Hello all, my name is Jon and I am brand new here and am VERY glad to see there is this active forum to help me get along. I have been working since 1983, constantly and in many different occupations. Starting at 16 years old as the cleanup kid in the local supermarket meat department, then 5 years in the US Army followed by 2 years full time college as my only non working break. I am sooooo ready to retire and I think I am financially prepared but it's that fear of the unknown that is there. I am assuming this is a common thing. I'm hoping that I can get some advice and anecdotal evidence that I CAN do this. I guess a major fear is the task of paying for health insurance before I am eligible for Medicare. I have looked into options but have not been able to get a really solid idea of how much it will cost. I will be spending a lot of time reading the existing posts, but please let me know; what were the main issues you have had in early retirement and how did you overcome them?
You are a veteran so you should be eligible for healthcare from the VA. You will pay nominal co-pays for care and for prescriptions. I retired early and the VA was my only source of healthcare from the age of 52 to the age of 65. Actually, I self-paid for some chiro visits in the community so I did get some healthcare outside the VA. Dig out that DD214!
I'm healthy and I've never had anything major addressed by the VA but I feel I received (and continue to receive) excellent healthcare from my modern VA facility in Central Florida. You can sign-up online or go to your nearest facility. Check out VA.gov. Going on Medicare this year was a bit of a shock because I haven't paid a medical insurance premium for the last 13 years! An additional benefit is the VADIP (VA Dental Insurance Program) dental insurance. I pay $48 per month for the top tier dental plan from Delta Dental which has a $3,000 payout limit and no deductible. You might have a waiting period for things like crowns and implants so don't wait to sign up if you think you might use it.
PM me if you want any additional information about my experience with the VA. I figure I saved well over $100,000 in medical insurance premiums because of my VA medical benefit.