Community Chat

[Zaimee]

@reiki604  I know your pain. Had failed reconstruction, too. But, we are still here!

Happy and healthy new year.

[deeva]

@bathina 

I retired at 52, I was covered by my dh's insurance plan since he was still working. 
My cousin wants to retire when she turns 62, when I asked her about health insurance, she hadn't thought about it. So now, she'll be working until her full retirement age of 67.

[RetRN]

I retired at 62 after working for 40 years. It was the best thing I ever did, the past 7 years have been wonderful. I am grateful for every moment of retirement and have never regretted my decision. 

[bathina]

@Carmie i have looked for part time work. I have not found anything that offers health insurance for PT workers. My husband could pick up the health insurance (i carry it through my employer), but what would happen if he lost his job? We would have to pay out of pocket for 2 nearly 60 year olds. It would cost us a big chunk of our savings, which we're trying not to touch until we are eligible for Medicare and can both retire! On the other hand, we could reach 65, get sick and deplete our savings anyway. Its a crapshoot, for sure.

[ECBG]

Well, the first time I retired, I had taught 37 years and was 57.  I had also spent some time working in a bank and for a college while waiting to get a classroom.

  I knew I didn't want to sit home after retiring, and was interviewed at Dillards and hired before I retired from school.  I had a week break, then I started.

I'm still a stylist, although, not with Dillards.  They didn't have enough customers to keep me busy and the heavy stocking hurt my sciatic nerve.

[FrostyBabe1]

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@bathina wrote:
For those who retired early, how are you able to get health insurance? Isnt it prohibitively expensive? If it wasn't for health insurance, I'd hand in my resignation in a heartbeat.

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I private pay mine. You can either purchase it on the ACA exchange or directly from the insurance company. I don't qualify for the income based subsidy from the government, so I purchased it directly from BCBS. I'm not sure how one defines "prohibitively expensive". I think that would be different for everyone. It's not inexpensive, but I believe I'm getting a decent value for my money. I won't disclose what I pay, because it's only relevant if you live in my state, are the same age and purchasing the same policy. If you want to get a rough estimate of how much it would cost you, you can go to healthcare.gov and window shop as if you've had a qualifying event. 

[Kachina624]

ppl

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@bathina wrote:
For those who retired early, how are you able to get health insurance? Isnt it prohibitively expensive? If it wasn't for health insurance, I'd hand in my resignation in a heartbeat.

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My excellent health insurance, including my Medicare supplement, has always been 100% paid for by the employer from which I retired.  I've never paid one cent out of pocket since I retired, although I've had major surgery.

[bathina]

@FrostyBabe1 thank you. We did look at private pay when I was thinking of retiring early. We would only need the private insurance if my husband lost his job. We've both seen too many 50 somethings let go from companies they've given 20 or 30 years to. Right now neither of us is willing to take that gamble, when we're still 5 and 6 years out from Medicare 😪

[Suziepeach]

I stopped working at 48 and took our accountants advice and waited to get my SS later as to get more money.  Worked out fine and I love not having to work for the "man"... 

[bathina]

@Kachina624 you are very lucky indeed. Ive worked for 2 multinational corporations over the last 20 years and never had benefits like that. You're hard pressed to find a company that offers a pension.