One can wake up one day, find one's spouse dead, and find that his pension has now disappeared, and your family social security benefits are now drastically cut.
One can wake up one day, find one's spouse dead, and find that his pension has now disappeared, and your family social security benefits are now drastically cut.
Oh, and one can discover that one's spouse ran up huge bills without telling others, that your rent is 3 months overdue, and that money you thought you had in the bank is now completely gone.
Sadly, that is real life.
Is it worth taking a couple more years off THIS end of my life (by continuing to work, I mean) to make sure I have money at THAT end? (<--I know that's COMPLETELY subjective. But doesn't anyone else think about that?)
One can wake up one day, find one's spouse dead, and find that his pension has now disappeared, and your family social security benefits are now drastically cut.
The world is full of people who just don't think about 'what if', look ahead or keep track of their money. Suddenly 'discovering' that a spouse's pension and SS is gone at death is amazing to me. Nobody saw that as even a remote possibility?
Then there are those who are vigilant about where the money goes and where it comes from.
But...one doesn't simply wake up one day and discover that all the money is completely gone!
In real life, you have the opportunity to watch your spending v income and look ahead 5, 10 years on how those two work out.
If you were to see that money is running low you should have years to respond to that by cutting back and adjusting. What kind of fool would keep his spending quo when he knows he'll be broke in 10 years? How many of us here RE'd unexpectedly and found ways to cut our expenses quickly and dramatically.
I figure it this way.... if those of us with six or seven figure retirement portfolios run out of money, unless it is because we made some really bad financial moves, there will be a whole lot of others in a world of hurt. I can always sell the real estate and will still have SS. DW gardens, we have camped before.... we have kids that we can turn to.... we'll find a way.
I'm wondering--what would happen to someone who literally ran out of money before they died?
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A former co-w*rker was hit by the same organization. He's 70 yo trying to hustle.Yet even the vigilant can get blindsided.
My SIL was in good shape financially when my brother died. Yes, her SS income was reduced, but she had spousal benefits from his pension, which also included Medicare supplemental insurance, plus some modest savings. They had planned for this possibility and her income as the surviving spouse was comfortably set.
Then the company (Kodak) declared bankruptcy, the insurance disappeared and the pension payments were reduced to only what the PBGC would cover. She went from comfortable to just getting by.
So even those who DO "...think about 'what if', look ahead or keep track of their money" can end up with money problems.
MS, won’t Medicaid kick in once she runs out of money?
Well, all these calculations we go through before retiring tell us when we'll "run out of money". That's what I'm referring to.
I would speak to an elder-care attorney about this.
My understanding is that any expenses you pay for your mother would be considered gift income and would reduce her medicaid for long term care dollar by dollar, assuming that you don't submit fraudulent paperwork when you re-qualify each year.
I'm far from an expert on SS but I thought the surviving spouse began receiving the SS of the deceased spouse. On the strength of that assumption I am planning to wait until 70 before claiming SS as a bit of extra insurance for my wife.
Yet even the vigilant can get blindsided.
...
So even those who DO "...think about 'what if', look ahead or keep track of their money" can end up with money problems.
FYI, in Illinois, seniors can defer their real estate taxes:No, not yet! If you run out of money (and SS is not adequate to pay the bills), and you own a house, but can't pay the property taxes, you may lose the house. Medicaid could step in and help with your medical care, but unless you qualify medically, would not pay for long time care.
Are you asking because you haven't saved anything, or don't want to save anything?
Senior Citizens Real Estate Tax Deferral Program
This program allows persons 65 years of age and older to defer all or part of the real estate taxes and special assessments (up to a maximum of $5,000) on their principal residences. The deferral is similar to a loan against the property's market value. A lien is filed on the property in order to ensure repayment of the deferral. The state pays the property taxes and then recovers the money, plus 6 percent annual interest, when the property is sold or transferred. The deferral must be repaid within one year of the taxpayer’s death or 90 days after the property ceases to qualify for this program. The maximum amount that can be deferred, including interest and lien fees, is 80 percent of the taxpayer’s equity interest in the property
That is true, but with both spouses alive, the spousal benefit does increase the total household SS income.
I guess I was the last person to know about:
TANF
Supplemental Security Income
Earned Income Tax Credit
Housing Assistance
... and that while the Federal Government funds these benefits, the states administer the programs, with some states going beyond the government benefits.
Now that I understand what each of these programs offers, and the qualification rules, I feel safer about the possibilities that some day, we'd have to live in a tent. Better to know now, than when something happens.
Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid (if your income is low enough), meals on wheels.
Most communities have subsidized elderly housing. We have possibility just a half mile from our current house, I believe the rent is capped at 30% of income.
I don't expect that I'd be starving, homeless, or dying of an easily treatable illness.
That's all fine until I need a nursing home. I'm not thrilled about ending my days in a Medicaid-only facility.
My aunt was in the nursing home probably a year or two. She was in the hospital a few times while living in the nursing home. Every time she was dismissed from the hospital she required skilled nursing care and that was covered by Medicare for 90 days. So that saved 90 days of her money from being spent from her bank account every time she was dismissed from the hospital.
By the time she died, she still had $100,000. I have no idea if the Medicare rules about 90 day coverage is still the same today but probably is.