What people do with very high Dental bills?

Yep, complete upper or lower is the full arch replacement. In her case, complete upper AND lower teeth. Basically, entier teeth will be replaced with non-removable fixed implants and dentures, by a procedure called either All-on-6 or All-on-4. 6 will be more expensive, but 4 is not cheap either. All existing GOOD teeth have to be extracted, and either 4 or 6 titanium posts implanted into the jaw bones at a specific angle to support the permanent full denture prosthetics made of Zirconia. This treatment can work for patients who have some bone loss in the jaw without the need for a bone graft procedure like my DW. The surgery will be under general anesthesia and will take 6-8 hours.

I order all my Rx glasses online. My refractory eye exam is covered by insurance. It also reimburses me up to $300 for glasses and a frame. Online progressive glasses I have ordered in the past are all less than $300 in total. Regular optometrist and optician shops including the place like Lenscrafter are all ripoffs.

 

My eye insurance (which is actually just a vision discount program) is included in the medical plan benefit from my work for free. No additional premium to pay. So, yeah, I came out ahead. It covers my entire family. So, three eye exams and three glasses for free.

Dental insurance is not as comprehensive as the medical insurance I have. But still, the premium I pay is only $60/mo. So, for $720/yr, it covers annual check-ups including x-rays and two dental hygienist cleanings/yr, plus up to $2,000 in major dental treatment costs if incurred. With three people in a family plan covered, it pays itself. If I paid as-we-go, it cost $180/visit x2 per year x3 people = $1,080 without any treatment. But, it does not help much for prosthetics.

 

Zenni and Eye-buy-direct and Warby Parker all worked for me. I have bought at least 8 paris in last 10+ years, and never a problem.

Zenni is by far the least expensive. Eyebuydirect is also not very expensive especially if you look for an online coupon. And their customer service is great. Warby Parker cost a bit more but they have at home trial feature. So if you want to try a few different frames you can pick up to 5 frames to try on at home (it's free!) before buying one with Rx lenses. A great feature if you don't know what frame looks good on you and want your spouse's opinion.

 

I have not made Rx glasses at an optician shop for years, but for online Rx glass orders, it is a good idea to have your pupilar distance measured. This distance does not change like your Rx unless you are still growing like a young kid, so you can keep using the number for years. You can measure it yourself using a ruler. Look here: How to Measure Your PD | Zenni Optical

Yeah, I hate insurance. If I don't need it, then I should not buy it. But, I don't always know if I need it or not. When I need it, I'd rather have enough coverage than not enough. My auto, home, and life policies are only for peace of mind, and for only if I need it. I have lost money on all of those policies, but I am not going to risk not having one. Health and dental insurance are money savers. The dental is not a big saver, but our health insurance saves me at least $40K every year. One big question I have been thinking is if I should buy more annuity or not... You know annuity is a form of insurance. It can be a powerful tool in retirement.

 

Yeah, compared to a no-load mutual fund-based IRA or 401(k) which are investment vehicles, the annuity is an insurance product. It usually has higher fees and administration costs so it is not the best for growth. But structured correctly, it is a powerful tool to provide a guaranteed lifetime income which no other growth-oriented investment vehicles can offer.

It is as safe as money in a savings account, but not as liquid as the bank funds. I have an old retirement plan from my previous employment that can no longer receive additional contributions. This plan offered a traditional annuity account as an option. I could have rolled over the balance to my current retirement plan which is essentially collections of no-load, low-fee mutual funds investment account, by distributing the balance over months (no option for the lamp sum rollover). But I kept holding on to the annuity as a Guaranteed Rate Saving account (with no additional savings put in) in the previous retirement plan. In retrospect, I feel very smart having done that. The account balance has grown almost ~75% in the last 5+ years with no new contribution. The fact that the balance never moves down is very satisfying and assuring in this day and age of market volatility.