Your health insurance in early retirement

If you are an American who wants to retire earlier than most, then your employer-supplied healthcare insurance might be your biggest worry. How are you going to substitute for it in retirement? 

Here is what I have found on this topic.  


The ACA (the affordable care act)

If ACA still exists when you retire, and you qualify for subsidies, you are in a great condition. Just make sure that there are local doctors under the ACA plan you buy. Great articles on ACA are already available. Here is one from GoCurryCracker. Two others come from RootofGood: here and here. 

The couple from the YouTube channel Our Rich Journey also discusses ACA.

 
Direct primary care

Direct Primary Care (DPC) is an alternative payment model for primary care, it is not an insurance. From the website of Direct Primary Care, here is the most important information about the system. DPC utilizes a flat-fee system that covers comprehensive primary care services. The website mentions in different places $70-$100 a month per member. DPC allows for sufficient time spent between patient and physician. DPC practices usually have extended hours, ready access to urgent care, and “patient panel sizes small enough to support this commitment to service”. As a DPC patient, you can choose your personal physician. Currently, there are over 1,000 DPC practices in 48 states that provide primary care to more than 300,000 patients. However, the DPC practices are unevenly distributed throughout the country. Check their map here. 

According to the news of DPC website, DPC is better than ACA. However, DPC is not an insurance plan and does not cover medical costs outside the primary care practice. Therefore, patients of DPC should have a high deductible or "health share" plan to be an ACA qualified healthcare plan. 

Here is a brief video about DPC that emphasizes the price, convenience and prevention concept. There is also a warning about the medical conditions that would not be covered by DPC or a high deductible or "health share" plan.

 
Healthcare sharing ministries

Another option are the healthcare sharing ministries. These are not insurance plans either. Such organizations take the biblical command to do good and share with others. The members commit to belief in God, freedom, and ethics. The benefit is that the members make affordable monthly contributions online to match the medical needs within their group. One such ministry is Liberty Shares that offers three different programs. Here are the monthly fees: for a single under 30 (and 30 and over):  $249 ($299),  for a couple under 30 (and 30 and over): $349 ($399), and for a family of under age of 30 (and 30 and over):
$479 ($529).
 
Under the Liberty Complete program, after fulfilling the annual "unshared" amount ($1,000 for an individual, $1,750 for a couple, $2,250 for a family), the members can share eligible medical costs up to $1 million per incident.

Other healthshare ministries are the Christian Healthcare Ministries, Medi-Share, Samaritan Ministries, and the Freedom HealthShare. Keep in mind that the monthly share payments are not deductible from the U.S. federal income taxes as medical expenses or charitable deductions.


Medical tourism and international insurance

Of course, medical tourism already exists and will expand in the future. If you are permanently stationed abroad, you may consider international medical insurance. 

From this website comes an example insurance rate for a husband and wife, ages 62 and 60. The plans are offered by IMG Global Medical. Plan 1 covers the couple worldwide excluding the U.S., Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Singapore, and Taiwan. This plan costs $2,260 per year with a $10,000 deductible. Plan 2 covers the couple worldwide coverage (anywhere, including the U.S). This plan costs $41,546 with a $100 deductible (I could not confirm the cost of the second plan via a quote). Other companies have different deals, for example, CignaGlobal Medical Plan adjusts the price according to where you live. 


 Go to a doctor only when you need (abroad)

This option is not for everyone. But here is the experience of Mr Free at 33 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. 

The affordability of healthcare in Thailand is also mentioned by the adorable couple Our Rich Journey.

Any other ideas on how to release your yoke without the fear of a health collapse in the retirement years?

Overcoming the "me" goals

I am happy to report that this past week I was off duties and able to recover from the frantic and meaningless activities at work. At least four hours a day I did work on a job assignment; however, "working-while-on vacation" is a routine for me.

The time away from the job has given me the chance to redefine (again) my smaller- and bigger-scale goals, learn more about some financial tools, and ruminate on how to align the spiritual with the material.

I hope that you also have had some time around the holidays to ponder about what comes next in your life.

I have also been listening to the podcasts of ChooseFI. I have been reading some of the latest posts of JL Collins and the other FI (financial independence) people (look here).

It is refreshing to learn from a bunch of highly organized, intentional and reflective people how they perceive life and how they prepare for intentional existence. The FI folks truly create the impression of being masters of their lives. They know what their goals are, they know how to get there, they track each step in the journey. 

I have only admiration (and a bit of envy) for these guys. In contrast, the only thing I currently know is that I would love to get out of the current job in four years. However, I have no clear idea on what I will do after these four years. And this means that my journey is not inspired. The goals and my next life destination should be the driving force that fuels me through the years. As of now, I am unsure that I can make it through almost 1500 workdays (that's right, I count weekends too, and with a good reason)!  

My next assignment is to think what comes after the 1500 days, so that I could align the material needs with my spiritual aspirations. The default would be to bum around for some time after I have secured the minimum "survival" income, and then my inspiration might come ... All I know is that my dream is not what is described at the beginning of this podcast:

I would rather visit the local library every week, have a modest and cozy home, and maybe have a garden. And maybe if I am not working even during my "vacation time", I would be able to find myself again and rediscover what truly motivates me? 

I just found the blog of the Wealthy Accountant, and interestingly, this post by him discusses the need for a simple goal when one strives for early retirement.  I still have to work on my own goal by externalizing it, i.e., by making it more about others than myself.  Being cozy and having enough time for books and gardening is great, but it is awfully egotistical.What is your goal?

The Affordable Care Act

Wikipedia page.  Author:  Pete Souza.

For anyone interested in the Affordable Care Act, this post will be highly relevant.

I hope that one day I will be a "semi-early" retiree 😀, so I was quiet grateful to read the comprehensive review compiled by a specialist.

I hope this is helpful to you as well, reader.

If life is an adventure, where is mine

Last week I listened to a MadFientist podcast. It was an interview with a fascinating young couple that has acquired financial independence in five years.

I wish I had had the knowledge and opportunities to do something as unorthodox as these young people, when I was their age. However, I did not – my life had a different trajectory, and at almost twice their age, I am still not financially independent.

Instead of giving up to bitter regrets, I would like to share their story. If you are still young, think outside the box, and explore alternative ways of realizing yourself. 

Other examples of off-the track stories are these of the couples behind The Good Life Lab, Frugalwoods, Go Curry Cracker, and Millennial Revolution. 

By the way, the Millennial Revolution couple was also interviewed by the MadFientist. The couple is leading a nomadic lifestyle, and I was (almost) weeping with envy when they described their next destination as "a few quiet beaches". I was listening and shivering after my weekly food shopping in the early morning hours, when December temperatures dip below freezing. Should I also mention that my upper back muscles were hurting after the first Herculean snow-cleaning effort (yes, our snowblower gave up, so we put our muscles to the test).

Here is how to start preparing for the nomadic chapter of your life, if you are inspired. 

Mark Twain said,

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. 

I do not need twenty years to realize my disappointment. I need to do something different soon. If life is an adventure, where is mine?