Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the past 18 days we've had 1 daughter with covid, dh had the flu and my 18 year old who is set to take her state practical esthetician licensing test this Wednesday has been diagnosed with carpel tunnel syndrome and has been to the er and 1 orthopedic doctor who referred her to another. So financially it sucks because we have a $6000 deductible and the medical bills are coming in already.

I hear you. I had to have emergency major surgery on January 3 a few years ago. OMG, the bills! Not a happy new year then, for sure.

I love the United States and I am proud to be an American. I feel like as a country we are being taken for a ride. Our healthcare expenses are absolutely insane.

Only 1st world country that has personal bankruptcies due to medical bills (and it’s the leading cause of personal bankruptcy).

It’s nuts that it’s a massively controversial debate over telling drug companies that you can’t sell your drugs to other 1st world countries at significantly lower prices than what you charge Medicare and US insurers.

Nobody is even telling them they need to lower their prices here…just if you charge the US $10 then you can’t sell to France for a $1, you either sell to them for $10 or lower the US to a $1.

Just one nuts example.

+1

We are subject to a corpocracy.

Anonymous wrote:Insurance is killing us, particularly car and homeowners. I feel like the car is because police and the prosecutors aren’t prosecuting car thefts.

Not particularly. The truth is a lot less satisfying politically.

Accidents are way up since COVID because people forgot how to drive, medical costs are up, and extreme weather events (floods, fires, extreme storms) are also up. The cost of cars went way up and hasn’t come back down. Newer cars are ridiculously expensive to repair with all of their airbags and sensors. The costs of the average claim have gone up, and there are more of them, meaning the companies need to take in more premiums to cover them.

Factor in increased overhead from wages that have gone up at every level and the need to restore balance sheets from prior years and protect against future shortages, and there you go. A recipe for rate increases.

It’s always worth shopping around but you have to do it every year. The insurance company banks on you being lazy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Insurance is killing us, particularly car and homeowners. I feel like the car is because police and the prosecutors aren’t prosecuting car thefts.

I am curious what kind of nominal amounts you are talking about.

My homeowners went up around 5% which is $100 nominal for the year.

My auto is up 10% which is $300 for the year. Two cars.

On a nominal basis it’s kind of nothing.

$300 for the YEAR??! That can’t be right.

No it’s right…just received a 6 month bill and it’s 1700 for 6 months (so $3400 for the year). Was around 3100 last year.

Have highest liability coverages but relatively high deductible ($1000?). One care is probably 12 years old so collision coverage is low.

Don’t drive much…think like 7000 miles per year max (which we state for coverage).

Only “premium” thing I pay for is $0 deductible on having windows replaced because you do get the random window smash in DC (twice over 20 years)…but it’s like an extra $5 a month.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got laid off a week ago. At 62, I’m not sure I’ll find a full-time job again.

Coupled with the horror show of the incoming administration and the miserable weather, 2025 is pretty sucky so far.

The incoming administration isn't to blame for your lack of employment or the miserable weather. Start a business and be the master/mistress of your own destiny. There are plenty of jobs to be had, they may not be to your standards, but you can go out today and get 'a job'. As another poster commented, your retirement funds should be secure if you had planned properly.

There’s that conservative support for the working man right there, the reason people voted MAGA. Just start a business at age 62 with money you don’t have, and invest money you never had. So out of touch.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, 2025 is only two weeks old, so I can’t say anything particularly terrible has happened in that time.

However, I’m a small business owner, and I do believe the economy is a lot worse than is generally reported. I don’t doubt the reports from people here who recently doubled their income and now have a $600K HHI, but I suspect that type of success is limited to a small number of jobs in a small number of industries in the big cities.

I think everyone else is finding things getting harder.

I think this is off by a lot. The economy is way stronger than we think -- Trump will take credit for what I think will be a 2-3 year very strong economy. PP is not wrong on prices but wages have increased by a lot over the last couple of years.

Well, the interesting thing about the current moment is that over 150 million people just got the chance to voice their opinion on the matter, so we actually know how the economy is treating them. And they did not say that the economy is "way stronger" than anything. Even Democrat strategist James Carville recently said he was wrong about the election because he neglected his famous mantra: "It's the economy, stupid."

As I said, I'm sure in your bubble (and other bubbles) things are going well—maybe better than ever—but that's not the case for large parts of the country, perhaps even the majority of the country. I am always amazed at the blind spot that your ilk possesses. It's likely why you were so blindsided and distraught on election night.

Oh yes, please tell us more about the wisdom of the MAGA working people, struggling to get by. The economy sucks, so they are going to cut taxes for billionaires, kick 3 trans girls off their high school rec teams, end the ACA, and deport the people that process their food. That will definitely make things better for the average working Joe.

We were blindsided alright- by how people could be so stupid to fall for the right wing trickle down con AGAIN. It didn’t work in the 1980s, and it still doesn’t work. And maybe by just how much people are looking for a convenient scapegoat for their failure to have grandpa’s 1950s lifestyle while failing to recognize that way of life was temporary, it’s gone, and Trump, Musk, and their merry band of exploitative oligarchs will never let it come back.

But hey- some people need to learn the hard way they have nothing to gain by getting in bed with the people who want to exploit them, so here we go. Hope it felt good while it lasted.

Anonymous wrote:I got laid off a week ago. At 62, I’m not sure I’ll find a full-time job again.

Coupled with the horror show of the incoming administration and the miserable weather, 2025 is pretty sucky so far.

Ah, sending you good wishes. Can you do consulting to tie you over until retirement?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Insurance is killing us, particularly car and homeowners. I feel like the car is because police and the prosecutors aren’t prosecuting car thefts.

I am curious what kind of nominal amounts you are talking about.

My homeowners went up around 5% which is $100 nominal for the year.

My auto is up 10% which is $300 for the year. Two cars.

On a nominal basis it’s kind of nothing.

$300 for the YEAR??! That can’t be right.

Anonymous wrote:Insurance is killing us, particularly car and homeowners. I feel like the car is because police and the prosecutors aren’t prosecuting car thefts.

Our car insurance is $800 per month, for three drivers and cars. It’s a big line item for us.

Yes, I also feel like “everyone is trying to grab our money.” I have started to be very protective of our funds and look to cut costs in all areas. Insurance, utilities and kid activities are major culprits in my household.

Anonymous wrote:It may not be possible to do much about insurance costs, but you can do something about real estate assessments - vote out the politicians who have an insatiable appetite for other people's money to fund priorities which are not your priorities.

Perhaps you mean you can do something about the tax rates. Honestly, my assessed value is a good 33% less than it's market value.

Anonymous wrote:2025 is a terrible year thus far.

* Huge increases to property tax after reassessment (yet again). This is on top of an already increased property tax rate.

* Massive hike to home owner's insurane

* Massive hike to car insurance

* Every single utility has gone up

* Little relief at the grocery store

* Massive increase for our health insurance cost

Meanwhile, our income has gone no where. I just feel like this is death by a thousand cuts. Everyone has their hands trying to grab our money and our income cannot keep up. Sometimes I feel like I want to just completely quit this insane rat race going nowhere, leave the country and live where it costs way less. The squeeze from all sides is getting insane, and it is starting to break me mentally.

I can relate.. Maybe we should ask the OP of the other thread on here feeling guilty how they are likely to get even richer under Trump. I want to know what fields still provide UMC standard of living income.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but I don’t believe either political side is going to fix it. It’s the rich against everyone else.

this.

Either you’re an equity owner or your get left behind/poor.

I was the a poor, like $20k a year poor in DC for decades. I would have been in equity long time again if I had know anything about it.
I was too busy fighting against wage theft and nobody around me knew anything about stocks. There was also minimum to buy and high fees.This is not the case anymore. Stocks can be bought using a phone for $5 a day. People still don't do it.
I'm done feeling bad for the poor or anyone.

It may not be possible to do much about insurance costs, but you can do something about real estate assessments - vote out the politicians who have an insatiable appetite for other people's money to fund priorities which are not your priorities.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but I don’t believe either political side is going to fix it. It’s the rich against everyone else.

this.

Either you’re an equity owner or your get left behind/poor.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trump will fix it. Soon he will lower costs on everything and the billionaires will even get a tax break. He promised, stand by.

Are you serious? Do you really believe this? People say crazy things and this sounds crazy.

Please say you’re joking.

A MAGA guy in my office literally said "Trump will fix it" to a low SES colleague re: inflation. Must be a Fox talking point. The MAGA guy is also an easily triggered drunk. You should have seen him quietly fuming when he knew I was badmouthing him to others about what he had said to our colleague, who is the sort of person who will not do well under a Trump administration - poc, low SES.