Carl,
Are you sure they're not raising our contributions to Medicare? Well, my
figures may be different, but my story is the same. The cost of everything
keeps rising. My income actually keeps shrinking because a good part of it is
interest from municipal bonds, and each time bonds are called and new ones are
purchased to replace them, the interest income for the new bonds is lower than
that for the old bonds. Because I am having increasing physical difficulties,
people keep saying, "Assisted living!" "Assisted living!" Well, aside from the
fact that I don't want to live in an institution and I'm a solitary soul, I
can't afford it. Here on Long Island, given the level of help I'd need, it
would be at least $7,000 a month.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Tuesday, October 17, 2017 10:56 AM
To: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: General discussion list for ACB members and friends where a wide range of
topics from blindness to politics, issues of the day or whatever comes to mind
are welcome. This is a free form discussion list. <acb-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] remember that 2% social security increase?
So the guys with the sharp pencils figured and figured and came up with a grand
SS pay raise of 2%.
What would that amount to each year...let's see, if you receive $2,000 a month
that would net you around $480 per year, I think. And if I didn't spend it for
stuff like food, rent, and heat, after 10 years I'd have a whopping amount of
$4,800, plus that teeny dribble of interest. But I'm 82 years old and ten
years may not be in the cards for me.
Still, I don't need to worry about saving that 2% increase. Cathy just opened
a notice from our supplemental insurance. Our premium has been increased by
$110 per month. Of course that's for two people,
$55 each. But we do pay our bills out of a common pot. So now, instead of
$540 per month, we will now pay $650 per month. Plus $100 a month for dental.
Plus a few dollars over $100 each for our Medicare deduction. That brings us
up to almost $1,000 plus, per month. But wait! There's more! Even with all
of that outlay of cash, Medicare and Uniform do not cover everything. I had a
checkup a month ago. The first request for money came from the Medical Center,
and I can't recall what it was for, but it was $20. Then there was the charge
for X-rays, only $15 unpaid balance. And yesterday came a bill for Lab Work of
$30.
That's only the Health Care end of things. Our internet provider just raised
our monthly rate a few dollars. Our propane company...I say "Our" because by
now we should own it, but they raised their winter rate to $2.35 a gallon.
Since our "off-grid" home runs on solar energy and a propane generator, which
runs about 4 hours every day, we spend over $500 a month just on fuel. Just
for clarification, that amount includes running lights, a gas range and a gas
drier, our forced air central heat and the charging of 12 large deep cell
batteries.
Like most older couples we are able to do less and less of our own maintenance.
For the past three years I've hired someone to sweep the roof and spray for
moss, and clean the higher gutters in the front of the house. I no longer grab
my brush axe and clear the brush alongside the quarter mile private road. Just
picking up the brush axe and walking down the road is enough to send me to my
recliner.
We've begun talking seriously about selling and moving to a condo closer to
Port Townsend...and then we table the conversation for a few more months.
That 2% pay raise was spent long, long ago last winter. We're already spending
the SS raises for 2018-2019-2020.
Finally, I am not in any way suggesting that the Jarvis's are becoming
destitute, certainly there are many folks on this list who would love to bring
in what Cathy and I earn. But what I'm attempting to point out is that all of
us are losing financial ground. And here we are, living in the richest nation
in history.
The Richest Nation Ever! And yet, in our lifetime our standard of living has
dropped, our longevity has decreased, our babies die in greater numbers than in
any other industrial nation, more of our women die in child birth than in
nearly every other nation, our children are being forced into debt in order to
secure an education, our bridges are falling in and our roads are pitted and
potted, and our president brags that women love to have him grab their pussy's.
Makes me think of that old saying, "Going to Hell in a bucket".
Carl Jarvis
Carl Jarvis
