Professional therapy, motivational coach, or CF?

[Gadagirl]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Paid 11% of my income to the State for my med insurance.. why get private insurance.. same hospitals.. same meds..

I'm truly envious! But it boils down to personal circumstances and nationally at times. But we know what discussions on health insurance and nationality brings here. Political discourse. Which I'm trying to avoid. I'm just trying to figure creative ways to deal with my own playing cards I've been dealt.

[Gadagirl]

Originally Posted by thruska

Gada,
I'm legally blind . Retinal detachments and redetachments.Insurance ? After I went broke still had hundreds of thousands of bills. Had to go broke b4 Medicaid kicked in. After a time Medicare kicks in. Then you accrue more bills. Sometimes hospitals have Samaritan programs. Now we get letters saying you can't have Medicaid and Medicare at same time even if you qualify, it's called double dipping. Even tho legislatures been dipping into it since its inception.
No insurance brings sight back.
I said to the primary surgeon , I don't have insurance, he said don't worry, then he sued me after dancing with me.
Bad knee twisted in engine compartment, lol. Insurance can't fix it.
Bulged disc comes and goes, no dr will do surgery risk of paralysis. I missed a rung in the ladder going off topside today. At least pain pills are cheap.
When you buy insurance , ask for your copy to be printed on tissue paper, at least you can wipe with it comfortably.
Go now.
Grow old gracefully if you can, be careful, be well...

This! This is what I fear! I'm very aware of how our medical system works. If you're forced to poverty they will accept you as a patient, but not always treated with respect or with best practices when in that position. If you are very wealthy you can afford the best. If you're in the middle they will garnish your wages, sue for any asset, house, boat, savings account. I think 401k and various pensions and retirement accounts are exempt from collection agencies (not sure specifically) but you're correct. Until you can provide evidence that you are worth less than $3,000 or can pay what they ask, there's no treatment for any illness. And you're also correct in that health insurance doesn't protect everyone from financial catastrophe.

This is where my angst lies. Trying to balance between protection of my health against protection of my assets.

[Gadagirl]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Gadagirl,

I've mentioned it several times on this thread but you haven't responded to the suggestion of working 6 months then cruising six months. It solves all your concerns like money, insurance etc. cruising doesn't have to be all or nothing; most successful cruisers do it part time.

So sorry I hadn't responded to your very awesome idea earlier. Yes! I'm looking into that possibility! But it won't be easy working with my skill set to earn a great amount. Also by working part time it might (might) afford a living income but no potential way to continue to contribute to future retirement income. Which would put me on a perpetual treadmill.

Perhaps that's good, but perhaps that's bad. I don't know. Lots of people talking up how much they love their work! My work is OK, I like it, but I don't want to be doing it when I'm in my 60's + I might have to, but prefer not to.

[Gadagirl]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Like I said back in post #95, "This discussion, like so many on CF, is not about how much money one needs, or what your investments should look like. It's about security and freedom; it's about finding some level of certainty in an uncertain future."

You started this with the comment and plea:



So, I guess you've found the answer that works for you. Work another five years. Save more for insurance purposes and retirement. This will buy you more security. This is what you (appear to) need. Nuthin' wrong with it.

The thing that my ilk are saying ... the thing which I perceive prompted your initial post ... is the possibility that you may never have enough security to actually go. I share this fear, which is partly why my partner and I arranged our affairs so that we'd have to go when we did. We knew we might never take the final step if not kicked out of the nest.

Not saying this applies to you. Just sharing my own experience while wrestling with these questions. Good luck. Hope to see you out here some day .

Not to worry, I'm working all angles. The house will be sold. A boat will be purchased. I will consult with a financial planner. I will be creative and figure it all out.

See you out there! Sooner rather than later

[Gadagirl]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Everybody's different. If you trust that you'll find a way to cope, even if the face of that turns out to be dying sooner rather than later, you're good to go now. I'll add, that a nurse friend of mine's health care directive states "no palliative care". The reason for that is that palliative care extends life, and she wants to go as cleanly as possible when the time has come. What is the purpose in prolonging life when the body is in rapid decline? Not all of us are Stephen Hawkins, nor anywhere near close. For me, it is quality of life that is the sticking point. If you're a person who has loved doing activities that use your body, all your life, loss of your capabilities may demoralize you. You may reach a point where you choose to refuse medical care because it will extend life. You're a long way from there now. Want to get there without living your dreams? If this dream doesn't fit, find one that will work for you.

It's your life.

Ann

Totally agree! Do not resuscitate. But my issue is that health wise I am good to go now. Financially, I'm not quite there. Do not resuscitate is good for the debilitatingly ill. I just don't want to put myself in a predicament of becoming seriously ill due to the want of money to pay for a procedure or a medication. Lots of diseases and conditions are not life threatening if you can purchase medicine and/or treatment. Take away that ability then something like diabetes, high blood pressure, Afib, or a staff infection etc. would have me dead by 65 or sooner! as opposed to 85.
Even in her book, Lin and her husband talk of treating a young child with a horrible infection. They saved him! The difference from having access to medication as to no access. Should the child been left to die? Should we all clap hands that maybe for his short life it was happy and we all would be better to be resolved to give up the ghost? I certainly don't expect miracles. I do not expect that i can insulate myself from illness, known and unknown. I just simply don't want to be made a popper trying to pay for and survive a common and treatable disease or illness.And I don't want to be in the position of that child or his family, not being able to afford or have access to medication.

[Gadagirl]

Originally Posted by lorrie

Mike
Did you say Partner?
I think this really makes a difference.
For many who don't have that partner you can count on, the one and only.
Some find it a little more difficult as they count on only them self to make all the decisions. Not that it can't be done however, there is no one to share the responsibility with or give the reassurance.




Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

A very poignant thought! Yes a partner can offer support in many ways. And yes as Mike points out it can have downsides as well. Funny that I don't view the lack of a partner as being part of my fear. I never even considered it or thought about it until you brought it up. After giving it some thought I don't believe that is where my fear is based, although it might apply to some. I pretty much just accomplished what I did in my life on my own motivation. I think my under riding fear is not being able to protect myself against dependency upon anther for my own failing care. In other words, a very fierce independence. I've always provided for myself, and my children. I guess I want to be able to do that going forward. Naturally I am drawn down the path that health insurance and retirement planning will offer me that security. But hell ya! If prince charming should arrive! Well.....I also bought a looto ticket. Hahahaha I'm open to what life might present me, but I have become more pragmatic with age. Life's happiness truly is found in the the very small moments during a rather normal day.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by lorrie

Mike
Did you say Partner?
I think this really makes a difference.
For many who don't have that partner you can count on, the one and only.
Some find it a little more difficult as they count on only them self to make all the decisions. Not that it can't be done however, there is no one to share the responsibility with or give the reassurance.




Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

Bingo!...There is no denying that entering a healthy relationship absolutely changes everything. Especially if you're watching each others backs. to know that both of you are into this one life together.
Even the thought of growing old and losing the ability to do the things you love is still somehow comforting to know you have somebody to be with that loves you and comforts you. It means a lot...at least to me. It requires both people to be selfless. Hard to find now-a-days.

[weavis]

One of of the strange anomolies of being a human, is the capricious nature of desire. I know several people who sold up and joined the boating life, and then 3 years later rejoined the urban dwellers again.

As a young person, I traveled. As a slightly older person, I traveled. As part of my job I traveled. I left the UK in 1989 and kept traveling and teaching and working. I lived all over and had boats, sometimes living on them whilst working, sometimes using them for nights and weekend fishing, sometimes for travel... and it was nice.

When I returned to the UK in 2011, I started a clinic that kept me busy. Still had time for boats- a couple of sailboats entered into my life.

Things changes and I now work and live in Spain alternating between Palma Mallorca and Seville Spain. I dont own a boat in Spain currently, but have friends that do and I get to play from time to time.

My urge to travel for travels sake has gone. I find Im content to be based in a locale. I know that I dont want to be sailing across seas and oceans just to do it. If being truly honest, my lifestyle would consist of living on a catamaran in Palma, and taking friends out for small cruises around the Islands for a few days, taking occasional trips to Italy or Corsica or France or the Spanish mainland by myself.

The reality is that I cannot afford the cost of being based in Palma for income purposes. So I work in Seville which is on a River 121km from the sea port of Cadiz. Im looking at various options of living on a catamaran in Seville and being able to take time to go down the river and out of Cadiz to travel around. It changes my prefered cruising area but gives me Portugal and the bottom end of Spain to cruise, not to mention North Africa and the Canaries..

It costs a lot of money to live these days. Living on a boat still has a cost. For me, I still have to work to pay the bills. I could not divide my working year and take 6 months off without having passive income via rentals etc because I dont have rental property.

As my urge to travel for travels sake has gone, and the financial realities are what they are, I am faced also with the choice of having a boat based elsewhere and using it for the times I can go sailing. However that doubles the expenses of owning a boat.

I like living on a boat. I really do. I like the motion of the water and sounds and smells. I dont mind it being a river either.

So for my life and circumstances, I could be happy being on a boat and taking occasional trips when time and finances permit.

There is one more factor to take in account. I am living in a country that I love and is a choice. Its a foreign country to me and therefore everyday is a holiday.

I just hate to see people make life changing choices and not know themselves well enough to make those choices. To me a boat is a prefered living space and a vehicle and a comfort. I also like my apartments in Seville and Palma..