Hot Tub Forum
General => General info Somewhat hot tub related => Topic started by: Brookenstein on September 14, 2006, 06:15:00 pm
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Does anyone know where I should start if I want to buy my own health and dental insurance? My husband has coverage for the entire family that is 100% employer paid, but we end up spending close to ten thousand dollars each year out of pocket (they have a crappy plan). I'm wondering whether or not it would be beneficial for us to get a second coverage for at least myself and the kids.
My 6yr old has a dentist appointment tomorrow to the tune of $2k out of pocket. :'( Good thing I have a tub to relax in....
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http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/ is where I looked. You put in your family's info & spits back quotes. Should get you an idea of what's in your state.
I ended up staying with what I have thru work. The coverage gets less & the cost goes up every year, but still cheaper than buying my own.
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Another option would be to visit a few independant insurance agents in your area and see what options they can offer.
You'd have to face a sales pitch or two, but if you find a good agent he might be able to come up with some creative ideas to either replace or supplement your existing coverage.
Do either of you have the ability to defer some of your income into a flexible medical spending account? At least you'd be able to save some money on income taxes.
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Move to Canada ;D
Publicly funded health insurance :)
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We use flexible spending each year... in years in which we expect expenses (like me pregnant) we saved quite a bit... but this year we didn't think we'd have any expense besides routine well child visits and my husbands medications. After tomorrow I've probably spent $5k YTD and we only saved $1200 this year. It seems we always have medical expenses we don't expect... but I just know the one year we put in a lot of money we'll suddenly have no problems and we'll waste all that money.
My 6 yr olds mouth is now worth enough that I could have had a boob job, a tummy tuck, and possibly some lypo... :)
Believe it or not, we actually considered moving to Canada a few years back, but instead moved to California. Kinda think we made the wrong choice.
I will find out Tuesday if I got a PT job... once I know that answer to that, I will ask how many hours I have to work to get benefits and what they offer... I'm kind of hoping something will work out that way.
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My 6 yr olds mouth is now worth enough that I could have had a boob job, a tummy tuck, and possibly some lypo... :)
I feel your pain. We have a daughter with Cystic Fibrosis. In the past 15 years, we've probably incurred close to $2,000,000 in medical and drug expenses.
Thankfully we have insurance. Still, our out of pocket costs are thousands of dollars per year beyond what insurance pays.
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My 6 yr olds mouth is now worth enough that I could have had a boob job, a tummy tuck, and possibly some lypo... :)
I feel your pain. We have a daughter with Cystic Fibrosis. In the past 15 years, we've probably incurred close to $2,000,000 in medical and drug expenses.
Thankfully we have insurance. Still, our out of pocket costs are thousands of dollars per year beyond what insurance pays.
Wow, I feel really crappy for complaining now. Have you had any problems with lifetime max issues? I know our insuranance has a lifetime max of a mil per person. That sounds like so much, but when you have a chronic condition that can be gone so quickly... then what?
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My DW works in the insurance industry (Allstate). I know insuring yourself is terribly expensive, like someone else mentioned. I'll see if I can get the names of some health insurance companies and post them in here (may not be until Monday) A lot depends on your deductable, what coverage you want etc. When our oldest son turned 22 he fell off our work coverage and had to get his own, but I don't recall the premium, it aint cheap.
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Brookenstein,
I have Kaiser and am pretty happy with it - (more or less) self-employed so I went the self-insured route. I'm also pretty healthy so only use it for routine and preventative stuff.
I'm pretty sure they're active in SoCal, and they can give you a quote at www.kp.org
Hope that helps!
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My 6 yr olds mouth is now worth enough that I could have had a boob job, a tummy tuck, and possibly some lypo... :)
I feel your pain. We have a daughter with Cystic Fibrosis. In the past 15 years, we've probably incurred close to $2,000,000 in medical and drug expenses.
Thankfully we have insurance. Still, our out of pocket costs are thousands of dollars per year beyond what insurance pays.
Wow, I feel really crappy for complaining now. Have you had any problems with lifetime max issues? I know our insuranance has a lifetime max of a mil per person. That sounds like so much, but when you have a chronic condition that can be gone so quickly... then what?
That wasn't my intent with that post- you have every right to feel as you do.
Fortunately, my employer provides us with pretty good health insurance. The lifetime max per person is $5,000,000. If you hit the cap, insurance coverage STOPS.
DONE. NADA. And it's quite likely that the person who is this unhealthy is not insurable under a new policy anyway- No insurance company in the world will take a person with CF- she can't get life insuance for the same reason.
Except that employer provided health insurance has to accept them- it's private insurers that would decline coverage. So then you go to the medical assistance programs and see what's there- medicaid, state assigned insurance pools, stuff like that. We will be facing that dilema in a couple more years when she becomes inelligible for coverage because of her age. Children roll off at age 19, extends to 24 if they are full time students or dis-abled. She's considered disabled since she's now 22.
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My husband has coverage for the entire family that is 100% employer paid, but we end up spending close to ten thousand dollars each year out of pocket (they have a crappy plan). I'm wondering whether or not it would be beneficial for us to get a second coverage for at least myself and the kids.
My 6yr old has a dentist appointment tomorrow to the tune of $2k out of pocket. :'( Good thing I have a tub to relax in....
Depending on what size of company your husband works for you may want to talk to the admin. and see if they are willing to review the current group policy or see if there is another company the employer would consider. May even do a little research on GP and submit it.
If it is a small company this is a fairly easy task... if it is a larger company, probably a waste of time. Unless you are in good with the office staff ;)
Then you might be able to find supplemental coverage.
That just sounds huge out of pocket...
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Brookenstein:
I am in the insurance and financial planning arena.
One thing I can share is that individual health insurance is in generally VERY EXPENSIVE ! :'(
One thing that you should check out is a Health Savings Account (HSA).
Not alot of people are aware of it, and also alot of insurance agents don't understand how it works.
Far too in-depth to discuss in this forum.
You can access the basics of it on the U.S. Treasury Dept. site: www.treas.gov,
click on the link for HSA.
There are alot of benefits for an HSA Acct., it may or may not be of benefit in your circumstances.
If you do work with an insurance agent, make darn sure they know what they are doing in regards to an HSA.
Meanwhile, enjoy your tubbing. :)
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I am no insurance expert but I can say that with the way prices are today, $1000 a month for family coverage is not unreasonable.. at that price, depending on company size, it is possible that the company he works for is "self insured" and they are kicking in a portion to the pool. It is not uncommon for a single 25 year old to get personal medical insurance for about $1200 a month premiums.
My family company has about 95 employees now, and we are "self insured". what this means is we charge the employees on the plan a premium, and kick in the same amount to the pool. The pool pays a premium to a self insurance program that will kick in if any individual exceeds $35,000 in a year, or if the overall goes over something like $500,000. I think about half the employees are on the plan, and some have their families on it. I believe its about $900 a month for a family with 3 or more kids. (I am not on the plan because my wife's insurance is cheaper and better). There is no eye coverage, and the dental is minimal. Last fiscal year the company had to kick an extra $254,000 into the pool to cover the costs. I believe that was the max before the self insurance policy kicked in and covered the rest, which was pretty much nothing after that.. the 50% from employees and 50% from the company was over $250,000 short. We had a good year, so we didnt take that money from the profit sharing program. This fiscal year we will, which means everyones 401k and bonus profit sharing will be severely lowered if medical costs are that bad again.
It may seem like a lot to spend $1000 a month for insurance but keep in mind that if one of your kids breaks an arm, it will likely cost around $1800-$10,000 depending on if they need surgery.. it might even go higher if the break is severe enough.. Most moms these days will take their kids into same day care or emergency room for fevers and vomiting, and sometimes even for sore throats. Most of the time its a common cold or even flu, and sometimes an ear infection or strep throat. Emergency room visits these days cost insurance companies around $500-$800 if nothing more is done than seeing the doctor and getting examined. Add x-ray, ct scans, throat cultures, stitches, etc and the price climbs. If moms would schedule regular visits to the family doctor, the price drops dramatically, but in the world of fast food and fast internet, people also want fast cures. Also, so many people figure that they are spending $1000 a month for insurance, why not go to the emergency room, its only a $50 co-pay right? Unfortunately thats the reason insurance is so high to begin with.
HSA's are fairly new, and are way better than flex spending, but you usually cant get in them unless the HSA is part of the medical insurance.. the allowable contribution is based on the number of people you have insured. The great thing with an HSA is it collects interest and doesnt go away at the end of the year. Flex plans and cafeteria plans are great if you know how much you will spend in a year on medical expenses but if you overestimate you lose the money.
I do about $3000 a year to a flex plan and if I dont use it I stock up on over the counter medicines and such as well as glasses for everyone. There was a thread in the hot tub section about a week or two ago about deducting the price of your hot tub as a medical therapy expense, and in talking to my flex provider, it seems that if I had a note from a doctor saying that he recommended hydro-therapy then I could use flex money for that.. I might try that when it comes time to upgrade my tub..
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It is not uncommon for a single 25 year old to get personal medical insurance for about $1200 a month premiums.
$.02 . . .
That seems way weird . . . my Kaiser (I am 43) costs $192/month. If I added my Spice, it would be about $400. We don't have kids.
As I said previously, so far (counting blessings) I am fairly healthy so I have a pretty high deductible - I think it's $1500/year.
I'm also covered by Blue Cross which Spice gets at work for free.
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I am self employed also. I insure myself and my two children with Blue Cross Blue shield. My wife's employer covers her (too much dough for all of us). I pay less than $500 per month for myself and a 6 yr old and 4 yr old. Very reasonable.
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It is not uncommon for a single 25 year old to get personal medical insurance for about $1200 a month premiums.
Our 25 year old son has personnal medical insurance and it's about $100 per month. $1200????? Like spa searching...shop around.
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You need to compare apples to apples.
A comprehensive health policy that has low deductibles and co-pays, and 100% coverage after deductibles are met, and has coverage for prescription medication, eye glasses, dental, etc...
will be much more expensive than say a major medical policy that has a high deductible and requires the insured to pay 20% of the bill AFTER the deductible and copay, and offers little or no benefits for anything other than a major event like surgery.
Nothing wrong with either policy, it's a simple matter of what level of financial risk you wish to address.
It's a lot more complicated than just tossing around monthly premium figures around.
Absolutely shop around.
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Brewman,
Yes of course there are big differences, but I think you've made a couple of big assumptions. I didn't want to go into the nuts and bolts of my plan, just give a suggestion and a way for Brookenstein to get a quote for her particular situation. For instance, the plan I have does have a reasonable annual out of pocket maximum, after which everything is covered.
It does seem to me that a 25 year old in decent health should not have to make what amounts to a mortgage payment (in many markets) every month, on the Off Chance that they might get sick or have an accident.
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I don't believe I was making any assumptions. Appologies if I came off that way.
What I was trying to say was that we need to look at what we're getting for our money. And decide if we can live with that level of coverage.
That doesn't even take into account the impact that underwriting as on the premiums.
Someone young and healthy can probably assumet the risk of a simpler policy- someone with a family (Like mine) could go to the poorhouse without a comprehensive policy that has a high level of coverage. Which can easily run into the many hundreds of dollars per month or more depending on all sorts of variables.
Like any insurance, it's all about risk. And being able to afford the premiums.
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. . . a major medical policy that has a high deductible and requires the insured to pay 20% of the bill AFTER the deductible and copay, and offers little or no benefits for anything other than a major event like surgery . . .
Sorry I must have been "in a mood" yesterday and read that as an assumption.
You're right, everybody's situation is different.
Insurance IMO is a betting game - you bet you'll get sick, and the insurer bets you won't. Unfortunately in many cases when they think they're about to lose, insurers can change the game or pull their chips off the table entirely. But that's a tangent for another day :)
No hard feelings and apologies back atcha.
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No hard feelings at all. Don't worry about it.
Good discussion stems from those with differing opinions.
8-)
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So what are you getting for $100 a month or $400 a month for your family? I would imagine major medical only with personal deductibles at around $2000 or $3000 and family deductibles at $6000 or $8000.. I also imagine this is strictly medical with no dental or eyesight..
Dont get me wrong, major medical is the bare minimum anyone should have considering ANYTHING involving a hospital can drive you into bankruptcy. A friend's daughter fell at the school yard and broke her arm.. cost was $4800 to set the bone and put on a fiberglass cast. Same friend needed braces for one daughter.. cost was $18,000. Another friend shot himself in the chest.. cost was $498,000 for 4 months in the hospital.. he had to pay that one after the insurance didnt cover it.. My uncle got thrown from a horse about 5 years ago.. broke his neck and he is in a wheelchair now.. initial hostipal stay with surgeries was around $750,000. My mom's second open heart surgery cost around $200,000 ($50,000 was doctors cut, rest was hostipal). 41 year old employee had to have 3 stints replaced around his heart.. 45 minutes in a cath lab.. cost was $23,500. Those are just a couple examples.. Oh.. how about this: My last child (seven years ago) cost $14,000 for delivery and one night stay, no major complications, wife and baby home within 24 hours of delivery. (child 18 months earlier was $8,000).
Around here, an emergency room visit with only a nurse seeing you and taking vitals and releasing you is around $300.. add xrays and it goes up a couple hundred.. add an IV and it goes up.. add a catscan and it goes up another $600.. Go in for a simple kidney stone and walk home with a $1200 bill.. thats all out of pocket costs on a major medical plan..
A 28 year old friend in excellent health was quoted $1200 a month for full medical with $400 personal deductible, co-pays for every visit, full eyesight and full dental coverage. Dental was standard 80/20 with deductible and eyesight was $300 per year allowance.. max out of pocket was $1000 for year with 100% coverage after that. This is about as good as insurance gets, and was typical of what I saw around here from businesses back in the 90's. Yes he could have shopped around and probably could have gotten that coverage for less, and a young healthy person has no reason not to go for minimum coverage. But I think it is important to see the difference between premiums in good insurance and poor insurance. Keep in mind, I am not an insurance expert by any stretch, but I have had a little experience from all facets starting as a single person to a parent with mutiple children, and including as a small business owner providing benefits for 95 employees.
My advice to the OP here is to go to work for a huge corporation that is filled with young healthy single people that are all in the insurance plan.. that way you will get really good insurance for practically nothing, assuming the CEO doesnt just pocket the money. Of course, they will fire you once you are 40 because you will no longer have the efficiency of the 20 year old that will work 15 hours a day and show up the next day ready to go.. :P
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So what are you getting for $100 a month or $400 a month for your family? I would imagine major medical only with personal deductibles at around $2000 or $3000 and family deductibles at $6000 or $8000.. I also imagine this is strictly medical with no dental or eyesight..
Well not quite, and of course I hope I never get ill or unfortunate enough to prove you wrong . . . however my plan has a $1500 deductible with an annual out of pocket max of $3500. Let's even add in the premium I do pay ($2400/year), plus the MAX $350 I pay per year for contacts and glasses (exams included). I'm doing the math here and it looks like worst case I'll pay $7500/year for medical coverage and treatment.
Now being 43 if I went for deluxe private insurance route, my guess is I'd be paying significantly more than your 28-year-old's $1200/month or $14.4K annually, just for the privilege of being insured.
Again, heavens willing, that's the worst that can happen financially at least, and I get to pay my other bills with the other $7K. Whoa that's a lot of dental work, or even almost enough for a hot tub! :o
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Sorry, I dissappeared for a bit, it has been busy and I sometimes forget to check this the BS section when I check the boards real quick. For those PMing me, I'm not ignoring you or being rude, but ever since the upgrade it is hit or miss for me being able to send PM's 9/10 times I get an error message and my message gets deleted and doesnt send. Anyway, I thank you for the information.
So... here is an interesting update. We got an email from corporate yesterday. They are dropping our current provider for 07 (J has worked there for going on 10 years and have always had Mutual of Omaha and provided less and less coverage each year) and they are switching to Great-West. We will have a choice (first time ever) between a PPO and a CDHP. We have not been given details on either plan, just a preview/explanation of the CDHP and I'm guessing we will stick with the PPO, but I will have to see the details first. Fingers crossed in network deductables are less than $500, copays are less than $30, they cover more than 65% in network, and scripts are less than $30 and all will be good. :)
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We just got the details on our benefits for 2007,and they once again chipped away at what used to be premier coverage.
They used the same old excuses about medical costs spiraling out of control, blah, blah, blah.
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I'm a little worried because they haven't released any of the details of the plan they are so 'excited to announce'. In the FAQ there was some mention of prescription coverage and it sounds like that is getting more expensive for formularies (we already pay $30) but generics may be less. None of our scripts ever seem to be generics so I'm not sure what we pay for those. It said something like you may want to talk to your dr about other medications that may be cheaper... I'm a little nervous, but hopeful. It also said our dental is suppose to be improving... if we now have orthodontic coverage I will be a little POd given I just spent $1100 on a retainer that gets delivered Monday that wasn't covered at all. Oh well.
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I work for a Fortune 50 corp & ours has gotten progressively worse each year. Cost is higher & coverage is lower. This year it's getting worse - if your spouse is employed & can get coverage at work (no matter how crappy or costly it is) they have to use it or you pay an extra ~$25/month to keep them on yours. Of course co-pays for everything keep edging up along with annual deductables & out-of-pocket max's.
We have a lot of "choices" as far as plans, levels of deductables/co-pays/prescriptions/etc, but in the end, they all suck. What I really hate is every year or two we change carriers completely, so you have to check out each doc in each plan to make sure you don't have to switch. It's insane.
5 yrs ago, I had my tonsils & adnoids taken out, septum reconstructed, & a tissue reduction in my sinuses. They did all 4 procedures at the same time & I stayed in the hospital overnight. It cost me out of my pocket a grand total of $35 - $20 for the initial doctor's visit + $15 for 2 prescriptions they sent me home with. With the coverage we have now, I'd end up paying well over $1,500. Yet today's coverage (thru the same employer) costs me 2x more per month than what i was paying then.
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That procedure you had done probably costs thousands more now than it did 5 years ago, too. We've been struck with double digit increases in medical and drug costs for many years now. Amazing when the rate of general inflation has been under 5% per year for quite a while now. What gives?
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Forgive my ignorance, but as a Canadian I have to ask how you all afford premiums and medical bills like this. Is everything (mortgages, cars, etc) really that cheap down there? Last census info I saw, we have a higher average earnings, public (minimal cost) health care, and yet residual income appears similar. What gives?
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I think that depends largely on the individual.
In my case, my employer deducts my health insurance premiums from my paycheck, and the deduction is pre tax-meaning that the premium comes off my pay before they calculate my federal, state, and social security witholdings. So that offsets the premiums by maybe 20% - 30%- the amount I contribute to my 401K plan is treated the same way.
So I learn to live on my net pay. We also have an flex medical spending account we can fund thru payroll deductions, which is also treated pre tax. That money can be used to pay whatever insurance doesn't cover, plus a wide variety of other medically related things like glasses, or contact lens chemicals, etc....
That money has to be spent each year.
I don't know anything much about Canadian health care- but who actually pays for it? Is it thru some type of taxes? Maybe income, or national sales or excise tax?
I've heard stories where people from my state travel to Canada to purchase prescription drugs because they are that much cheaper than here.
I'm curious to know how that works too- are the drug companies charging US pharmacists more, or do our Pharmacies have higher mark ups, or is you Government subsidizing drugs?
In Minnesota our health care is among the best in the world- people from all over the world come here for treatment, but it sure isn't inexpensive.
Wonder why it's so expensive here, but cheaper elsewhere?
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Forgive my ignorance, but as a Canadian I have to ask how you all afford premiums and medical bills like this. Is everything (mortgages, cars, etc) really that cheap down there? Last census info I saw, we have a higher average earnings, public (minimal cost) health care, and yet residual income appears similar. What gives?
Cheap, I dunno about that... I think its called we live in debt with eternal hope of winning the lottery.
Uh... a 1200sq ft house in my neighborhood (I live in the oldest/smallest/cheepest in the area) will set you back about $450k. If you want to buy a nice house the new(er) houses around me will cost you between $750-900k but they also have about 3000 sq ft. Oh, but I don't pay mella roos so my tax rate is only 1% and theres is 1.8% for ~40 years.
A Honda Odyssey (minivan) will set you back about 25k. A Yamaha R6 motorcycle will run about 10k.
My husbands insurance is 100% employer paid... we just have the crappy coverage that costs us (tens) of thousands out of pocket each year.
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Around here, a median or average single family home in this area runs over $250K, varies a lot by location, location, location.
Land in this area is becoming scarce and has become quite expensive in the past decade, and that's driving up the cost of new construction, which of course drives up the cost of existing homes right along with it.
In 1990 I moved into a brand new 1000 sq ft. simple split entry starter home- paid $90K including lot, etc....
Sold that place 10 years later for abut $135K. Now, 7 years later that house would probably sell for around $230K.
It's pretty impossible to build any new single family homes in this area for much under $400K now. I don't know how people can afford those payments.
My current home is worth almost double what we paid 7 years ago, which is nice to know- lots of equity built up and all, but it also causes our property taxes to be high, too- based on home value.
Cars cost here what the cost anywhere else in the lower 48, I'd guess.
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We haven't had a lot of luck in the housing market. Bought our first house for 90k sold it for 104k 4 years later... we had put about 15k in it in improvements and walked out of escrow with a check for 5k. That house now another 4 years later is worth about $160.
Moved to SoCal and thought the houses were outragrous so we rented. We watched the market go up and up... so after 2 years and 200k increase in value to houses we bought. 2 years later our house is probably worth about 90k more than we paid (we've put another $15k in improvements probably). The only way we can 'afford' our house is with an interest only loan... in 9 years it becomes amortorized over 20 so in the end it is a 30 year fixed rate loan.... it just bought us some extra time to come up with the extra $$$.
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Interest only loans! WOW, we do not have such a thing up here. Mortgages are 25-35 years ammortization, and whatver term you want from up to 7 years. (you renew at whatever current interest is after the term expires) If you take to high of a mortgage and interest rates jump by the time you renew, you're screwed (read: bank forecloses) unless you can refinance. This happened in the early 80's when interest rates jumped to high double digits.
With a 25% down payment, an average house in Calgary right now ($400K) would cost you $1840/month + property taxes on a 5 year term, 25 year ammortization.
Average price was $250K only 1 year ago.
A Honda Odyssey runs ~$35K. Gas is about $3.10 a gallon here.
Health care is mostly Gov't funded. (taxes naturally) This covers major medical. In Alberta, this costs $44/month per person. A company health plan ususally pays this as a taxable benefit.
Prescriptions, eyewear, dental, etc has to be paid the individual unless they have personal coverage, or through work. With my company, I get $150/2 years for eyewear (not much), 100% prescriptions, 80% dental.
Combined Federal and Provincial tax will be ~26% off the top for the average individual. Plus, we pay into the Canada Pension plan ($2K/year) and Employment insurance ($1K/year)
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I paid 30k for my Odyssey (no leather or DVD, this was in 04 haven't priced the new ones) but I was upside down on my old car and that included the sales tax/registration. It should have cost ~$24, lol. I'm down to owing just under $20, lol... and I saw in craigslist they still sell 04's for $24 so at least they keep their value.
They will do all sorts of things to get you in a loan down here. They will do reverse amortorization loans... you only pay 1% interest even though the interest rate is say 7% and you are adding to your principal, but at least you have a lower payment now. It's what a lot of people were doing when the houses were going up in value so quickly. Hardly anyone down here puts much money down on a house anymore (except repeat buyers). They do a lot of 0-3% down loans as well. We are at least locked into a decent rate, so hopefully nothing bad happens...
Gas has fallen dramatically in the month or so. I actually saw it as low as 2.69 this week. A month or so ago we were paying well over $3, probably about $3.25.
Don't get me started on electrical rates though... My last bill was down to $250 for 1200 kwh. My highest bill this summer was $450. The rate increase to .49 kwh when over 100 of baseline goes into effect in November though. That is a .15 increase. >:(
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I suppose with the price of housing down there, they have to get real creative with financing just to get homes sold.
We do have a lot of different mortagage programs up here, with the benchmark being the good old 30 yr fixed rate loan. There are also many variable rate mortgages out there, and some interest only plans.
Our gasoline is selling for around $2.09 per gallon now, and I think our electric is probably around $0.08/kwh- but then they add in a few dollars worth of taxes and "adjustments" so it probably comes out to closer to $0.10/kwh.
Blows me away what you guys in So. Cal. have to pay for electric.
Last year we got nailed with really high natural gas rates, and that hits hard during the heating season. This year the price of NG has dropped significantly, so if we don't have too harsh of a winter, our heating costs should be more easy to stomach.
I guess we got really lucky when we built this place 7 years ago. We were able to keep our mortgage somewhat reasonable because prices hadn't started to escalate yet, and we rolled all the equity we had from our other home into this one.
Property taxes are a killer, though, because they found out that it's easier to boost the value of your home than to try and pass a "tax increase".
And the premiums on our homeowners insurance have mort than doubled from what they were when we moved into this place.
Always something I guess.
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I haven't paid much attention to what our actual NG rates are... this summer we've spent between $20-25 mo. Last winter we got up to about $60 I think. We have gas water heater, dryer, stove, furnace.... but obviously mild temps.
I do know when we first moved to SoCal I spent less than $10 in summer and no more than $30 in winter so prices have increased, but compared to my electric the bill it is still much easier to pay each month, so I don't complain as much.