Let's say that there is at least one known factor: The health
insurance policy goes for about $300 a month for a member who is 50
years old.

The rule of 25
says that, to generate $1 of annual income you need $25 in
investments.

On Aug 2, 8:14 am, Bill Woessner <woess...@gmail.com> wrote:

The rule of 25
says that, to generate $1 of annual income you need $25 in
investments.


Since health care costs inflate noticeably faster than the cost of
ordinary goods and services, a x25 factor might not be enough.

A question about compensation for elected officials has come up in a
local community forum. One of the ways that the city council members
are compensated is with life time health benefits if they serve six
(probably consecutive) years. How does one go about calculating
that?

Let's say that there is at least one known factor: The health
insurance policy goes for about $300 a month for a member who is 50
years old.

A question about compensation for elected officials has come up in a
local community forum. One of the ways that the city council members
are compensated is with life time health benefits if they serve six
(probably consecutive) years. How does one go about calculating
that?

Let's say that there is at least one known factor: The health
insurance policy goes for about $300 a month for a member who is 50
years old.

Thanks,
\Samson

But whether health insurance premiums will rise at the
same rate as CPI is debatable. They've risen much faster
recently. On the flip side, there's plenty of fat in the
system that must eventually be cut, so perhaps CPI won't
be so bad an estimate over the long run. I'd leave that as
an open question though.

A question about compensation for elected officials has come
up in a local community forum. One of the ways that the city
council members are compensated is with life time health
benefits if they serve six (probably consecutive) years. How
does one go about calculating that?

Let's say that there is at least one known factor: The health
insurance policy goes for about $300 a month for a member
who is 50 years old.

Since health care costs inflate noticeably faster than the cost of
ordinary goods and services, a x25 factor might not be enough.

Since health care costs inflate noticeably faster than the cost of
ordinary goods and services, a x25 factor might not be enough.


MEdical inflation is about 15% or doubling every five years.
Regular inflation is 3-4% or doubling about every 20 years.
You have to look at total costs for medical inflation. Some
years the premium goes up a lot, while other years they increase
the deductable and copays. You have to track premiums plus
out
of pocket for several "ordinary" years.

rick++ wrote:
Since health care costs inflate noticeably faster than the cost of
ordinary goods and services, a x25 factor might not be enough.

MEdical inflation is about 15% or doubling every five years.
Regular inflation is 3-4% or doubling about every 20 years.
You have to look at total costs for medical inflation. Some
years the premium goes up a lot, while other years they increase
the deductable and copays. You have to track premiums plus
out
of pocket for several "ordinary" years.

The National Coalition on Health Care claims a 2005 increase of 6.9%
'only' twice the inflation rate, and noting that Health Care is 16% of
GDP.

Thanks for the great answers - both the rule of 25 and the in depth
excel formula. (My brother-in-law is coming over this weekend can
help me with that and give me a good lesson in excel.)

I raised the question because I am commenting in a local community
forum discussing how much the city council members are being paid.
The idea that we could ever change this is almost as unrealistic as
thinking that congress will ever have the politcal will to fix the
social security or that the California legislature can fix their
problems.

Many government pensions are grossly out of wack with the private
sector and are going to be an unbearable burden for all us taxpayers
soon. Any tools that can show it to the voters might be helpful.

Thanks.

If you want to have an impact on the audience in your community forum,
stay far far away from any Excel spreadsheets. Nothing turns an
audience off faster than math formulas.

Nothing turns an
audience off faster than math formulas.

PeterL wrote:
Nothing turns an
audience off faster than math formulas.

In a thread that asks for an equation?

-Will

The audience I referred to is the public forum
audience, not the audience here in the ng.