Essential Facts For Low Income Retirees (relocating, fighting, raising, genius)

[SelflessGene]

Originally Posted by bongo

AARP has formed partnerships with several national employers, who now have programs to recruit, hire and train older workers. Contact AARP or aarpworksearch.org

A simple, non-physical, part-time job could be the best essential to augment a low social security payment.

My problem with the AARP Worksearch program (AKA Senior Community Service Employment Program) is that I've already participated. Although it helped at the time, it's not a long-term solution. I was placed at the local public library (which was just great) but the schedule was just 18 hours a week at minimum wage. Every six months you needed to be renewed (just like a book). It was understood that this was actually a make-work situation since the county was cutting back on services and not about to hire any librarians. In fact, the reason I was there was because they were understaffed and AARP was able to help them out. The basic idea of the program is to get older workers back up to speed and then get them off the program. I did it for one and a half years and then decided to make a bold (for me) move. I used to live in Albuquerque and have always wanted to move back. So I saved up my pennies, quit the AARP program and went out to NM with the intention of never returning. I had discovered that the unemployment rate was half of what it is here in the the Tampa Bay Area so I figured I could find a real job. After all, in all the time I lived there ('78-'91) I never had any trouble finding a job. Well, things do change. It wasn't the town I remembered. I now realize that the lower unemployment rate was probably related to the presence of Air Force bases, weapons labs and defense contractor think tanks. Even Intel had downsized from the time I lived there. So I returned to Florida and, of course, having quit the AARP program I can't go back to it. Too many other people in line.

So, thank you for your interest and suggestion but as far as AARP is concerned it's a "been there, done that" situation.

You're right in your initial idea, though. One reason I've never been overly obsessive about retirement planning was that I really enjoy working and planned on working until the day I dropped dead. I never thought that there would come a day when economic circumstances would force me into retirement - early retirement at that. Actually, I don't see collecting S.S. benefits as a sign of retirement but as a form of welfare that will help me get to my next job. I'll never stop looking for work.

[htlong]

Originally Posted by SelflessGene

Actually, I heard you the first time. Seems to me that when making a possibly life-determining decision of this kind that it might be a good idea to learn something about the laws and regulations that apply. Consider the following:

"Under the voucher program, new voucher-holders may choose a unit anywhere in the United States if the family lived in the jurisdiction of the PHA issuing the voucher when the family applied for assistance. Those new voucher-holders not living in the jurisdiction of the PHA at the time the family applied for housing assistance must initially lease a unit within that jurisdiction for the first twelve months of assistance. A family that wishes to move to another PHA's jurisdiction must consult with the PHA that currently administers its housing assistance to verify the procedures for moving."

Ok, so you can only apply for assistance to the Public Housing Authority for the area in which you are currently residing (that makes sense) and then in the event that your name does come up for consideration you are obligated to spend a year living in that area's subsidized housing before you can even think of moving somewhere else. These are things worth knowing.

Source for this:
Housing Choice Voucher Program Section 8/U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

I've read everything on the local City and County Housing websites and have been trying to get them on the phone but it's Friday afternoon now. I think I'll go eat some fried chicken.

I was just wondering when it became the govts job to provide housing?
all the time I wasted working to support myself when I should have gotten a cardboard sign and stood on the exit ramps begging for drug money

Life is about the choices you make or dont make, please think and make the right choices!!!

[newenglandgirl]

Originally Posted by htlong

I was just wondering when it became the govts job to provide housing?
all the time I wasted working to support myself when I should have gotten a cardboard sign and stood on the exit ramps begging for drug money

Life is about the choices you make or dont make, please think and make the right choices!!!

The OP is not looking for advice on life choices. He explained his position and has asked specifically for answers to specific questions, he is seeking facts. I don't know why posters have to get in and make judgments when none have been asked for. It's a temptation to do so, and I'm a bit guilty of it myself. But these threads can go WAY off track so easily when people are posting their two cents worth on all kinds of things that have nothing to do with the OP. His situation is what it is, there is no moral judgement called for unless he asks for that kind of advice.

[jghorton]

Originally Posted by SelflessGene

Thanks for the link and all the other good ideas.

I'm also looking for facts about which cities are losing population the fastest on the assumption that apartment rentals in those places would be more of a buyer's and less of a seller's market. Have to be careful here though because cities like San Francisco, CA are losing population because so many people can no longer afford to live there while cities like Rochester, NY (my home town) are losing population because the manufacturing base (Kodak, Xerox, Bauch & Lomb) has been wiped out by those wonderful free trade agreements so popular with the globalists.

Florida is a nogo because this state was one of the top contenders in the Housing Bubble. As the housing prices soared most of the apartments were converted to condos. When the bubble burst and housing prices plummeted, apartment rents stayed high due to their scarcity. In this town you can get a converted one-car garage for $600/mo. if you're lucky.

It's probably also important to remember that things change - What may seem like a great, low-cost market today, may find itself in such demand that the prices (rent, houses, etc) increase. Attempting to forecast the longer-term picture is more difficult than looking at a 'today's window in time'.

For example, you mention that Florida was a top contender in the housing bubble and that now rentals are extremely high, due to their scarcity. But, in 2003-2006 housing prices in Brevard County (for example), were spiraling upward at a pace that placed among the top 10 in the nation ... BECAUSE, the media got hold of the fact that oceanfront property and other was well below costs elsewhere! At that time, rentals were abundant and low-priced. Now, post-bubble, housing prices are about half (or less) what they were at the peak ...and may again be ready for a recovery run-up, when the available inventory is depleted and the housing market starts to recover.

As the great philosopher, Forest Gump said, "Life is sorta like a box of chocolates --- you never know exactly what you're going to get"

[SelflessGene]

Originally Posted by newenglandgirl

His situation is what it is ...

Persistant isn't he? I wonder what he's saying.

Yeah, "[the] situation is what it is". This is something I run into all the time and I've never quite undersood it. However the present situation came to be, the past is the past and it can't be changed. All a person can do is to get as clear an understanding of present circumstances as they're capable of and go from there. Seems obvious to me but apparently not to everyone.

Nice to hear from you.

[SelflessGene]

Originally Posted by jghorton

It's probably also important to remember that things change ...

Dont' I know it. Unfortunately I'm not privy to any knowledge of the future so I have to deal with the here and now. Hell, that's hard enough. In addition to that I'm a firm believer in the Black Swan principle: It's not what you know that's going to determine the future, it's what you don't and can't know. (Maybe that's just a paraphrase of Forest Gump.)

Thanks for your input.

[SportyandMisty]

Originally Posted by newenglandgirl

... The wealthy on the other hand are constantly spewing hatred toward the have nots, stereotyping them en masse and accusing them of ruining their cushy lifestyle. What the wealthy (the sort of wealthy, not the super wealthy) don't understand is that their position is made stable by the stabilization of the middle class, which takes the brunt of economic woes through taxes, etc. and does the work (through jobs) that keeps the upper class living in style. I'm always puzzled esp on this forum about the vitriolic statements toward the middle class...

...Frankly, I'm disappointed in my generation (including me) in the sense that we are leaving the next generation in an economic and ecological mess.

Fascinating. I guess this is an example of the same phenomenon that police and detectives are all too familiar with: a dozen witnesses to a crime or car accident report vastly different views of what actually happened.

You see, I don't hear "the wealthy" "spewing hatred toward the have nots..." Instead, I hear the opposite: continued class warfare against those who are in the top marginal federal income tax bracket.

I'm not wealthy - I don't have a private jet or own an island. I am comfortable - I drive a 12 year old car but own several houses outright, including one I bought for my mom to live out her days in some relative safety. I retired early because I could by being a workaholic for 25 years and being a voracious saver/coupon clipper at the same time. If it isn't on sale & marked down on the clearance rack at a discounter, I don't buy it.

I've seen how wealthy people live, for example:

Home - Newport Mansions

or in the old days Peterhof (Petrodvorets), St. Petersburg, Russia

or in modern times Manhattan's Most Expensive Real Estate - BusinessWeek


I am not wealthy. So I just do not understand why so many in the country, particularly in the current administration, assert that I *am* wealthy and denigrate me for it just because my net worth is greater than zero, I don't have a mortgage, I don't have a loan on my car, and I saved my entire life rather than splurging on luxuries along the way.


By the way, I, too, am disappointed in my generation (also including me) about the mess we have made that we are passing along to our kids.

[newenglandgirl]

Originally Posted by SportyandMisty

Fascinating. I guess this is an example of the same phenomenon that police and detectives are all too familiar with: a dozen witnesses to a crime or car accident report vastly different views of what actually happened.

You see, I don't hear "the wealthy" "spewing hatred toward the have nots..." Instead, I hear the opposite: continued class warfare against those who are in the top marginal federal income tax bracket.

I don't see any outright class warfare in our country. What I hear all the time, including on online forums, is the well to do (shall not call them wealthy, for the truly wealthy are a whole cut above) putting down those with much less money, worrying that these people will somehow take their assets from them in some way, complaining that all people receiving assistance are lazy and not motivated, milking the system, stupid for not planning adequately for retirement, etc etc (see the thread, for one ex: Who are the Have Nots). There is a general fear of "the masses" if the economy gets any worse. There is the general perception that "the homeless" are all bums. There is tons of judgement toward those who have much less.

I'm in touch with a wide variety of people, and I don't see as much hatred toward the upper classes from the lower. The lower classes are so busy trying to survive they don't generally have the energy to even think about anyone else. Just talking in generalities, obviously.

Now the OP wants facts. We need to stick with that,,,

[SelflessGene]

Originally Posted by SportyandMisty

I retired early because I could by being a workaholic for 25 years and being a voracious saver/coupon clipper at the same time. If it isn't on sale & marked down on the clearance rack at a discounter, I don't buy it.

I am not wealthy. So I just do not understand why so many in the country, particularly in the current administration, assert that I *am* wealthy and denigrate me for it just because my net worth is greater than zero, I don't have a mortgage, I don't have a loan on my car, and I saved my entire life rather than splurging on luxuries along the way.

You are not representative of "The Rich". That would be the tiny minority at the top who have managed to consolidate unprecedented amounts of the nation's wealth, leaving the vast majority of the population to experience lives that range from "tolerable" to "insufferable". None of those folks are posting here. Also, I don't think anybody posting here (or "in the current administration") would intentionally "denigrate" you. "The Rich" don't clip coupons.

I think what NewEnglandGirl is getting at is the petty sniping that goes on here all the time, directed toward those who are in need (for whatever reasons - medical emergencies, layoffs, alien abductions) by those whose only apparent purpose for posting here is to trumpet their intellectual, moral, ethical and political superiority in no uncertain terms. Their basic theme seems to be that all those who do not measure up to their standards should immediately kill themselves for their sins. It's a common trait among those insecure enough to need continual self-contratulation: "blame the victim".

That's the micro scale. Of course, this is a reflection of what's going on in society at the macro scale. But I don't even want to go there. 'Nuff said, I'm all typed out.

[aliveandwellinSA]

Originally Posted by SelflessGene

the petty sniping that goes on here all the time

petty sniping here, you must be kidding