Not unless we win the lottery.

 geordiezimmerman wrote: 
no

Is this a joke topic?

 JustineFromWyoming wrote: 
 I intend to follow in the footsteps of Alan Arkin's character in Little Miss Sunshine...

Gerg Kinnear: Dad! You're doing HEROIN????

Alan Arkin: Of course I'm doing heroin, I'm 75 for christsakes!!

 JustineFromWyoming wrote: 
Well, you didn't plan very well, did you. :points finger accusingly:  Nope Nosireee.  I know, because I made the same crucial planning error as a young adult, and am also suffering the consequences.

Turns out, you are not allowed to follow the drop dead plan when you have kids and other loved ones.  damitol.

 OCDHG wrote: 
Bruddermon

 JustineFromWyoming wrote: 

 bokey wrote: 
I think that's most peoples hopes and fears. Our system isn't geared to caring for the aging. One illness can financially ruin any retirement plans. Only the wealthy and most government employees have no worries about who's going to pay for their healthcare.

 JustineFromWyoming wrote: 
Well, if the benefits were good. . . . . .

 JustineFromWyoming wrote: 
  That almost sounds... nice.

 ptooey wrote: 
Another one also:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWMO3rAD98k

I'd just like to find a job I could work for a decade or two and drop dead at my desk. I know, I don't ask for much...

 bokey wrote: 
  Me too.

 OCDHG wrote: 
I've got so many horror stories about what my parents, with top of the line health insurance went through that  I really don't want to get stirred up about it.

 All I can do is hope I stay healthy, avoid the system and die a natural death.

 DaveInVA wrote: 
"We've every facility here for dealing with people who are rich. We can deal with a blocked purse, we can drain private accounts and in the worst cases we can perform a total cashectomy, which is total removal of all moneys from the patient."

 bokey wrote: 
A few bad apples doesn't mean the entire harvest is bad.  I've had my own share of dealing with physicians who were more interested in money?, quitting time?, prestige? (as in: "let's do this new procedure and be the first people to do it in this part of the country, even though the patient is really a terrible candidate for such procedure..." , whatever (fill in the blank), and as a result, some crappy things happened to people very close to me.  I know where you are coming from, believe me.

 bokey wrote: 
Monty Python once did a skit where they had Doc's doing a "Wallet-ectomy" on a patient...

 OCDHG wrote: 
As is your right.

I've just seen too much the last few years to be anything but cynical. It's all about the money.

 Once you've overheard the "wallet biopsy" joke from  the people who are supposed to be taking care of your loved ones, it leaves an impression.

 bokey wrote: 
  I respectfully disagree.  There are some heartless jerks out there (as there are in any profession), but I blame the system before I'd make the kind of generalization you do about ALL physicians.  Can you blame most them for following the money by going into dermatology, radiology, anesthesiology, etc...which pay MUCH more than general practice... when they get out of school in their 30's with 150-200K in student loans?  I agree there is a shortage of primary care people..  And I agree that there ARE a lot of practices out there that do A LOT of unnecessary stuff.  Consider that a lot of that is due to defensive medicine, though.   And on the flip side, I know a lot of physicians who DO care about doing the best by their patients that they can.  It doesn't always look like it from the patient side, but I assure you that what you describe is the exception, not the rule. I'd be willing to bet that 95% of physicians in primary care didn't go to med school for the money. 

I have to assume that the title of this thread means 'can you afford to retire when you are ready to'.

Hubby and I were just going over the financials the other day adjusting some things now that he is back at work, like how much we put away each month for retirement. At one point I said to him, "So, exactly how much money do we need  for retirement?"

This jump-started a long conversation about a variety of contributing factors such as, when do we want to retire? What does "retire" mean to each of us? Do we want to continue to live in this house or move? Do we both need vehicles? How often would we like to travel? Do we expect to have to pay for care for our parents as they age?

There are all sorts of variables to consider, and we ran a few spreadhseet scenarios using those variables, but what we don't know is how long we are going to live and what the rate of inflation will be. What may be perfectly adequate annual income at age 65 may not be adequate 15 years later.

So we decided we need some advice and we're doing some research on who to go to now. I don't want advice from someone who is being paid to sell investment products. I want  someone who is fee for service.