“Despite working hard, making a decent (but certainly not “great”) middle-class income, living frugally, and in general saving, investing, and managing my $$ fairly well, I think... odds are I will be destitute at age 70 — because of our health care system.”
At 70? At 65, you can get Medicare. The costs are very low to the consumer, compared to the real costs of the healthcare.
Well, 1st I’d have to make it to 65 w/o something serious going wrong. I’ll give that a 70% chance (of being ok).
Then once on Medicare I have to hope that either I don’t exhaust it or that supplemental insurance hasn’t gone through the roof, or that I don’t need extended care. (I have considerable background on this with my Dad - he was MUCH better off, financially, than I am, and the $$ went really quickly.) I’ll give that a 70% chance too (of being ok until age 70.)
Then there is care for my wife (several years younger than I, w/ family history that is a bit scary) and daughter. Many factor to consider, but given the time frame I stated, a 50% chance (of a positive outcome) is reasonable. Combine all percentages. Odds are...