another gloomy retirement article

[ownyourfuture]

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Originally Posted by Teacher Terry I guess I didn't realize that many on this site lack empathy. I had good friends that even with health insurance died broke. That was because she had 8 bouts with cancer and he had 4. They sold everything before dying and paid off all their debt. Most of their $ was gone by then from all the medical bills left after insurance paid. She ended up in a nursing home and after a year on Medicaid until she died. Not exactly golden years.

I 'do not' lack empathy. I've also known people who died broke through no fault of their own. I feel as bad for those people as anyone else. But I've also known/seen many people who simply live way above their means, & realize far too late that they have, or will have nothing.

Those are the ones I have very little empathy for.

[Amethyst]

TT, I had the same thought. Now I know we can't always know or understand the course any particular person's life has taken, and yet, lots of people do get those "senior" apartments and "senior" benefits.

So I'd be interested in an article on why some, who could take advantage of benefits for low-income old people, seemingly choose a far harder path. Some misguided notion of "independence," perhaps? I'd consider a subsidized apartment, where I can do what I darned please all day, to grant me far more independence than a nomad's existence, bouncing from one horrible job to another.

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Originally Posted by Teacher Terry Older people that I know without a lot of $ have moved into senior housing and they pay 30% of their income for rent. They don't have cars, take vacations or go out much. The apartment complex has a lot of free events. They also have a group that plays cards regularly, etc. That sounds better to me then living in an RV and scrubbing toilets.

[Amethyst]

Allow me to quibble I would have thought retirement porn would show old people who spend all their time living it up in places that look like those all-inclusive Caribbean resorts...not cleaning restrooms to keep food on the table

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Originally Posted by timo2 More of what I call 'retirement porn'. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graph...=.a9edcf042003

[foxfirev5]

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Originally Posted by Teacher Terry 2 years ago we met some retirees that lived in their RV's and they had lower expenses because they would spend 6 months in one location and rent by the month. They would go places where they did not need either air or heat depending on the season. The people we met were pretty happy with the lifestyle and were not working. They had sold their homes.

A very short term solution for retirees. Hopefully they set aside the proceeds from the sale of their home. If invested they may have enough for an exit plan when full time RVing is no longer feasible. I doubt this is the case.

[marko]

"The poor will always be with us"

[Mdlerth]

Wait just a second. A senior citizen couple travels to fancy resort areas across the country in their RV, picking up odd jobs in Vacationland to supplement their retirement income. Holy Shangri-La, Batman! That's living the dream for a lot of folks here!

So why exactly am I supposed to be moved to tears?

[Teacher Terry]

The couples we met had no plans to change their lifestyle. But they weren't traveling either. Basically 5 months in Denver and 7 in Arizona. Fairly low cost because their rent was 400/month for the site. Amethyst: yes I wondered also if they were too proud, etc to take the easier way out. Or maybe too long a wait for low income senior housing.

[Teacher Terry]

Mdlerth: I would not call scrubbing toilets, floors, etc in your 70's as "living the life."

[Amethyst]

I know a high-income retired couple (2 former GS-15s, combined pensions would be $180K+) who sold their home and bought a brand new tractor-trailer, fitted out as a luxury RV. They travel from relative to relative all across the country, towing a car and 2 motorcycles. They really are living their dream, and will keep on doing it until they physically cannot.

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Originally Posted by Teacher Terry The couples we met had no plans to change their lifestyle. But they weren't traveling either. Basically 5 months in Denver and 7 in Arizona. Fairly low cost because their rent was 400/month for the site. Amethyst: yes I wondered also if they were too proud, etc to take the easier way out. Or maybe too long a wait for low income senior housing.

[daylatedollarshort]

I thought the article made many valid points, especially the decreased buying power of Social Security.

[Mdlerth]

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Originally Posted by Teacher Terry Mdlerth: I would not call scrubbing toilets, floors, etc in your 70's as "living the life."

What about mowing the lawn on a John Deere rider, or collecting tickets to whale watching daycruises? I don't think I'd equate those with relegation to the salt mines.

[foxfirev5]

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Originally Posted by Teacher Terry Mdlerth: I would not call scrubbing toilets, floors, etc in your 70's as "living the life."

Not to beat a dead horse - but in many ways it's the life you choose. I know many, yes many back in the hills of PA that live a better lifestyle on less. And they don't scrub toilets to get by.

[Luck_Club]

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Originally Posted by ownyourfuture As for the rest of the article, I can't comment any further because I would get too P _ _ _ T _ _ _ L

+1
Empathy. Sorry what is the back story on these two couples living in pretty nice RV's with a SS & Supplemental retirement income of close $59K a year? Empathy I have for the 70+ year old that shows up as a new cashier or deli kid at the local grocery store. But only for a second or two.

Reminds me of my in-laws who also continue to work at 72. I can tell they are starting to get really tired, but keep going. A recent $1500 windfall went to a new stove, though the old one was still working. This was great because there was enough left over to finish paying off the 3 year old frig, which freed the cash flow up to buy the dishwasher on time.

[athena53]

Interesting article and I think it's good that these things appear in news feeds- maybe more people will get "scared straight" into LBYM and getting educated about investing, which is a lot less complicated when ETFs are available.

And, while I knew that the "core inflation" rate they used for the SS COLA left out some key elements of seniors' budgets such as food and medical care, it was really telling to compare the 86% COLA increases since 2000 with the increases in the costs of Medicare B premiums, etc. which have far outpaced the SS COLA.

[foxfirev5]

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Originally Posted by athena53 Interesting article and I think it's good that these things appear in news feeds- maybe more people will get "scared straight" into LBYM and getting educated about investing, which is a lot less complicated when ETFs are available. And, while I knew that the "core inflation" rate they used for the SS COLA left out some key elements of seniors' budgets such as food and medical care, it was really telling to compare the 86% COLA increases since 2000 with the increases in the costs of Medicare B premiums, etc. which have far outpaced the SS COLA.

I don't want to hijack the thread - but I do pity the fool that thinks they actually have a COLA'd SS benefit.

[karen1972]

When you are talking $22,000 for a couple in SS, they must have been making near minimum wage their entire lives. At that point is a trailer really that big of a deal? What were they living in before that?

Grew up in a mobile home my entire life and we never considered ourselves poor... we certainly lived a heck lot better than others I knew. It doesn't matter if you make $1 or $1M some people are just better at managing money than others. Those that don't manage it well should be expected to work longer. Also hard to feel sympathy given the story.. my dad was 81 and still working on a farm and my mom still mows the lawn on 3 acres the house sits on..still made all the wood needed to burn a fire for a wisconsin winter.. this is not uncommon in my home area... its a farming/country life.

[Senator]

I think the moral of the story is this. If you are not bright enough to save money, you have to work.

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People are living longer, more expensive lives, often without much of a safety net. As a result, record numbers of Americans older than 65 are working — now nearly 1 in 5.

[W2R]

At some point in life, I confronted the very tough realization that I could depend on nobody to take care of me, so I had to take care of myself, emotionally, physically, and financially.

I also realize that ironically, in a sense I was lucky to have endured the circumstances that led me to this conclusion. I do feel empathy for those who never figured that out and sadly ended up old, alone, miserable, sick, and destitute.

Basically, "Baby, baby, it's a wild world", not just for young girls but even more so for the elderly, especially those in nursing homes and completely defenseless.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8pvXLVu8Yk

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But if you want to leave take good care Hope you make a lot of nice friends out there But just remember there's a lot of bad and beware...

[candrew]

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Originally Posted by W2R I also realize that ironically, in a sense I was lucky to have endured the circumstances that led me to this conclusion. I do feel empathy for those who never figured that out and sadly ended up old, alone, miserable, sick, and destitute.

DW & I did our best to make the most of opportunities presented to us. That included working hard, saving and LBOM. At the same time, it is not lost on us that the lives we are fortunate to live now may not have turned out so well if not for a break or two that fell our way. We're also not foolish enough to believe that tomorrow will always end up following today (apologies to Led Zeppelin).

Although agnostic in my religious beliefs, a verse from Romans 12:3 seems apropros - Because of the grace given to me, I can say to each one of you: don't think of yourself more highly than you ought to think.

[athena53]

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Originally Posted by candrew Although agnostic in my religious beliefs, a verse from Romans 12:3 seems apropros - Because of the grace given to me, I can say to each one of you: don't think of yourself more highly than you ought to think.

I try to stay humble. I know part of it was discipline and hard work. The rest was the grace of God or, if you prefer, luck. Parents who valued education, no major health problems, no periods of long-term disability or unemployment, and good results on selling two of the homes I've owned.

An earlier post mentioned that some Europeans are surprised when they see older people working here, but many of the European state-run pension plans which allow retirement at early ages are struggling financially. Decreasing birth rates mean fewer young people in the workforce are supporting more retirees. They're realizing it's not sustainable.

Seeing older people working, especially those in low-paying jobs such as grocery store clerk or handing out cheese samples, always makes me wonder if they're there because they like to interact with people or because they need the money. It's another thing that motivated me to save for retirement.