Who will take care of me?
So having mom live with us has been quite a learning experience for me (Kim). Phong and I handled the paperwork and finances for our parents for all of our childhood. When mom and I parted ways with Phong in MI since he wanted college there and we wanted warm weather, I’ve been the primary paperwork/finance handler for mom.
I just had to make sure I knew where all the money was and that bills got paid. Not so bad especially since most of the time it was not my money I had to dish out.
Since she moved in in 2005, healthcare has been the new task on the list. Finding a physcian she liked. Getting her set up on Medicare. It’s stuff I never thought about as I planned for my future. I knew I wanted to have a house paid off, money set aside, retirement funds to live off of. But what about health insurance?
Because, quite frankly, medicare sucks!
I love that her insurance only covers problem specific diagnosis and not health prevention other than the big stuff like mamograms, etc.
The newest thing is lack of dental care. The only thing her insurance covers is extraction. Really? Nothing to preserve the teeth. No dentures, nothing. How many old people are walking around with not dentures?
So I have to think about this, how will I insure I can afford the crazy health insurance premiums or set myself up to retain an employer plan. I guess this is why so many folks in the University system are quite content with just doing their time and retiring. So I guess Brian or I better retire with someone that has after retirement costs for employee and spouse to help off set what Medicare won’t pay…if it will still be around. That or have lots of kids and hopes one becomes rich and can care for us (or at least me) in our old age.