Adventures with Jim & Gayle
  • Home
    • How it all started
  • Gayle's Blog
  • Daily Journal
    • Daily Journal 2012
    • Daily Journal 2013
    • Daily Journal 2014
    • Daily Journal 2015
    • Daily Journal 2016
    • Daily Journal 2017
    • Daily Journal 2018
    • Daily Journal 2019
    • Daily Journal 2020
    • Daily Journal 2021
  • Workamping
    • Amazon.com
  • RV Lifestyle
    • The Full Timing Lifestyle >
      • Health & Finances
      • How We Pick Parks >
        • Ocean Canyon Properties
        • Coast to Coast
        • Thousand Trails >
          • Midwest Zone Reviews
          • Northeast Zone Reviews
          • Northwest Zone Reviews
          • Southeast Zone Reviews
          • Southwest Zone Reviews
    • Domicile Information >
      • Our Story
      • Absentee Voting & Jury Duty
    • Is RVing for you? >
      • Books
    • Clubs & Organizations
    • Tips & Suggestions
  • Geocaching
  • USA - East
    • Alabama
    • Florida
    • Georgia
    • Indiana
    • Kentucky
    • Louisiana
    • Maine
    • Mississippi
    • New Hampshire
    • New York
    • North Carolina
    • Ohio
    • Pennsylvania
    • South Carolina
    • Tennessee
    • Virginia
    • National Parks & Monuments
  • USA - West
    • Arizona
    • California
    • Colorado
    • Idaho
    • Kansas
    • Montana
    • New Mexico
    • Nevada
    • Oklahoma
    • Oregon
    • South Dakota
    • Texas
    • Utah
    • Wyoming
    • National Parks & Monuments >
      • You Tube Videos
    • Plants of the Southwest
  • Gadgets & Things
    • Jim's Recumbent Bike
    • Instant Off Water Saver
    • Equine Mega Store
    • Almost Heaven & Power Rag
Health & Finances

When we first started our full time adventure, we were not even 62 so there was no social security or medicare to fall back on.  We workcamped for the first few years so we would have money to spend and since we could not take money out of our IRA, I opened up accounts with TD Ameritrade and put our money into them, and handled the investments myself. I did this for quite a few years, and it got to be a chore because there is so much research that goes into handling your own investments. In addition, TD Ameritrade started offering less and less funds and ETFs with no fees. 

A couple of years ago we decided to move our money out of TD Ameritrade and let a qualified financial planner handle our funds. While at one of the RV parks that we frequent, I met a couple whose son is a fiduciary financial planner.  It's difficult to decide on who to put your money with as there are so many financial planners out there, but since I knew these people and they had their money with their son, we decided it was in our best interest to let him handle our finances. 

That has been the best move we could have made with our money, and if you are in need of a qualified fiduciary financial planner, I highly recommend him and his firm. His name is 
Dr. Nicholas E. Michels and his firm is Michels Family Financial.  They offer comprehensive financial planning for retirees, business owners, women in transition, and growing  families. Please consider giving them a call to see if they can help you with your finances and grow your wealth.

As I stated, we were three years too early for medicare when we first retired, so we actually went without health insurance for a few years until we were forced to apply for Obamacare. Luckily, the government paid the $800 per month fee for the useless insurance.  We signed up for medicare before we hit 65 and could not decide on which one to get. I knew we had to get