Renting in retirement

[Markola]

^^^^^. As always, it depends on the local market dynamics. Apartments in a nice, new building in which we rented during 2014 in downtown Minneapolis are the same price now. A lot more units have gone into that once-hot area since then, yet in 2020 Covid times people fled such buildings and limited square footage for single family homes with yards. It seems supply has met demand there. You never know.

 

[ivinsfan]

OP given your housing details you absolutely will have housing costs in retirement be it house payments or rent.


I want to remind you that housing equity is real money after you are gone. Have you given any consideration to buying in your present location?


Is there a particular reason you have chosen to rent?




Have you been tracking your expenses? If not now might be a good time to start.


And last, easy to say but hard to do, Yes you would like to leave money for your son's future care, but the main function of your retirement money is to fund a non stress money plan for your old age. Given your circumstances you will have enough stress in life as you age and money shouldn't be the thing you stress about.

 

[chassis]

^^^^^. As always, it depends on the local market dynamics. Apartments in a nice, new building in which we rented during 2014 in downtown Minneapolis are the same price now. A lot more units have gone into that once-hot area since then, yet in 2020 Covid times people fled such buildings and limited square footage for single family homes with yards. It seems supply has met demand there. You never know.

@Markola Fully agree. Across the nation broadly, it's true that renting is often an equal to, or better than, financial option vs owning.

It's always easy to point to specific markets where renting is far more, or far less, attractive than owning. I suggest that certain markets are ruled out of the discussion because they are atypical of the overall picture. For example: PNW, NorCal, SoCal and NYC for starters. These are cartoonish real estate markets and don't represent situations that apply to most people.

 

[Safire]

OP given your housing details you absolutely will have housing costs in retirement be it house payments or rent.


I want to remind you that housing equity is real money after you are gone. Have you given any consideration to buying in your present location?


Is there a particular reason you have chosen to rent?




Have you been tracking your expenses? If not now might be a good time to start.


And last, easy to say but hard to do, Yes you would like to leave money for your son's future care, but the main function of your retirement money is to fund a non stress money plan for your old age. Given your circumstances you will have enough stress in life as you age and money shouldn't be the thing you stress about.

Thank you.

The lack of equity in renting is one reason why I am eager to buy soon, but home prices where we live are crazy and rising every day.

I've been using Dave Ramsey's Every Dollar app for years now and I know how much we spend each month. The largest is housing, a good 30% of our NET income goes into rent each month. Unfortunately, PITIM on a small 1200 sq.ft single family home would be more than that where we currently live. It's the area and why we've not been able to buy here at all.

Since my son may never be able to earn an income, we do have the moral responsibility to ensure he's not homeless or starving after we're gone. So we have an onus to leave him enough to live off on.

Honestly, right now, I'm thinking we may have to live away from our daughter if she decides to live in a HICOL area, and move to any LCOL area at retirement, buy a small NEW home so there's less maintenance involved, and live as long as we can, leaving the rest up to God / the Universe. I would want to be closer to my daughter, but it's more important we can afford our son's retirement. Life sucks.

 

[Trailwalker]

Life as a special needs parent does suck sometimes. We've had many of the same worries that you have now, although every situation is unique. Buying and selling homes has always added a valuable component to our total wealth. Homes in our area appreciate significantly--although much less so than in many high cost of living areas. But if you can't afford buying a home in a hcol area , that's just the way it is. My advice is just to do what you can and try to find balance. Things will get better in some ways and worse in others. Now that our son is an adult and on SSI, it has given us more financial flexibility. The SSI $ and his own medicaid health insurance help.

Try not to put too much pressure on your daughter. I know that our son got more of our family resources and it made our daughter resentful when she was younger. She is more mature now and has agreed to administer the special needs trust if we pass before my son (which is not likely, due to his significantly reduced life expectancy). Our son can't do anything for himself and also had oppositional issues when he was growing up. He outgrew that. Only now can we all chuckle about how he would throw himself out of his wheelchair in a temper rage and then realize that he couldn't get up. It's tough at times, but these kids do make our lives richer in ways that others don't understand.

 

[CalmSeasQuest]

I have a daughter with special needs (Down Syndrome) that will live with me (hopefully forever ). You're likely already aware, but the Able program is a great resource - https://www.ssa.gov/ssi/spotlights/spot-able.html My daughter pays some housing costs (i.e. utility bills) to qualify for the maximum SSI.

As for housing, I took a different route; as it's just my daughter and me, I built a sailing catamaran and we're a few months from exiting terra firma for a few years in the Caribbean. I've found that she thrives on the water with little interest in returning to land.

Best of luck in your journey!

 

[CowgirlUp]

15 years is a long ways off. Things could be drastically changed by then. I’m sure you’ll come up with a plan once your daughter gets stable in her career and life. I have a disabled younger sister, so I know all about this stress as she lived with my 87-yo mother up until a few months ago. Very stressful for all the family trying g to make decisions on my sister’s care. Good luck.