Retirement Planning without the Help of Healthcare

Robert Wilks from Austin, TX sent me an e-mail regarding living without a real job without healthcare on August 1, 2008.

Hi Ernie:

I'm reading The Joy of Not Working and am getting inspired with ideas of ending my 13-year career in financial services (which I hate) and moving into part-time, meaningful, or creative work.

However, we in the U.S. have one obstacle which you don't have in Canada. Private health insurance is prohibitively expensive here. Most people have to get it through their employer, and that means being forever tied to a full-time job. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Robert Wilks
Austin, TX

This was my answer to Robert which is also can be used for addressing the issue of retirement planning without the help of healthcare:

Hi Robert:

First, thanks for your interest in my book The Joy of Not Working.

You, in fact, are not the first person to bring up the issue of how expensive healthcare is in the U.S.

I agree that it is a big problem.

Actually, it's becoming a problem in Canada as well. Even though we have public healthcare, a lot of people are being forced into using private facilities if they can afford it. One of my uncles wound up in acute care in a hospital and the hospital has been trying to get him out even though he is too sick to leave and there is no one available to take care of him. These types of cases are going to become more and more common in Canada. A lot of people here don't even have a family doctor anymore. The problem in Canada is the aging population and a shortage of doctors and nurses (some of which have been trained in Canada with our tax dollars and leave Canada to work in the U.S. for much more money.)

So, the only way around this is to take a big risk and try to make a lot of money so one can afford private healthcare. That is my intention but it is more likely for me to have money set aside for an emergency because I don't get trapped by buying material possessions and services that are simply wants and not needs - and over 50 percent of things that people - even low income individuals - buy are wants and not needs.

I have attached a special E-book version (in PDF format) of my recent book Real Success Without a Real Job made especially for you with excerpts from Chapter 1 and Chapter 3.

Go to the bottom of Page 85 and you can read what I say about the healthcare issue.

As I indicate, I have the same problem with disability insurance which a lot of corporate workers get from their employer. I never purchased disability insurance because I couldn't afford it particularly when I was making $15,000 a year. Even though I was totally broke just a few years ago, I now have enough money set aside so that I could live comfortably for at least 10 years even if I didn't take a cent of income during those 10 years.

Anyway, I really don't have much more of an answer.

Interestingly, a good friend of mine, who I went to school with for many years, has lived in the U.S. (Delaware) for many years and is visiting back home for two weeks. Interestingly, he was telling me just the other day how he was against public healthcare in the U.S. because it would be abused. (I don't agree with him because there are abuses by both the providers and the users in a private system.)

You say you are in the financial services industry. How about doing me a favor and sending the other two attached E-books to all your friends and colleagues, including the E-book with over half of How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free

Incidentally, one of the cool things that is happening with How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free is that even financial organizations are buying the book (despite the subtitle). Nettworth Financial of Atlanta, Georgia, recently purchased 1,200 copies for its sales reps and clients. Another prominent U.S. financial organization has ordered 1,700 copies with its company name on the cover to test with its baby boomer clients and will be purchasing 10,000 to 50,000 copies for its clients if the test proves positive. This organization has asked me not to disclose their name until they have completed their marketing test.

Take care.

So long for now,

Ernie Zelinski
Author of the Bestseller How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
(Over 95,000 copies sold and published in 7 foreign languages)
Featured at The Retirement Planning Wisdom Blog
and the International Bestseller The Joy of Not Working
(Over 225,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)
Featured at The Joy of Not Working Website

The Joy of Not Working: A Book for the Retired, Unemployed, and Overworked by Ernie J. Zelinski

The Joy of Not Working is all about learning to live every part of your life - employment, unemployment, retirement, and leisure time alike - to the fullest. You too can join the thousands of converts and learn to thrive at both work and play. Illustrated by eye-opening exercises, thought-provoking diagrams, and lively cartoons and quotations, The Joy of Not Working will guide you to enjoy life like never before.


Purchase The Joy of Not Working on Amazon.com with this direct link:

The Joy of Not Working on Amazon.com