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Rightwinger
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| Joined: | Tue Apr 22nd, 2008 |
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| Posts: | 605 |
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Posted: Sat Jun 6th, 2009 10:28 pm |
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I am a Baby Boomer who is struggling to pay for healthcare
insurance and doctor and hospital bills. The insurance laws
in this state need to be changed.
I just received a statement in the mail this morning from
our cardiologist, and almost had a stroke! Recent surgery
over $ 11,0000 of which my insurance company paid about half.
The doctor is asking me for the balance. Where am I supposed to get that kind of money when I am currently paying outrageous prices for health insurance? What good is the health insurance?
Believe it when they tell you " It doesn't pay to get old".
At this point, I am considering dropping health insurance
and banking the money each week
that I am currently paying for health coverage.
The Federal & State government along with the insurance companies and doctors are getting all of my hard earned
money.
I AM MAD AS HELL!!!!
I know that many others are in the same situation.
Of course the retirement savings took a huge hit within
the last two years. At this rate I will be working til
I drop dead.
So the answer to your question is... my financial situation
is continuing to get worse. It would be my guess that
80% or more would say the same.Last edited on Sat Jun 6th, 2009 10:44 pm by Rightwinger
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Hartlyboy
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Posted: Tue Jun 2nd, 2009 04:12 am |
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| Perhaps the category that is missing and would be more telling doesn't have to do with current employment or ability to still pay the mortgage but would be roughly defined as 'net worth situation'. It doesn't matter if you have time for the stock market to [hopefully] recover in 20 years , if you are like most Americans, you have seen a dramtic decline in the assets you could tap for your life needs. I don't think many of us are the same as last year [early 2008] or will be in that category for many years to come.
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Fred
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 10th, 2005 |
| Location: | Dover, Delaware USA |
| Posts: | 8242 |
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Posted: Mon Jun 1st, 2009 05:09 pm |
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Fred wrote:
I would guess that most of your respondants are going to be roughly in the same shape they were in a year ago...which is fine, but it is indicative of nothing, other then the readership of this fourm.
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Playing the Game
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| Joined: | Wed Jan 30th, 2008 |
| Location: | Delaware USA |
| Posts: | 5408 |
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Posted: Fri May 8th, 2009 12:04 am |
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This cantankerous old coot prefers this type of poll. The big name polls are manipulated and this is just a good ole "what do you think" on a local level.
Fred wrote:
kirkalbertson wrote: Golly gee Fred, no wonder I can't make any sense out of what you write. The only thing I can make sense out of is no matter what is written you will have an opposing viewpoint, meaning you have no consistency. This message implies nothing at all, except tell someone who reads and cares what your financial position is. In the end, maybe this straw poll will decipher something.
I tend to be cantankerous (I learned a lot from CR), but don't you think a poll conducted in this medium tends to be a bit, shall we say, unscientific? I'd make a few assumputions about those who post here...
1. Tend to not be homeless;
2. Tend to have enough money to have a PC and Internet access;
3. Tend to be employed.
4. Tend to be a bit older then the average (last time we did a roll call).
I would guess that most of your respondants are going to be roughly in the same shape they were in a year ago...which is fine, but it is indicative of nothing, other then the readership of this fourm.
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kirkalbertson
Member
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Posted: Thu May 7th, 2009 08:47 pm |
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| Well Fred, let's just see how this plays out, but I tend to agree.
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Fred
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 10th, 2005 |
| Location: | Dover, Delaware USA |
| Posts: | 8242 |
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Posted: Thu May 7th, 2009 07:53 pm |
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kirkalbertson wrote: Golly gee Fred, no wonder I can't make any sense out of what you write. The only thing I can make sense out of is no matter what is written you will have an opposing viewpoint, meaning you have no consistency. This message implies nothing at all, except tell someone who reads and cares what your financial position is. In the end, maybe this straw poll will decipher something.
I tend to be cantankerous (I learned a lot from CR), but don't you think a poll conducted in this medium tends to be a bit, shall we say, unscientific? I'd make a few assumputions about those who post here...
1. Tend to not be homeless;
2. Tend to have enough money to have a PC and Internet access;
3. Tend to be employed.
4. Tend to be a bit older then the average (last time we did a roll call).
I would guess that most of your respondants are going to be roughly in the same shape they were in a year ago...which is fine, but it is indicative of nothing, other then the readership of this fourm.
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Kirk
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| Joined: | Tue Oct 11th, 2005 |
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| Posts: | 482 |
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Posted: Thu May 7th, 2009 07:50 pm |
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I think what Fred was saying is that the economic data can be interpreted in different ways. I would disagree that this is the worst economic downturn of your lifetime... unless you are under 25 years of age. What distinguishes this downturn in the minds of many, relative to previous downturns of the post-WW2 period, is the complete lack of individual safety-nets (for non-executive staff) combined with a much older population. By this I mean that there is a large number of 50-65 year olds (baby boomers) that do not have traditional pensions as part of their personal financial resources. The downturn of 81-83 was much more pronounced for unemployment duration and wage losses, but this was predominantly among high school educated workers. The current downturn has been more focused on males (78% of those losing their jobs in this downturn), and re-employment among college grads has been slower and with larger wage losses than their high school diploma-only peers. This is also the first downturn where the stock market was relevant to the lives of ordinary Americans - less than 20% of workers have traditional pensions.
This downturn has not significantly affected millions of people. Millions of us do not have variable rate mortgages, have not lost our jobs (knock on wood), are under 50 so stock valuations are irrelevant for another decade, take continuing education seriously so we can move between careers, and we do not listen to the pretty talking heads at CNN, FOX, MSNBC, CNBC, etc... telling us we are all going to die from Swine Flu if our broker doesn't convince us to jump first. So the current downturn has had indirect effects only - friends and neighbors who have lost jobs, or have changed their behavior patterns as their firms have laid off some of their co-workers. The State of DE still has not figured out what exactly they are going to do about wages/salaries so I guess the only impact on most friends and family has been the general uncertainty of wage changes. The economizing in my household was started before the downturn as we reassessed our spending patterns and personal values, attempting to reallocate our spending to better match our ethics and personal standards.
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kirkalbertson
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Posted: Thu May 7th, 2009 04:30 pm |
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| Golly gee Fred, no wonder I can't make any sense out of what you write. The only thing I can make sense out of is no matter what is written you will have an opposing viewpoint, meaning you have no consistency. This message implies nothing at all, except tell someone who reads and cares what your financial position is. In the end, maybe this straw poll will decipher something.
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Fred
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 10th, 2005 |
| Location: | Dover, Delaware USA |
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Posted: Thu May 7th, 2009 03:17 pm |
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The studies aren't just from the government, but also from banks, credit card companies, and the like. I think you are trying to imply that things aren't as bad as some would say....and for the majority, I would say that is true. However, it doesn't take a lot of people to be in a bad situation to really gum up the works. If you want a true picture, take a look at the number of sheriff sales in the paper, or, while you are at it, look in the help wanted section at the dearth of jobs.
Take unemployment, for example. We are approaching bad unemployment levels of 10%...which means, one could argue, an employment rate of 90%. Even if you back out those who've quit looking, those who are working part time instead of full time, or those who are working in lesser jobs then they used to, I daresay we still have a significant number of people still at work.
However...even those 10% who don't have jobs means that there are that many less people buying stuff, who need resources from the rest of us (either by donations or government help). If there are 10% unemployed, there HAS to be a certain extra number of people who are in some danger of losing their job....and the higher the rate, the larger that number, I would think. THAT has a depressing effect on the economy, as well.
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kirkalbertson
Member
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Posted: Thu May 7th, 2009 12:51 pm |
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As a nation, we have experienced the worst economic times in my lifetime. As a small state, Delaware usually remains immune to the affects of the gross economic swings of the larger neighboring ones. How bad does the current economic picture reflect your personal financial condition?
You may remain completely annonymous, but please give a true picture of what is happening to your life. So many times we read government paid for studies that don't truly reflect the reality of the situation, so lets see what our survey says.
Please participate.
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