dusty,
Consider yourself lucky if you break even on the social security/ medicare deal. Many of the people who have to buy and pay for their own insurance have been getting double digit rate increases in their premiums to pay for those on Obmacare. And, they get no raises at all in many cases. Your income is at a standstill. For the people paying out of their own pockets, they are going backwards really fast the last couple of years since Obamacare took effect.
The Numbers are In
Moderator: admin
- dusty
- Platinum Member
- Posts: 21481
- Joined: Wed Nov 22, 2006 6:52 am
- Location: Tucson (Wildcat Country), Arizona
Re: The Numbers are In
I do so well understand just how fortunate I am. That is especially true when I consider my medical history over the past 6 years.garys wrote:dusty,
Consider yourself lucky if you break even on the social security/ medicare deal. Many of the people who have to buy and pay for their own insurance have been getting double digit rate increases in their premiums to pay for those on Obmacare. And, they get no raises at all in many cases. Your income is at a standstill. For the people paying out of their own pockets, they are going backwards really fast the last couple of years since Obamacare took effect.
I do also understand the situation that others find themselves in. I live here in Tucson along with my daughters and their families. I know about the impact that the ACA (aka Obamacare) has placed on them. I hear from one or the other every time something changes with their insurance premiums. My oldest daughter has had to drop her enrollment because she can not pay the premiums and live too. She works in a small business that provides no healthcare. At least all of the others have at least some support from employers.
What grabs me is how little we hear from the media or our Congress about that negative impact. I just heard Schumer crying about how terrible the Tax Reform Act is and how it is being forced upon us. I sense that he does not recall how ACA came into existence.
Let us not forget though that we do not know what is in the Tax Reform Bill until "We Have Read It".
"Making Sawdust Safely"
Dusty
Sent from my Dell XPS using Firefox.
Dusty
Sent from my Dell XPS using Firefox.
Re: The Numbers are In
dusty wrote: Let us not forget though that we do not know what is in the Tax Reform Bill until "We Have Read It".
So true. The Tax Reform won't take effect this year anymore so we have to wait until next year to see if we get a little break or if we get nailed even more than we are currently. I'll know more a year from now when I see the final IRS forms and can do some calculations. Until then, I try to not think about it.
Re: The Numbers are In
We carry supplemental coverage on top of the medicare. That goes up every year and is adjusted by what medicare takes care of and what they don't. And of course they add on a bit more to cover what ever they want to add to their coffers.
So my wife's amount is so low that the additions this year and for the last while means that it is stagnate what ever the cost of living adjustments are are taken by medicare. Worse yet I don't see how it could ever recover to the point of her getting any additional pocket money from SS.
In my case I get enough this year to see a few more dollars coming in and me paying the full medicare amount. That was not the case last year.
Now back to the supplemental insurance, that will no doubt go up again so in terms of actual income it will likely mean I will be paying a lot more then I see being added back in. That alone means there is no positive cost of living increase. And this is been the trend as long as I have been retired. Yes some years are better but not due to cost of living adjustments.
One of the drugs I have to take to stay alive just went up by 350%, and that is with my drug coverage supplement coverage.....
For a lot of us in this boat the cost of living adjustment is not a real thing due to medical related expenses. As long as that is going up at a rate larger then the cost of living payments we are going to be in negative numbers.
The good news is the saving rates are slowly going up. When I retired I was thinking that long term my savings would grow at 3%, based on my life experiences that seemed reasonable. Well we all know how that went. So it turned out to not be much of a factor in our income and still is not but at least it is getting better.
How ever I do have two powerpro's and a growing stack of Festool items so life can't be that bad.
Ed
So my wife's amount is so low that the additions this year and for the last while means that it is stagnate what ever the cost of living adjustments are are taken by medicare. Worse yet I don't see how it could ever recover to the point of her getting any additional pocket money from SS.
In my case I get enough this year to see a few more dollars coming in and me paying the full medicare amount. That was not the case last year.
Now back to the supplemental insurance, that will no doubt go up again so in terms of actual income it will likely mean I will be paying a lot more then I see being added back in. That alone means there is no positive cost of living increase. And this is been the trend as long as I have been retired. Yes some years are better but not due to cost of living adjustments.
One of the drugs I have to take to stay alive just went up by 350%, and that is with my drug coverage supplement coverage.....
For a lot of us in this boat the cost of living adjustment is not a real thing due to medical related expenses. As long as that is going up at a rate larger then the cost of living payments we are going to be in negative numbers.
The good news is the saving rates are slowly going up. When I retired I was thinking that long term my savings would grow at 3%, based on my life experiences that seemed reasonable. Well we all know how that went. So it turned out to not be much of a factor in our income and still is not but at least it is getting better.
How ever I do have two powerpro's and a growing stack of Festool items so life can't be that bad.
Ed
{Knight of the Shopsmith} [Hero's don't wear capes, they wear dog tags]