Heh, I have an envelope full of Iraqi Dinar tucked away in the sock drawer.
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Your retirement plans . . .
- Thread starter robav8r
- Start date
One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is not necessarily for you but for your family/survivors, get your stuff in order. A close family member passed away last year and while they were pretty well prepared there were still a few things that were not taken care of beforehand and were time consuming to handle. A will, living will, powers of attorney (if necessary) and an advance directive are things that you should either do or consider. Consult with professionals on how to handle financial and estate planning (family or estate attorney, accountant and financial retirement specialist) so that your family isn't left having to figure things out. As several old salts told me about divorce attorneys, pay now or pay later.
Also, plan on the next steps to include retirement homes and 'continuing care' communities so your family doesn't have to scramble around for you when you are unable to do so. There are some that are great, some that are awful and a lot in between. One thing they have in common, they are expensive. That is unless you qualify for Medicaid, but that is when you run out of money and the choices are often...not great. While a lot of us are healthy now that can change at the drop of a hat. My relative was in a retirement community with independent living, assisted living and a nursing home and there were a lot of folks that were walking and talking one day to passing away just weeks or months later. But then there are some that are sick or disabled for years with all the attendant costs. There are plenty of retirement communities that only take retired military or retired military/GS and some are even rank-dependent, but there are lots of options. But the important thing, plan for yourself so others don't have to.
Finally, start getting rid of your shit. I am now the owner of one side of the family's entire history to include books, glassware, china and furniture that are up to 140 years old along with hundreds of photos going that far back too. As you can imagine, my better half has been ecstatic that our basement is now buried in all this shit...I mean stuff. A lot of it is really cool, to include my Grandfather's WWII USAAF uniform and bomber jackets, but merely going through it all just to figure out what to keep or get rid of has been quite the lift. It has also forced me to start going through all of my own crap that I have accumulated as a pack rat (gee, I wonder where I got that from?). Do I really need my kneeboard cards with circa 1996 course rules that have been photocopied from a photocopied photocopy x 11? Probably not. I don't want my kids to do what I am stuck doing now.
Bottom line, start planning now for the not so pleasant part of getting older so others aren't stuck doing it for you.
Also, plan on the next steps to include retirement homes and 'continuing care' communities so your family doesn't have to scramble around for you when you are unable to do so. There are some that are great, some that are awful and a lot in between. One thing they have in common, they are expensive. That is unless you qualify for Medicaid, but that is when you run out of money and the choices are often...not great. While a lot of us are healthy now that can change at the drop of a hat. My relative was in a retirement community with independent living, assisted living and a nursing home and there were a lot of folks that were walking and talking one day to passing away just weeks or months later. But then there are some that are sick or disabled for years with all the attendant costs. There are plenty of retirement communities that only take retired military or retired military/GS and some are even rank-dependent, but there are lots of options. But the important thing, plan for yourself so others don't have to.
Finally, start getting rid of your shit. I am now the owner of one side of the family's entire history to include books, glassware, china and furniture that are up to 140 years old along with hundreds of photos going that far back too. As you can imagine, my better half has been ecstatic that our basement is now buried in all this shit...I mean stuff. A lot of it is really cool, to include my Grandfather's WWII USAAF uniform and bomber jackets, but merely going through it all just to figure out what to keep or get rid of has been quite the lift. It has also forced me to start going through all of my own crap that I have accumulated as a pack rat (gee, I wonder where I got that from?). Do I really need my kneeboard cards with circa 1996 course rules that have been photocopied from a photocopied photocopy x 11? Probably not. I don't want my kids to do what I am stuck doing now.
Bottom line, start planning now for the not so pleasant part of getting older so others aren't stuck doing it for you.
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Is that right next to your beanie baby collection? 😉😂
This. The most loving thing my mom and dad did before they passed was complete clarity and documentation on the location. description, and disposition of their property, assets and belongings.
I also love the concept of "Swedish Death Cleaning" - I am parting with "stuff" and have identified what makes me happy to have around and what I can get rid of.
Guess which is worth more
I’m digitizing all of my parents photos, letters and other ephemera as we speak. I’m using a service which is very expensive but efficient. Still, it has been very laborious. It would have been much easier than had it been all stored in random shoe boxes (quite literally). To say nothing of how much I would have liked to see this stuff years before.
I have been increasingly religious about tossing/donating stuff instead of collecting it. That includes limiting the random military memorabilia I accumulate.
Following along mostly because Husband retires this year. Mil retirement only; there's a second career coming. But we hope that only lasts >10 years.
My dad is retired Air Force. He only uses the VA for his hearing aids (service-related; years in missile silos) and sees civilians for everything else. I don't know his exact reason, but he has no interest in the VA. What he and my mom have done is join a concerige medical service and they are thrilled with that. I was skeptical when they told me about it. I was also picturing that TV show with the concierge doc to the rich and famous in the Hamptons. What it actually is is an annual fee. (Mom said $1000, but I don't know if that is per person or their total.) For that, they get access, including a 24/7 cell phone. (Asked not to use it except in case of emergencies, of course.) When they were vacationing in Mexico and got Covid, they spoke many times with their doc. They can get appointments quickly and if it is urgent he will see them after hours. He bills their insurance, so the actual appointments cost no more than they would with other providers. They've been thrilled not to have to wait months to be seen for things, and to have someone who is responsive to things like prescription refills.
My dad is retired Air Force. He only uses the VA for his hearing aids (service-related; years in missile silos) and sees civilians for everything else. I don't know his exact reason, but he has no interest in the VA. What he and my mom have done is join a concerige medical service and they are thrilled with that. I was skeptical when they told me about it. I was also picturing that TV show with the concierge doc to the rich and famous in the Hamptons. What it actually is is an annual fee. (Mom said $1000, but I don't know if that is per person or their total.) For that, they get access, including a 24/7 cell phone. (Asked not to use it except in case of emergencies, of course.) When they were vacationing in Mexico and got Covid, they spoke many times with their doc. They can get appointments quickly and if it is urgent he will see them after hours. He bills their insurance, so the actual appointments cost no more than they would with other providers. They've been thrilled not to have to wait months to be seen for things, and to have someone who is responsive to things like prescription refills.
I’m looking into doing this for my family, any recommendations?
There’s a lingering stigma about the VA from the WWII/Korea/Vietnam/Desert Storm generation I’ve picked up on from my few stops at the VFW. I think the VA of the 80s/90s/2000s had a lot of issues, but also a “that’s for people who have nothing else” mentality.
I’ve seen it go the other direction with the OIF/OEF vets. And the care level has gone up significantly as Congress dumped money into it the last 20 years. A friend is a pharmacist at the VA for 10 years now, and she basically said they went from being geriatrics and hearing aids in big metros to *everything*, *everywhere*, all at once.
Similar story to VA claims. A lot of folks under claim because they know someone who had it worse. That’s not how it works and you’re only fucking over your own family.
exNavyOffRec
Well-Known Member
One other thing to remember is to have a way for those who don't normally have access to the online payments (gas/insurance/etc) to be able to have access to those platforms.
The other thing for those that are married is to make sure that someone other than you or your spouse knows where important documents are, unfortunately there are times when someone other than you or your spouse will need have access to them.
exNavyOffRec
Well-Known Member
The VA still has issues, not as many as they did years ago but they have a long way to go, I have friends that have had good care, bad care and everything in between.
About hearing aids, too many vets put off getting them and the VA does pay for some good ones, I know as the VA outsources many vets to civilian Audiologist one of which happens to be my sister. Her frustration is that when a person starts to have hearing issues the longer the hearing aids are put off the more damage you actually do to your hearing, my FIL is a prime example of this.
You never know, maybe some cruise ships will start doing port calls in Basra, and you can go wild. 😂
Possibly flip those Dinars pierside into a sweet investment in a fine Persian rug?
EverPresent is the company I’m using. Expensive, but very high quality. Plus this is a one off exercise so it’s worth it.
Random8145
Registered User
Interesting, I didn't know that. Good to know.
My dad was one of these guys. He would blame it on thousands of hours of flying a pair of Wright 3350s and a couple turbojets around hunting subs. But I think it was probably moreso old age since he last did that in the mid-70's. I'm on the same track. Probably worse honestly. My wife and I generally yell (everyday requests) at each other across the house and neither of us hears the other. Screaming children don't help.