Survey: 64% of Americans Now Living Paycheck to Paycheck

[tmm99]

I've never lived completely alone. Before I got married, I always had roommates. In fact, right after the young wife and I got married, I had to deploy on my submarine again. She moved in with my roommate Harry for a few months until I got back and we got our own apartment.

It sounded as if the story was going to go in a totally different direction...

 

[scrabbler1]

I suspect Leslie still has a mortgage.

My widowed mother has an income of less than $36K. Yet, she lives very well and has money left-over. She owns her home, which is now worth $424K according to Zillow. Not having to pay rent or mortgage is crucial.

My wife has a younger friend who wanted nothing to do with home ownership. She rather rents for the rest of her life. I suspect that she will not do well in her retirement.

My widowed dad, 91, has a strong retirement "stool." Besides his SS, he has a small pension, an IRA, a guaranteed annuity, and a bond fund. In 2020, when he didn't have to take an RMD, he didn't need his. Same for the annuity. In 2021, he had to take the RMD but needed the annuity payment (about $3k) for some unexpected bills. His total income in 2021 was about $40k. His house, mortgage long since paid off, is worth just over $400k.

Whenever he has to take these distributions (or more generally, spend extra money), he jokes to my brother and I, "That's less inheritance for both of you!"

 

[daylatedollarshort]

If I was single, I would also prefer not having a roommate. But if you are poor, you do what you have to do to get by. College kids already have how to live low cost figured out. If you look at the estimated costs to attend for most colleges, they have the room and board on the sites and it isn't much, even in expensive cities. That is largely because they are expected to have roommates and use public transportation. In the Bay Area, some of the young people we know get by living in large houses with multiple roommates with every bedroom and garage rented out.

I have done the math and someone could actually live pretty well here with a rented room for $800 (maybe more now since I did this a couple of years ago) and then take advantage of all the free / discounted government and community services - senior club with free activities; free door to door minibus service; discounted bus and train passes; SNAP benefits; food pantries; free lunches at the senior centers; library services including free music, streaming services, and event passes; Medicare / Medicaid; college dental programs; low income help for Internet, phone and energy services; and more. Low income seniors actually qualify for more programs than a college kid would because college kids are usually dependents on their parents tax returns so may not qualify for the low income programs and are too young for the senior programs.

 

[disneysteve]

My widowed mother has an income of less than $36K. Yet, she lives very well and has money left-over. She owns her home, which is now worth $424K according to Zillow. Not having to pay rent or mortgage is crucial.

My mom's total income last year was just under $29,000. She does just fine. She's old. Her needs are minimal. And she does pay rent for a subsidized apartment. She moved there 16 years ago when her neighborhood was going downhill and maintaining the house was getting to be too much for her.


You don't have to have a 7-figure portfolio to get by.

 

[NW-Bound]

Interesting... You may be right, but were they still friends afterwards, doing things together, etc?

They were not that close prior to being housemates, and went back to the same level after the other woman moved out, and eventually moved back to Oregon.

 

[jazz4cash]

Here’s another survey that concludes that Retirees are finding their finances to be less challenging than anticipated. Maybe other conclusions could be drawn and maybe the data does not reflect the recent inflation. It’s a Gallop poll for what it’s worth.

“The vast majority of U.S. retirees report having enough money to live comfortably; 80% say so today. At the same time, far fewer nonretirees, 53%, expect to have enough money to live comfortably when they retire.”

https://news.gallup.com/poll/350048/retirees-experience-differs-nonretirees-outlook.aspx

 

[MC Rider]

I just don't want to be anywhere near that 20% that don't have enough to be comfortable.

 

[GTFan]

My mom's total income last year was just under $29,000. She does just fine. She's old. Her needs are minimal. And she does pay rent for a subsidized apartment. She moved there 16 years ago when her neighborhood was going downhill and maintaining the house was getting to be too much for her.


You don't have to have a 7-figure portfolio to get by.

If you own everything it's very easy to live on less than $20k here.

 

[Andre1969]

One of them wrote: "I'll keep working before I give up hot water for a shower. However, I bought three 8-ounce filets last night and it cost me over $70. It'll be a while before that happens again."

That made me think back on an acquaintance that I let crash with me for a few months, when he needed a place to live. He bragged once about how at some fancy get together in DC, he spent over $100 for a shot of some booze.

I sent him on his way, eventually, because he was spending too much time just slacking off, not really looking for a job, and not helping out any around the house, either.

I found out, after he left, that he was telling people I was starving him to death! He had no car, so admittedly, he was dependent on me for those few months, although he had any number of friends who tended to come over and take him out. But, no, I was NOT starving him to death. Was I was not doing, was not running him out to any number of fast food joints or other restaurants, when there was plenty to eat around the house. Sure, you might need to prepare it, cook it, pour it, or simply open a can, but there was always plenty of food.

I don't know what ultimately became of him. After here, he bounced around between Arlington or Alexandria VA (I always get those two mixed up), then Chicago, and I think he's in Philadelphia now. He hit me up sometime last year on facebook, but I just kept the conversation short and vague. In the back of my mind I was thinking that he wanted something!

 

[Amethyst]

It's common for older men to refuse to prepare food for themselves, always expecting some woman or other to jump up and do it for them.

But I never heard of a man expecting a man friend to do it.

That made me think back on an acquaintance that I let crash with me for a few months, when he needed a place to live. He bragged once about how at some fancy get together in DC, he spent over $100 for a shot of some booze.

I sent him on his way, eventually, because he was spending too much time just slacking off, not really looking for a job, and not helping out any around the house, either.

I found out, after he left, that he was telling people I was starving him to death! He had no car, so admittedly, he was dependent on me for those few months, although he had any number of friends who tended to come over and take him out. But, no, I was NOT starving him to death. Was I was not doing, was not running him out to any number of fast food joints or other restaurants, when there was plenty to eat around the house. Sure, you might need to prepare it, cook it, pour it, or simply open a can, but there was always plenty of food.

I don't know what ultimately became of him. After here, he bounced around between Arlington or Alexandria VA (I always get those two mixed up), then Chicago, and I think he's in Philadelphia now. He hit me up sometime last year on facebook, but I just kept the conversation short and vague. In the back of my mind I was thinking that he wanted something!

 

[aja8888]

It's common for older men to refuse to prepare food for themselves, always expecting some woman or other to jump up and do it for them.

Yeah, I guess that's me too. But now that DW is handicapped and can hardly take care of herself, I do the cooking, and I don't like cooking. I do all the shopping too, which I like to do!

 

[NW-Bound]

It's common for older men to refuse to prepare food for themselves, always expecting some woman or other to jump up and do it for them.

But I never heard of a man expecting a man friend to do it.

You wrote "older men". I wonder if men generally turn lazy when they get old, or some men are always "free loader" since adolescence. My late father-in-law was like that. My late own father was not.

This man knows how to cook for himself, and even for a party for a big crowd.


PS. To be fair, I only started to cook in my late 30s. Early in life, I never had a need to cook, and did not get an opportunity to learn. I eventually got interested in food preparation and started to get involved, and taught myself to do many dishes that were outside of my wife's repertoire.

 

[braumeister]

I do all the grocery shopping and all the cooking. Simply because I enjoy it and DW doesn't. I find it hard to believe I'm that much of an exception.

Maybe I'm just lucky in that DW is happy to eat whatever I prepare, and we are both happy to have leftovers.

 

[disneysteve]

I do all the grocery shopping and all the cooking. Simply because I enjoy it and DW doesn't.

Exactly the same here. I shop and cook.


But my father certainly did neither of those things. I think it's generational and that generation that adhered to old stereotypical gender roles is fading away.

 

[aja8888]

Exactly the same here. I shop and cook.


But my father certainly did neither of those things. I think it's generational and that generation that adhered to old stereotypical gender roles is fading away.

As I mentioned above, I do both. Scrambled eggs are my specialty!

My Dad just sat in his chair and drank Vodka all day, Mom cooked and shopped. Didn't end well for him either.

 

[disneysteve]

As I mentioned above, I do both. Scrambled eggs are my specialty!

My Dad just sat in his chair and drank Vodka all day, Mom cooked and shopped. Didn't end well for him either.

Thankfully my dad didn't do that. He worked and supported us and participated in family stuff in other ways that were typical and expected of the man of the house.

 

[braumeister]

Maybe I come by it naturally. My mom was the world's worst cook. By the time I got to be a teenager, my dad had taken that job over simply in self defense.

 

[aja8888]

Thankfully my dad didn't do that. He worked and supported us and participated in family stuff in other ways that were typical and expected of the man of the house.

My Dad had a 3rd grade education, fought in WWII and was a coal miner. He supported us, 3 kids and Mom, but really like his booze. He retired and owned his the old house he bought and fixed up at age 60.

Lots of hard working men after WWII were like him.

 

[yakers]

DW does most of the cooking but I bake....a lot. Says the (former) NASA guy; cooking is an art; baking is a science.

 

[Helen]

If I was single, I would also prefer not having a roommate. But if you are poor, you do what you have to do to get by. College kids already have how to live low cost figured out.

I've been reading on NextDoor post after post how young people can't afford apartments in Portland (it has gotten really expensive.) It turns out they want to live alone. I moved to Boston after college and had roommates for the first five years and took mass transit everywhere. You have to do what is realistic to survive.

There was a woman who had been living in a tent for a couple of years. She said she had a full time job cleaning rooms at a motel. I pointed out to her if she found two other people working full time they could pool their resources and rent a place. She couldn't do that because her (new) boyfriend couldn't work and she had adopted two cats and wouldn't give them up. She also had to help feed the others in near by camps. I realized then she had made being homeless a lifestyle.

 

[Amethyst]

Oh I was generalizing, while trying to avoid naming specific generations. The men who think home cooking is "women's work" and brag about being "hopeless in the kitchen." Clearly you aren't like that!

It seems that when I talk to younger couples, they are more inclined to partner up on cooking. Also they're more interested in healthy meals, which Andre1969's pal obviously wasn't.

(General freeloading, of course, knows no gender )

You wrote "older men". I wonder if men generally turn lazy when they get old, or some men are always "free loader" since adolescence.

 

[Winemaker]

I love to cook and don't mind grocery shopping. DW was a Family and Consumer Science Teacher ( Home Economics) but so she is retired, so I am pulling the wagon in the kitchen for about 60% of the time.

 

[RetiredHappy]

Talking about cooking, it reminds me of my late mother-in-law. She asked if my husband took me out to dinner. I smiled sweetly at her and said "I do take him out sometimes." She looked puzzled and my husband burst into laughter. I think she never got the joke. Different times.

 

[Time2]

As I mentioned above, I do both. Scrambled eggs are my specialty!

Peanut butter sandwiches are my specialty!

I do eggs over easy and toast well also!

 

[MC Rider]

DW say, She does the cooking here!
But I do the BBQ grilling, she won't touch it.
And I have my kitchen specialties.
Among them, chili, pie, cookies.