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Status:
"Smartened up and walked away!"
(set 21 days ago)
11,767 posts, read 5,781,921 times
Reputation: 14186
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FirebirdCamaro1220
Perhaps the elderly, who no longer have kids at home, should sell their homes and downsize to a Condo, or move to a retirement community. Might alleviate some pressure on the housing market for families...
My husband and I will hopefully be retiring in a few years so I've looked into Condos and retirement communities. The costs are outrageous. Some of the condos which are nothing special would force us to take out another mortgage - retirement communities have a lot of association fees and again the houses are expensive.
To qualify for HUD senior housing - you can't have previously owned a home for 5 yrs - have little money in the bank and your income which would include SS and any 401K has to be under a certain amt.
Most stay in their homes because all the have to save for is the taxes but they too have gone up and will continue to do so. Meanwhile they don't have the money for any repairs the house may need. I see how our neighborhood has gone downhill since so many of the residents have aged - they can't keep up on the mowing, gardening, outside painting and the houses start to look like you know what.
Until people look into all these great alternatives - you have no clue how much it's really going to cost.
My husband and I will hopefully be retiring in a few years so I've looked into Condos and retirement communities. The costs are outrageous. Some of the condos which are nothing special would force us to take out another mortgage - retirement communities have a lot of association fees and again the houses are expensive.
To qualify for HUD senior housing - you can't have previously owned a home for 5 yrs - have little money in the bank and your income which would include SS and any 401K has to be under a certain amt.
Most stay in their homes because all the have to save for is the taxes but they too have gone up and will continue to do so. Meanwhile they don't have the money for any repairs the house may need. I see how our neighborhood has gone downhill since so many of the residents have aged - they can't keep up on the mowing, gardening, outside painting and the houses start to look like you know what.
Until people look into all these great alternatives - you have no clue how much it's really going to cost.
As I said before, the income limits for the safety net is so low that it is for people who never really tried to make anything of themselves in the first place. The middle class won't qualify for it when they get older even though they paid for that safety net all their working years.
Status:
"Smartened up and walked away!"
(set 21 days ago)
11,767 posts, read 5,781,921 times
Reputation: 14186
Quote:
Originally Posted by EmilyFoxSeaton
Did I miss it or why doesn't this guy have social security? That would be a big help even if he had to work.
I am frankly tired of hearing this old lie. Elderly get social security, medicare, and discounts on things just for being old. There are reverse mortgages... over 55 housing. The whole world bends the knee to them. And as was mentioned, they had their whole lives to save for a rainy day or invest... they chose not to.
I agree that there is a horrible age discrimination problem but honestly what do they expect? Their problem is that they believed the lie that they could work forever and never looked into reality or planned for problems down the road.
The media just *loooovvvees* this kind of story as it tugs at the heart and says we need to do more. But as usual.. it is the people who have it pretty good that just keep on complaining. As recently as 1930 there was no social security or medicare. If you were old and a woman you might as well just kill yourself because life truly wasn't worth living. You had to work all day doing laundry or some back breaking work, no time off... and no sick days and you could be fired for any reason.
Why can't they do jobs like other people: Uber, Left, Safai, Task Rabbit.. and a gazillion other ways of making money.
No they have to go find the worst job they can find so they can day "oh woe is me". No you chose all of that and now you want the world to feel bad for you. Nope.
I know a few young people who are in severely dire straights. No income, no family, and no ability to get an education because of the insane tuitions. But they just do they best they can and cheerfully live in a house with 20 other people and sleep on the floor. It is all about expectations.
Seems you've done really well for yourself and good for you - but not everyone is as fortunate. You'll be that elderly in about 10yrs and getting that SS, medicare and discounts.
Maybe no one ever informed you but the elderly still pay for Medicare which really covers nothing as they still have to pay 20% besides the cost taken out of their SS each month. Most have to pay to have supplemental plans.
Reverse mortgages do nothing but rob the owners - they do not get what the house is actually worth but a % and the elderly still have to pay for the taxes, upkeep and repairs.
Give it a few years and you'll see that maybe you have back problems,, knee or hip problems, can't see to drive at night so some of these jobs they wouldn't even qualify for.
I think you're a bit privileged and have no idea how many Americans live - but we all get older and KARMA will hit you too!
Oh and the woe is me - you did quite a lot of that on the Mass. boards concerning the issue with your townhouse and the designers you brought in. People really should think before they post.
I don't see ever retiring. Between high and ever increasing property taxes and worries about health care expenses... how can anyone ever save enough for retirement?
Are you kidding? It's done all the time. It takes sober planning.
Those not willing to do this will find out too late to do anything about it. I have a friend like this.
Oh and the woe is me - you did quite a lot of that on the Mass. boards concerning the issue with your townhouse and the designers you brought in. People really should think before they post.
Your entire post is all.. oh there is this, but it isn't perfect... oh there is this but it isn't perfect.
Stalker much? I don't even remember that thread so I can't fight you but I remember asking about a handyman to do some work in my basement. Look out.. I must be up there with the the Trumps!
Your right, I chose well. I will be pretty well off when the time for retirement comes. Because I have been planning for a long time and working hard to save every dime I can. But I also will be moving to a cheaper state not demanding that I get even more money because I want to stay here.
Can't have much sympathy for those who didn't and now want even more entitlements.
Just more selfish baby boomer attitude. They are the most spoiled generation.
Part of the issue is the zero-interest rate policies of Janet Yellen she was nominated by Obama.
They claim there is little inflation, to hold interest rates down so they can take on huge amounts of debt, so they can continue to run those huge budget deficits Obama liked so much.
Because of her zero-interest rate policies and bogus claims of no inflation, senior citizens have felt effects far more than other groups.
Democratic cities also have tremendous property taxes, sales taxes and property taxes. The Democrats like to price elderly out of homes with high property taxes.
Yellon, the Chair of the Federal Reserve, does not set interest rates. The Federal Opnen Markets Committee does. The Chair gets 1 vote. This committee is comprised of the 7 governor's of the Federal Reserve and 5 Presidents of regional Reserve Banks.
POTUS appoints Federal Board Members to 14 year terms, with the consent of the Senate.
The Regional banks appoint their presidents.
A bank is free to pay any rate they choose on passbook savings and CDs. A bank could, for example decide to pay 10%, right now. It would make no business sense to do so, given they have to compete with other banks for loan business. Who is going to obtain a mortgage from a bank at 12% when other lenders are charging 4.5%?
While Yellen's term as Chair is over next year, she and her vote remains on the Federal Reserve Board until 2024.
Perhaps the elderly, who no longer have kids at home, should sell their homes and downsize to a Condo, or move to a retirement community. Might alleviate some pressure on the housing market for families...
Vast portions of the Midwest's housing market has not recovered from the peaks in 2005/6. Real estate is local.
Why assume all seniors were/ are homeowners?
Life in a retirement community is usually more costly than owning one's own home, unless the community is subsidized.
its been my understanding that labor all the days of our life in one form or another is -one of the things you can count on- of living life ( word of God backs that up but not to turn this away from the core topic)
i honestly believe that older people are being driven back to work because of Consumerism.
the whole tin foil hat thing where: there are companies that dont know when to stop looking for bigger and bigger profits, cutting labor forces , reducing wages, upping prices, lowering quality and durability of the goods. ( but the massive amounts of ads will confirm- you NEED the product and just so smart for buying it!)
the price of necessities go up and up ( water, gas, food, rent or taxes) and some how never gets classified as extortion.
working full time or over time- working to the most meticulous degree is no promise of a stable and dependable life for a person and their family.
I honestly can not figure out how my grandfather worked in a steel yard and paid for himself his wife and 5 kids and a house and car on just that one pay check. he must have been way tougher than me or anyone i've ever met.
My friend's father pushed elevator buttons in the Empire State Building. His wage supported a wife and 5 kids in a very small 2 family home, in Queens. He got a VA mortgage- no money down. The renters paid the mortgage. No car. No vacations No dining out. No AC. Telephone was a shared party line. 1 TV. Mother made clothing for the kids. He retired with a full pension and Social Security.
There is a huge difference in the standard of living, then and now. What the average guy views as a necessity today would have been considered a luxury beyond reach, in times gone bye.
Ill be retiring at the end of the year or by March. Some of us kept our eye on the ball and sacrificed today for our tomorrow. Where I work we all have the same potential. Many squander it by buying new cars every 3 years, expensive vacations and trading in houses for bigger. I know one person who retired, built a $350,000 house and is now back because he is low on money. It's all about choices.
You don't have to work until you die. There are still many inexpensive places to live in the US and abroad.
For example, my sister-in-law's mother is enjoying her later years in life living in Ecuador, living on nothing but her social security check. There are many other countries that offer this kind of lifestyle. And if you don't want to leave the country, there are many fine, safe retirement communities in the US that offer cheap living.
Above all, don't be careless with your money. Make your financial health as much of a priority as your physical, mental, and social well-being.
Medicare is worthless, offshore.
Living offshore in one option , for healthy seniors.
Cheap retirement communities tend to be subsidized. The demand exceeds supply.
Most seniors seem to prefer to live near their children.
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