10 replies to this topic

[Earwolf Admin]

Welcome to the first episode of Love, Dad! Each week Dave Koechner & Jeff Ullrich will try to figure out how to be better dads. A general episode will consist of Dave’s clean joke of the week, answering listener questions, tackling a challenge of the week, and a tool/tip of the week. In this week’s episode, Dave & Jeff explore the question of why they decided to have kids.

[dustin.elmore]

Great first show! As a new dad myself I look forward to many more episodes.

[copopeJ]

Finally, a podcast for me; a new dad who enjoys listening to comedy podcasts from the Earwolf network! My niche has been addressed!

Seriously, great show. I will definitely keep listening.

[Bradical]

haven't listened yet, but am really looking forward to it. with the track record that earwolf has this is sure to be great.

[tomdude]

I've got to agree with what David was talking about when money comes in after a baby. I was unemployed when our daughter was born and just a month after I found a great job and I've been here for 2 years now.

[Jonny]

Great podcast. I was very moved by Dave's story. Ive got five kids and it's a big challenge to see the whole dad thing positively.
Something about the story just hit me in a deep way.

I look forward to hearing more.
Thanks
Jonny

[Jeff Ullrich]

Thanks for listening and posting guys! Ep 2 dropped today. We're excited to start a dad community here.

[Brendan H]

Hey, I just started listening to the first episode. I'm not a dad and don't currently have the desire to become one, but maybe this show will help me figure out if I ever do want kids.
I also wanted to mention that, from what I understand, the Health Savings Accounts that you mentioned briefly only help the wealthy and insurance companies. They're (mis)used as tax shelters by the rich, and they also benefit insurance companies by lowering their costs, since HSA 's are used to pay high out of pocket costs. They don't benefit lower income people because they cost a lot to pay in before you see any benefit.
So it's really just another scam in the guise of offering help to lower healthcare costs.

[Dan Engler]

Brendan H, on 17 August 2012 - 08:25 AM, said:

I also wanted to mention that, from what I understand, the Health Savings Accounts that you mentioned briefly only help the wealthy and insurance companies. They're (mis)used as tax shelters by the rich, and they also benefit insurance companies by lowering their costs, since HSA 's are used to pay high out of pocket costs. They don't benefit lower income people because they cost a lot to pay in before you see any benefit. So it's really just another scam in the guise of offering help to lower healthcare costs.

Your understanding is incorrect. HSAs, in conjunction with High Deductible Health Plans, can be a good option for people who are generally healthy but want to be covered in the event of a catastrophic accident or illness.

I'm pretty far from "rich", but I am single and self-employed and thankfully have few health issues. Obtaining individual coverage would therefore be prohibitively expensive and my premiums would evaporate into the æther every month. Having an HSA/HDHP allows me to:

1. Pay premiums that are 2-3x less than I would with traditional coverage.
2. Pay up to $3,100 into my HSA each year pre-tax, allowing me to reduce my overall tax burden by a small amount.
3. Roll over every penny in my HSA from year to year (unlike a Flexible Spending Account, where your money disappears if you don't spend it.)

Yes, I pay out of pocket for incidental medical expenses but, as mentioned above, I am generally healthy. Should disaster occur, I am on the hook for the first $2,000, and everything after that is theoretically covered by my insurer. Theoretically.

The maximum yearly contribution for a married couple is $6,250 (or $7,250 if they're over 55.) To the rich, the amount saved on taxes by taking $7,250 off the top is a laughably small fraction of their income. There are far more effective tax shelters for them to exploit.

[bacon]

I just stumbled across your podcast and listened to episode 1. This is great! I'm a new, first-time dad with a 6-month-old boy. Love the clean joke of the week. Here's one for you:

Q: What did the zero say to the eight?
A: Nice belt!

I too have started doing gratitudes each day, and it was really nice to hear someone else doing them and recommending them. I find them to be very helpful in sort of reining in my brain from going too far down a negative path when something bad happens. They help get me back in the moment and see the big picture, which looks pretty good.

Anyway, thanks for this podcast. I'm gonna go listen to at least one more before I go back to work so I can pay for self-employed health insurance for my son and me.

[Jeff Ullrich]

Thanks for the kind words Bacon and thanks for listening!