Agree with Calgirfinance. Even NOW healthcare costs for doctors and prescriptions can cost well over $1000/month. I saw how much my mother’s medicines and doctor visits cost. Her other expenses were a pittance in comparison.

Now take the trend where healthcare costs are CONTINUALLY going up (unless we get socialized medicine in the U.S. and I’m not holding my breath for that) and there’s a good possibility that in 20-30 years, nearly half your outgoing money will be for healthcare alone.

I think I will need only a half a million, including the value of my house. I have a small house and don’t live on the coast.

But two things worry me. One is medical expenses. (By the way, I didn’t see any savings for health care costs besides insurance in your discussion above.) Part of me thinks that because I have good genes and I exercise, I will do better than average here. And I like to think I can just say no to crazy expensive treatments that have a poor history of actually working and just gracefully accept death (or at least pretend convincingly). But then what if something goes wrong that requires expensive stuff with a good history of working (like AIDS drugs)?

The other thing that worries me is change. I can live more cheaply than the average person now partly because I live more like someone from olden times than someone from modern times in many ways. I have a 50-year-old house, 20-year-old car, and no TV or cable or cell phone. I also don’t wear make-up or dye my hair (even though some of it’s grey) and I cut my own hair.

On the other hand, I love computers (well, when they work and do my bidding) and ibuprofen and digital cameras and DVDs and CDs. Who knows what new inventions I will want in the future and how much they will cost by the time I am tired of waiting for my turn?

This is a very positive and cheering post.

Thank you.

Down with rules of thumb….and let us just live and save the best we can.

Progress in technology has been exponential, so only God knows what will be made available to us in terms of healthcare in 10 – 15 years.

Having said that, living frugally and not having excesses never hurt anyone. So this is what I am doing.

Consider Thailand as an alternative for medical care if you aren’t insured and end up needing an expensive procedure that would bankrupt you in the US. I have two friends who live in Bangkok and work for the foreign service. They’ve been to the doctors and hospital several times, and say the hospitals there are excellent. Most of the doctors were trained at a US University and speak english. Do some research, see what your alternatives are. There are other alternatives to US healthcare.

An early retired, non-insured friend of mine here in the US travels to Thailand for his medical care, too, and says it’s so much less expensive, they really spend a lot of time with you, and the Thai nurses are very sweet.

One million dollar 30 years from now will not be have the same purchasing power when you factor in the effect of inflation. It has become a norm for most people but retirement money really depends on the kind of lifestyle you want to have and how much money you really need.

Health insurance costs concern me, too. When I retired in late 2008 at age 45, I had found an individual HI policy which would cost me $470 a month for 2009. For 2011, that premium will have risen by 50%, to $701 a month, making it by far my #1 expense (and this is hardly a Cadillac plan).

I saw an online calculator which told me that my HI expense in 2014 will be capped by the HI reform bill passed earlier this year. That will be badly needed because in my long-term ER plan I did not budget for a 50% increase in HI premiums every two years.

I am currently living off the dividends of my $1M portfolio although $300k of it is in an IRA, so that $700k is actually generating the dividends to cover my everyday bills with 8% of it left over as a surplus and reinvested.

I always wonder why no one ever mentions protecting your assets through incorporating, trusts and other asset protecting classes that could protect you in the event of a major financial disaster like a major health problem or lawsuit.
I would think that may be the best insurance you could possibly have. Nobody can take what they don’t know you have.
This way you could retire on less than a million and still feel financially secure.

Well-written short travesty on society-induced expectations and “normal” behavior! I had good time reading it :).

I just thought about it and I am saving 3% in a non-company matching 401k account that i can not touch until I am 70+ (by the time i am that old this law will have changed completely).
So if I put this into an investment calculator , at 7% return annually with an investment of $100 a month, i could reach $85,000 in 25 years.

Yes it’s with an after tax of some 25%, but it’s also liquid, and no penalties for withdrawal!
It’s a sad world when Big companies are allowed to off LOANS to be taken out of YOUR OWN 401k ACCOUNTS! Greedy Pigs that like to trick the average consumers by rewording 401ks as “Savings Plans”.
Well i think I will become Financially Independent at Age 35, before contributing another dollar into some Rich Controlling Hedge Fund Manager’s Fund!