Retiring in the US....impossible?

It completely depends on the type of coverage you buy. My doctors visits cost me $20 a visit. An ER visit costs me a max of $100 if it is NOT an emergency, and free if it is. (They don't want people going to the ER for a common cold.) If I am not mistaken, Canadians pay ALOT more taxes than Americans. (so im told) So you guys pay for health cars with high taxes, and we pay more for our policies, its not that much different.

Most employers here pay for 50-75% of our rates.

You're right - health care here (as bad as it can be sometimes) costs us plenty. But consider this: I had a heart attack and bypass surgery in 1997. Cost me zero. Since then I have been taking a cholesterol lowering med..plus a heart support drug plus aspirin. Cost to me..when I was working...about $50 a month...since I've retired about 80 a month.
Taxes? Well this is what the OECD says about that:

Canada's personal taxes were the highest of the G-7 nations and among the highest in the OECD. Its corporate taxes were in the middle of the G-7 and ninth highest of the 28 OECD countries for which data are available.

There you have it...you pays your money and takes your choice

Depends where you live really. My income tax rates here in North Carolina are about the same as Ontario. And here in NC I have no government benefits to show for how they spend my money. PLUS, here in NC, wages are typically considerably lower than in Canada, and even considerably lower than the US average. PLUS, I pay $400 per month for health insurance for me and my husband. Which works out to be about 1/3 of my wages. PLUS, we still have to pay $2500 deductible, AND co-pays for doctor visits, plus lab costs etc etc... Some of which are not cheap!

All in all, I'd say probably more than half my monthly pay goes to healthcare expenses. Even in the highest tax brackets in Canada, you wouldn't be paying that much in taxes.

Yeah, I'd have to agree with that. But as you say it depends where you live. For example, if I moved from Quebec where I now live to Ontario, I would save about 300-400 dollars a month in taxes and get the same health care as I do here. Other provinces (Alberta) are even cheaper. But you're right I never have paid half my salary in taxes...never mind for health care. But the flip side is 3 to 4 month waits for an MRI (except in emergencies obviously). Well if Obama gets his way... but we are wayyyy off-topic here...

" stay for periods "??? Seems the CBP is out of sync with the immigration and state departments

No they're not, the law is intentionally vague because Canadians clearly have various reasons to enter the US that other nationalities would not, e.g. to get born in certain border communities. There is no I-94 requirement for Canadian visitors, thus no fixed date of departure - but that doesn't alter the fact you must be a visitor and comply with 8 USC 1101(a)(15)(B). CBP use the six month thing as a rule of thumb in determining your immigrant intent. So if you say you're entering for six months and then stay for six and a bit months and don't come back for another six months, they'll usually be okay with that. If you get to the point where you're residing in the US though they won't let you in at all, because your intent has changed. It's mainly about intent, people focus on the six month limit too much, it is a relevant point but not as important as your intent. It's more of a yardstick to determine your intent, but not the only one.

-- Thu Sep 10, 2009 12:04 pm --

But whatever, it still make it impractical for our purposes. So winter in Florida or Arizona ( Nov,Dec,Jan at least) seems more practical. I am stunned at the premiums being asked for for health coverage.

This is the #1 problem, imo, not so much the time you're allowed to stay (although that is a big problem). Anyone else watch Obama's speech last night? How many times did he say: "your employer". Okay, well you're a long-term visitor. You're not an illegal alien.

Travel insurance or out-of-pocket are the main options. Travel insurance tends to be very restrictive on what is covered, out-of-pocket is going to bankrupt you. Not such an issue of course if you have time to come back to Canada, not so great if you have a stroke.

And just to go completely off-topic, no US healthcare reform package will work if it doesn't cover illegal aliens because they'll simply show up at an ER that will have to be subsidized by taxpayers.

... and snowbird insurance, despite being so costly, is always predicated on (a) that your Prov coverage is always maintained (thus insurance is only going to pay the overage, and (b) none of your pre-existing conditions are covered.

Imagine how much more the premiums shoot-up (if you can even get coverage) when you tell them that you aren't covered by any Prov plan, nor medicare.

Had another look at the premiums for even a couple of months in the U-S without coverage for pre-existing conditions. Out of this world.

Topic closed