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Old 05-25-2012, 04:15 PM   #21
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I sometimes feel like people don't really understand that some people -- who are not "poor" -- just live a modest lifestyle which is not expensive. My mom lives a very modest lifestyle. Her house was paid off 50 years ago. She doesn't have cable TV or internet. Her utility bills are very low. Her property taxes are very low. She drives only short distances. Even when she was "young" in her 60s she didn't travel much and when she did wouldn't spend a lot of money. Now many of us want to spend more in retirement but I know plenty of people in her generation who actually have IRAs and don't spend any of the money because their base expenses are so low. My mom doesn't think she has an awful life by the way, it is just that she doesn't have a desire to buy a lot of "stuff".
+1 - You don't need a whole lot to be happy. Some people don't want to spend their retirement travelling and eating in expensive restaurants.
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Old 05-25-2012, 04:38 PM   #22
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Originally Posted by Independent View Post
According to the BLS, the mean spending for single people in the 65-74 age group is almost $28k per year. That includes about $1,300 for mortgage payments.

So a 65 year-old with $15k from SS and a $20k non-COLA'd pension, who owns an house and is out of debt, should be able to save some of that pension to offset future inflation and still live like the average person in that age group.

ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.reques...byage/aone.TXT
+1

A nice retirement can be pretty cheap when one is completely out of debt. A glance through the threads on annual spending that we have here each year, confirm that. Sure, some people manage to spend staggering amounts, but many do just fine on less than $40K/year.

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+1 - You don't need a whole lot to be happy. Some people don't want to spend their retirement travelling and eating in expensive restaurants.
Hear, hear! There is SO much more to do in retirement than one might think at first, and much of it is free.
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Old 05-25-2012, 04:54 PM   #23
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Originally Posted by W2R

+1

A nice retirement can be pretty cheap when one is completely out of debt. A glance through the threads on annual spending that we have here each year, confirm that. Sure, some people manage to spend staggering amounts, but many do just fine on less than $40K/year.

Hear, hear! There is SO much more to do in retirement than one might think at first, and much of it is free.
I usually think in terms of my annual income, not how much I spend. But in those terms, I spend about $40k a year, and I live like a king in my mind, doing anything I want. I am even still paying a mortgage and child support. When those bills disappear, I don't know what I will do with the money except just add it to my monthly savings, as I do everything I want to do already. I guess that is the benefit of being poor when I was young, I never developed expensive tastes!
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Old 05-25-2012, 05:01 PM   #24
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I usually think in terms of my annual income, not how much I spend. But in those terms, I spend about $40k a year, and I live like a king in my mind, doing anything I want. I am even still paying a mortgage and child support. When those bills disappear, I don't know what I will do with the money except just add it to my monthly savings, as I do everything I want to do already. I guess that is the benefit of being poor when I was young, I never developed expensive tastes!
Same here! It is really challenging for me to spend that much in retirement. I feel like I am spending like a drunken sailor but it doesn't take much to do that in the South or Midwest.
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Old 05-25-2012, 06:18 PM   #25
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You don't need a whole lot to be happy. Some people don't want to spend their retirement travelling and eating in expensive restaurants.
And some people do. Let me introduce you to my DW ...
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Old 05-26-2012, 10:34 AM   #26
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When those bills disappear, I don't know what I will do with the money except just add it to my monthly savings, as I do everything I want to do already. I guess that is the benefit of being poor when I was young, I never developed expensive tastes!
It's too late to discover your deeply hidden wants and desires.
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Old 05-26-2012, 11:03 AM   #27
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It's too late to discover your deeply hidden wants and desires.
Well it used to be too poor to do anything.....Now its too old and set in my ways that I enjoy to change. I would rather go back to work than try to discover new wants and desires. Sounds exhausting
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Old 05-26-2012, 11:08 AM   #28
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Well it used to be too poor to do anything.....Now its too old and set in my ways that I enjoy to change. I would rather go back to work than try to discover new wants and desires. Sounds exhausting
Besides, if one is completely content, why try to rock the boat? People like you and I have reached the nirvana-like state of bliss that others can only dream of (even if we don't live the lifestyles of the rich and famous).
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Old 05-26-2012, 01:07 PM   #29
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I have never had expensive tastes, either. I have annual expenses of about $22k (one person, including taxes and HI) but have built a cushion into my budget so that if I want to go out to eat more often than once a month or go to Atlantic City with my ladyfriend (she does work FT) just to get that bit of curiosity out of our systems permanently, it won't bust my budget.
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Old 05-26-2012, 02:34 PM   #30
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I've said it before, but my friend's mom retired on SS and $150,000. She's very frugal and lives in India for about half the year, Denmark (where she was born and has family) for about three months and back in states for another three. She does what she loves, studies spiritualism with some guru in India. She's pretty happy most of the time.

But that article seems to be encouraging people to count on being able to retire on SS and small pension and a smidgen of money in the bank. My friend's mom didn't have a choice, well she did but you know what I mean. She ran a healthful store, raised her boys and never made much money. I wouldn't plan it that way. Besides, the plan outlined in the article means your going to retire at 67 minimum to get full SS. Who wants to wait till their 67 and then live a spartan life? That's not a plan, that a last resort.
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Old 05-27-2012, 08:14 AM   #31
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Same here. I am quite frugal, can live on 3k a month. However I have no SS (I don't have my 40 quarters yet) and very little pension. Plus, missionary clinics abroad cost me thousands of dollars a year. Much more when I buy vehicles to transform into mobile clinics. Therefore I have no choice but to save more as it will allow me to help more patients and save more babies in the future in third world countries. Sorry for typos, traveling and typing on iPhone
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I have never had expensive tastes, either. I have annual expenses of about $22k (one person, including taxes and HI) but have built a cushion into my budget so that if I want to go out to eat more often than once a month or go to Atlantic City with my ladyfriend (she does work FT) just to get that bit of curiosity out of our systems permanently, it won't bust my budget.
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