Chapter Eleven Refresh

Welcome to the “End of Chapter Resources Page” for Chapter Eleven of The Golden Albatross book. In Chapter Eleven, I discussed the need to value Other Earned Pension Benefits (OEPBs) like life insurance, tuition assistance, and burial subsidies when making your Golden Albatross decision. That said, in the US, healthcare is by far the most vital OEPB to consider.

In many cases, healthcare might be the most important consideration in a person’s entire Golden Albatross decision-making process. I have first-hand evidence from a survey I ran among current and future pensioners in February and March of 2021 for my master’s thesis that suggests it is. Among the survey’s respondents, those with access to pension subsidized healthcare said that benefit gave them the most pause when they thought about voluntarily leaving their job. Importantly, these findings weren’t in the book since I hadn’t conducted the research yet. Indeed, this is new information you can use!

You can read about how healthcare fits into pension design and the results of my pension survey in the following three posts: 

• • • The Pension Series (Part 25): Pension Design — GM explains how different pension design elements impact pension plan generosity through incentives and penalties.
    • The Pension Series (Part 27): The Golden Albatross Pension Survey — GM discusses his pension survey’s results that measured the impact of pension design on turnover decisions.
    • The Pension Series (Part 28): The Golden Albatross vs. Age, Tenure, and Gender — GM examines the impact of age, tenure, & gender on the outcome of Golden Albatross pension decisions.

Importance vs. Value

The finding that US pensionable workers place so much emphasis on pension subsidized healthcare makes it all the more unfortunate that it is so hard to value. I went so far as to label it invaluable in Chapter 11. Moreover, I also amended it to my list of the five most valuable aspects of a pension if you live in a country without a national healthcare system. Of course, that’s not a lot of help when it comes time to make your pension valuation, especially if you’re stuck in the maw of the Golden Albatross. This is one reason that makes Chapter 11 my least favorite of the book. The lack of concrete and actionable recommendations doesn’t jive with the remainder of the book. 

As a result, I scoured the internet for articles on valuing healthcare in retirement. It’s a topic that many Financial Independence Retired Early (FIRE) bloggers write about since it’s crucial to save the correct amount for healthcare insurance in the run-up to early retirement. I listed the articles and websites I found most helpful below, in the order of their usefulness. Enjoy!

Healthcare Valuation Resources

1. 1. The Retirement Manifesto blog healthcare-related articles:
      • https://www.theretirementmanifesto.com/?s=healthcare
   2. Can I Retire Yet? blog healthcare-related articles:
      • http://www.caniretireyet.com/tag/health-care/
   3. ChooseFI Podcast and blog articles on healthcare:
      • https://www.choosefi.com/?s=healthcare
      • https://www.choosefi.com/planning-for-healthcare-in-early-retirement/
   4. Our Next Life blog:
      • https://ournextlife.com/2018/11/14/health-care-2019/
   5. Investopedia website:
      • https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/080516/top-3-health-insurance-options-if-you-retire-early.asp
   6. The Balance.com:
      • https://www.thebalance.com/retire-early-and-lower-your-health-care-costs-4152065