The latest giveaway winner, D Fuller, has Not gotten in touch with me yet. I will give them until tomorrow, Saturday, at noon EDST, before choosing another winner for the Alaskan prizes.
So DFuller needs to contact me by noon on October 2nd to claim their prizes or forfeit them.
Sluggy
Hubs has been retired since 30 June 2017, so that's 4+ years now. When he retired his employer set up a RMSA for him(retiree medical savings account)and I. Since his company phased out paying directly for retiree medical expenses(like they phased out pensions)they give each retiree a lump sum in a RMSA to pay for health insurance and Medicare supplement plans once they are 65 years old.
Since Hubs retired early we've been using this account to cover healthcare premiums as was the plan. I realized after the first year(and the outrageous rise in premium costs that first re-up year)that the amount in this RMSA was not going to bridge us to Social Security.
I ran the numbers early in 2021 and figured(depending on how much the premiums rise for 2022)the RMSA would be emptied in April or May of 2022 at the latest. So Hubs and I had a long discussion about how to handle this problem. April 2022 would be a year until Hubs hit Medicare age in 2023 and I follow him 9 months later and hit 65.
The solution we came up with was for Hubs to take early SS. He started drawing in August of this year at 63 and 4 months. We will be putting his SS check in a separate interest earning(not much but it's something!lol)account and once the RMSA runs out we'll use $$ from that SS account to pay for healthcare premiums. I don't know at this point about getting subsidies for premiums once the RMSA runs out(as long as we had that we didn't qualify for any subsidies)but I suspect our yearly income even in retirement is a smidgeon too high to qualify.
Once we both hit Medicare age we can earmark the SS earnings for other things or just use it for regular expenses as we also have an annuity to pay for living expenses as well as other savings. The annuity is "front loaded" and will go down a bit once Hubs hits regular retirement age(66 and 10 months for him)but during the time we need the SS check to pay for commercial healthcare premiums the annuity will still be as high as it is now.
This will work out advantageously for us because we aren't relying on a SS check alone for living expenses. We have a fairly hefty amount of personal savings, a 401K and that annuity mentioned before giving us a financial "4 legged stool".
Hubs early SS check is about $500 more a month than we are paying now for our healthcare premiums so we ran the numbers and we should both hit Medicare with a fair amount left in that SS check account to spare.
I know everyone's financial picture is different but taking SS early worked in our situation.
Sluggy
The September Sluggy's Boring Blog Box Giveaway is now in the books. I had Sissie pick the winning entry using Random dotorg.
So who won?
And the Winner is DFuller!
I went to Alaska several years ago so my could see snow. There was a heat wave that year and the Iditarod couldn't start for lack of snow.
Congratulations D! You have 48 hours from the time this post goes live on my blog to email me your complete name and mailing information to claim your prize.
Thanks to everyone who played along this month. And I'll see y'all in the funny papers(yes, I am that old to know/use that expression. lol).
Sluggy
So last week was basically a shit show. That's all I'm saying about it. I went to help my sister in-law have a yard sale. The yard sale didn't happen either weekend(and probably might not happen at all, I was super stressed out and got very little sleep. On the bright side I did manage to do some Ibotta deals and spend down some R-A Bonus Cash. I did also have lunch with a childhood friend I haven't seen in years and years!
I usually do a meal plan thing on Monday's but yeah, I haven't cooked/meal planned since I left so there is nothing to report really. I've spent some $$ on food but other than the Ibotta deal items I am taking home I haven't spent grocery money. My car is also full of crap from my brother's house.
But enough of that.......
I am at Sissie's house now and have a place to take my computer out so I am back somewhat.
I want to remind everyone that the giveaway(go HERE to enter)ends tonight at 11:59pm. There are very few entries so far so don't forget to enter!
When Sissie gets home we'll go get into some trouble no doubt! ;-)
Later Gators,
Sluggy
Today is blogger budddy Anne's Birthday! I hope you have a good one Anne!
I am sending this virtual gift to you to help you get through the day. I saw it yesterday and just had to giggle and thought of you........
Especially since the girl M & M had on white go-go boots. lolz
I wish I was there to share these with you....
That's all I got today, I'm outta here!
Sluggy
