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Rich Retirees Are Hoarding Cash Out of Fear

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Re: Rich Retirees Are Hoarding Cash Out of Fear

#221

Post by Spooky23 »

Consultant32452 wrote: post #200
aianus wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or the doctors and hospital admins there only make a terrific salary instead of an obscene one.

This is the result of central planning on the part of government. It allowed the AMA to do insane things like stopping new medical schools from opening for DECADES. It allows the AMA to continue to artificially limit the practitioners in all medical professions to keep wages high. As a specific anecdote of the problem of government in healthcare: in my city a new children's hospital opened up a few years ago. The oth…

There's more to that story. Typically the problem is that there are too many hospital beds, not too few.

Outpatient treatment is increasingly more popular and more cost effective. Hospitals often raise costs by introducing massive capital costs that need to be amortized as well as other overheads.

With the exception of lower-cost, higher value primary care, there are rarely any meaningful access issues to doctors in metro areas. Those shortages are largely being addressed with PAs and NPs.

Re: Rich Retirees Are Hoarding Cash Out of Fear

#222

Post by justin66 »

brianwawok wrote: post #124
reustle wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The trick is to move to a country with proper healthcare

You get fine healthcare for free when you are old in the US. You just gotta be broke first. So it's a fine line to work....

Anyone who wants to test this assertion - that "fine healthcare" equal to what a wealthy retiree gets is available to all - should go to a nursing home that offers care for normal and purely medicare-supported patients.

You don't have to study the situation really closely to get what I'm driving at. The patients will generally stay in separate areas. Just walk around and use your sense of smell.

Re: Rich Retirees Are Hoarding Cash Out of Fear

#224

Post by ACow_Adonis »

basicplus2 wrote: post #215
imgabe wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or just die when you're old? Maybe that sounds harsh, but being bedridden for 12 years doesn't sound like any idea of a good life to me. The old die to make way and free up resources for the young. That's the way it's supposed to work.

Let me know how you feel about that when your old

As a younger person having watched/lived through at least 3 members of my immediate family die with dementia/mental health problems, I lose more sleep at night over the prospect that euthanasia won't be legal and managed properly where I live by the time I get old.

I'm actually hoping that our shared generational suffering with respect to our baby boomer parents makes us get our generations' butt in gear and do something about it.

Got to use all that unnecessary suffering for something positive :/

Re: Rich Retirees Are Hoarding Cash Out of Fear

#225

Post by Spooky23 »

parsnips wrote: post #209
dsmithatx wrote: post #61

My grandfather worked at Exxon Mobile for 60 years and retired around 1988 with a few million dollars in stock. I remember my dad saying he had about 3 Million in stock he purchased as his retirement plan. He built a house and bought a couple of nice cars living on about 100,000 a year. About 12 years ago he had a heart attack and stroke and was bed ridden. 12 years of doctor bills and hospice ate through almost ever…

Why did he not use his medicare policy? At 72 he would have been fully covered pre-Bush and would be covered in Medicare Part A & B post-Bush depending on the services.

Medicare is hospital and medical coverage.

When you get old, if you need skilled nursing care at home or in a nursing home, that's your dime.

Typically, you get admitted to a nursing home, spend all of your money, and when you run out go to Medicaid. Your county DSS will liquidate your home and remaining assets and you'll be paid for by that until you die.

If you have a surviving spouse, they get to keep some allowance.

Re: Rich Retirees Are Hoarding Cash Out of Fear

#226

Post by duck »

ransom1538 wrote: post #81
dsmithatx wrote: post #61

My grandfather worked at Exxon Mobile for 60 years and retired around 1988 with a few million dollars in stock. I remember my dad saying he had about 3 Million in stock he purchased as his retirement plan. He built a house and bought a couple of nice cars living on about 100,000 a year. About 12 years ago he had a heart attack and stroke and was bed ridden. 12 years of doctor bills and hospice ate through almost ever…

Whatever you save with your blood, sweat and tears (if you are lucky) will be blown on medical expenses. The trick is to convert to cash (literal), then give it to your wife, convert medical expenses to debt and die.

Some what relevant: http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2011/11/30/how-doctors-die...

Re: Rich Retirees Are Hoarding Cash Out of Fear

#227

Post by Spooky23 »

msabalau wrote: post #54
gedy wrote: post #3

Fear? Seems more that there are simply no safe investments with decent returns, interest rates are abysmal. I think folks are 'hoarding' simply to not run out by the time they die. Low interest rates are painted as great for the economy, but they amount to a war on savers and fixed incomes.

Oh, if we had high interest rates and inflation, people with fixed incomes and savers would be feeling horrible too. The idea that there would be safe investments with decent returns is inherently ridiculous. The closest one can come is oligarchs buying tax policy, or baby boomers making sure that housing stock is inadequate so the prioe of the their home goes up artificially at the expense of the young and poor.

No, it ridiculous now in the bizarre fiscal policy environment that we were in.

You can look at historical bank interest rates from the onset of FDIC insurance. As recently as 2005 you could obtain meaningful returns on zero risk investments as a retail investor. I had a 10 year, 5% CD mature in 2015, for example.

Re: Rich Retirees Are Hoarding Cash Out of Fear

#228

Post by Spooky23 »

refurb wrote: post #180
incompatible wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me it seems that getting a decent return was a lot easier prior to 2007. Banks would pay interest rates of 6% or so and inflation was low. The stock market only gradually became overvalued.

Interest rates and inflation are linked. It's not very helpful to get a 17% interest rate when inflation is 16% (1970's in the US). Your real return is still only 1%.

Inflation in the early 2000s wasn't 6%.

Re: Rich Retirees Are Hoarding Cash Out of Fear

#229

Post by _dztf »

DashRattlesnake wrote: post #210
nwatson wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In hammocks from Brazil you sleep diagonal to the "axis" of the hammock and your body is almost rod-straight. Your back will feel just fine after a night sleeping like this.

> In hammocks from Brazil you sleep diagonal to the "axis" of the hammock and your body is almost rod-straight. Can you find a pic demonstrating what you mean?

http://www.treklightgear.com/treklife/hammock-angle/ ... skip to where it talks about the angle.

Re: Rich Retirees Are Hoarding Cash Out of Fear

#230

Post by uiri »

eveningcoffee wrote: post #118
beambot wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about peace of mind & financial stability? Those don't decline over time... (Also: Estate tax as a way to fund basic income?)

Taxing property means that owner must have cash to pay for it or is forced to sell it (with all the consequences of forced selling probably). It may sound interesting and promising but is most likely the most unjust way of taxing as it will force people are retired or about to retire out of their homes (that they are not paid for using funds from the basic income).

There is a third option - take out a loan secured by the property. In the case of real estate, this is a mortgage or "reverse" mortgage.
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