Wow, I did not know you bought IBM also. If my memory is correct it ended up close to a ten bagger after Gerstner signed on, many credit him with saving the company but I also think it was the 'luck of the times' as the '90's were tech boom years with the growth of the internet and economy. Since then IBM has once again faded during the Rometty years, again not all her fault but partly due to decisions made by prior management which she inherited.
No argument from me on fixing healthcare, here in the Chicago area a decent ACA plan for those in their 60's runs around $28,000/year for a couple pre subsidy, that doesn't include eyeglasses or dental. Unless one is doing well, or qualifies for a subsidy, insurance is no longer affordable for most. No different on the corporate side, I look at my sister's W2 and it shows her employer paying around 25k for coverage on a family with one child, on top of that she pays hundreds a month out of her paycheck, so it comes out to over 30k/year.
On the flip side, once you qualify medicare seems almost like a steal to me, we opted for an Advantage plan here that includes the largest doctor's group in the state which we like very much. I pay nothing additional in terms of premiums for it monthly, get coverage for eyeglasses and dental care, and signed up for a free gym membership that is also included. There is an out of pocket max which you might hit if you get very ill, but it's only $2750/year and last year I spent $170 out of pocket. So not having to pay for a supplemental policy on a monthly basis saved me a couple grand.
I was under the impression that HP also had a defined benefit pension plan some years ago. Did they drop it before you worked there? We JUST made it onto the IBM plan, I was hired in 1980, and they dropped it a couple years later. I look at it and marvel at how good it is compared to what is offered today, the plan has a provision where if one spouse dies the other continues to get half of that payment. I also marvel at the IBM health insurance coverage when we were still employed there, we paid nothing in terms of premiums and they had something called 'coordination of benefits' where if both spouses worked at the firm what one side did not pick up in terms of cost the other did. We never paid anything for procedures, and that included full dental, eye care, etc. Those were the days...
Regards,
John |
