My Mom and stepdad make a lot more than me (which isn't hard to do, considering they have the benefit of two incomes coming in. I'm almost positive though, that, not counting real estate, I have more saved up than they do. Mom's in the federal gov't, under the old system, and will get a pretty nice retirement. I'm not sure about my stepdad, though. He's also a gov't employee, for the water/sewer commission, but I don't know about his financial specifics.
I do know that Mom says shen she retires at the beginning of 2009, she'll get around a 60K+ annual retirement. My stepdad will continue working (Mom will turn 60 then, and my stepdad will be 56) but they want to move to Florida within a year or so after she retires. I think my stepdad plans to get a job down there, either part time or full time, depending on their financial needs.
They have a house down there that they bought around 3 or 4 years ago, which they're renting out now. I don't think the rent is quite covering the mortgage, but that's because they refinanced to a 15 year. They have a lot of equity in their house up here in Maryland, but I know they've also refinanced and taken some out to buy new vehicles, have a garage built, etc.
Mom is extremely risk averse, and my stepdad is, too. They think I'm crazy for keeping my money in mutual funds, stocks, etc. But I keep telling them that I basically have no choice. The only pension I'll get is about $350 a month from the 7 years I put in at McDonnell-Douglas and Boeing.
I know they did try to start investing back in the late 90's, when it seemed like the prosperity would go on forever. And they panicked when things fell around 2000-2002.
As for my Grandma (Mom's mother), she's EXTREMELY risk averse. She still remembers the Great Depression, when she was a kid, and her parents lost their farm in the country, and had to sell their car. But, they must've been doing relatively well, because they still had their house in Harrisburg PA, and kept their truck. Her father ran a small company that built houses, so a truck was a necessity, but a car was a luxury.
For someone of that generation, I guess she's saved up pretty well over the years. Her house is paid in full. She doesn't drive anymore, so there's no expense of a car, gas, insurance, etc. I know I have a bit more saved up than her, but again, she's doing okay between her social security, her pension, and my Granddad's pension. Back in the late 90's, we did talk her into doing some investing, around the same time that my Mom really started. Grandmom kept wanting to pull out in 2001 and 2002, as things crumbled on the market, but we (well, mainly I, as my Mom was thinking about getting her to sell) talked her into riding it out. And at least now, her investments are back into the black, so she's reasonably happy.
Still, she has some CD's approaching maturity that aren't even paying 2%. I've tried to talk her into putting that money into a money market fund with Emigrant Direct, or buying some I-bonds. Even though with the I-bond, she'd have to wait 5 years before touching them without a penalty, and she's 81 now, it's doubtful she'd have to touch the money. She's leery of it, because she doesn't understand it, but I thnk she's going to let me put some of it into an I-bond for her.
As for me, when it comes to being frugal, I take more after my grandmother than my Mom & stepdad. I'll buy a car when I need to (well, unless I see some cool old car that catches my eye), but they'll sometimes buy something they don't really need. They buy furniture and other household stuff, while I usually look for hand-me downs. The most expensive piece of furniture I ever bought was a queen-sized bed back in 1995. I think it was about $500. I did pay $525 for a Sanyo 32" tv back in 2000 (It was $399, plus tax, plus a 5-year warranty I bought, plus they threw in a freee VCR that I gave away as a Christmas present). But stuff like chairs, couches, and so on, have been mostly hand-me-downs.
Most of my appliances have been used, as well. Although here the savings is a bit dubious, as they might use more electricity than something new. I remodeled my condo just before I sold it, buying all new appliances. I brought the old appliances over to the house I'm in now, as they were still newer than what was here.
I can't remember the last time my grandma has bought a piece of furniture, though. My Mom did buy her a new recliner this year, but that's about it. Just about everything else in the house dates back to the 80's, or older. Thankfully they usually bought conservative stuff thugh, so it doesn't look like the set to the
Brady Bunch, or anything!
