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Want to bet someone with an 11k income is on Medicaid health insurance on tax payer dough?
From my perspective, it would appear the vast majority of working Americans will have 'retirements' on SS and Medicaid.
Among my neighbors I know people who worked until they were disabled and got SSDI. Then as they crept older they have been transitioning over to SS in the $800/month range. Fortunately these are all home-owners who have no debt, so at $800/month they are fine.
I know this is a hard to understand concept at CD but here goes:
There ARE other choices besides the extremes of being a 'wage slave/keeping up with the Joneses' and stripping away 99% of expenses to live super small.
I love what I do and where I live and the people I associate with and that requires a certain level of achievement and effort.
I know this is a hard to understand concept at CD but here goes:
There ARE other choices besides the extremes of being a 'wage slave/keeping up with the Joneses' and stripping away 99% of expenses to live super small.
I love what I do and where I live and the people I associate with and that requires a certain level of achievement and effort.
I completely agree with you. It's just that a lot of people can't get it into their heads that someone with a paid off house can actually live pretty well on a low income. If they have the skills and time to do their own home and car repairs, grow their own garden, etc., they can live quite well on a low income.
I know this is a hard to understand concept at CD but here goes:
There ARE other choices besides the extremes of being a 'wage slave/keeping up with the Joneses' and stripping away 99% of expenses to live super small.
I love what I do and where I live and the people I associate with and that requires a certain level of achievement and effort.
I agree as well.
My wife is always the voice in my life saying do we need to spend so much for 'that'? Being frugal is her thing. That does not mean that we give up the things we want, nor that we must live 'small'.
We have a huge home, located exactly where we always wanted our retirement home to be. We live among a wonderful community.
My gripes are focused on how my body is failing me, and how much I hate growing older.
I completely agree with you. It's just that a lot of people can't get it into their heads that someone with a paid off house can actually live pretty well on a low income. If they have the skills and time to do their own home and car repairs, grow their own garden, etc., they can live quite well on a low income.
I don't think anyone has disputed that someone with a paid off house can get by on less money than someone who has to pay for housing, although of course the exact amount will vary by location because in some areas of the country, even on a paid off house, taxes could eat up well over half of 20K.
But a lot of people are also saying that existing isn't "living the good life." They want to be able to do fun and interesting things, go out to eat, travel, have hobbies that might cost money, buy higher quality food, esp. if they live someplace where even if they can grow some food, the growing season is just a small portion of the year. They want to be able to afford health care when they need it. And even someone who is handy is still going to have to pay for a new roof at some point, or a new water heater or refrigerator or all of the other expenses that come along with home ownership over time.
Not to mention that not everyone has the skills and interest in doing home and car repairs, or even growing their own food, and there's nothing wrong with that - doing those things are not inherent to the concept of "living the good life" in any way, although they can certainly fit into someone's personal definition of the way they want to live their life.
And of course the point that elhelmete was making, that many of us have chosen professions and careers because we derive satisfaction from them, and enjoy the work we do, not just the money it brings. I realize not everyone does, but it's just as incorrect to say that the only way to "live the good life" is to not work as it would be to say that only people going out and earning a living are living the good life.
I don't think anyone has disputed that someone with a paid off house can get by on less money than someone who has to pay for housing, although of course the exact amount will vary by location because in some areas of the country, even on a paid off house, taxes could eat up well over half of 20K.
$10k a year on property taxes! I did that when I was working, sold it when I retired. Who wants to pay that kind of stuff as a retiree?
Quote:
... But a lot of people are also saying that existing isn't "living the good life." They want to be able to do fun and interesting things, go out to eat, travel, have hobbies that might cost money, buy higher quality food, esp. if they live someplace where even if they can grow some food, the growing season is just a small portion of the year.
I live in Maine and we are still able to grow most of our household food.
I think we all have different ideas of what "living the good life" is all about.
$10k a year on property taxes! I did that when I was working, sold it when I retired. Who wants to pay that kind of stuff as a retiree?
I live in Maine and we are still able to grow most of our household food.
I think we all have different ideas of what "living the good life" is all about.
Well, yes, we all have different ideas, including whether it's worth paying 10K in property taxes to stay in what that person considers a desirable location.
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