Thanks Rick!

I think I have disability insurance through work. And the sign-up period was a month ago. At least they automatically adjusted me to paying for a single person instead of two.

Yeah, Connie, the sales pitch was that the work policy would give me 60% of my salary, so I should bump that up, given that expenses probably go up if you're disabled, not down.

The other funny thing that happened on this call was I said I am at my current job "for the long haul," and then had to amend that to say the next 2-3 years. I've never been anywhere more than four years!

Ugh, so for reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture, my management are thinking of assigning me a book of business earlier than expected.

I guess I could quit. I suppose I need to put aside some time this weekend to update my external resume and start looking at job postings for reals.

What Rick said, but not just for people who are married and/or have kids, for everyone. Medicaid will get you into a nursing home, but in my experience, private payers (including people with insurance) tend to get better care. Also, as Rick said, Medicaid won't pay until you have exhausted your own resources. Meaning, until you have $20 in the bank and have sold your house and car and cashed out your kids' college funds and are destitute. Medicaid also won't pay for things like dentures and glasses and Netflix and the good adult diapers. And care is expensive. Mom's care was $5000 a month, not including the above-mentioned "luxuries", and we were in the cheapest place that was acceptable, in a state with a fairly low cost of living.

If you don't have kids, get a small life insurance policy that's enough to cover disposal of your mortal remains, and maybe your debts if you care about that (I don't; after I'm dead, fuck 'em), and focus on buying disability and long-term care insurance. Me, I have as much as I can afford to buy.

I know a while back my mom's financial advisor told her not to get long-term care insurance because she had the expectation of an inheritance that she could earmark for that. But I don't know the details or if that was actually good advice.

That's bad advice. Unless she's inheriting more millions than she can possibly blow through in a lifetime. You can get long-term care insurance for less than $20 bucks a month (depending); why would you risk spending your inheritance on that when you could spend it on travel, or movies, or hiring cabana boys to fan you and bring you umbrella drinks on the beach?

I've never been anywhere more than four years!

This is the new normal, it seems.

I've been in the same job at the same desk for 26 years. My colleague and research partner has been in the same job and the same office for 41 years. He got a new desk a few years ago, though, so I have him beat on that.

It's almost Un-American, is what it is.

Same actual desk! I thought that was a term of art!

I've been here 8 years and I'm willing to stay here till retirement if they'll keep me.

I've been here 19 years. My boss said there'll be enough work for us for another two or three years at least, but after that he doesn't know.

Also, he'll be 65 in five years so I gotta factor in his retiring sometime around then.