Article - 35% of Millionaires won't be able to retire

[Car-Guy]

I'm surprised no-one picked up on the line in the article

Quote:
While not everyone needs public assistance in retirement, 38% said they won't be able to retire without it.

I assume they mean SS. And I know there are plenty of people on this board (a very atypical selection of people compared to the general population) who could still be comfortable with no SS... But most folks (including myself) assume SS will be there... my retirement would be much more frugal if SS were taken away. I'm not collecting yet - but I input it in firecalc when I run firecalc...

Personally I don't consider SS public assistance. It's an "earned" benefit that is owed to me. Not really much different than a retirement pension from a mega corp from my POV. Except I was forced to contribute... Now I want it back as promised!

 

[MarieIG]

Yeah some of those houses are huge. In some parts of the south you can buy much larger houses for the same money as here in New England for a house half that size if your lucky.
On top of that I absolutely couldn't stand that many houses right on top of me. Just personal preferences obviously but give me a huge lot with a smaller house any day. I have almost 9 acres and can see no neighbors at all. Paradise for DW and I.

Also people living in those neighborhoods tend to have to keep up with the neighborhood standards. In other words if your neighbor drives home with a new Lexus you almost have a duty to have a nice car yourself. This also carries over to the clothing, furnishings, kids extracurricular activities, expensive schools etc. You do all those things and good luck saving much.
Call it lifestyle creep, keeping up with the Joneses or whatever, throw in some marketing to your demographic and you can almost see why the desire to spend is so strong.

Sounds heavenly. The crowded nature of the expensive home in the photograph is not something to which either DH or I aspire.

We have been "blessed" with neighbors who called the police on us when our children were under six for a ball landing in their yard; and later on for one of our cars leaking oil. (No, the ball did not break anything, and they did not talk to us before calling the police either time.) We are looking for a retirement home with some breathing room. Whether we can pull that off - we shall see.

 

[scrabbler1]

That's awesome. If you don't mind, were you able to primarily live off of a "fallen angels" type high yield bond fund, i.e. relatively high credit quality for "junk bonds", in a taxable account the whole time or did you have to switch up strategies with the interest rates going to near zero?

Yes, that is the type of bond fund I invested in. It's a borderline junk bond fund, with bond ratings in the B-BB-BBB range. It paid more in dividends per share in my early years of ER than it does now, but I have added lots of shares over the years to offset the decline.

 

[Fermion]

Nowadays, people have no pension.

And if they retire young long before SS and rely totally on their savings, that's a one-legged retirement source of income.

Like dis.
]

The problem with a one leg stool retirement is it could do a 180

 

[Samsung4321]

Off to Australia for four weeks before long, that should be fun...

Wait until February 2023 when school summer holidays have finished:

https://www.australia.com/en/facts-and-planning/when-to-go/australian-school-holidays.html

 

[Samsung4321]

I am willing to bet the vast majority of the 26 million plus "millionaires" in America are millionaires because of basically one single asset: their home.

$1M investable in article sources.

 

[NW-Bound]

Personally I don't consider SS public assistance. It's an "earned" benefit that is owed to me. Not really much different than a retirement pension from a mega corp from my POV. Except I was forced to contribute... Now I want it back as promised!

I used to think of SS as public assistance.

Then, when I found out how much I will get at 70, I thought differently. I earned it and I want it.

I am old enough to have this two-legged chair. You just have to remember not to lean back.

 

[CarbonaNotGlue]

Personally I don't consider SS public assistance. It's an "earned" benefit that is owed to me. Not really much different than a retirement pension from a mega corp from my POV. Except I was forced to contribute... Now I want it back as promised!

—————————-

Totally agree!

 

[Samsung4321]

For us it is probably food that is one of the more expensive items. We don't specifically budget it but it seems like we spend about $200 a week at the grocery store for 2 people. This includes some Keto foods, toiletries, cleaning supplies, but even so, with ground beef at $5 to $6 a pound (heck, even the cheap stew meat cuts are now $5 to $6 a pound), groceries add up. $800 a month is $9600 a year JUST in food. This isn't dining out either!

Our food and other grocery expenditure is $A60 / w less 20% discount = $A48 / w.
Mostly Goods & Services Tax free.
We buy only best offered nutritional value.
Delicious home made soup made from carrot $A1.2 / kg featured this week.
Sardines in oil $A6.8 / kg best animal protein value.

 

[NW-Bound]

Our food and other grocery expenditure is $A60 / w less 20% discount = $A48 / w.
Mostly Goods & Services Tax free.
We buy only best offered nutritional value.
Delicious home made soup made from carrot $A1.2 / kg featured this week.
Sardines in oil $A6 / kg best animal protein value.

Is there in Australia something similar to the Grocery Outlet in Western US?

When we traveled by motorhome, had great fun visiting Grocery Outlet stores when we happened to spend time near one. Lots of odds-and-ends foodstuff that were discontinued and liquidated by food producers.

We often found one-of-a-kind flavors of the common food items. It appeared that the food makers would try something new in a test market, and when it did not sell, they liquidated it. When it was cheap, I was willing to try out of curiosity to see what it was like, for an inexpensive and fun food adventure. For example super hot and spicy corn chips. Oh la la...

 

[finnski1]

Sounds heavenly. The crowded nature of the expensive home in the photograph is not something to which either DH or I aspire.

We have been "blessed" with neighbors who called the police on us when our children were under six for a ball landing in their yard; and later on for one of our cars leaking oil. (No, the ball did not break anything, and they did not talk to us before calling the police either time.) We are looking for a retirement home with some breathing room. Whether we can pull that off - we shall see.

Good luck. I could not live in a crowded situation with neighbors always nosing in or restricting how we live even though we live a very quiet and mellow lifestyle. Also we simply love being closer to nature and wildlife.

 

[aja8888]

Good luck. I could not live in a crowded situation with neighbors always nosing in or restricting how we live even though we live a very quiet and mellow lifestyle. Also we simply love being closer to nature and wildlife.

I guess your point is that we all have choices.

 

[Zathras]

I have never spent that much in a year in my life. I will spend $12,XXX this year and I could have spent less. $40K/yr would be livin' large by my standards.

Count yourself fortunate.
My healthcare costs more than that. And that wouldn’t change living in a small rural community or L.A. California.

 

[Samsung4321]

Is there in Australia something similar to the Grocery Outlet in Western US?

Not exactly. https://www.aldi.com.au/ have 'special buys' which is a jumble of 'so cheap you must buy it even if you never thought you needed it' stuff.

Main Aus national supermarkets:

https://www.woolworths.com.au/

https://www.coles.com.au/ (my 'FlyBuys' 20% discount shop)

Many small Asian grocery shops.

 

[Samsung4321]

could not live in a crowded situation with neighbors always nosing in or restricting how we live

I'm lucky with lovely (and privacy respecting) neighbours all around. And bush 10 minutes walk away in several directions.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Count yourself fortunate.
My healthcare costs more than that. And that wouldn’t change living in a small rural community or L.A. California.

Our ACA premium for a Bronze plan was usually $2 a month in the Bay Area as long as we kept our income under the cliff. We did have a high deductible, but I think the most we ever paid out was around $5K and many years it was $0.

Low income households may qualify for Medicaid, which is free or low cost.

 

[audreyh1]

I have been pogo-sticking quite well since age 45 (and I am 59 now).

Same here - pogo-sticking since 1999 and still a few years to SS which will be our only income stream.

Not an income investor either - total return only.

 

[old medic]

great fun visiting Grocery Outlet stores when we happened to spend time near one. Lots of odds-and-ends foodstuff that were discontinued and liquidated by food producers.

We have them, and a few other similar stores, And stock up on stuff when we find a deal... 10 Lb box of restaurant quality bacon for $15.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Is there in Australia something similar to the Grocery Outlet in Western US?

When we traveled by motorhome, had great fun visiting Grocery Outlet stores when we happened to spend time near one. Lots of odds-and-ends foodstuff that were discontinued and liquidated by food producers.

We often found one-of-a-kind flavors of the common food items. It appeared that the food makers would try something new in a test market, and when it did not sell, they liquidated it. When it was cheap, I was willing to try out of curiosity to see what it was like, for an inexpensive and fun food adventure. For example super hot and spicy corn chips. Oh la la...

We shop there often. Our local Consumer's Checkbook says an average family can save almost $3K a year shopping there. I think we save more because we make it a point to look for and stockpile the best bargains. It is like a treasure hunt every week. Usually we save around half off supermarket prices, which is enough to fund our entertainment budget for the month, since those are usually half off kind of deals, too. So watching the prices on groceries, restaurants and event tickets saves us around $1K a month in total, compared to what we used to spend before we retired and had more time to price shop.

 

[Pellice]

It is far better to be poor when young than poor when old.

Yes, that is something I don't get about some current assumptions. I grew up thinking that you are SUPPOSED to be concerned about expenses and saving when you are young. I've heard so many young people (20s and 30s) comment (online, it must be said), asking about why they aren't getting their "carefree young years."

Where did the notion that you are supposed to be free of financial worries at that age come from? I was a poor student, I just assumed that most were poor students. Or poor young married people setting up a household, saving for a house, kids, etc. You worked at lower level jobs, waiting for advancement. You read about financial strategies.

Recreation was going to a movie, entertaining your friends with a spaghetti supper at home (they brought a bottle of wine), going hiking, visiting cheap bars, going to an occasional (then cheap) game.

And many remember those years rather fondly. I am preferring my now to my then, but I am grateful for the savings I was able to make and developing the habit of LBYM. I suppose it would be better to be rich throughout, but if I had to choose, poor when young is preferable.

 

[Pellice]

I live in small town USA and I get over 40k in SS. I'd sure hate to have to live on that. I think I could pay my basic utility bills, buy food and pay my taxes and the minimums on home/auto/health insurance but I don't think life would be very "comfortable" after that. Of course, YMMV

I'd think you'd have to be good at DIY. My current biggest expense is maintaining and upgrading the house. And not big upgrades like a redone kitchen or bathroom, but simpler ones like new countertops to replace old delaminating formica ones, or new flooring in basement to cover the cement that resulted from carpet removal due to some water in the basement during Tropical Storm Ida in 2021. I don't want to live in a slowly deteriorating residence.

 

[Vincenzo Corleone]

Same here - pogo-sticking since 1999 and still a few years to SS which will be our only income stream.

Not an income investor either - total return only.

Regarding this "pogo-sticking" thing - would someone please explain what that means? This is the first time I'm hearing that term used in this context. I tried to search for it but came up empty. Thanks in advance.

 

[marko]

Regarding this "pogo-sticking" thing - would someone please explain what that means? This is the first time I'm hearing that term used in this context. I tried to search for it but came up empty. Thanks in advance.

I think it means having only one means of support. There's the "three legged stool" of SS, pension and savings and some have four or more legs of support/income but the pogo people have just one...,maybe just SS or savings alone.

 

[NW-Bound]

Regarding this "pogo-sticking" thing - would someone please explain what that means? This is the first time I'm hearing that term used in this context. I tried to search for it but came up empty. Thanks in advance.

Of course you cannot find it elsewhere.

You heard it here first, because I claim the credit for creating this metaphor, which contrasts with the common one as marko explained below.

I think it means having only one means of support. There's the "three legged stool" of SS, pension and savings and some have four or more legs of support/income but the pogo people have just one...,maybe just SS or savings alone.

Yes.

By the way, this is not the 1st time I posted an eye-catching photo of a pogo-stick jumper as a joke.

I originally compared the pogo-stick jumper to an ER living off his investment back in the Great Recession years, because the market was going up/down like a yo-yo.

On other occasions, I also posted a photo of a single-leg chair, like this.

 

[Badger]

Yes, that is something I don't get about some current assumptions. I grew up thinking that you are SUPPOSED to be concerned about expenses and saving when you are young. I've heard so many young people (20s and 30s) comment (online, it must be said), asking about why they aren't getting their "carefree young years."

Where did the notion that you are supposed to be free of financial worries at that age come from? I was a poor student, I just assumed that most were poor students. Or poor young married people setting up a household, saving for a house, kids, etc. You worked at lower level jobs, waiting for advancement. You read about financial strategies.

Recreation was going to a movie, entertaining your friends with a spaghetti supper at home (they brought a bottle of wine), going hiking, visiting cheap bars, going to an occasional (then cheap) game.

And many remember those years rather fondly. I am preferring my now to my then, but I am grateful for the savings I was able to make and developing the habit of LBYM. I suppose it would be better to be rich throughout, but if I had to choose, poor when young is preferable.

Yepper! Been there, done that and still do to a good degree except for bars and games. In grad school I lived on biscuits and beans and still like them. Stopped going to the discount early (or any) movie when Covid hit so I used the money to join PBS Passport and Amazon Prime for movies at home. Enjoy a once a month a beer and burger with a few friends. Hiking and riding my recumbent trike are some of my favorite recreations. My behavior and interests haven't change much in all the years since I have been on my own even though I could easily spend more money on things I don't really care about.
The focus has always been on living a lifestyle and having a job I enjoyed yet prepare for the day I would retire and not have to worry about ever having to return to work. The idea was to prepare for an eventual and permanent retirement regardless of the state of the economy.

Cheers!