Could you live on $1000/month?

Again, that does not apply if you are drawing SS at full retirement age, its in the link you provided. Drawing SS early has several disadvantages which your father found out.

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My grand mother went back to work at 90 baking pies for a local restrant. She didnt think it would make any difference in her SS, but they cut her SS and it took her almost a year after she quit doing it to get it put back. I dont know all the laws, but i do know they limit how much you can make if you draw SS.

Sure you would EXCEPT if you were hospitalized & the health care system took everything you owned. You would have $200,000 but interest....good luck with that!

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Cindy in PA

Very true. In the last 10 years, we've had:

Hubby fell off the roof - total cost $80,000
Hubby tore off a toe (well, almost - the bone stayed) - $8,000
21 year old daughter had a pancreatic tumor and was in the hospital for a month $175,000.

So we have already blown through that $200,000 PLUS that doesn't include the rest of us going for checkups, mammograms, illnesses, etc.

This is depressing! I know I live in a socialist nation and viewed upon as having very little rights - but I was once nearly dead in hospital, ICU for two weeks, hospital for two months, machines, etc... the total cost to me was a hundred and fifty dollars - plus forty for the specialist appointmentS afterwards [here a specialist you pay for the first visit and every followup relating to the same issue after that is covered since you clearly need it].

I know free healthcare isn't a popular topic in America but a hundred and seventy thousand? Eight thousand for a TOE? You didn't even get to keep it!

I look forward to saving money and not having to spend it worrying whether or not I'll be able to afford one of us to live or not. Living with those prices looming over my head would just turn me into a bundle of nerves.

As it is I'm allowed to go to the doctor any time I want, same day, for free, as much as I want. The relief I feel knowing I can do that is immense.

Well, he DID keep the toe - they sewed it back on.

But $170,000 - yes. She had one of the best pancreatic team in the world. It was WELL worth it because there's a good chance she wouldn't be here without the high quality care she got.

The question I have is this: How much do you pay in taxes to cover your healthcare? How much in debt is your country? Can your country continue to sustain completely free healthcare?

No problem for me to live nicely on less than $1,000 per month, this includes DW too. We/I have practiced for a long time.

Our taxes are high, but nothing I can't manage. As a non-citizen for awhile they were 49.8 percent which nearly killed me! Now they're a solid thirty, which is high, but I also pay GST for my business. I also pay for a more privatized healthcare which gets me better treatment and that costs me a hundred a month.

Our country has a little debt. We were doing really really well until America went all depression on us and we fell with it. We still are doing alright - my particular state is a bit sorry but we're also working on that right now with some reforms. We should be able to keep affording it nicely, there is no worry or concern about it ever being unaffordable - even Superannuation [Aus medicare, which our Medicare is our healthcare, confusing] is still strong and looking good. Nobody I know feels like they won't get it. It's all written out and sent to each citizen every year for review and discussion.

Of COURSE that money is worth it! I wouldn't say it's not - but I also think the money is that high because the med industry knows it's "worth it". After all, what's the price of your daughters life? Exactly. I'm glad your husband got his toe back!

Here both those surgeries would've either been free, or a few hundred dollars for the excess on the private healthcare. Not that it's not worth it - just that it's worth it to not have to worry about it!

I sort of imagine that everybody in the USA could have pretty good government paid healthcare with the amount of money sent overseas, both to wage war, and fix the damage after we wage war. If not, lend the people a few trillion dollars. After all, it was the thing to do for Goldman Sachs, Citibank, Bank of America, and a few more huge crooked banks. Not to mention the billions in pork whizzed away in nearly every bill that hits the voting floor.
Keeping people well and feeding them is not as important as giving money to huge, corrupt, market-manipulating banks though. Because a poor man doesn't have $43,357,362 to buy politicians to represent him.

WOW...I just had an eye opening realization! I did the math in February 2009 when I was laid off work and I could easily live off of $1000 a month. I redid the math yesterday and discovered that because of the increases in utilities, insurance, gas and food over the past 4 years that I would need more like $1600 a month to get by. That sucks!!!!

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From the link sidepasser provided:
In the year you reach full retirement age:

• You can earn $38,880 gross wages or net self-employment prior to the month you reach full retirement age and not lose any benefits in 2012.
• We will deduct $1 in benefits for every $3 earned above $38,880.

So yes, if you earn more than a certain set amount you can lose your soc sec.

Do "earnings" include monthly payments from a pension?

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This is the government the Founding Fathers warned us about.....

"Free" healthcare is not what Australia or Canada has. Our healthcare is paid for by us through taxes collected by the government but the government does not control our actual healthcare. The decision makers are the patients and the doctors. Canadians pay half of what Americans pay for the same healthcare services.

If you compare income tax rates between Canada and the US you will see that contrary to the propaganda we are very similar and in fact the top rate for Canada is less than the US and here corporate tax is only 15% .

I paid a total of $16,000 federal and provincial income tax on an $82,000 taxable income which is 19.5%. I have no deductions that would lower our taxes. Of that $ 16,000 ten percent is applied to healthcare which means it cost me $1600.

I have cancer and my treatments and after cost care have reached $500,000 which is more than all the taxes that I have paid working over the past 40 years so I am quite happy paying my taxes which cover much more than just healthcare. And everyone gets the same access to healthcare.

Dh gets a pension from the firehall...it doesnt effect his SS. But if he went to work somewhere he could only make a certain yrly amount. But he also took SS at 62, I dont know if it makes a difference at normal retirement age

I don't mean this in a bad way, but at the age of 21, why are you responsible for your daughter's hospital bill??

I can see you helping her out if she needs help, but you shouldn't be responsible for her bill.

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I can't believe I deleted it!

I agree with Zong on not trusting Medical P. When O care comes to affect , I will quit my job, and just live with cash from my business. If we never had to pay for tax on land or anything else , everyone could live on less than a 1000.00 a month.

Because she's on our insurance? She was a full time college student and working 25 hours a week as well and since she's a college student, she is on our own insurance.

Do you think a 21 year old should only be responsible for their own medical bills?

I found this link to pension earnings and social security:

http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answ...curity-benefit

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Be yourself - no one can tell you that you're doing it wrong!

Thanks! The link answered my question.

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This is the government the Founding Fathers warned us about.....

How much are your real estate taxes?

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