Hi Yoda who uses a ruler, Not being familiar with your system, I can't give any suggestions as to what reasons there may be to have separate bank account for taxable and non-taxable assets. In Canada we have accounts looking toward retirement where deposits are tax-deductible and the income over the years is, as well ... but every dollar coming out is taxable, and, after about age 70, there are minimum amounts required to be withdrawn annually. They must be in different accounts, of course. When I borrow for regular living expenses, consumer loans, which I plan almost never to do, I have one line of credit that I use for that. I was a personal financial consultant for years and recommended to folks that they have 3 - 6 months' worth of income as a financial cushion, available when needed, and in recent volatile times in the economy am more inclined to suggest 9 months' equivalent to a year's worth of income available in case of need, emergency, layoff, or whatever. I didn't always have such myself, which I told a number of clients, having used much of that fund for investments ... but had a credit card which I rarely used, which could be used in case of emergency, or whatever (I was self-employed, so could usually see an equivalent to a "layoff" coming before it happened). I had a line of credit, fully secured by stocks/mutual funds, some of them that I'd purchased with the "emergency fund", at the bank or, preferably, credit union, which I could draw on in an emergency. I would make a loan using that consumer line of credit to pay off the amount owing on the credit card for the emergency, just after the first billing, to avoid paying their high interest rate (about 4 times the rate on the line of credit, or 6 times if it were a store-issued card: I don't have any of them!). Then I'd make extra savings strenuously for a time to pay off the loan on the line of credit. I don't like using someone else's money to live on now ... and having to pay it back, later ... with (non-deductible) interest. Sometimes, after a bad time in the stock market, when things began to improve, I might make a loan to make further investments, and, as the interest paid on most investment loans is deductible, I'd set up a separate line of credit for that use, using the investments that I'd purchased using the "emergency fund" (along with some others, as the financial institution will only loan about half of the value of the security held), so that the interest rate on the loan would be lower. That's a place where I keep my deductible and non-deductible financial issues separate. Good wishes as you plan your retirement .. and implement the plan: I hope that you have no/few unpleasant surprises. Which you can usually reduce by careful planning, preferably ahead of time. ole joyful

alisande -- If I were you, I'd go with the cheapest premium. Yes, you *could* pay that $320 deductible -- IF you are prescribed enough meds to reach that limit. (Even if you did, it's still less than your current Part D will be in 2015.) That Humana/Wal-Mart plan is offered here, too. DH and I will each breeze right through that deductible with our outrageously priced meds, regardless, so it may make sense for us too. Our 2014 WellCare Part D is going up from $20/mo. to $30/mo. I don't see keeping that if we can do better. Have you 'run the numbers' on Part D plans on www.medicare.gov Re:Deductibles. In 2012 and 2013 we had a Medicare Supplemental Plan F that paid for everything and the kitchen sink. For 2014 we took a Plan F- High Deductible ($2200/pp deductible) and are money ahead. We could afford to pay that $2200 each if necessary, but I have only had about $300 in out of pocket and DH less. We were still protected in the event of HUGE medical bills. Re: Filling prescriptions. We are fine with 90-day supplies from mail order on our maintenance meds. This year my cost for Advair was a third lower via mail order. (It's still a big rip-off, but that's because the US doesn't negotiate pricing with the pharmaceutical companies.)

I'm almost 74, with a long history of annual mammograms -- and the false positives and the biopsies chasing the false positives. I have also always had good health insurance to PAY for this. I have no family history of any cancer, and I'm going to die of *something* because that's what people do. There are so many other 'somethings* that I don't see the logic of focusing on an inconclusive test that finds a 'possible' cancer in my breast. (Where is the test for ovarian cancer -- which is probably going to be a much more accurate and simple blood test?) Because everyone with a detected abnormality gets treated, we don't know how many women's immune systems would have eliminated a breast abnormality without intervention, as does happen in non-human studies. Those human 'cancer survivors' are unknown, and intervention gets credited with 'saving lives', even as we see some eventual poor outcomes *due to the interventions*. I know *some* women benefit from mammography, but do you think *you* need a mammogram? A little test: Would you pay out of pocket for one? Remember when you could buy life insurance at the airport, payable in the event you died in a plane crash? When studies showed how *unlikely* that was, the sales vanished. How many women have mammographies year after year, solely because they are afraid?

You're right, chisue, Well said. Other countries, interestly enough mostly undeveloped ones, are equally crippled by religious extremists. I think there's a third element equally present and equally damaging - ethnocentrism. It underlies and adversely influences people's attitudes, the country's political and military policies, among other things. And has for centuries. Just as a simple example, think of all the military actions the US has had in our lifetimes. Aside from the Korean War, all were needless, mostly unilateral and unsupported by other countries, and futile. But they continue. Our geographic isolation and poor educational systems are contributing factors. As a nation, we're ignorant of the world we live in. We all hear too frequently sentiments of a nature like "thankfully we live in the best country in the world, where people can live in freedom". Uninformed and baseless views like this are widely held among people who know little about the world outside of the US, and often have never studied about the world nor ever travelled abroad. Too many problems to fix.