choose and don’t have to take whatever we can get.
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That’s where my neighbor is today. He’s in his early 80’s, and he’s all there mentally, but arranging for people to do things for him is just not something he wants to do. He finds it all just too much. He has plenty of money. His D lives nearby, and she helps him find people to do the jobs he wants done & gets them lined up for him. If she wasn’t doing that for him, he would need to move to a different living situation.
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We have just moved into our brand new ADU small home- just less than 1000 sq feet, and on one-level - next to our daughter and her family’s new house. Legally, we are one property, so that does provide complications should they, or we, ever decide to move. It was a risk we were willing to make. We didn’t follow the universal design principals, but do have a huge L-Shaped grab bar in the walk in shower, no rugs or floor surfaces to trip on, and I think I could get a walker in and out of the full and half bathrooms. Wheelchairs would not work in here unless they are some miraculous mini-model, so hoping we won’t have to go there ever.
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Life administration takes an enormous amount of energy. If you have someone who is willing to take it on for you, great. The problem is that the younger generation can’t manage their own lives plus yours!
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