Life Changing Music Hits
We often don’t remember the year, but we remember the music. See if you recall the year of these top hits?
- The Beach Boys, “California Girls.”
- The Four Tops, “I Can’t Help Myself” (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)
- Rolling Stones, (I Can’t Get No) “Satisfaction.”
Remember how old you were? Well, if you were born in 1953, you were 12 years old. It was the summer of 1965. Your parents were most likely getting their news from either Walter Cronkite or Chet Huntley & David Brinkley.
On Friday evening July 30th, 1965, their opening headline would have been, “Today President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Social Security Act of 1965 into law. This landmark legislation establishes a healthcare program for those age 65 an over, called Medicare and healthcare for those under age 65, who are poor, called Medicaid. The vote in the house of representatives was 307 to 116 and 70 to 24 (6 senators did not vote) in the senate.”
As kids, this life changing law did not even register on our radar. We were busy watching the pennant races for upcoming the LA Dodgers - Minnesota Twins World Series or watching Bonanza or Hogan’s Heroes. Our parents probably paid some attention, but our grandparents were glued to the TV wanting to know more. Medicare became tremendously important for our grandparents back then, but it is even more important today. In 1965, healthcare spending was just under 6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP); while today it is 18.2%. Considering gas was $.20/gallon in 1965 and around $3.00 today, that means that we are spending 45 times more for health care than our grandparents did!
The life expectancy in 1965 was 66.8 for men and 73.7 for women. If you are a 65-year old-male today, your life expectancy is 83.3 and if you are a female, it is 85.9. Men are living nearly 25% longer and women 16%. Couple this with the 45-fold increase in healthcare spending, Medicare is a huge part of our economic lives.
Understanding Medicare and how to best utilize this valuable resource is the purpose of this blog. Stay tuned for bi-weekly posts covering “Everything Medicare’’ and other money savings ideas for those of age 64 or older. I’ll leave you with some 1965 questions:
- Who said, “Sorry about that chief?”
- The cost of 1965 Volkswagen Bug? a.) $2,700, b.) $1,595 or c.) $4,450
- Which company began selling stock as a publicly traded company? a.) McDonalds, b.) IBM or c.) Walt Disney Productions?
- When do have I to sign-up for Medicare? a.) Anytime, b.) 3 months before my 65th birthday and up to 3 months after or c.) I don’t have to sign-up. It happens automatically.