Life throws me another curve

[jimynick]

So far in Canada there have been 557 deaths as of today, a month and a half after the ball really got rolling, the peak seems to be nigh or very close. In 2018 there were 8511 deaths in Canada from influenza. Did you hear a peep? No, neither did I and yet here we are with the whole shebang nearly shut down and people's lives being upended or straight up ruined. I get that Sars Covid 19 (let's call it by it's real name, shall we) is dangerous, but how about a sense of proportion here, so that we don't throw the baby out with the bath water so to speak? How be we further realize that much of this was unnecessary except for the criminal negligence of Communist China and try to reduce our penchant for buying Chinese kief because it's $2.00 less than North American? Caveat emptor never seemed so appropriate, eh?   

[js27]

Thanks for all the kind words. We will be fine with some life changes. I have enough money in the bank to pay off my house if necessary. Thanks to the added $600.00 a week on top of the regular unemployment ( at least until July 12th when it stops.) I will be fine until I can sign up for Social Security and Medicare. The biggest nut to crack is trying to find affordable health insurance. for my wife and I. Once I hit 65 I can get on Medicare but my wife will be without insurance. With my heart condition I take several medications and Medicare does not cover prescriptions. One of my pill cost $500.00 a month. I know I am not alone in all this and I really feel bad for the people who live paycheck to paycheck. I was in that boat for most of my life so I know how one little thing can mess you up for a long time.Once my wife gets back to work things will get a bit easier. I have been off for 3 days now and have completed 3 project already and have enough lined up for the rest of the year--LOL. Once all this craziness finishes I plan on getting a part time job to keep busy and make some car money. Hopefully I can get work at a indoor gun range and gun store that is only 5 minutes from my house. It will be a nice change from driving 300 miles a week going to work. All this stress and hardship for so many people all for NOTHING. Just media hype for political gain. It is being proven everyday how over rated this whole virus scare is. Very sad time for our country.
JS27

[torredcuda]

Sucks so many are losing thier jobs either temporarily or permanently. My wife and I are still working, same company but different locations, but are torn between being thankfull we are still getting paychecks to pay the bills and worried about catching the virus from a co-worker. We can only hope that the very good economy we had before this will help us recover fairly quickly and get people back to work and businesses back running before they end up closing for good.

[dodj]

I get that Sars Covid 19 (let's call it by it's real name, shall we)

That would be SARS CoV-2...    


Sorry to hear about your layoff JS27, hopefully you get called back, or,  you settle into a 'slightly earlier than planned' retirement.  Whichever is your preference I might add.

[chargerdon]

JS...when you hit 65 for medicare, look at either getting Gap insurance or in my opinion better still, look at the Medicare advantage plans !   

When i got close to 65 i studied the various Gap insurances, and three different Advantage plans.   I chose Blue Cross Advantage plan instead of gap insurance.   At the time (2012) the extra cost of Advantage program was only around $45 higher than plain Medicare and it covered prescriptions, which Part D prescription only plans were costing that or more.  Here in NC the Blue Cross Blue Shield Advantage plan is IN PLACE of Medicare.   It has good Prescription coverage, and costs a LOT less than the Gap insurance.   Right now my cost is for Medicare/blue Cross Advantage is around $250 month in total.   Its disadvantage is that it does NOT cover 100% of the Medicare 20% gap.   But it comes close so long as you don't need Hospital care.   If you do need hospital care there is a max out of pocket of like around $4,000 before it covers 100%.   No deductible, other than some co-pays...   Example my Dr visits cost me $20 co-pay or $25 co-pay for specialist.   

Its a little bit of a crap shoot...full Gap insurance can run $300 or MORE plus the Medicares $150, but covers everything.    My Advantage program at $250 in total saves me about $150 month, but, if i go to hospital for any length of time,...there goes $4,000.    plus that darn max out-of-pocket keeps going up every year !

Example:   Last year my urologist was alarmed that my PSA had risen, so prescribed a MRI of my prostrate to investigate.   Prostrate MRI runs around $8,000 but was FULLY covered by my Advantage plan.   (it was negative thank God).   But, had it been positive and surgery required i would have been out several thousand.   So..crap shoot...

[7212Mopar]

If I am not employ and no money coming in every month, I would not take my saving in whole or in part to pay off the house. You need the liquidity. You won't be able to get another loan if you are not employed. That is just the fact of life. Even you pay off the house, you still need to pay property tax, utilities in order to live in that house. Your current loan allows you to pay partial loan obligation every month. Bank cannot forfeit your loan and kick you out as long as you can make the payment. With the current virus situation, you might be eligible to get government assistance when you lose your job. You will get that whether you have money in the bank or not. Best of luck to you and hope things improve soon.

[70 Challenger Lover]

I feel extremely fortunate that I'm in one of those essential jobs and don't have to worry about bills. I feel terrible about those who are off work. Will they have a job to return to someday? Will the economy rebound enough to find jobs elsewhere? Will we all be able to go out shopping someday and get our lives back or will all our favorite restaurants and stores and other businesses be bankrupted?

I do get all the fear and concerns behind the virus but damn, it's just a nasty cold. Are we going to start doing this every flu season? I don't want to see 1% of the worlds population potentially die but I also don't want to see a ten year long depression that destroys far more lives in the end. I bet the Great Depression brought about more suicides, starvations, deaths from crime, etc than this virus has the ability to cause.

There are some of these medical a holes saying that the world needs to lock down for a good 18 months just to be on the safe side. There is no way a free society will stand for that.

[js27]

Again THANK YOU ALL for some great and helpful info.
JS27

[screamindriver]

Hang in there ...It'll be a change for sure the next few weeks...I've been working so hard for years I accumulated enough materials to do those around-the-house jobs that I never seem to have time to do..
  As for the cars.. It reminds me of the old saying : When I have the time I don't have the money, and when I have the money I don't have the time !!

[71-440]

I'm really Sorry to hear you lost your job js27.  Too many lives being impacted by this shut down.