k_CAD

Gmail sent to a friend in Apr 2024 (after CAD “chance discovery”), touching on retirement destination, healthcare system,,,

Hi Henry,

My mind is still experiencing the after-shocks of CAD… not exactly clear-headed.

I will combine my reflections of two conversations — 1) our pantry chat 2) an hour-long call with a Dallas, TX friend (Mainland Chinese). Let’s call him XH.Xu. He is my age, a sharp observer, esp. the “dark sides”.

• anti-Chinese sentiment .. is growing over recent years, according to a few China friends including XH.Xu. I am less observant and I don’t wear tinted glass, and I was mostly in greater NY, so I didn’t notice the “growing” part.
• Chinese population decline in the U.S… I do think that the inflow of mainland Chinese immigrants has reduced by some percent. Therefore, the Chinese community might be dwindling a bit. My U.S. friends are mostly in their 50s/40s and have settled in the U.S. but not sure about the fresh blood of 留学生. I have anecdotal evidence to suggest that a growing percentage of 留学生 choose to return to Asia, and some second-generation mainland Chinese immigrants are interested in east Asia including Singapore.
• medical cost .. might be increasing due to salary inflation and commodity inflation etc. Medical costs have always been quite bad in the U.S.

A few in my circle moved from China >> Singapore >> U.S. I think some of them are now re-evaluating the 3 destinations.

— citizenship and retirement destination .. XH.Xu lamented that even though he worked in Singapore some decades ago and bought a HDB in Yishun (probably as a SPR) he is no Singapore citizen or SPR. He is not optimistic about retiring in the U.S. so his default choice is “back to China”. I said that’s a sensible choice.

I have a few China friends who gave up Singapore PR/citizenship and migrated to the U.S. I don’t envy them, esp. after my health declined. For anyone with a chronic condition that requires on-going surveillance and intervention, we prefer government support rather than employer support. U.S. medicaid sounds like out of reach for the middle-class, due to eligibility etc

In 2008-2009 I had decent health insurance from my employer (GS) but it was not as good as the plan in MLP Singapore.

What happens to our healthcare when we stop working in the U.S. ? I had never worried about this question, until Apr 2024. Unconsciously I felt basically immortal… with reasonable health into my late 80s. I think my parents had reasonable health into their early 80s…

I have always told myself that once I stop working, perhaps in my 70s I would return to Asia.

— U.S. job prospects for me .. Given my health condition(s), XH.Xu immediately concluded that contract jobs are untenable. I don’t want to worry about medical costs when dealing with my condition(s). So your and his advice is identical — I must find a permanent job that offers good medical benefits.

On the positive side, I still feel U.S. employers are willing to pay a much higher salary to SWE than Singapore employers. Also, U.S. employers are more open to older SWEs.

If my son decides to enroll in a U.S. university, then I will want to be with him. I will try to find a lower-paying SWE permanent job on Wall St. Otherwise, I may find a higher-paying contract job, and buy an expensive insurance plan.