How to efficiently drive cross country

Cobra is only 18 months anyway, nowhere near long enough for those who wish to retire 'early'. Buying health insurance on the individual market becomes a necessity.

During some outplacement services provided as part of a corporate mass layoff, one of the coaches brought up a very interesting figure from a different local employer that makes big flying thingies. They compared average number of monthly pension payments (back when corporate pension plans were still a thing) paid to age-65 vs age-55 retirees. The difference was greater than 120 months. I.e. those who retired at age 55 actually lived longer. (No cause-and-effect relationship was determined or mentioned.)

The next time I was in a business unit upheaval and downsizing, I was still a bit short of 55. But close enough, it was time to go outside and play more while my older spouse (then almost 60) was still physically able. That was 7 years ago.

No regrets, despite having to buy our medical coverage. Trump's economic miracle was already well in progress even then, keeping the nestegg growing faster than we are spending it.

 

fair enough .... presuming we can ALSO agree that several parts of Hwy US2 (running right thru our ol' 1-horse town, Kalispell MT) get closed, through some parts of winter, due to heavy snow fall.
Also relevant, the longest stretch I can find on US-2 between either welcoming 50amp RV park plugs, or CHAdeMO's or tesla high power wall chargers? It's 175 miles. So .... for those who take the byways (like myself), rather than the major routes - because they love camping the more remote spots - love to get out, look around, stop & smell the roses? The, alternate Chargers should be just perfect for you. Especially because even those alternate charging opportunities are becoming more prevalent.

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I think that the great grand parents of fotomoto wanted to see that many gas pumps before they would give up horses -- who can all refuel at once in a meadow

Mike

 

Actually they were mule farmers; horses aren't nearly as good for work and pulling wagons. Later suffering but enduring the great depression, I highly doubt they would have paid the early adopter tax on any new technology.

 

I suspect that some of my direct great-grandparents never gave up horses, simply by not living long enough to see near-universal consumer adoption of affordable passenger cars.

One of my step-great-granddads fought in the Civil War. Not sure just when he died, but based on the life expediencies of that family line, he wouldn't have ever seen even a Model T.

 

i retired at 59. did cobra for 18 months at 15k/year. i thought that was expensive until i had to buy private insurance. 20k per year, and half the benefits. medicare in 6 months

 

I did COBRA after the first mass layoff a decade earlier, but declined it the second time due to its cost, for a higher level benefits package (including several non-medical services) than we wanted and had obtained on the individual market in between. There is no option to buy a smaller, pared down benefits package than is being provided to the still-working employees. COBRA is all-or-nothing. And a 2% handling fee tacked on.

So we went back to the individual marketplace, for a more affordable package that met our likings, a bit before the Obamacare 'Ten Essentials' mandate. Obamacare did upend things somewhat, but since we were not taking any pensions yet, taxable income was low enough get enough premium assistance to make it a wash. All was somewhat stable until Trump tried to kill it, wrecking the pricing of the Silver plans in the process. (Gold and Bronze plan prices are not similarly wrecked.) Spouse is now on Medicare, so now I have to buy coverage for only one.

I have now left the subsidized marketplace and gone off-exchange, as the need to maximize IRA Rothification pushes us out of reach of the premium assistance. Off-exhange, I can get an equivalent Silver-level plan without the $2k-ish penalty from Trump's stake driven (not fatally) into ACA's heart.

My final employer was not offering such a high level plan.

 

My Wife has worked for an Insurance Co since HS...long, long time. Very familiar. I can wait for the Government Medical...I've been already been paying for.

 

i'm hoping it will still be there...

 

OMG some of us over the hill .... 1955 & earlier births, there were still handfull of people still barely alive that were born into slavery - or served in the Civil War. Sheesh. Hard to believe. Nowadays we are afraid of the notion there aren't enough plug-in car chargers. Resiliency doesn't seem to linger from generation to generation. We think cap-and-trade way before we think cap & ball.
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Does this mean that inside information and experience is leading you to avoid the product?

 

or musket and ball, except bob w

 

FWIW...My employer health care is so good I can wait a little longer...and still get one of best matches on my 401K out there...on top of profit sharing that has really paid off with my chosen investments. Why pay more when I can make more. Going from less than dirt poor to very, very comfortable "as a working man" has taught me much...including patience. YMMV

 

Can't have mules without a horse.

 

and a donkey.

 

Haw
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Difference standards for different backgrounds, I guess. With a city population of 23k, and a metro area population pushing close to 100k, that is several decimal points too many to be a 1-horse town where I grew up.

And I wasn't aware that US2 had any seasonal winter closures near there. Sure, it may have temporary closures during the season, but we have those way over here too, not just on our portion of US2, but even on I-90 and I-84.

My own extended family has had a continuous presence around Flathead Lake for over a half century. The original two generations there have all expired, but several cousins still have primary or seasonal places there.

 

Of course they're profitable. Easy to make a profit selling electricity for 5 to 10 times, what the electrical grid charges charger stations. Sure can tell the posters here got so much money, they're happy to give away their electrical funding, just so they can be on their way again. People complain about "Big Oil". But EV owners are delighted to give money to what is becoming, "Big Electricity", much of which is already subsidized by the Federal Gov't.

 

fuzzy1 said:
"I'd rather give you a beautiful scenic route...: cross-continent on Washington State's SR20, then US2 in the other states. According to Tesla's Supercharger Map, that is over 1700 miles between the supercharger near Burlington WA to the next one in Duluth MN."
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litesong said:
I traveled wiggly route US 2 in 1990 in my 10gallon Ford Festiva. Filling up on the eastern down slope of the Rocky Mtns, I only needed one fill on the 1000+ mile leg to the Great Lakes.