Retirement savings ....Yikes !

[MacLawn]

I'm sure this will offend Broker Mike, but I think that anyone of average intelligence can manage their own investments. There is an entire industry that works to maintain the perception that you need to pay a "professional" to manage your money or you will not receive an adequate return on your money.

I'd recommend reading a few books off this list and hanging out at the Boglehead's forum for a while and posting a few questions.

Bottom line, look at your total investing expenses. If an adviser is dinging you for 1 to 2%, that is a quarter to a half of your 4% safe withdrawal rate.

Brother Travel (heheheheee, liking this - feel like I'm in church!), right, but there's a heap of doctors, lawyers, etc., who are smart in their work, but make a mess of their finances thinking they're so smart, who can help them! One of my concerns is that a financial advisor would see my 401 and either laugh or cry! At least we're not in debt.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Cancer clinics are turning away thousands of Medicare patients. Blame the sequester.

Good reason to have that $1,000,000.00 savings account in retirement just for health care needs. I hate all the talk about death squads had any validity.

Rationing Begins: States Limiting Drug Prescriptions for Medicaid Patients | CNS News

Sorry I meant to type panels and not squads.

 

[MacLawn]

Sorry I meant to type panels and not squads.

Huh, Brother Gale?

 

[Gale Hawkins]

brin, my understanding is that 'bamacare won't fully kick in until 2014, is that right? daug, my prayers for your wife! You too.

http://www.coloradohealthinsurancebrokers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/ppaca.jpg

I think the excise tax on medical devices has been killed or about to be removed from the law.

Clearly we have had cost issues/abuse in our medical care industry for a long time and they needed to be addressed. Who would have thought the folks in DC could have broken a system that was only badly bent?

 

[MacLawn]

Oh yeah, them boys have broken us all. They're expert breakers!

 

[ultrarunner]

Yes, it is very true even with simple procedures...

There is a list of procedures we simply can no longer perform because reimbursements continue to drop and the cost of supplies and drugs continue to increase if they are available.

Amazing how fast the transition occurred for the best medical care system in the world...

I'm in the surgery unit and not affiliated with Emergency Room care... elective surgery can be a rude awakening as to co-pays and deductibles...

25% of the medical staff was let go 18 months ago... We have an outstanding record with over 100,000 surgeries averaging about 500 a month and now average 300

Cancer clinics are turning away thousands of Medicare patients. Blame the sequester.

Good reason to have that $1,000,000.00 savings account in retirement just for health care needs. I hate all the talk about death squads had any validity.

Rationing Begins: States Limiting Drug Prescriptions for Medicaid Patients | CNS News

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Yes, it is very true even with simple procedures...

There is a list of procedures we simply can no longer perform because reimbursements continue to drop and the cost of supplies and drugs continue to increase if they are available.

Amazing how fast the transition occurred for the best medical care system in the world...

I'm in the surgery unit and not affiliated with Emergency Room care... elective surgery can be a rude awakening as to co-pays and deductibles...

25% of the medical staff was let go 18 months ago... We have an outstanding record with over 100,000 surgeries averaging about 500 a month and now average 300

Thanks for some inside numbers. For years I have said there is only one real way to reduce health care cost and that is to reduce services rendered. Clearly that approach is under way. Wife was cut from the local hospital after 26 years as a pharmacist a few weeks ago. About 12 years ago she went to weekends only and they started cutting part time first. The lucky ones got 5% pay cut across the board. The issues are not all Obamacare related for sure but when it fully kicks in totally it will not get better.

 

[Travelover]

Brother Travel (heheheheee, liking this - feel like I'm in church!), right, but there's a heap of doctors, lawyers, etc., who are smart in their work, but make a mess of their finances thinking they're so smart, who can help them! One of my concerns is that a financial advisor would see my 401 and either laugh or cry! At least we're not in debt.

Brother MacLawn, it is your money and I have no ulterior motives. I just get tired of seeing the hardworking, but naive folks get skinned by a guy whose main qualifications are a new suit and clean fingernails.

My next door neighbor is an investment advisor and he deals mostly with doctors and other high worth individuals. He paid $1.5M for the house and has put a lot into it since he moved in, so I know that he is doing OK. He works mostly from home. Think about it, get 20 clients with $5M accounts and charge just 1.5% to "manage" it. That is $1.5M income for part time work.

 

[Travelover]

Yes, it is very true even with simple procedures...

There is a list of procedures we simply can no longer perform because reimbursements continue to drop and the cost of supplies and drugs continue to increase if they are available.

Amazing how fast the transition occurred for the best medical care system in the world...

I'm in the surgery unit and not affiliated with Emergency Room care... elective surgery can be a rude awakening as to co-pays and deductibles...

25% of the medical staff was let go 18 months ago... We have an outstanding record with over 100,000 surgeries averaging about 500 a month and now average 300

Ultra, do you happen to know how much the CEO of your hospital is paid?

 

[MacLawn]

Brother MacLawn, it is your money and I have no ulterior motives. I just get tired of seeing the hardworking, but naive folks get skinned by a guy whose main qualifications are a new suit and clean fingernails.

My next door neighbor is an investment advisor and he deals mostly with doctors and other high worth individuals. He paid $1.5M for the house and has put a lot into it since he moved in, so I know that he is doing OK. He works mostly from home. Think about it, get 20 clients with $5M accounts and charge just 1.5% to "manage" it. That is $1.5M income for part time work.

Ask him if he's hiring! I'll work for less than $1.5 million a year!

I'm out of my league here, Travel! I don't live in a neighborhood with $1.5 million houses! Oh well, I'll still make it.