[gregatragenet]

Hi rorrr, You are clearly on the treadmill. Yeah if you want to buy a new car every X years, and get a mortgage for an overpriced house you are not going to be able to live this lifestyle. You will probably have the lifestyle most enjoy. Maxed out credit cards, no savings, that big oh-shit moment in your mid-fifty's when you realize you've nothing saved for retirement...

Not to burst your bubble, but his health plan is pretty good. I have a very similar one. It's shocked me too that you can get a good plan if you are willing to take a very high deductible..

And ironically if I took my deductible each year I didn't need it and burned it (or gave it to charity) I'd almost break even on my low-deductible 'old plan'. When I left employment the Cobra for my plan (2 people) was 980/month. I now have a HSA-style plan that's $170/mo. It has a ~5K-per-person deductible (x2 for two people). 100% coverage after the deductible is met. I'd about break even each year if we both simultaneously came down with cancer. But since we're healthy I get to pocket the 10K or so I save each year.

Most cities you can get by without a car. I prefer it, actually, it is a lot less stress than driving and a lot healthier. But, yeah, if you are like the folks who got a 'great deal' on a house in Stockton in 2007 and are now commuting from there to Santa Clara, I guess bikes are out of the question. It's all about live-near-where-you-work (or vice versa).

The author states he's got a $100K in savings - That's a lot more safety net than your average American. Do you have that kind of safety net?

[potatolicious]

> "Yeah if you want to buy a new car every X years, and get a mortgage for an overpriced house you are not going to be able to live this lifestyle. You will probably have the lifestyle most enjoy. Maxed out credit cards, no savings, that big oh-shit moment in your mid-fifty's when you realize you've nothing saved for retirement..."

It's amazing how much introspection you have on the life of a total stranger without him even revealing the least bit about his lifestyle or finances!

Seriously, I'm all for being frugal and responsible, but you're just projecting at this point, and it really does come off as an ad hominem.

[erejacob]

Welcome to my life.

[rorrr]

I actually make quite a lot of money compared to the average US income, more than $100K/year. I do save an invest (max out IRA for me and my wife), and I do spend a lot, though I'm frugal compared to most of my friends. $100K in savings is not something amazing from my point of view.

I did however a realistic calculation of what will happen if I need, let's say, a week in an ICU and a month of hospitalization (you go skiing, you fall and hit a tree, you break your spine). I will be bankrupt. Even with my expensive insurance plan hospitalization can easily cost $10K/day, and most of the drugs you will be on, are only covered 80%. That's if you don't need some exotic drugs at $5K/shot.

I realize it's a gamble, but the stats do say that 50% of bankruptcies are due to medical expenses, and 68% of them had health insurance.

Sources:

http://www.pnhp.org/bankruptcy/state_by_state.pdf

http://www.pnhp.org/bankruptcy/Bankruptcy%20Fact%20Sheet%20-...