The funny thing is that Gary will be able to find health care if he needs it because he doesn't have much. Those of us who HAVE things find health care expensive if we don't have insurance. The ability to pay is what's looked at. Personally, I think it's a challenge to live that way the older you get. You get by fine when you're young. But the day comes when you're not so young anymore and things start to catch up with you. At the very least,seeing a dentist is so important. When I was young, I thought about working really hard while I was full of energy just in case I couldn't do it when I was older. That idea has come full circle now as I recently found out I have a rare genetic defect that rears it's ugly head as you get past 50. I'm real glad to have insurance---to not have to work, as I could never walk the miles at work that I used to. Chelone--I'm glad you feel my generation didn't screw things up. But today's CEO's and those in charge are from my generation and I think many of them are little better than cannon fodder. I remember the people in charge at the company I worked for. It was a fortune 500 company and most of the people in charge were MBA's and those who came in to their positions because an uncle was high in the company. It was like a bunch of weepy eyed little kittens who had genetic problems do to so much inbreeding. There wasn't a person there who had ever gotten their hands dirty. Wisdom doesn't come from standing around watching over things from afar. You can't sit in your ivory tower and say you know what the peasants go thru to deliver your daily bread. You only learn what's REALLY going on by being in the trenches. All CEO's should have to come up thru the company----or at the very least, have to spend a year's time on the production floor so he knows the business from the ground up. When these CEO's rule from the top down, the lowest they get is to the company president's office. I don't think you're being wimpy,behaviorkelton, because you worry about all the things that can befall you. I think you're being realistic. It's the fool who sits and thinks, "this won't happen to me." If God allows you to get old, it's a blessing. If God allows you to get old, it's a curse. ALL of life is a double-edged sword and you have to make the right choices or get a big old slap in the face. You have a duty to protect yourself, best you can. Any risks you take in life should be calculated risks. Not crazy, foolish,"take your life in your hands" kind of risks. Those who depend on you would not look kindly on the fact that you've died at 50, because of no health care,when you COULD have lived till 80 with it. Don't diminish your worth to the world and those around you.

"Luck" is very often another word for "opportunity". Sometimes you are able to take advantage of it, and sometimes you aren't. It wasn't hard to make money - we're in our late 50's, double-income no kids Boomers, and own a paid-for home, two cars and little debt. But we've made very specific choices in life, some of which paid off (DH's defined benefit pension and retiree health benefits) and some of which didn't. Our overhead is still high - I cringed the last time I totaled up what we spend monthly on various insurance policies - but as I've often said, I was taught to view insurance as risk mitigation, so it's a necessity in our overall estate planning. We've done a lot better on our investments since I really started paying attention to investing and made an effort to learn about it. But when I look back, we left the portfolio unattended until almost too late in life. Fortunately, I picked up the interest in learning about investing before the dot-com bust. So when the bust happened, I didn't change a thing about the portfolio, because I'd learned that panic moves are what kill your ROI. Sure enough, the portfolio got back to even in 18 months and then took off from there. That taught me the value of dollar-cost averaging, too. stinkygdnr, I don't know what OJ would say about your home, but our home was underwater for almost 10 years. It was pretty painful, but we consoled ourselves that heck, we had to live somewhere no matter what. In the end values went higher, although of course they've dropped again this past year. But in the long run, a home usually gives you some appreciation. Plus you get a lot of incalculable enjoyment from living in a place you can remodel and change to your heart's content. We liked our home, didn't love it, until we finished all the landscaping. Then we fell in love with it, finding it a real joy to just sit in the garden in a recliner, reading a book and drinking homemade lemonade. Like I said on a different discussion forum, very often it's the simplest pleasures in life that are the best!

Jannie, Suggest you find some other friends, as soon you'll probably find that your interests are different now than those of your old work buddies. I think you may also find that they get a bit negative, due to jealousy of your good fortune. As we get older, I've suggested that we keep learning new interests, finding new friends. Some have said that they have a lot of friends, now - so why bother? I replied that yes, you do have quite a few friends - and you'll keep losing them, whether from moving far away, heavy disability (e.g. Alzheimer's) and death. When it's your turn to go, of course, that problem of losing friends disappears. They ain't no trapdoors in heaven, I've heard - once they let you in, you're there. So no more losing friends, right? Enjoy each day as it comes. ole joyful

Hi Socks 1234 ... what was that other number, again, please? Many advisors suggest that as people get older, they should carry a smaller percentage of their assets in equities, where the values fluctuate substantially and concentrate more on investing where their principal is more secure, e.g. bonds, GICs. Trouble is - when you invest where your principal is guaranteed, there are two rats that eat your cheese. There's an entity that favours you with a question, each year ... and a statement. Regarding your annual income, ... "How much did you earn, last year?", and "We want part of it", ... ... are the messages that most of us get from the income tax people. And, if you invest your dollars where you want that touted guarantee that the number of invested dollars isn't going to shrink over the interim ... ... there's another guarantee that the folks who want to use your money (read "banks" or "bond issuers") never seem to mention ... ... the number of dollars of "principal" is "guaranteed" not to grow, either. So - since we've had to cope with inflation every year since the Great Depression of the 1930s, you need to take some of those dollars that they earned to put with the principal in order to preserve your purchasing power since the inflation rat nibbles off a corner of each of those "guaranteed" "principal" dollars every year. Know what? The rats eat first! You get what's left. Which in recent years has been very little ... if anything. I favour people, especially seniors, learning more about how money works, with a view to carrying a larger component of equity-based investments, where justified. I took the course that stockbrokers take (much more complex than the mutual fund guys need) and 6 courses leading to Chartered Financial Planner (passed only 5). Course revamped aiming at slightly different designation, Certified Financial Planner, I'd have needed to have started all over - at age 70 or so? I don't think so! I sold mutual funds (for a broker, so could offer a wider choice) for a short while, and for years have worked as a personal financial advisor, selling no products - no conflict of interest. Also, very few mutual fund managers justify their vaunted claim of more skillful money management, for they don't outperform the market averages. But in the U.S. they like to collect about a fifth or sixth of the average growth rate that the market produces, and in Canada about a fifth to a quarter of it. If individuals can develop the skills necessary, and the nerve to avoid getting upset if the market goes down some (i.e. sleep soundly at night at the time of a sliding market), they can usually produce a better result, long term, using a larger component of equities, I think. Maybe you noted a thread that I wrote here a few days ago asking that folks compare stock certificates (of one company) and rabbits for proliferation. I've written a number of threads on "Money Saving Tips", "Household Finance" and "Retirement" which will give you quite a bit of information about my approach to effective management of income and assets. If you have further questions, I'll be pleased to answer them. Good wishes to you and yours. ole joyful