I was just wondering...

Jagdflieger, Dave, congrats, my friend
and many thanks for your service.
i know you wanted to be the last
Viet Nam Era Green Beret to retire.
how did that work out?
i look forward to meeting up again
and having lunch, again, at Randy's.
that was a memorable day.

i will reach the 65 mark in late january.
no presents, please. I've got enough stuff.
i haven't decided whether to retire or not,
although, just knowing that i finally can
has been a real attitude adjuster.

my main obstacle is the wife.
she says we need the money,
i say quit spending it.

as i see things now,
the disadvantage of marrying
a younger woman is that she has several
more years to work until she is eligible to retire.
as it is now, she only has to see me
for an hour or so in the evenings and the weekends.
just the thought of having me around the house all the time
has got to rub her the wrong way.
i can't understand why,
i'm usually hunkered down here in the basement,
not bothering anyone, just staring it this screen.
who knows?

i am anxious to see how things will play out in the next few months.
 
Without even realizing it until after the fact I did the same thing my dad did and married a girl 4 years older than I. Causes no end of laughter when we go to her class of '67 reunion and I introduce myself as the freshman she turned her noses up at all the "home boy" seniors for. :icon_lol:
 
SS101,

Your insight is spot on! Started with the 101st in VN and just redeployed stateside last year from another GWOT tour. The nylon canopy has been my ticket to the world and I'd be deployed yet again were it not for that injury mentioned earlier.

Let's see how good my insight is. Saint Simons Island, mandatory early retirement from a GS job ... I'm thinking that you retired from or at least attended FLETC in Brunswick. Spent a lovely 16 weeks there once.

Smilo,

I'm going to miss that goal by a couple of guys. Devildog (one of the CFS 2 moniters) will outlast me by a year or so and I saw on the national news the other day of yet another VN vet still on duty. Don't know what his retirement date is, but he's probably in the running with DD.

Will you be in my area on deliveries in December? If so, give me a ring. I'd like to meet for lunch again.
 
rdaniell said:
Milton, just wondering if you are taking advantage of VA Medical Services. Since you are a VietNam vet, you should qualify. I too am a VietNam vet and were it not for the VA I would have been without any medical coverage since 1995. That's when I left full-time employment as a Human Resource Manager and attended seminary. After seminary, I was appointed to small membership churches as a part-time pastor which meant I had no benefits other than retirement. I was already teaching part-time so was able to make a modest yearly income, however. I am being treated for glaucoma and would be paying around $180 a month for my medication. Thanks to the VA, I only pay $24. When I became eligible for Medicare parts A and B, I continued to use the VA clinic about 50 miles away as my primary health care provider.

RD
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Thanks, I have signed up for that but fortunately have not needed any services. The closest VA hospital is 2.5 hours away so not likely I will use them.
 
Jagdflieger said:
SS101,

Your insight is spot on! Started with the 101st in VN and just redeployed stateside last year from another GWOT tour. The nylon canopy has been my ticket to the world and I'd be deployed yet again were it not for that injury mentioned earlier.

Let's see how good my insight is. Saint Simons Island, mandatory early retirement from a GS job ... I'm thinking that you retired from or at least attended FLETC in Brunswick. Spent a lovely 16 weeks there once.

Why, yes, I managed to matriculate from that little schoolhouse - attended FLETC and agency add-on for 16 weeks, Jan-April 1988. The wife is a FLETC war bride, another case of a Yankee coming down here and making off with one of the local girls - like Rhett carrying Scarlett up the staircase (but in my case a fireman's carry). The sand gnats didn't show up until later in March; however, I discovered I was allergic to them and still have the welts and marks on my little pink Yankee body where they bit me. I learned about Skin-So-Soft from my wife, the stuff works and is a good repellant. The deal at marriage was she would follow dutifully for the balance of my career but she came back when it was all over. She was right, it's good therapy here. The Center's still there, how it's grown. I've only been back once since arriving here in August of '10.
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SSI01 said:
Why, yes, I managed to matriculate from that little schoolhouse - attended FLETC and agency add-on for 16 weeks, Jan-April 1988. ... The Center's still there, how it's grown. I've only been back once since arriving here in August of '10.
Click to expand...

About 10 years after you were there, I had a student in an Industrial Psychology class I was teaching for Valdosta State University on the King's Bay Naval Base who was the personnel manager there.

RD
 
Jagdflieger said:
SS101,

Your insight is spot on! Started with the 101st in VN and just redeployed stateside last year from another GWOT tour. The nylon canopy has been my ticket to the world and I'd be deployed yet again were it not for that injury mentioned earlier. .
Click to expand...

While a C-130 loadmaster back in the early 60s, I watched a bunch of paratroopers hitting the silk. Looked like so much fun, I made 17 jumps myself. Mine were all civilian jumps with a jump club in Charleston, S.C.

RD
 
I retired after more than 30 years in the life and health insurance business mostly in the Puget sound area. Will turn 66 in a few days (12-5-45) in case anybody wants to send a present. Wouldn't mind an ipad lol. Because of planning and luck we have a bit more coming in every month than goes out so it's not real tough. Kudos to airborne. Three years army but I never did feel the necessity to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.
 
hurricane3 said:
I retired in April of 2009 and it's not as nice as I had hoped. I'am going on medicare this summer (July 26 if you want to send a present) and have to find a medicare supplemnt for me and insurance for my wife ,who will turn 63 this Sept.( you can send her a present also just make sure I can use it too)
Cobra is 660 a month if thats all I can find for her till she turns 65.Between her health and a bunch of things the house decided it needed after I retired ,you have to watch every penny.
I get a pension and SS but things are still tight and are gonna get tighter.A new puter is way down the road , which is why I still have a 10 year old Dell thats slower than , well you know.
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Hurricane3:

I turned 65 back in April and was on Medicare up until this time. I went to a presentation from United Healthcare about their new AARP Medicare Complete Plus Plan 1 (HMO-POS) and entered that plan effective on 01/01/2012. I liked the following characteristics about this plan:

1.) You do NOT have to be a member of AARP to enroll.
2.) It is $0 out-of-pocket premium -- your Medicare payment is assigned to United Healthcare and that is your premium payment (for now).
3.) Although an HMO, you can visit any specialist within the plan network as desired WITHOUT obtaining the permission of a "gatekeeper". That is one NICE aspect of this plan.
4.) It comes with a Plan D prescription drug benefit.

Take a look. www.unitedhealthcareonline.com

FULL DISCLOSURE: I am in NO WAY compensated by United Healthcare. I went to a plan presentation, liked it and signed up after some further research. I give this information freely to whomever reads it and urge you to do your own due diligence in researching this option. This is just like buying a stock -- do your homework.
-
 
glh said:
Hurricane3:

I turned 65 back in April and was on Medicare up until this time. I went to a presentation from United Healthcare about their new AARP Medicare Complete Plus Plan 1 (HMO-POS) and entered that plan effective on 01/01/2012. I liked the following characteristics about this plan:

1.) You do NOT have to be a member of AARP to enroll.
2.) It is $0 out-of-pocket premium -- your Medicare payment is assigned to United Healthcare and that is your premium payment (for now).
3.) Although an HMO, you can visit any specialist within the plan network as desired WITHOUT obtaining the permission of a "gatekeeper". That is one NICE aspect of this plan.
4.) It comes with a Plan D prescription drug benefit.

Take a look. www.unitedhealthcareonline.com

FULL DISCLOSURE: I am in NO WAY compensated by United Healthcare. I went to a plan presentation, liked it and signed up after some further research. I give this information freely to whomever reads it and urge you to do your own due diligence in researching this option. This is just like buying a stock -- do your homework.
-
Click to expand...
==================P.S. My age is wrong. I'm not 61 but 65.
 
rdaniell said:
It's never too early to start planning for retirement. Due to a lot of planning and some "just dumb luck" my wife and I will not have to make but just a few small adjustments to our lifestyle.

RD
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RD,
Luckily I worked for a Captain who had a finance degree and he got us investing in an IRA at reasonably young age (around 28 or so). Started off with a few bucks a month and slowly kept increasing the amount. Hopefully I'll be able to retire one day much like you, with minimal adjustments.

Congrats to all of you that are retired!
 
rdaniell said:
About 10 years after you were there, I had a student in an Industrial Psychology class I was teaching for Valdosta State University on the King's Bay Naval Base who was the personnel manager there.

RD
Click to expand...

My M-I-L knew a lot of people out there and it's very possible the two, she and your former student, are acquainted. Besides that, my wife was a dental hygienist here in Bwk/SSI for 18 years before she took off with me; she cleaned the teeth of a number of the wheels at the center back in those days, so she might know that person also. Back when we was a-courtin' we could go to any area mall or store and she would without fail run into someone she knew. The standing joke was for me to ask her if there was anyone in either place she did NOT know. Same thing would happen when we would return periodically for a visit. It would probably have helped if she had asked them to open their mouth, she would have REALLY recognized them then.
 
Administrators - this is one of the best threads yet on this site. Lots of good info being exchanged here, in particular regarding health care options. It's best to get the dope from someone who's a little ahead of you in the cycle and can give you feedback on various plans and options; experience is the best teacher and advisor - I don't trust the company ads a bit. What you get there is from the company's ministry of propaganda and not a report on how things REALLY work. Is there any way this can be made into a sticky for us geezers?
 
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