That price is from the provider: OrthoCarolina. I asked for the complete "walk-in" cash cost. They do it right there at their medical office.
OT: Retirement plans
- Thread starter JayDogSmooth
- Start date
He wasn’t that far off.
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No pun intended, but I feel your pain. I have detailed on these boards a similar issue with BCBSNJ when I needed surgery in 2014 to remove a tumor on my kidney. My plan included coverage to go to out of state hospitals, most importantly, NYC. I was set for surgery at MSKCC with a leading urologist-oncologist for a very difficult surgery. The doctors in NJ said my right kidney would have to be removed, and I wanted to have 2 kidneys bc you know, kidneys are important, and the doc at MSKCC was confident he could save my kidney. Three weeks before the surgery, an epic battle ensued when I was told I could not go to NYC under my plan AFTER they had already approved the surgery. Ultimately, I called a NJ legislator to intervene, and they reversed course. My surgery was a success, and I have had no issues. I recall during my discussions with BCBSNJ that the surgery cost at MSKCC was either the same or slightly less, but that did not matter to them. Their attitude was that rules are rules.
Don't even get me started on what they will not pay for in testing if a patient has high cholesterol. Had to get advance approval for a $15 apoB test and a $99 CAC scan to determine if I had calcified plaque in my arteries. But they would approve and pay for an expensive statin prescription without question. Doctors often have to fight with the idiotic insurance companies over simple medical decisions.
At the cost you are paying, I'd allowed, I would rather get a cheaper catastrophic care plan and pay for smaller costs out of pocket bc it seems the insurance companies make their plans worthless.
You have to take threads like this with a grain of salt and not let it bother you because as someone said, it's not really a reflection of reality. It's really a small portion of the most prepared people flexing their positive situations. They did a great job and are fully prepared for the future. Just by asking yourself the question, "Am I prepared enough?" shows that you'll be fine overall. You may have to make some life adjustments but you should do well. The real problems are with people who have zero savings, zero retirement plans and feel the need to have a 300 pair sneaker collection that stays in boxes in the closet. Although maybe you could retire on that, who knows?
Basically, don't let this thread depress you. It's only 1 small section of reality.
I know retirees that live off their social security about $2,000mth. You learn to adjust.
"Comparison is the thief of joy...."
Exactly. My uncle did that until he passed away. He wasn't some grand traveller, he was just a South River rat and wanted to say local and it kept him perfectly happy. Not everyone is gonna need to splurge and travel in retirement.
LOL! Hooked two sensitive fish with that post. :)You never seem to tire of spreading misinformation. Spectacularly so. And you inject yourself into threads in order to demonstrate just how stupid a post you can make. Really incredible.
For anyone interested in the truth:
NZ has had one of the best COVID responses of any nation in the world because we have had great leadership and a population generally willing to look out for one another (but admittedly with a small number of idiots). And the numbers back that claim up. With the initial variant, and then Delta, NZ chose to keep COVID out and to get vaxxed. And we did so. Amazingly well. Up to the Omicron variant, we had only a couple thousand cases total, and under 30 deaths total. We briefly locked down when the virus was initially spreading and got it completely under control in a matter of weeks. For almost all of COVID, NZ has been open for business, but not permitting international travel. Auckland has been shut down for longer than anywhere else because that is where international flights land (carrying returning NZers, who were permitted to come home), and so they got outbreaks more often than the rest of the country. We played the intial phase of COVID cautiously, and successfully.
When Omicron came, we realized that we could not keep COVID out forever, and so we shifted plans. We decided that we would get as many people double vaxxed, and then boosted as possible, in order to keep hospitalizations and deaths down. We are 95% double-vaxxed and 62% boosted. The goal became to keep Omicron from overwhelming the health system and having a lot of deaths, but at the same time realizing that an Omicron wave was inevitable.
And that has worked well, also. We hit 1000 people total in hospital at our peak, and are now back down to 368. So, very successful at managing the peak. We are at 812 deaths total. We count anybody who tests positive for COVID as a COVID death and keep an honest count. The vaccine kept people out of hospital even as cases rose. And now we are past the peak and heading down.
For comparison's sake, we are a country of 5 million, compared to 330 million in the US. About 1/66 the population of the US. So, at the end of the day, take the death rate in NZ and compare it to the US. The total deaths in US is 996,000. In NZ it is 812. So multiply 812 by 66 and you get 53,592. That would be the comparison to the US number of 996,000. US has had roughly 19 TIMES as many deaths as NZ. That's the notion of leadership that "has no idea what they are doing."
And the truly amazing thing is that we did this without Clorox or horse dope or really bright lights!
NZ is, btw, now open for international travel. There is more Omicron down here per capita than in the US because we started getting the Omicron wave well after US. But, we are well on the downslope, and if you are vaxxed and boosted, little chance that you will get a serious case. I'd honestly wait a bit as we are headed into winter (although skiing is fantastic down here), but come summer, NZ would be an incredible place to visit.
This link will provide the hard data to back up what I'm saying here:
Coronavirus tracked: Latest Covid-19 vaccination and case numbers
Live graphs of vaccine progress, cases, deaths and the spread of Covid-19 in New Zealand and around the world.interactives.stuff.co.nz
You guys should have went private in your careers. Your significant other would be a head of school by now. You.....perhaps just a department chair, or perhaps lower school division head.
blah, blah, blah
If we wanted that, we would have done it. We live a comfortable life and i like working directly with kids and my colleagues. Perfectly happy without that extra money.
But yes, that probably could have happened.
And there is nothing wrong with that. Good for your uncle.👍
Mrs. Rhuarc - Head, Princeton Day School
$400-500K base
+ bonuses
+ fully paid residence
Bringing home the bacon!!!
😁
Should have just told them you had no insurance and paid and been done. You can get a cash MRI in NJ for $400. I’m sure you could have found cheaper in NC than 1000
My dad is the same way (and another SR rat). They moved to East Brunswick when we were very young, so not too far away.....and he's not going anywhere else. Still living in my childhood home.
Two retiree stories. Inlaw worked until 73. Successful guy, had been at Goldman and Microsoft. He finally retired and then told me he found cocktail hour started creeping earlier and earlier each day. He is a big golfer so he took a job at a golf course and empties the trash at the holes, happy to be out and about doing something. Another guy is 69 and retired for 9 months. Said he was going out of his mind. Came back and doing construction management, asking around for good hobbies. If you retire you need to have a plan for all the time you will have. One retirement article I read said don't wait for retirement to do things, start doing them now. If you want to get into biking, don't wait five years until you retire. As for travel, it gets harder as you age so don't wait too long for bucket items.
Regarding regions, they say we are doing it backwards on global warming, so many people moving south while temps and water levels rise. I read an article that took into account all natural disasters like droughts, forest fires, hurricanes, floods, etc, and they said the Great Lakes region is best. I love Lake Geoge and have never been to the finger lakes region which I'd like to visit but I am with Mrs Screw on this, it just wouldn't feel right to live too far from an ocean.
My wife likes our house and we were both from the area so we will probably keep it but property taxes over $20k now so I am not so sold on the long haul. If you have money I think snowbirding is best, NE for summers, Florida for winters. Florida has so many nice coastal areas it is insane, and no income tax is big, do 6 months and a day.
Regarding regions, they say we are doing it backwards on global warming, so many people moving south while temps and water levels rise. I read an article that took into account all natural disasters like droughts, forest fires, hurricanes, floods, etc, and they said the Great Lakes region is best. I love Lake Geoge and have never been to the finger lakes region which I'd like to visit but I am with Mrs Screw on this, it just wouldn't feel right to live too far from an ocean.
My wife likes our house and we were both from the area so we will probably keep it but property taxes over $20k now so I am not so sold on the long haul. If you have money I think snowbirding is best, NE for summers, Florida for winters. Florida has so many nice coastal areas it is insane, and no income tax is big, do 6 months and a day.
I have an aunt who lives in a senior facility and has for over a decade. They basically take her teacher's pension (modest given how long she has been retired) and SS. Never married and therefore no children. She'll go out with the same amount of assets as she entered the world. She did travel quite a bit when she was younger and saw the world. Her body is breaking down but she has maintained her mental capacity.
Yep, 65. Links below have nice summaries of the various costs (premiums and deductibles) for most people for the various parts of Medicare. Keep in mind that Medicare is an individual system even for married folks, where each person has to pay for his/her coverages, which typically (for individuals making $90K or less and married/filing jointly couples making $180K or less; more than that and the rates for Medicare Part B go up) amount to about $250-$400 per month per person, overall (not including deductibles). Pretty sure this is all correct, but I am by no means an expert in Medicare/costs, so caveat emptor.
https://www.valuepenguin.com/medicare-cost
https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-s...care-part-d-income-related-monthly-adjustment
Good news for us. Wife is 5 years younger, so if I decide to retire at 65- she is a Mortgage Advisor, so she could continue for an additional 5 years and we can be on her insurance. And once we both retire- neither of us want to work again. Not part time or anything else. If we want to do something- it will either be volunteer work or just travel and play. So, our earnings outside of investment dividends, and SS will be nil. So, we should qualify for lowest costs. Which looks to be less than $1000 per month.
Medicare Part A Free. covers hospital stay and skilled nursing facility (Rehab) see link for more detail
Medicare Part B normally $170 premium per person under $90k
Medicare Advantage NO Premium in most cases or Medicare SUPPLEMENTAL (If you have assets) to cover the deductible and co pay for Part A And B my premium is $173mth perperson
one individual total premium ( part B plus supplemental) is about $4,000 year two individuals is $8,000 year part B plus Medicare Supplemental ( my dad spends a couple of months in hospital and rehab in nursing home and we hardly paid any extra maybe $1-2,000 cost, most people spend time in hospital before they pass)
( if you take the Medicare advantage, you will have huge medical bills if you go to the hospital)
You can take a drug plan for about $12-13 month and dental/ vision separately
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Relatives have moved to North Carolina. They pay on average approximately $8,000 less in property taxes per year. My nephew's school keeps losing teachers because their wage scale is so low. My nephew, who is in accellerated math / science program in his highschool, does most of his school work on computer labs with very little interaction from his teachers. In one class, a gym teacher oversaw a science class for half a year while waiting for a replacement science teacher. There are trade offs between Jersey and North Carolina but not $8,000 worth.
Thank you for this post. Social media can be toxic and depressing if you let it be that way. I listened to a very long (5 plus hours) podcast hosted by Jocko Willink (retired Navy Seal) and Andrew Huberman (Stanford Professor of Neuroscience), where they spent some time on this topic of social media and how it can trigger/affect people in negative ways.
Some people are 100% honest, but many people like to project a rosy picture, and some people just make stuff up.
Funny thing (trying my hardest not to project a rosy picture) is that we probably have way more than we need to retire comfortably and not worry about money, but I'm a bit of a worrier by nature raised by Great Depression era parents, which is probably why we are in what the hope is a very fortunate situation. We are in our mid 50's but I generally like what I do, and I am not sure I would find enough to keep me entertained and mentally sharp if we retired now, so we continue to work.
But to counter your point about people with zero savings and zero retirement plans (cutting out the 300 pair sneaker collection): I know someone who has effectively retired at 44 or 45 and has not worked in the 5-6 years. Lives in a northeast state off of welfare, food stamps and State provided health insurance at no cost. Spends the winters skiing and summers fishing. Gets free dental care, and copays on major medical items (3 surgeries in the last 5-7 years) are $3. Not married, no kids--happy as a clam.
Maybe some of us are doing it wrong?
And thanks for your great reply.
I don't think anyone does it wrong as long as you make a plan and make an effort to stick to it. Regarding that person you know, I could never do it that way. I try not to judge people who survive off programs meant for those truly in need either but it's hard. I know someone who I suspect is milking a disability leave due to a legitimate classroom injury. I hear the digs at them and kind of agree, but at the same time I don't dwell on it. It totally blows when someone milks a program or just takes advantage of the system setup though.
So yes, some of us may not be cutting corners to survive but I prefer to think we're better off for our hard work and being part of the community. I'm probably just naive though.
No - not doing it wrong - most of us are doing it right. I also have two acquaintances (wont refer to them as friends) that live off the system and consistently find the next loophole to fund their lifestyles. Also got their kids get free college degrees of course. I find it disgusting and in the long term karma will pay them back.
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I like work. It gives me a sense of purpose. My work is also extremely mentally challenging, and every day is a new puzzle to solve. Some days I want to burn all the puzzles, but most days are good, and there is a sense of accomplishment when each project is completed. Plus, we have a great group of people in the office, and we enjoy each other's company. That's a major plus.
Yes, I agree. In the case of my acquaintance, it is kind of complicated. Worked hard for 25-30 years at a job that took its toll on the body, and there were other circumstances that led to medical issues that sidelined the person for a while. But what always puzzles me, knowing/seeing lots of people who receive disability pay are outside doing yard work, going to the gym, riding bikes, snowboarding, skiiing, etc--if they can do those things, can't they get a job? That's a bit of a rhetorical question. Personally, I could never sit home and collect government money if I could find a way to earn that money myself.
But, the point (if I had one?) is that I have a fallback and a template if we blow through our savings and our rental properties that we think should give us a way to retire without worry. But until we retire, I'll work more and save more and be happy doing it.
My fear is for all of us doing it right we are going to get screwed somehow when it’s our turn to retire. Rhetoric of how we were privileged to get to save when others couldn’t and they’ll raise the age to withdraw or skim money off or change the rules to spread some of the money that you worked for and put away around to others due to some lame nonsense reason. Sounds crazy but if enough of the people with no retirement and nothing to fall back on complain and complain loud enough they’ll Robinhood It out of your pocket if they can and put it into other peoples. I’m maxing out the 401k and so is my wife and that takes sacrifice but it won’t be looked at that way when we’re sitting on 3 or 4 million. People see what they want and they’ll see they have squat. I’d love to buy new cloths and go on vacations. We don’t bc funding retirement comes first.
There is a balance to be struck between saving for retirement and being able to enjoy life along the way. People who put off things like travel, hobbies, etc. until retirement sometimes don't get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Just look at the last 2 years. My parents are retired and love to travel...they scrimped and saved to be able to travel while we were kids, but had planned on ramping that way up during their golden years...they just lost 2 years of galivanting around Europe to a pandemic that was out of their control. There are now some places they would have liked to go that aren't wise for them to go from a physical ability perspective.
Sounds like your buddy is at the far opposite extreme of most in the thread.
I lean closer to him than most. The whole paradigm of working away my most vital years in hopes I'd be able to really enjoy life after retirement never really added up. I decided that was a no-go when I was about 16. So I found a balance that leans heavily toward fun, both in work and free time. Took a while to tweak, but I dialed it in. As such, the idea of working longer and retiring late (or never) doesn't really bother me.
Wouldn't be comfortable living off the gov, though.
That really hits a sore spot with me, as I see it frequently in my line of work. I know I’m going to see the same people every year around the holidays or just before the summer starts because their employer didn’t give them time off over Christmas or time off in the summer, so they come up with an “injury” every year. They know how to work the system, yet I can’t say anything when I see them loading a pallet full of topsoil and pushing to the cashier with their “bad back” or “bad shoulder”, and I’m the one who follows the rules and my body is falling apart. Rant over
I have zero interest in retiring unless I have to. I enjoy my work. It's low stress and intellectually stimulating. Maybe when I'm 70...unless I'm dead in which case problem is solved anyway.
Didn't want folks to get the wrong impression of NZ based on your fantasizing.
Simple as.
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I understand what you are saying but perfect example is I screwed up my back bad doing a side job- workers comp did take care of it. Luckily, my real job does not take physical effort. But…if my primary job was physical- and if I had been doing it all my life and made a good living- my back would not allow me to work at it anymore. So, I would have to take something that most likely be less than long term disability.
And though my back is a mess, I do have to still fo yard work and try to still have some fun in life even if I pay for it for a few days after.
so- it can be done/ yard, golf, walk etc but no way to physical work 8 hours a day 5 days a week.
Please keep your health, because when my Wife and I visit we would like to know someone in country.🙂
DE beaches nicer than NJ?? Said no one
Bethany was for sure. Quiet neighborhoods adjacent to the beach creating uncrowded, semi-private beaches, rather than a traffic-lined thoroughfare loaded with parked cars overcrowding the sand. More like OBX than JS.
Not saying every NJ beach, necessarily, but definitely the average, especially in Monmouth or Ocean.
Plus, none of those eyesore windmills 😜
But you can find semi private beautiful beaches all over NJ. That is like saying Ny is NYC.
Part of my decision to retire at 57 was based on 2 of my best friends dying young: my best friend growing up died at 50 from skin cancer and one of my best friends for many years in my 40s and 50s died of a heart attack when he was 48 (I was about 54). There are no guarantees and I figured why not at least try to enjoy some good years while we can and not worry that we could've made even more money when we have enough for awhile.
