Sharing 23 years of Frugal Retirement

[Ronstar]

Please don't leave! To many of us, you are one of the few people who gives us an idea what our lives could be like 20 years down the road.

Take care and hang in there with us!

 

[Octogirl]

Agree - I hope you'll stay even if you post less frequently. You don't know this but you are one of the regular posters that I enjoy reading. Like a good newspaper columnists, you usually offer thoughtful ideas on aging and other life perspectives.

 

[pacergal]

Agree - I hope you'll stay even if you post less frequently. You don't know this but you are one of the regular posters that I enjoy reading. Like a good newspaper columnists, you usually offer thoughtful ideas on aging and other life perspectives.

+100!
I hope you continue to post, but if not, I wish you well and a very happy life with jeanie and your family

 

[chris2008]

Please come back, your contributions are appreciated!
So far, thank you and enjoy life with DW + family.

 

[tuckeverlasting]

Nooooo! You will be sadly missed Imoldernu! I so hope you will reconsider, although of course you must do what is best for you and yours. But you are by far my favorite poster, on any of the sites I regularly read. I suspect I am not the only one who feels this way.

Thank you so much for all you have shared over the years. Godspeed!

 

[kgtest]

Thanks to all for 7 fun years of discussions. While I will drop in occasionally to watch the excitement of retiring and see how my many friends have progressed so successfully, I think my time has passed for being of any help.

At 83, life has turned me into more of a philosopher than a helpful contributor.

With a limited amount of time left, I am looking ahead to the future, and to what my sons and their families will be looking at... five , ten, and twenty years from now. Especially for my grandkids, who in ten to 15 years will be looking at a different world that what we see today.

It is important to me to look ahead for so many things that will affect all of us... even now. Politics, ecology, international relationships. So much to be considered and discussed by those who will eventually set the path to the future.

So, not anything to help decide asset allocation, or selecting the right investment company, but more of a long term view as to how , (not if) the world will survive.

And so I'll turn to the thinkers, the dreamers... and yes the decision makers.
Thoughtful discussions on those parts of our world that will be changing within our own lifetimes.

I'll miss the fun interplay, and wish everyone well, but I think my time has passed. Time to move in a new direction.

Bless you all.

Will miss your daily interactions. And will definitely mourn the loss. Godspeed!

 

[ivinsfan]

The world needs philosophers too, now more then ever. Of course you should come and go as you wish but posting here isn't your job..

May your years continue to be full of family, memories and good times.. God be with you...

 

[Dreamer]

I also enjoy reading your posts. I always find older people's perspectives interesting. I have a next door neighbor, who will be 90 in September. I call him every morning, as a check-in, but I enjoy talking to him. He is retired military and was in tanks, which he said was extremely noisy. The military did not give them earplugs, so he has no hearing in 1 ear and limited hearing in the other ear. He told me that they used to use the filters out of Pall Mall cigarettes in their ears. I love learning things like this.

I respect if you don't want to post anymore, but I would love if you would reconsider and maybe check in once a month. I don't think that you realize what a valuable resource that you are to this site. If not, take care and I wish you and Jeanie the best.

 

[MBAustin]

Thank you for all of your contributions that have been helpful to so many! We hope you'll continue to drop in for a brief update occasionally, and we wish all the best to you and all of your family.

 

[Diver]

Thank you so much for everything you have posted. I also hope you check back in from time to time. For what it is worth, I would enjoy reading any philosophical postings you choose to post. I hope you do! Wish you and your family all the best.

 

[mistermike40]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and observations with us. I've really enjoyed reading this thread (and your musings in other threads). I hope you continue participating in the ER forum... we all have a unique perspective on things, and yours is very informative and interesting

 

[imoldernu]

Hi All

Short sabbatical. Been drifting around to 7 or 8 different forums looking for a second home, but they are either too big, too flaky, or too self centered to find the kind of discussions I had hoped for. Not really discussions, but a few sentences to earn popularity points, or even worse, egocentric statements of how things are... no back and forth. Very little of Q&A. Credit due, though, as all of the forums are well moderated, so nothing gets out of control.

I've been dropping in here from time to time to read many of the threads, so am pretty well caught up.

Our life is quite settled... nothing new except we're spending a little more time in some of the social events in our CCRC. The subject of Social Security came up, so I spent a little time looking at our experience... in terms of dollars and what they have meant to our somewhat frugal retirement.

Here's the broad overview. We took SS early, at age 62, 20 years ago. I qualified, but jeanie didn't make more than half of my pay (4 kids and a lot of short term jobs in schools, nursing homes and part time store employee... thus, she receives 1/2 of my SS.) Totalling it up, using inflation adjusted numbers, i was surprised to see that we've collected $812,000, in SS, so far.

That said, it triggered a new look at our financial situation. Income versus outgo. Here are the results, for a look/see.

Annual Income
annuity $15,000
interest IBond $12,000
Soc. Sec. $27,000
Misc div. int. $ 1,000
______
$55,700

Annual Expenses
Meals $6000
Utilities $2500
Hse Taxes $2700
Auto total $8000
Woodhaven $3500
LongTermCare $2000
Medication $2500
Medical/Dental $6000
TV Internet $2400
HOA $1800
Misc $6600
_______
Total $44,000

Some small "backups"
Long Term Care policies for both of us... Sale of and loss of expenses for Woodhaven.

The best part of this is that it keeps our assets (net worth) safe and available for whatever comes next. We also have a fallback expense plan that drops our expenses by about $5,000/yr.

Just posting for you to see what "20 years in" might look like.

Nice to be back among friends.

 

[healthyandfun]

Have enjoyed this and your other posts. Have learned from all your experiences and appreciated your willingness to share. Your posts have shown the beauty of this type of website to educate and inform. Thank you! Wishing you and your wife all the best!

 

[tuckeverlasting]

Yay! Welcome back imoldernu! I agree with your assessment...the quality of posts/posters here is very high in comparison to almost any other forum. The intelligence shines through.

 

[Carpediem]

Yay! Welcome back imoldernu! I agree with your assessment...the quality of posts/posters here is very high in comparison to almost any other forum. The intelligence shines through.

+1000 Great to see you posting again, imoldernu. Look forward to learning more from your experiences.

 

[prose3589]

So glad to see you back. Do you mind elaborating on your auto expense? Seems high in relation to your other expenses. I somewhere recall you drove later model vehicles? So just curious and interested for my own planning purposes.

 

[kgtest]

Possibly high insurance plus a lease? If they both drive it could be much more with a couple leased Mercedes.

For both our vehicles combined:
insurance is $1920,
registration $465
petro $3500-4000 (we drive 40kmi annually)
We do have a AAA membership but the ole man paid for that.
All in, with a 5 pack of oil changes for $90, and a 11 pack of car washes for about $26...

That alone is around $6,500/yr , and we drive cheaper vehicles.

We do need to replace a battery ~100, and 2 sets of tires ~1000 for both...so for this year, we are going to be closer to $7600-8000.

Sure I'm forgetting some air fresheners and minor fluid top-off, toll, parking fee's, meter fee's and turnpike/HOV fees.

 

[Snidely Whiplash]

Another subject... already covered in another thread: Over 55 retirement communities in parks with manufactured homes. We did snowbirding from 1990 to 2012 in our Florida Lake Griffin Harbor park. Manufactured homes... then... like what you think of as long trailers. (Ours was 14' X 67' with an add on sunroom... or a total of 1200 sf.)
Here's what has happened... and a warning to those who might be considering this type of low cost living.
In most cases, the "Retirement Park" owns the land , and you rent the land from the owners. In the early days, our rental costs were less than $200/mo.
Here's what has happened... follow this, if you are considering a rental land manufactured home.
1. The rate have gone up... rapidly. To as much as $700/mo., or even more.
2. The contract for living in a mfg. home park, usually requires a level of upkeep, or... an age requirement for the building, after which the owner is required to remove or replace the building.
3. corporations have been buying up older mfg home parks, and either increasing the rent, or requiring removal... (a very expensive proposition).

Seniors who bought in older parks in the last 10 years or so, are facing difficult decisions at a time when older residents don't need this kind of worry. This problem is often exacerbated because of rental contracts.
Caveat Emptor.

IMOLDERNU,

Has this happened at your old Florida community?

 

[CP Soon]

#3
___

I'm backing up a bit to tell you how we started out in the early days. We had lived in the Chicago Suburbs, Next to Naperville... an upscale town... high prices, taxes, traffic congestion, and one of the highest average (non California) incomes in the nation. We knew we wouldn't afford to stay there... so made our choice... to Really downsize...

We bought into a campground (the nations largest family campground) where you own your land... but can only live there for a maximum of 185 days/year. We bought a beautiful spot on a small lake. It's a "Park Model"... (look that up, if you don't know what it means) it's just a permanent type camper, similar to a standard manufactured home, but just 12 feet wide and 34 feet long. (400 square feet)... add a 400 sq foot add a room and a 400 sq. ft deck...

Now here's where the savings come in... even today, you can buy a used unit similar to mine for as little as $15 to $20 thousand dollars, including the land. (We paid somewhat more, because of the lake setting). The really nice part is the cost of staying there... Campground annual dues $1100... including use of all facilities... um-metered water and sewer. Taxes $500, insurance $500... All inground utilities. Total annual "resort" costs = about $2400.

[Mod Edit: Commercial link removed]

Amazing place... quiet as the moon... despite the 6500 sites. 43 miles of roads, 18 miles of wooded trails, two Olympic sized pools, dozens of playgrounds, 10 tennis courts, 16 "comfort stations" (large bathroom/shower buildings)... a very large campground store... 7000 sq ft. ...our own Tru Value Hardware and lumber store, our own gas station, propane station, and a full service bank... A fully gated community with a 24 hr. security staff of 25 -35 people, 7 small lakes, a fishing sporting goods store, two restaurants, a nature center, three craft and meeting centers, two large outdoor pavilions, two senior centers, seven computer "hot spots", canoe rentals, a large sand beach... and a fully staffed activities department... Snow mobile trails, Sledding hills ice rinks (in winter)... and the whole campground is nestled in a climax black oak forest... trees, fields, wetlands and almost every temperate zone animal, bird, and plant. To us it's Shangri-la... it's a working man's park... which means that on any given day less than 10% to 20% of the units are occupied. It's a weekend/week off type of vacation retreat, with perhaps 200 snowbird seniors, who live there for 1/2 the year.

BTW... all of this in a township with a population of 204 people.
The website has more details, with real estate info.

It's something to consider for anyone on a limited budget. This type of community (though perhaps not so large)... exists in many other states... The Tip of Texas, and Arizona come to mind, as many of our friends do the 50/50 annual winter/summer move.
....................................................

[Mod Edit: Commercial link removed]

Wow! The campground you mention sounds amazing. Being that the Mod removed the commercial link, can you share the name and location of this campground? If not, perhaps PM me.... Your 23 yrs retirement notes are great. Keep it up.

 

[imoldernu]

Wow! The campground you mention sounds amazing. Being that the Mod removed the commercial link, can you share the name and location of this campground? If not, perhaps PM me.... Your 23 yrs retirement notes are great. Keep it up.

Just try Woodhaven Lakes in Google.

 

[imoldernu]

Still here.... 23 yrs, now 30+yrs


Now 30 years retired
W*rked 30 years
Married 61 Years
Alive 83 years

Didn't expect to be around this long. Memory problems (Alzheimers) seem to have slowed, (panic over)... Life expectancy 6.8 more years

Nice part is that health is holding up, and except for sleeping only 2 hrs/night, everthing else is excellent. Just finished shoveling the driveway... earliest Illinois snow in history.... 4 inches so far... maybe 5 more on the way.

My jeanie is holding up well too... no major complaints.

We made our annual trip to Starved Rock State Park last week. Busy, busy, busy... we had to park a half mile away from the lodge. 7 busloads of kids.
..................................................................................................

Looked around the internet for "older folk" discussion websites. Not much that is stimulating. Mostly just follow the news (TV/internet). Fascinating.

Finally getting around to buying anything that strikes our fancy. Between AARP and Amazon, our mailman says... "They account for half of the mail".

FWIW... I found this Charles Hugh Smith essay fascinating... It's about Heaven in California...
https://www.oftwominds.com/blogoct19/CA-mandate-heaven10-19.html YMMV....

I suppose retirement is boring, but that hasn't happened yet. I do drop in here quite often, but find it better to keep a low profile. Never too old to learn.

Cheers to my old time friends... Come join us!!!

 

[Koolau]

Always good to hear from you imoldernu!

I enjoyed the article on Cali. Heh, heh, I hear the big complaint in most of the other states (where the Cali expats are bringing their bushel baskets of house-cash) is that they're bringing with them their attitudes which eventually made them give up and move from heaven. At least when they move from heaven to Paradise, they feel right at home. YMMV.

 

[HI Bill]

imoldernu - I'm glad you're back! I tried the fatFire Facebook Group, and just couldn't handle many of the comments. I agree, this forum is my favorite. I'm sure I'll decrease my activity here during my RE travel months...but will likely hang out here as long as my mind lasts! Thank you for all of your contributions!

 

[whatnot]

Good to hear from you.
I always enjoy your posts! Glad you and your DW are doing well.

Cheers!

 

[trumpeting_angel]

I, too, am happy to hear from you. You set a wonderful example of living a no-frills, modest life and living it to the fullest. Your descriptions of frugal living have been an inspiration.

Please post whenever the spirit moves you! I learn so much.