Hubby is turning 66 in few weeks. He really wants to retire and work on contract for his company, and we will live on his SS and our investments. He'll get Medicare, but evidently, I am not eligible until I am 65, which is 3-1/2 years away. Do I have to wait until 65 to get Medicare? I've looked at the unbelievable cost of a couple of private policies that would basically cover only catastrophic incidents.
I'm pretty healthy, but on 3 meds for cholesterol, that w/o insurance, will cost me well over $500 a month. Yowza! I do want hubby to have the option to retire, he's a liver transplant recipient and will likely not have a very long life--not into his 80's, for sure. (Already 12 years into this new liver).
Financially, we'll be OK. But the thought of dropping $1200 a month for zero coverage--it's awful. I offered to go back to work FT just for the insurance, but hubby would have to run the house and he vehemently declined....(He sees how hard I work and wants nothing to do with it!)
Anybody? He's suddenly wishing he hadn't married a "baby" :)
I am really doing this "pre planning" for retirement on my own. I think hubby thinks he can just call in "retired" and quit working. I know that isn't how it works. He already missed last years enrollment--just through sheer obliviousness to life. (Also he has severe hearing loss and he simply does not hear things).
I did call about one plan, it was incredibly expensive, but would cover me pretty well--and realistically, hubs will probably work for a couple more years. He has no hobbies or desires other than sleeping, so he has to get in better shape and find things to do--I'm NOT retiring with a man who sleeps 3-4 days in a row.
We are fortunate that we planned well and will have a very comfortable retirement--but it irks me to pay $1200 a month for the privilege of catastrophic care. Plus hubs rider policy for Medicare.
I don't expect we'll ever qualify for Medicaid, we will have too much money (don't get me wrong, we're not rich, we're just not going to need to live with any of our kids!!)