Build a Bigger Grarage or Sell a couple cars ?

[GrumpyJeff]

Feeling confident After settling into a stable new job & lots of lost sleep trying to decide which way to go on this subject. I've decided to move forward on my garage build ( adding any additional 26x28 onto my existing 2 car garage. I did consider all the honest opinions and thoughts you guys expressed on here,even if they weren't what i wanted to hear... After jumping thru hoops with the township/zoning and PPL (the power company) The footers/fondation & concrete have been poured . Just waiting on the framing and trusses to get started within the next week. Cant wait to have everything here under one roof !

[Pro Stock John]

Originally Posted by William

The #1 concern in retirement is out living your money.

Even if you have a decent amount of retirement savings, a serious health problem prior to being on Medicare can wipe out much or all of it. I had both knees replaced after 65; the total was a bit over $200k. My out of pocket was $44 for a required visit to my PCP for a checkup. I have had two eye surgeries for a problem that came out of nowhere.

My cousin had a brain tumor that could fortunately be removed. Unfortunately, she was 62 at the time and the copay wiped out much of their savings. Her retired husband had to return to work.

Just got off the phone with a long-time friend [63] that is recovering from serious cancer. The costs to date are over $2m; his out of pocket was $150k. His monthly drug/treatment costs are over $20k, he is responsible for at least $8k. Every month.

A friends wife died of cancer 10 years ago, prior to retirement. He had to borrow $200k to cover the copays until her life insurance settled.

Health is wealth.

IMHO, there has been some really bad advice on this topic. Maybe never heard the Parable of the Boiling Frog. Look it up.

Based on what I have personally seen and experienced, I would cash out both cars NOW [probably $100k+] and not do the [$30k] addition. Take the $130k and invest it somewhere safe, not the stock market at this time. Still have the '67 Camaro and the Anglia to mess with. When you retire, the money will be there. The hobby will have moved on like it always has, '60s muscle cars will have faded into the past. Car collecting is largely generational.

I like this advice, I'll be 56 this year and I hear medicare is pretty good. So this year I've been 100% on top of my health.

Regarding the garage / car storage thing, my plan is to move out of Chicago in 3 years and hopefully move to MI and ideally have enough land that I can build an additional building that would comfortably store 6 cars. I don't see getting more than that in my life time.

[Too Many Projects]

Originally Posted by Pro Stock John

I like this advice, I'll be 56 this year and I hear medicare is pretty good. So this year I've been 100% on top of my health.

Regarding the garage / car storage thing, my plan is to move out of Chicago in 3 years and hopefully move to MI and ideally have enough land that I can build an additional building that would comfortably store 6 cars. I don't see getting more than that in my life time.

You could build a 60x120 and eventually fill it.

"If you have the room, they will come"

[ryanchevelle]

Originally Posted by Too Many Projects

You could build a 60x120 and eventually fill it.

"If you have the room, they will come"

Heck I don’t have the room and they still try to come!

[RamAirBirds]

Originally Posted by William

The #1 concern in retirement is out living your money.

Even if you have a decent amount of retirement savings, a serious health problem prior to being on Medicare can wipe out much or all of it. I had both knees replaced after 65; the total was a bit over $200k. My out of pocket was $44 for a required visit to my PCP for a checkup. I have had two eye surgeries for a problem that came out of nowhere.

My cousin had a brain tumor that could fortunately be removed. Unfortunately, she was 62 at the time and the copay wiped out much of their savings. Her retired husband had to return to work.

Just got off the phone with a long-time friend [63] that is recovering from serious cancer. The costs to date are over $2m; his out of pocket was $150k. His monthly drug/treatment costs are over $20k, he is responsible for at least $8k. Every month.

A friends wife died of cancer 10 years ago, prior to retirement. He had to borrow $200k to cover the copays until her life insurance settled.

Health is wealth.

IMHO, there has been some really bad advice on this topic. Maybe never heard the Parable of the Boiling Frog. Look it up.

Based on what I have personally seen and experienced, I would cash out both cars NOW [probably $100k+] and not do the [$30k] addition. Take the $130k and invest it somewhere safe, not the stock market at this time. Still have the '67 Camaro and the Anglia to mess with. When you retire, the money will be there. The hobby will have moved on like it always has, '60s muscle cars will have faded into the past. Car collecting is largely generational.

Maybe I am missing something here. I live in Michigan and have a Blue Cross Insurance policy. Kept the "Gold Plan" for many years until now when we recently changed to "Bronze" mainly due to rising Premiums and Deductibles. Remember? "If you like your Plan / Doctors you can keep it"? Rough that the supposed premium savings never materialized....as if we didn't know that would happen. anyhow back to topic. These Insurance companies like us bet on the odds. In our case as with most plans we may have high deductibles we have to pay first before insurance kicks in but there are MAXIMUM OUT of POCKET expenses paid for both the Individual and a FAMILY MAXIMUM.
In our case we have a policy that has (2) adults and (1) 20yo son. the monthly premium is about $1100. This policy has a yearly maximum out of pocket expense of $9100 per person and $18,500 per family. After that all expenses (including drugs) are paid by insurance company. Just trying to understand what i am missing in these examples presented. They seem shocking. I am surprised that nobody else has commented on this post. Main take away is make sure you stay adequately insured throughout your life. The expense if high but the risk is higher. Please help me understand how these examples could have happened. In honesty it has me worried that I am missing something. Thank You.

[RamAirBirds]

William,
Would love to hear comments on the last post about the insurance / copays. I know it is off topic a little but was hoping to understand a little better how this could have happened.
I DO know that LONG TERM care can completely wipe out a persons savings before medicAID kicks in. That is a travesty in itself, even if there is a surviving spouse they will "spend down" most of your savings / assets before they start to pay for a persons long term care. Probably not a fun topic vs. cars and garages but......

[Too Many Projects]

Originally Posted by RamAirBirds

William,
Would love to hear comments on the last post about the insurance / copays. I know it is off topic a little but was hoping to understand a little better how this could have happened.
I DO know that LONG TERM care can completely wipe out a persons savings before medicAID kicks in. That is a travesty in itself, even if there is a surviving spouse they will "spend down" most of your savings / assets before they start to pay for a persons long term care. Probably not a fun topic vs. cars and garages but......

Actually, you would be better off discussing this with your agent or a family lawyer. I do hear of extreme cases like William brought up, but it seems those cases didn't have adequate insurance or the maximum out of pocket clause, like you do. We have these clauses too and have been assured we would never lose all our investments and savings for a serious illness/injury. BUT, never say never.

I learned the hard way, that if someone thinks you have deep enough pockets to make it worth their time and cost to get it, there is always a way to get around damn near any law designed to prevent just that from happening.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by GrumpyJeff

Build a Bigger Garage or Sell a couple cars?

.....

[black69]

I designed my own garage with cathedral ceilings. I got 4 cars with 4 post lifts in one bay, and the second bay that is 30 ft deep, I can have 2 cars side by side, one on a 2 post storage certified lift, and one sideways using go jacks. in the last bay is a working bay to have one car. So wife was good with it as a long term view as here in the burbs of chicago, you can get $100 a car per month storage.

The general size of my garage is made up of 3 sections, 24 deep, 21or so wide, the next section is 30 ft deep 21 or so wide, and the last bay is 11 wide by 24 deep. what is cool is from the house or from coming down the driveway, you would not know the center section is 30ft deep. It is hidden from view. The garage would have looked out of place with the house if it was 30ft deep overall.

again, depending on where you live, a nice storage rent is good in retirement. In my case I could get $900 min.