Living mostly on Social Security in retirement

[rodi]

We live in Bellingham, WA, where I expect we will stay for a while. By the time we repatriate, the house will be paid for. In extremis, we can sell and move out to the county and live for super cheap if needed. It is a small town in a low-population county; everything will still be close. We will be able to live on SS and still save money. Investments will be gravy.

One of my favorite places in the world. I lived there for 3 years in the 90's. My best friend and her husband still live there.

Definitely affordable if your house is paid for. And if you live in town, it's pretty walkable. (I owned a house a few blocks from what's now Trader Joes, best friend lives closer to just south of Lakewood, west of 5)

 

[Katsmeow]

To have a shot at living off only SS you have to have minimized expenses by doing things like paying off the mortgage. Then you also probably have to have been paid considerably more than the average salary to bump your SS payment up to the max (which is about $2500/month at 66 in 2012) and you have to be frugal.

I agree to some extent but not about having to have SS at $2500 a month.

My mother is in her late 80s and basically lives on about $1500 SS a month. She does have some additional money. She gets about $200 a month a pension and has some additional money in the bank or in an IRA. However, she spends very little of that money. A few years ago she splurged totally and bought new windows for her house.

Her life is fairly basic. She has a house that has been paid off for over 40 years. It is small and has low upkeep costs. She doesn't have cable TV or internet. She still drives but mostly that is to the grocery store or occasional doctor's visits. She eats out occasionally and rarely travels.

I know many people think that those who are part of the older old will have a less active lifestyle, but the savings will be used up by needing to pay for other services.

To some extent it is true there are more expenses. She has a lot of prescriptions (she does have a prescription drug plan which helps). She hires someone to mow the yard. Within the last year or so she decided to hire someone to regularly clean house for her. Still - those expenses are very low. She buys what she wants to (but she was always frugal).

She could probably live on the $1500 a month without having any other money at all.

 

[CoolChange]

My mother sounds much like LakeTravis and Katsmeow described of theirs.

My mom:

• 82 years old
• Still has a j*b for two days per week, minimum wage
• Could live on SS alone but likes the extra mad money
• Still adding to her savings account (rather than spending down)
• Very small rural Midwestern town
• Doesn't drive; never had her own car
• Doesn't even understand the appeal of nice restaurants, hotels, etc.

I will admit, watching her makes me feel very selfish when I contemplate my own ER. But, she has demonstrated for years that it is possible to live on just SS.

 

[LeavingOhio]

My mother sounds much like LakeTravis and Katsmeow described of theirs.

My mom:

• 82 years old
• Still has a j*b for two days per week, minimum wage
• Could live on SS alone but likes the extra mad money
• Still adding to her savings account (rather than spending down)
• Very small rural Midwestern town
• Doesn't drive; never had her own car
• Doesn't even understand the appeal of nice restaurants, hotels, etc.

I will admit, watching her makes me feel very selfish when I contemplate my own ER. But, she has demonstrated for years that it is possible to live on just SS.

Both of my parents are still alive...Dad is 72 and Mom is 71. Their deal is this:

• They live most of the year in a small town here in Ohio. They bought my grandmother's house (my Dad's mother's house) when she became too ill to live there about 10 years ago, and she has since passed. My parents had never owned a home because Dad was a Methodist minister who lived in parsonages provided by the churches he served, so they actually still have a mortgage on the home they live in.
• They live on Social Security, my father's very nice pension and some 401k money my mother put away when she worked as a nurse. They are doing more than fine, and I'm very happy for them that they are set up so nicely. They seem to have a lot of fun, and my father has mentioned several times how much he enjoys retirement.
• They spend their winters as volunteer rangers at Big Bend National Park in Texas. They have a large 5th wheel camper they tow down there, and they have a lot of fun doing that.
• Originally Dad had planned to retire at about age 65, but at age 60 he was diagnosed with a then incurable blood cancer that caused him great pain in his legs and feet. He retired right then and planned what he would do for the next 7-8 years he thought he had to live. He began treatment for the cancer and they put it into remission...he has now been cancer-free for well over the 5-year magic amount of time and is the first person ever to be "cured" of this particular cancer. Crazy!

 

[Dreamer]

Both of my parents are still alive...Dad is 72 and Mom is 71. Their deal is this:

• They live most of the year in a small town here in Ohio. They bought my grandmother's house (my Dad's mother's house) when she became too ill to live there about 10 years ago, and she has since passed. My parents had never owned a home because Dad was a Methodist minister who lived in parsonages provided by the churches he served, so they actually still have a mortgage on the home they live in.
• They live on Social Security, my father's very nice pension and some 401k money my mother put away when she worked as a nurse. They are doing more than fine, and I'm very happy for them that they are set up so nicely. They seem to have a lot of fun, and my father has mentioned several times how much he enjoys retirement.
• They spend their winters as volunteer rangers at Big Bend National Park in Texas. They have a large 5th wheel camper they tow down there, and they have a lot of fun doing that.
• Originally Dad had planned to retire at about age 65, but at age 60 he was diagnosed with a then incurable blood cancer that caused him great pain in his legs and feet. He retired right then and planned what he would do for the next 7-8 years he thought he had to live. He began treatment for the cancer and they put it into remission...he has now been cancer-free for well over the 5-year magic amount of time and is the first person ever to be "cured" of this particular cancer. Crazy!

Love this story. So uplifting. Hope he remains cancer-free and that they enjoy their retirement for many years to come. Thanks for posting it.

 

[imoldernu]

Real case scenario for living on SS.
Posted earlier in the thread, but thought to get down to the basics of what one can expect from SS, and the basic-basic income that would be available after the deductions for medicare A&B, and then the cost of Medicare D, and finally the cost of a basic healthcare supplement.

Here's what the SS notification looks like, for those who haven't started on SS Mine, and DW's, Which is one half of mine, since her SS quarters and income were less than half of mine... My SS was taken at age 62 (15 years ago) and is the current amount, which includes all adjustments, since 1999. The difference between taking at age 62 and full retirement is 30%.
The dollar amount reflected the maximum input for the best quarters.

Thus, for one person one month basic health and SS net:
$1393 SS Gross
less:
$105 Medicare
$156 Medicare supplement
$ 41 Medicare D
$ 12 Medicare B deductible

Equals $1078/month or $12936 per year for me.

That amount does not cover the co-pay for drugs or any optometry or dental costs.

I do this calculation because it represents what I consider to be the base cost on which to build an austerity budget. Since the average Social Security recipient in 2012 received $1230 gross SS, it would leave for all expenses... $915/month out of which would have to come:

food
rent
uncovered medical costs... drugs, eye care, dental
utilities
transportation
and all other expenses
....................................................................
Beyond this, with no other source of income, a person would have to rely on government or private safety nets.

 

[LeavingOhio]

Love this story. So uplifting. Hope he remains cancer-free and that they enjoy their retirement for many years to come. Thanks for posting it.

I'm glad you like that story...me too! He no longer has any pain and has a very high quality of life.

 

[gerntz]

I would imagine the quality of life of these locations is enormously enhanced by the proximity to a college/university. I live near a few and they are a goldmine for all kinds of things to do on the cheap.

Sure. Ever seen a poor state college town? States spend excessively on colleges vs. the rest of their states'spending & thus the benefits of that accrue in those locations.