Retirement 101

Aging.... what to do... Retirement...
and how to survive...

I haven't master this yet... aging...
I don't think of myself aging...
getting older maybe... but not aging..
See, remember I am only 45 in my head.

And retirement I seem to have that
down pretty pat. It has been great. I
get to do pretty much what I want to do.
I do have one little job on Tuesday
mornings. But the rest of the time, I
pretty much do what I want. When
I want.

I still have to do the part of the team
work in the household. You know ...
Inside work women's work......
Outside work..men's work.
At least that is how it works in our house.

The part I am little disgusted with, is
how the government does the health
thing. Yes, I have Medicare. Yes, I
got myself a supplement insurance
to pick up where they leave off. But
my concern is about what isn't covered.

Do you know the government doesn't
care if you go blind, eat puree food,
and go deaf? Because Medicare doesn't
cover teeth... false or the real ones.
Medicare does not cover glasses or
eye exams. and Medicare does not
cover hearing test or hearing aides.

This all comes out of your pocket. That
is unless you are dirt poor, so qualify
for Medicaid. And that covers some of
this. If you have a spouse who is still
working, then you earn too much. You
are in the poverty level according to the
government..remember $125,000 is the
average middle class. Which we didn't even
come close to that with both of us working.
Now that is the pits.
The glasses aren't too bad as they cost
below $300 most of the time.
The dental for maintence can be under $200.

But the hearing aides... well, they start
at $900 and they are the flunky ones that
looks like some alien growing out of your
ear. If you want one that cuts out the
wind and traffic, or noisy people in a
hall, well, folks you are talking $1,500
to $5,000 EACH. By the way, all these
prices are each.

And yes, my mother did tell me
that I would go deaf playing Gene
Krupa and Buddy Rich's drum records
on high. And some of Bill Hailey records.
But I didn't believe her. Not sure I do now.
It is just part of the aging deal. And I
am sticking to that. Maybe it was the
speakers of my kids when I had teenagers.
Theirs was louder than mine. In my
days they didn't make the cool speakers
my kids had, with woofers and all the
rest of the stuff. Besides I thought it
was as my kids use to accuse me of...I
had selective hearing. They swore I could
hear a whisper at 1000 feet, especially
if they were trying to get away with something.

So if you hear me say HUH?, you will
know I didn't win the Lottery yet, so I can't
afford the hearing aides.