Tag: health

Dental & Vision Insurance Benefits in Retirement

August 23, 2025

Are they worth it? It depends on your situation.

My husband and I early retired three years ago. As a teacher, our health insurance would continue with my pension benefit – but my district does not offer retiree dental/vision like some other districts in the area. Instead, we were able to continue our dental and vision coverage under under COBRA provisions for 18 months at employee rates. Had I known the rates would continue at what I paid as an active employee, I would have bumped up to a higher level coverage on the dental during open enrollment.

Once COBRA benefits ended, I researched other options available to us through various affinity groups. We chose to go with plans offered through my FSU Alumni connection for a 12 month trial period. After only six months, I can report we will definitely continue our vision plan and cancel the dental once my current plan of treatment is concluded. Why? For us, the dental plan has such a limited network of local dentists, plus a low reimbursement rate that isn’t anywhere near average rates for services in our area. We knew our current dentist wasn’t in network, but the reimbursement rates through my previous employer’s coverage were reasonable given the monthly premiums paid. Had I been able to access actual reimbursement rates before enrolling in the individual dental policy, I would have declined. For us, self-pay is definitely cheaper compared to having an individual dental insurance policy.

Photo by Cedric Fauntleroy on Pexels.com

Learn new things

May 25, 2025
My second attempt at creating an SVG file. Thinned the cut line to .25 and 3rd time was perfect (no excess left on the mat)

This week I did two things on my retirement “to-do” list.

Learn how to create an SVG file from a paper pattern/template. My guild makes little teddies for the local children’s hospital. I knew this was something that I could do faster on my Cricut if I had an SVG file. No one in the guild had created one. Perfect project while waiting on the HVAC company to service and repair our a/c units on Tuesday. It took three tries and a few choice words, but I now have a SVG file that works and takes less than 2 minutes to cut both parts of the teddy bear.

Take a longarm certification class from a local quilt shop. Said shop is the only one in the area that allows folks to rent time on their longarm machines. A four-hour “certification” class is required prior to renting time. I spent 4 hours standing on a concrete floor while the instructor lectured about proper quilt preparation and introduced us to the different machines. Three of the students already had longarm machines at home, so the instructor geared most of the class towards them. I got about 20 minutes of hands-on time total across all 3 machines. I was a little disappointed, but with the way the rental process works, the instructor (or another employee) will actually load the quilt and set everything up for me. All I’ll do is hand guided E2E quilting following a pantograph. We are not allowed to use the Pro Stitcher (boo-hiss!) It’s very different guiding a 40-60 pound longarm machine head versus moving the quilt to FMQ on my domestic machine.

E2E meander following a pantograph using a HandiQuilter Amara 20 longarm machine.

I did learn 3 things: (1) A stitch regulator is a game changer for me, (2) I do not want my own longarm and (3) I’ll still be quilting by checkbook for specialty computerized quilting designs and really large quilts.

After yesterday, my personal preference is still for a sit-down machine where I maneuver the quilt. The photo above shows improved stitching after only 20 minutes, so I’m not going to rule out getting used to a long-arm. The benefits of using a longarm include a much faster turnaround time and no need to baste the quilt.

I’ll buy a block of 10 hours machine rental time and what happens. If nothing else, I should be able to finish 5-7 lap size quilts in that amount of time. At the going rate of 2.5 cents per square inch, it would cost me $75-$100 per quilt to send each one out. That’s $375-$750 versus $180 for a block of 10 hours.

And I have a stack of quilt tops needing to get finished.

Do you make yourself a priority?

November 15, 2024

The past few days have been ones of self-reflection. I had my annual physical last week. Blood work was fine, yet my cholesterol is still elevated (like last year). We chatted for a few minutes about increased caregiver responsibilities for my aging parents and hubby. My physician strongly cautioned about making myself a priority if I want to continue to be an active, healthy early retiree. Ouch!

He’s right, you know. I’ve made sure hubs has had what he’s needed for the past 5 years of his cancer journey. He’s currently stable (best possible outcome with his particular type of cancer) and well-matched in a volunteer opportunity that keeps him active and involved. We kept expenses in check during our gap period and my job navigating the maze to my official teacher retirement is done. At this point, I can focus on myself for a change.

Today, I had lunch with a good friend. We spent 2-1/2 hours catching up. It was good for my soul. He gave me an update on his brother, who is currently battling brain tumors and asked me for some tips on being a caregiver. I explained that the role changes over time. I shared that our journey has been one where I was more of a “nursing” caregiver after his surgery and recovery to more of a facilitator today.

My best caregiver advice:

  1. Don’t take anything the patient says personally. Mood swings are a reality. No-so-nice comments made by patients are generally directed at the current situation/circumstances – not at you. Remember this always: it’s not your fault.
  2. Abide by the patient’s wishes when it comes to the treatment plan – even if you disagree.
  3. Ask for help if you need it.
  4. Make yourself a priority. Keep up with your own medical check-ups. Eat right, drink water, get a good night’s sleep, take a walk, pray, meditate, read, journal, wear make-up and pretty, but comfortable clothes or whatever makes you feel good.
  5. Assemble a support group you can lean on when times get tough. I have two friends who went through something similar I can reach out to at anytime. They have kept me sane the past five years.
  6. Keep up with your own hobbies and interests as much as you can. It’s too easy to become isolated when you are in a high-maintenance caregiving stage. My friends check-in on me when it’s been radio silence on my end for an extended period of time. If you are unable to get out to be with friends, keep a small hand project nearby – knitting, crochet, cross-stitch, embroidery, EPP, calligraphy, adult coloring book, sketch book and pencils, etc. It does help.

This caregiver phase of life will eventually end. My husband and I tend to be rather pragmatic about things. We had some difficult conversations when he was first diagnosed. Quality of life, not quantity of life was his stated goal and I’m 100% onboard with this. Is it easy? Not by a long shot. We take it one day at a time and try to live our lives doing what makes us happy and fulfilled. Whatever happens, we have peace of mind knowing the other person will be okay afterwards. It will be hard, but life will go on.

So, if you are a caregiver of any sort, remember to make yourself a priority.