welcome to the health ins world. the problem is not today for a young trader but 5-10 years down the line with a family. the rate increases are mind bobbling. 10 years ago my family was paying $280 amonth. 2 years ago at $1000 a month i said enough and sent my wife to work int he school system. no she works 9 months a year gets off at 2:30 and my great ins is $150 amonth. over the enxt 20 years i could save 500k million easy
My father in law is a MD and my wife's bro. Therefore I am always forced to have "good coverage" For Taxes its a situation are you 1099 or K-1 or Schedule "D""trader status" You have many ordinary income/trader status issues for taxes. Its always best to be an individual investor for taxes. The problem there is schedule "C" and the Health care Deduction.. VS Trader status.. VS S corp.. Some years, at firms, it's best to have your own S corp.. Sometimes its best to file as an individual investor, but then health care deductions are different.. I race BMX, ride MX raced cars. My kids ride and play sports. Once a year one of us is in the ER so we always max out on deductible. we also carry secondary insurance if our out of pocket is more than 2k on any one crash. There is also little quirks in the Blue cross, Humana type coverages that you can assess the probability of paying the deductible. I currently run a 1k deductible..max 3k for family of five, at about 750 a month. For 500-ded, it would be a grand a month so for the extra 3k a year..and now the 5 year old is doing gymnastics.....yes Ihave no idea "why "either" but they must not have many athletes in the pool for younger famalies. Humana has its issues with Dr's. Some docs wont take the coverage. Ive never had a problem with blue cross, except for the high premiums. If you or family has preexisting or any real health issues besides normal..its really necessary for some one in Family to "get a job" just for health insurance. Regrettably the only great coverage left is big corps or the teachers type unions or govie jobs. Its really a trade off between tax status, coverage and preexisting..it all blows. However, it's just one of those things we must do to raise a family and not risk BK. Oh the worst now is you need to register 3-9 months prior to "making a baby" much less having one. therefore you pay the average cost "out of pocket" by the time all is done. However if there is a complication a baby can cost 50k real quick. PS they do surgery now for everything..The past 3 years I broke collar bone, wrist, hand, fingers 3x and they operate first and try rehab later. I literally had my cast off and raced the next weekend. The new medical tech is awesome and well worth the money. In the 80's I had shoulder surgery and was out 4-6 months. I wasted a year prior trying to "rehab it" what a waste. Now guys are getting cleaned up and back in 6 weeks..same with knees.. Please don't think it cant happen to you..A buddy came down off ladder and blew his knee out..Torn ACL 20 years ago he'd be a gimp..now he is running again. LACK
james lackey very good note on health ins. unfortunately this is a massive problem and it keeps amny up at night. for the young traders its not a big deal but down the line it will be. think about it 35 year family of 4 in nyc is paying at least $1200 amonth for fair coverage at best. premiums ahve been rising 15-20% a year for the last 7 years. in 10 years at age 45 the premium is now almost 2700 a month. if a trader makes 10k a month net before expenses thats 27% of his income going to health ins not to mention benefits suck vs a big company.the simple solution si what i did 3 years ago send the wife to a job in the shcool system.in my area she works till 2:45 and is off 3 month of the year. she's the shcool bookeeper. great job and great benefits and to boot she makes 25k a year which i let her spend on what she wants. the main thing is the benefits and she gets a pension.it'sa reality that one of the spuses must work a regular job for benefits
I don't have health insurance. I save and invest the money. If I get hurt I reach into my pocket and pull out a big wad of cash. I guess I am my own insurance company. I question this insurance business. The medical people want me to pay. The patient wants healing. In between is an insurance company. The insurance company does not deliver medical service nor heal my illness. Insurance companies appear to be just another operator that wants to get my money, mixing themselves into the deal to get my money.
Question about HSA. Do you make 2 payments when using a HSA? One to the insurance company and another to the deductible account? Seems more expensive if you never use any of it. Personnaly, I just need catastrophic insurance in case I really mess something up. Most years, I never spend a penny on health care. Yes I am single.
All you guys that keep talking about spending 100k to 500k in an emergency, why do you guys get just a catastrophic policy. You can get them for $50 to $100 a month. I don't get it. All this whining about going bankrupt because of medical bills and you can buy a pretty cheap put option on your health. Then if you really want to, like some of the other posters have suggested, get an HSA to pay for the small stuff. What say you?