Anonymous wrote:OP here: I already have a side business that brings in 55k a year. If I were to partially retire what I mean is that I would try to scale up that business. I think I can get to over 100k in 6 months.
I have 850k in retirement. I have 375k liquid. I don’t have property (I just sold) and feel priced out of the area. I can’t move now. I also have kids. I feel like I have enough cushion to take the risk of working for myself but was wondering what others would think. I am late 40s. I have also considered switching careers but the ROI on retraining does not seem worth it.
The biggest issue is healthcare. ACA insurance is very pricey. You'll also want to coverage for your kids, I assume. Wherever you think of moving to, check the ACA marketplace first.
We were self employed for many years and had ACA insurance. While ACA has enabled many, including us, to become self employed, it is very expensive.
At 40something, you have like 15 to 20 years of needing private insurance.
My kids don't need insurance--they have it. Most people I know who do this pay $400 to $500 a month. That is not that much.
Exactly. DCUM has this absurd fear of healthcare costs because they’re all W-2 employees who only have to interact with the private insurance marketplace when they retire early at age 61, at which point health insurance *is* fairly expensive.
The thing is that insurance does become significantly more expensive as you age. For example, you should probably plan to pay over $1,000/month from age 60 to 64, so you cannot plan your future healthcare budget in the same way that you plan your future food budget, i.e., by considering what you pay today and adjusting for inflation.
But it’s really only a five-year period when insurance really is expensive. Notwithstanding that fact, you have a bunch of people on DCUM with $300K HHIs and $3M in the bank who think they cannot retire because of healthcare. It’s totally absurd; it’s like they don’t even realize that there are self-employed landscapers earning $75,000 a year who purchase their own health insurance their whole lives.
I’m 43 and pay $240/month for my ACA plan. Such a ridiculous blind spot that DCUM has.
LOL You are 43.
I'm 55, DH is 60. You know how much ACA costs? Almost $1200 for the just the two of us. And that's a hdp with kaiser or hmo with carefirst.
Also, the price depends on where you live. That's why I stated for OP to check out the price of ACA BEFORE they move to a new area.
I've had private insurance on/off for 20 years, including the past 6 years through ACA.
Yes, that poster has a "ridiculous blind spot" because $240/month for ACA is not normal and is either a bad plan or he or she has low enough income to get a price break. We have silver plan (PPO), which is the third "best". It is well over $2000/month. That's for ages 50, 50, 13, and 15. In 2017, the same plan was over $2500/month. The first Trump administration changed the law so that the states could decide whether to open up the plan options to group plans. It backed it down to about $1800/month, and it has crept up every year since.
It's not great insurance. We pay tons out of pocket. I despise it.
+1. We are a bit younger but still paying about $1600/month for four people with a very high deductible (8k.) It’s insanity and people have no idea because most people still go through work. Only about 6-8% of the US don’t have employer insurance, Medicare or Medicaid.
I’m the $240/month poster. Not sure why everyone has gotten their panties in a bunch over my post.
You pay $1,600/month for four people (i.e., $400/month per person), so I’m not sure why it’s unbelievable that I’m paying $240/month in my early 40s—and, no, I do not receive any subsidy. The OP said she also needs coverage just for herself, and I was making the point that it won’t be the gigantic obstacle for her that DCUM likes to catastrophize about.
Back to the numbers, you indicated you have an $8,000 deductible; I have a $10,000 deductible. A different PP indicated that she had a silver plan; I have a bronze plan. I keep my premium as low as possible to use the insurance solely for its true purpose: catastrophic coverage. I then simply pay routine doctors’ bills out-of-pocket, which is usually around $2,000/year in my case. I’m sure that’ll go up as I age, and I easily save for it because I keep my premiums low. Plus, I get the tax break from an HSA.
Honestly, healthcare is just a bill like any other. But this is what you people sound like: “Oh no, my house is paid off and I have $3.5 million in the bank, but I’ll never be able to retire because I have to pay property taxes!” So stupid.
Property taxes can go up yearly. Ours went up 20%+ in the last year. Try living in NJ, where a $1M home will have a $35K+ property tax and goes up yearly. Yes you can retire, but you need to plan for reality and what things will increase to/cost
And for us (2 mid 50s) we are expecting $35K-50K+ in yearly medical all in. One or two issues can easily run up $5-8K+ in bills that are now fully paid by us, as the deductible is $3-4K and Max OOP is $18K for family.
Omg, DCUM, I'm begging you, please try to use just a *LITTLE BIT* of common sense. I'm the PP. The median HHI in the country is $80K, or around $70K after taxes. So many of the people in this income bracket operate one-person businesses in plumbing, bookkeeping, life insurance, etc., etc., etc. They make too much for Medicaid; they're too young for Medicare; and they don't all get employer-sponsored insurance from a spouse. You are suggesting above that when they are in their 50s, they need to spend >70% of their after-tax income on healthcare - do you not understand how absurd you sound???
I've been self-employed my entire adult life, have navigated the private insurance marketplace since before Obamacare, and have never received a subsidy. Unless someone in your family receives a new cancer diagnosis every year, I promise all of you that ACA healthcare is not as scary as you think it is!
It's expensive, and can cost you $20K+ if you get something serious like cancer. My sisters and mom all have had breast cancer. The older you get, the higher the chance of you getting some serious illness. I was always healthy until I hit my 50s. Menopause has caused so many issues: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, prediabetes, osteopenia, sciatic issues... It sucks. DH also is starting to have issues, and he also was healthy as a horse until his late 50s.
A lot of HDP plans have coninsurance even after the deductible is met.
And the deductibles are $5K+ and max OOP of $18K per family. One of us (mid 50s) has spent over $12K on medical this year and it's barely June. New unusual health issues that developed. 3 MRIs, multiple CAT scans and multiple appointments are not cheap. Add in Dental work (your old fillings fall apart, you need crowns or need a crown replaced) and you can easily have $10-15K of medical bills beyond "health insurance payments". On an ACA plan, we would be paying all of that $12K+ along with the monthly insurance costs. Now double it if both of you have issues in same year.
And yes, menopause throws healthy women into many more issues, and it's best to address them sooner than later.
OMG the crowns. Between DH and I, we've had like 5 crowns in the past few year. DH said he needs more. ugh. Dental insurance only covers one crown per 6 months, and even then, the cost is like $600/per. Without insurance it's like $800+.
Anonymous wrote:OP, you say you’re in your late 40s. Have you factored in Health insurance? That can be big monthly expense.
Aca is affordable and wonderful on a low income it’s incredibly affordable. That’s what I use, I retired from corporate America at 48 to pursue selling my art.
Do you realize that Trump's BBB is going to gut the ACA subsidies.
Like many of the more than 24 million Americans enrolled in the insurance marketplace this year, Muralles was unaware that the enhanced subsidies are slated to expire. She said she cannot afford a premium hike because inflation has already eaten into her household's
Low-income enrollees like the Muralles couple would see the biggest percentage increases in premiums if enhanced subsidies expire.
Middle-income enrollees who earn more than four times the federal poverty line would no longer be eligible for subsidies at all. Those middle-income enrollees (who earn at least $62,600 for a single person in 2025) are disproportionately older, self-employed, and living in rural areas.
Enrollment in the marketplace has grown faster since 2020 in the states won by Mr. Trump in 2024. A recent KFF survey found that 45% of Americans who buy their own health insurance identify as or lean Republican, including 3 in 10 who identify as Make America Great Again supporters. Smaller shares identify as Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents (35%) or do not lean toward either party (20%).
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