4 ms·

I wish they asked about health care costs. For a family of three with no corporate job in sight, those have got to eat up a large chunk of the $25k.

astrange 14y ago
He does have a blog. http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/11/01/our-new-237-per-month-health-insurance-plan/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/11/01/our-new-237-per-mo... http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/09/21/i-can-never-retire-because-of-health-insurance-waaah-waaah/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/09/21/i-can-never-retire...
- mckilljoy 14y ago
  Obviously everyone's health situation differs, but my health insurance experiences have been similar to MMM's. For an 'average' person/family, health insurance shouldn't be breaking the bank (e.g. $200-300 per month). I've heard of some realistic pre-existing health conditions that required $600+/month for specialty meds, but if that $7000+ per year is enough to make the difference in your 'retirement', it wouldn't be too bad to get a part time job to cover your cost.
  - rquantz 14y ago
    Decent health insurance for a healthy person in New York is at least $600. My aunt, a cancer survivor in Middland Texas, pays several thousand per month for an individual plan.
  - hemancuso 14y ago
    A modest HMO that covers a family cannot be had for less than $1k/month sticker price. If you don't want co-insurance it's at least $1200. At least in Massachusetts. Family of 3, no pre-existings. Good plans with a $25 co-pay on popular corporate providers (tufts/Harvard pilgrim) are nearly $1500/month, blue cross is close to $1800. Expensive. No way around it.
    - duck 14y ago
      I live in Maine and have 4 kids. We pay $535 a month. The key is setting your deductible high and forgoing co-pays. As long as you have some savings in place (which is easier to do when you pay less) and be smart about visits, it works really well and yet your covered for anything serious.
      - hemancuso 14y ago
        Having shopped it recently nothing like that can be had in Massachusetts for a family.
        anywhichway 14y ago
        Check again in October when the health care exchanges go live. Maybe you will see some doesn't prices there.
        hemancuso 14y ago
        We have had those for a while. Same prices on mass health connector.
    - scarmig 14y ago
      His family's insurance cost comes to $237/month. It seems low, but not that low, at least relative to how much I pay as a 20-something guy scaled to three people.
      - jonknee 14y ago
        Because it features $10,000 per person deductibles (and then you still have to pay a portion up to $3k). If his kid breaks his leg riding his bike to school in the snow the family income could be cut nearly in half. Better than nothing, but definitely not great. That's a symptom of the US more than it is his lifestyle though.
        14y ago
  - wwweston 14y ago
    > For an 'average' person/family, health insurance shouldn't be breaking the bank (e.g. $200-300 per month). Let's play dueling anecdotes. $300 a month was right around the cost of my COBRA premium for a group plan covering myself only, circa 2006. $150 a month was what I paid as for an individual plan in my mid 20s circa 1998, and that was for a plan with relatively spare coverage and high deductibles. Perfectly healthy (arguably above average), living in a community that was also arguably above national averages for health statistics and below national average living costs. I'm very skeptical of the truth of any claim that one could cover a family at $300 a month. Especially in 2013. Heck, I'm somewhat skeptical that there are people out there nowadays who've been able to buy reasonable coverage on the individual market at all. I know people who don't have to worry much about money but who've still found it a hassle to get insured.
    - chadcf 14y ago
      You can, but it's going to be a high deductible plan. I just did a quick search on e-healthinsurance, for a family of 4 with 2 kids I could get coverage for $265 a month. Of course, the catch is that has a $7500 deductible and then 30% co-insurance after that... At $400 a month I could get a plan with a $10,000 deductible and then no co-insurance after that.
pfisch 14y ago
25k/3 people is like a welfare amount of money to live on.
- meistro 14y ago
  True, but I'd say %99.99.. of those on welfare don't own their own house.
  - pfisch 14y ago
    Yeah but I think it is silly to suggest he has retired on a 25k a year pension. I mean have homeless people retired? Have people on food stamps retired?
    - fnordfnordfnord 14y ago
      One of his themes is to maximize frugality/stinginess. He claims to have no debt. He has some assets, has some income. Still, I doubt it's as easy as he makes it sound. But OTOH, there are a lot of optimizations I know I could make, yet have tended to ignore.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - afterburner 14y ago
    Not just own their own house, but also own a second rental property (another house).
- moxie 14y ago
  In San Francisco, I think the most a family of three could get a year (GA + CalFresh) is $10,416. Maintaining GA for any length of time is almost impossible, though, and you need to do eight hours of "workfare" a week to remain qualified (so no retirement). Not to mention that you need to somehow figure out how to rent an apartment for three in SF for less then $300 a month.
- 31reasons 14y ago
doktrin 14y ago
I'm curious about this as well. I'm sure he knows what he's doing better than I in this matter, but I can't help think I would have picked a different country to retire in when attempting to get by minimally.

astrange 14y ago

He does have a blog. http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/11/01/our-new-237-per-month-health-insurance-plan/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/11/01/our-new-237-per-mo... http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/09/21/i-can-never-retire-because-of-health-insurance-waaah-waaah/ http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/09/21/i-can-never-retire...

mckilljoy 14y ago
Obviously everyone's health situation differs, but my health insurance experiences have been similar to MMM's. For an 'average' person/family, health insurance shouldn't be breaking the bank (e.g. $200-300 per month). I've heard of some realistic pre-existing health conditions that required $600+/month for specialty meds, but if that $7000+ per year is enough to make the difference in your 'retirement', it wouldn't be too bad to get a part time job to cover your cost.
- rquantz 14y ago
  Decent health insurance for a healthy person in New York is at least $600. My aunt, a cancer survivor in Middland Texas, pays several thousand per month for an individual plan.
- hemancuso 14y ago
  A modest HMO that covers a family cannot be had for less than $1k/month sticker price. If you don't want co-insurance it's at least $1200. At least in Massachusetts. Family of 3, no pre-existings. Good plans with a $25 co-pay on popular corporate providers (tufts/Harvard pilgrim) are nearly $1500/month, blue cross is close to $1800. Expensive. No way around it.
  - duck 14y ago
    I live in Maine and have 4 kids. We pay $535 a month. The key is setting your deductible high and forgoing co-pays. As long as you have some savings in place (which is easier to do when you pay less) and be smart about visits, it works really well and yet your covered for anything serious.
    - hemancuso 14y ago
      Having shopped it recently nothing like that can be had in Massachusetts for a family.
      - anywhichway 14y ago
        Check again in October when the health care exchanges go live. Maybe you will see some doesn't prices there.
        hemancuso 14y ago
        We have had those for a while. Same prices on mass health connector.
  - scarmig 14y ago
    His family's insurance cost comes to $237/month. It seems low, but not that low, at least relative to how much I pay as a 20-something guy scaled to three people.
    - jonknee 14y ago
      Because it features $10,000 per person deductibles (and then you still have to pay a portion up to $3k). If his kid breaks his leg riding his bike to school in the snow the family income could be cut nearly in half. Better than nothing, but definitely not great. That's a symptom of the US more than it is his lifestyle though.
      - 14y ago
- wwweston 14y ago
  > For an 'average' person/family, health insurance shouldn't be breaking the bank (e.g. $200-300 per month). Let's play dueling anecdotes. $300 a month was right around the cost of my COBRA premium for a group plan covering myself only, circa 2006. $150 a month was what I paid as for an individual plan in my mid 20s circa 1998, and that was for a plan with relatively spare coverage and high deductibles. Perfectly healthy (arguably above average), living in a community that was also arguably above national averages for health statistics and below national average living costs. I'm very skeptical of the truth of any claim that one could cover a family at $300 a month. Especially in 2013. Heck, I'm somewhat skeptical that there are people out there nowadays who've been able to buy reasonable coverage on the individual market at all. I know people who don't have to worry much about money but who've still found it a hassle to get insured.
  - chadcf 14y ago
    You can, but it's going to be a high deductible plan. I just did a quick search on e-healthinsurance, for a family of 4 with 2 kids I could get coverage for $265 a month. Of course, the catch is that has a $7500 deductible and then 30% co-insurance after that... At $400 a month I could get a plan with a $10,000 deductible and then no co-insurance after that.

pfisch 14y ago

25k/3 people is like a welfare amount of money to live on.

meistro 14y ago
True, but I'd say %99.99.. of those on welfare don't own their own house.
- pfisch 14y ago
  Yeah but I think it is silly to suggest he has retired on a 25k a year pension. I mean have homeless people retired? Have people on food stamps retired?
  - fnordfnordfnord 14y ago
    One of his themes is to maximize frugality/stinginess. He claims to have no debt. He has some assets, has some income. Still, I doubt it's as easy as he makes it sound. But OTOH, there are a lot of optimizations I know I could make, yet have tended to ignore.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- afterburner 14y ago
  Not just own their own house, but also own a second rental property (another house).
moxie 14y ago
In San Francisco, I think the most a family of three could get a year (GA + CalFresh) is $10,416. Maintaining GA for any length of time is almost impossible, though, and you need to do eight hours of "workfare" a week to remain qualified (so no retirement). Not to mention that you need to somehow figure out how to rent an apartment for three in SF for less then $300 a month.
31reasons 14y ago

doktrin 14y ago

I'm curious about this as well. I'm sure he knows what he's doing better than I in this matter, but I can't help think I would have picked a different country to retire in when attempting to get by minimally.