Every soldier and Marine, and some airmen and sailors, too, know the delights of the Combat Ration. Also known as the C-Ration or C-Rat. Packing 1200 calories into a small, brown cardboard box. Three olive drab tin cans. Main course, soda crackers, something spreadable like peanut butter, jelly, or cheese. Sometimes pound cake or cookies. Plus, a brown foil envelope: salt, pepper, coffee or cocoa, toilet paper. And a P38 can opener. It could be breakfast, lunch, or dinner. As an Army ROTC cadet and on active duty, I ate quite a few.
Everyone said that some C-Rats came with cigarettes, but I never saw any. The best was the John Wayne bar: a disk of chocolate with toffee bits. Spread peanut butter on the soda crackers and make a sandwich with the John Wayne bar. Almost heaven. Getting a John Wayne bar was winning the lottery, and no one ever traded it away.
Printed on the top flap of the C-Rat box was the main course. Beans with Frankfurter Chunks in Tomato Sauce, Fried Ham, Chicken and Noodles, Spaghetti and Meatballs (like mama made!). There were others. C-Rats came 12 or 16 to the case. The case was always flipped upside down when you went to draw your ration. No picking or choosing!
My very first C-Rat was “Ham and Eggs, Chopped.” Scrambled eggs. With ham. From hens that had died during the Eisenhower Administration. In a can. (But I did get a John Wayne bar!!)
It taught me a valuable lesson. Never go on a Field Training Exercise without a bottle of Tabasco.
What has this got to do with LifePlanningTM? Everything!
LifePlan™ Basic Facts
FACT #1: Middle-class Americans cannot afford the $6000-$12,000 per month costs of long-term care.
FACT #2: Life savings evaporate like snowflakes on a hot griddle. (Don’t kid yourself about this. Folks with hundreds of thousands in savings go broke every day. You are not immune.)
FACT #3: When you are broke, then Medicaid, the government solution, kicks in.
FACT #4: LifePlanning™ enables you to qualify for Medicaid without going broke.
C-Rats, Medicaid, Tabasco, Long-term Care, Extras! The Government Solution
C-Rations are the government solution to soldiers’ need to eat in the field. Medicaid is the government solution to Americans’ need for long term care.
You Cannot Avoid the Government Solution.
There are no McDonald’s in the field. You cannot pack in enough sandwiches. You must eat the C-Rat. Long-term care is expensive. You cannot save enough to pay what it actually costs. You will go broke. You must take the Medicaid.
By Planning Ahead, You Can Add To The Government Solution.
Buy some Tabasco at the PX or Commissary. Bring it with you. Share it with your buddies. You’ll be glad you did! Preserve your lifesavings through LifePlanning™. Do not go broke when you need long-term care. Add the services you want and need by paying for them yourself. You choose. You decide.
Freedom, Security, Personal Responsibility
You have lifesavings now because you took personal responsibility for yourself, your spouse, your family. You did not shirk. You did the tough stuff. There are some people out there who did not. Those people will receive Medicaid benefits immediately. You will not. You will have to deplete your savings. Sell the cottage. No legacy. No ability to provide for your spouse. No choice.
How is that fair? I do not think that it is. That’s why I have developed and practiced the LifePlan™ strategy for the last 30 years. You are not a chump, a sucker, or a loser for having worked, saved, and cared for yourself and your family. We make the rules work for the people who played by the rules.
