[Bucksnort]

Originally Posted by poncho-mike

So I have a question that some of you guys may have already experienced. I am roughly two years older than my wife. I work full-time and my employer provides health insurance both of us. My wife has been working part time for the lst fifteen years, and I have always provided her insurance.

I realize that once I go on Medicare, she will have to buy her own insurance. My company's policy is that they won't cover my spouse unless I am covered. So if I retire this summer and go on Medicare, she will need to find her own insurance. Iknow she can get a policy through Obamacare, but I'm not sure what premiums will be. If I understand Obamacare correctly, you are quoted a price that is based on the type of plan and your age. If you qualify, there are subsidies. I think Obamacare looks at your income from the previous year. Do they look at the family income, or just the individual income?

My wife was also always covered under my insurance. She is two years older and was not working when I retired at 58. I did Cobra for 18 months (expensive for sure) then on Obamacare thru our state network. Both healthy so did a high deductible kind of plan. Qualified for subsidies which made a big difference. Our financial planner guy helped us manage income in order to maximize those subsidies as much as possible. Now both on Medicare. It works pretty much the way you stated. They will look at income based on the way you filed taxes the prior year.

Dan

[dhutton]

Originally Posted by Bucksnort

My wife was also always covered under my insurance. She is two years older and was not working when I retired at 58. I did Cobra for 18 months (expensive for sure) then on Obamacare thru our state network. Both healthy so did a high deductible kind of plan. Qualified for subsidies which made a big difference. Our financial planner guy helped us manage income in order to maximize those subsidies as much as possible. Now both on Medicare. It works pretty much the way you stated. They will look at income based on the way you filed taxes the prior year.

Dan

You estimate your income for the upcoming year when you apply. If you underestimate and exceed the threshold you will have to repay the tax credits. They use family income.

Don

[Bermuda Blue]

" The company has been bought/sold a couple times (raped and picked clean buy KKR and Apollo including Chapter 11, finally to be refinanced buy the creditors, mostly Banks and then sold again) "

Can't stand those parasites/vultures like KKR. Their tactics are a major problem with our economic system.

Best of luck.

[1970GPJ400]

Originally Posted by poncho-mike

So I have a question that some of you guys may have already experienced. I am roughly two years older than my wife. I work full-time and my employer provides health insurance both of us. My wife has been working part time for the lst fifteen years, and I have always provided her insurance.

I realize that once I go on Medicare, she will have to buy her own insurance. My company's policy is that they won't cover my spouse unless I am covered. So if I retire this summer and go on Medicare, she will need to find her own insurance. Iknow she can get a policy through Obamacare, but I'm not sure what premiums will be. If I understand Obamacare correctly, you are quoted a price that is based on the type of plan and your age. If you qualify, there are subsidies. I think Obamacare looks at your income from the previous year. Do they look at the family income, or just the individual income?

Mike,
I got married 5 years ago and had Obamacare coverage. I didn't think
about it at the time and continued on the subsidized coverage. The following year we filed tax return jointly and I had to pay back the subsidy ($12,000) as they
go by the household income. It didn't make sense as we each individually qualified for Obamacare but as a couple did not although our income was the same. Seemed like a marriage penalty but some tax and other rules when you get married don't make sense.

[ctrcreek]

called it quits last day of 2021.joined the union when i was 18 and have been a cement finisher for 39 years.
best decision i ever made
my knees are not shot ,and i have no other health issues so i said time to go.
Now i just make sure the wife isnt late.and then head to the shop .
be nice to work around home and take my conv. for a cruise when ever i want this spring.

[redbird68]

Add me to the club....will be retired later this summer. Worked in construction my whole life, ironworker for years then moved into the office. Looking forward to having time but wondering how it will be. My job has consumed and defined me for 40+ years. I have loved my career but seriously looking forward to me time. Wife, kids and my cars have missed me. Wife is still working as long as retirementitis does not infect her and will now be on her insurance. Very lucky there.

[carcrazy]

Originally Posted by Sirrotica

Since I grew up in Erie PA, there were many union shops, because of the industry that had plants there. I can't even guess how many retirees I've known, and heard about, that retired at 65, then died within weeks, or months of their retirement.

I'm not sure why so many in that community expired just after their retirement. My ex father in law didn't make one year after he retired.

Grew up in Youngstown, Ohio and saw the same exact thing!!

[bird72]

What I haven't seen mentioned..... One must REDEFINE themselves. It can be a slight identity thing to go from "Fred the Shop Manager" to.. what? Take classes. explore somthing new. I got certified in Fitness training, and that is my new "defined". It could be geology and rock stuff, anything. Or cars, hey... And like someone said, jobs can consume us. Then what?

Another thing, which in the end was good, was realizing how much work stress I was under and didn't know know it. We were always behind and overworked.
It took me three months to deaccelerate and get my physiological levels down to calm.

[Hesster1977]

Great to hear input from fellow retirees!
I hung it up about 7 years ago from GM Tech Center here in Michigan. Worked in Manufacturing Engineering and Preproduction, so I got to see all of the future stuff coming out years before they went on sale, pretty cool stuff.
Was there at not so "Generous Motors" and sad to see Pontiac division as well as others bite the dust, and then the carnage of going Bankrupt. Downright Ugly.
The later years had me in management, very stressful and political, and got the hell out as soon as I got my points.
Still dream about work after all of these years, it just won't let go. After putting 3 kids thru college and marrying off the daughters I was free and clear w/o debt, but that is costly stuff, but I considered it an "investment".

I've had my T/A Bandit for it's whole 45 year life, but my retirement reward was to buy and build another car, so now my other "toy" is a 700 hp Blown 5th gen Camaro with a bunch of Carbon Fiber Body panels..

I thought my Bandit was "fast", but the LS motors and new technology can make for a brutal car, and that Beast always scares the piss out of me when I thrash it. Always tinkering on my cars, and always have had Mod fever, so it's a good hobby to keep busy.

[HoovDaddy]

I'm probably going to retire from my 2nd career June 2023. I'll be 70 and take my max SS. I retired from a long transportation career in 12/2016. Six mos. prior I received a call from the local High School teacher wanting to know if I wanted a part time job in the Auto Shop and also help the Design/Technology teacher. It's fun working with the kids and their cars. We have 3 project cars we're building, a T-Bucket, a '65 Mustang, and a 5 Series BMW with a LS swap. I like fabrication so this is a lot of fun. The plan is to get these into Autorama. I've never been able to just sit around.

[HoovDaddy]

Originally Posted by Hesster1977

Great to hear input from fellow retirees!
I hung it up about 7 years ago from GM Tech Center here in Michigan. Worked in Manufacturing Engineering and Preproduction

My dad retired from the Manufacturing Development at the Tech Center in '83.

[HoovDaddy]

Originally Posted by bird72

It took me three months to deaccelerate and get my physiological levels down to calm.

Right, even though I still work, it's different. I don't have any timelines, very few responsibilities, and unlike adults, the kids appreciate me being there.

[geeteeohguy]

Originally Posted by bird72

What I haven't seen mentioned..... One must REDEFINE themselves. It can be a slight identity thing to go from "Fred the Shop Manager" to.. what? Take classes. explore somthing new. I got certified in Fitness training, and that is my new "defined". It could be geology and rock stuff, anything. Or cars, hey... And like someone said, jobs can consume us. Then what?

Another thing, which in the end was good, was realizing how much work stress I was under and didn't know know it. We were always behind and overworked.
It took me three months to deaccelerate and get my physiological levels down to calm.

Great post and I agree 100%. Nothing is static. Life is always changing. Who you were for decades is not who you are now, at least not 100%. It's on you to enjoy the rest of your time on this planet, whatever that entails. Go for it!!

[jerry455]

I work at the GM Tech Center also. I work in Legal involving product litigation preparing exhibits for trials and that is pretty stressful. I will be 60 this summer and my wife and I have been talking about retiring lately. She is 4 years younger and would retire tomorrow if I let her. That sounds like a great part time job working at a high school auto program. We have been talking to our financial planner about it lately. They are coming up with some plans for us.

[Hesster1977]

A big consideration when we retire is medical coverage. And pensions are for us lucky dinosaurs who worked at a place that offered them. What really sucks is depending on where you live, it is all taxed to death. Like a Sea Lamprey sucking on your retirement income with a attitude.

[JUDGE3]

Retiring this coming may 19th ! i'm 60, been at Beechcraft now textron aviation since 9-24-1979. 42.5 years and thats plenty, can't take no mo'. don't want no mo'.

I have every friday off vacation until my retirement date.

most likely use the cobra ins until jan 2023, then the affordable health care act fits in quite well. met with a health ins broker just last friday and was pleasantly surprised.

myself and my wife are blessed in that we are both very active and have a lot of hobbies. love the great outdoors and camping and hiking trails. especially the national parks. we have a lifetime membership at the company fitness center and don't pay a dime after retirement.

ordered a jacuzzi hot tub for a retirement gift to myself should get it any day now. very much enjoy the simple things, having coffee on the patio summer mornings and watching the birds and enjoying looking at the garden.

and I am already ecstatic realizing I can finish my Trans Am clone on my full time and enjoy it.

56 working days left!

[PunchT37]

Originally Posted by Hesster1977

A big consideration when we retire is medical coverage. And pensions are for us lucky dinosaurs who worked at a place that offered them. What really sucks is depending on where you live, it is all taxed to death. Like a Sea Lamprey sucking on your retirement income with a attitude.

I am one of those dinosaurs that still has a pension. But, I think that Sea Lamprey needs to suck something else.

[JUDGE3]

same here, my wife has been retired a year, we both have pensions.

first thing to do is i'm tossing the alarm clock beside my bed in the trash.

after I turned in my retirement date to human resources to make it official, I have been in amazement of the stress that I still feel physically leaving me. I really didn't realize the stress I was carrying. wife says i'm a different person. incredible.

[vertigto]

Would be nice to have a pension...

[poncho-mike]

After the Great Recession that lasted from 2008 - 2009, jobs were hard to find and often laid off workers had to settle for healthy salary cuts to land a new gig. Many of the people laid off during that time were higher paid employees aged 45 or more. Today, employers are complaining they can't find and keep new workers and are facing a wave of older workers retiring. I wonder if the worker shortage will reverse the trend, forcing employers to take offer better wages and benefits to their US employees? Of will companies handle it by pressing congress to allow more immigrants to come in and fill those jobs or outsourcing more jobs to India and Asia.

My employer has done little to instill loyalty. A few years back, our 401-K match was cut by 1%, and less than a month later, they raised their dividends payable to shareholders. When I hired on, one of the retiree benefits was a $50K life insurance plan paid for by the company. That was eliminated about ten years ago. Basically my employer kept cutting benefits to the point where there is no difference between retiring and quitting. My employer offers retiree health insurance if you are not Medicare eligible, but it is more expensive than Obamacare. I know this sounds like griping, but what right do corporations have to expect any loyalty when they treat their employees like a disposable asset.