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So.... for you.... a $30,000 expense is "a little unexpected expense". You live in a different world than me, and I dare say from most of the retired people in the country.
If for me, a $30,000 expense was just a little unexpected thing, THEN I AGREE WITH YOUR POINT OF VIEW 100%.
Correct! A $5k, $10k, $20k or even a $30k (or much larger) unexpected expense can easily come about at anytime. If people elect to retire and cannot even handle an unexpected expense like that from savings or investments then in my opinion they should not have retired, because they are definitely living 'on the edge' of financial disaster.
Thank you for agreeing with my point of view 100%!
Correct! A $5k, $10k, $20k or even a $30k (or much larger) unexpected expense can easily come about at anytime. If people elect to retire and cannot even handle an unexpected expense like that from savings or investments then in my opinion they should not have retired, because they are definitely living 'on the edge' of financial disaster.
Thank you for agreeing with my point of view 100%!
If you truly believe this you are a very unenlightened person. People cannot always elect as to when they retire. Somwone can be finanically sound with all the savings in the world but also can lose everything due to illness, loss of investments or job loss. All of these happened to me.
I don't think that HighCotton is unenlightened. I do believe that s/he is rather young, maybe 35-40, gets a very high paying job that s/he expects to have forever(without knowing that these kinds of jobs tends to get pulled out from under us when we reach a certain age---look at Jerry Lewis) , or is old-wealthy-money and doesn't understand how even the somewhat affluent elderly live(perhaps those with a good pension/or investments and SSA). During the 40 years of my working life, I never had an unexpected expense much more than about $1000 from some stupid car breakdown. I consider myself lucky. But then I never owned anything expensive enough so that insurance wouldn't cover it. I guess if my ferrari or Rolls Royce needed a new engine, it could have done me in, if I'd had one of those instead of a cheap Fiat or ford escort. And I carried a lot of insurance to cover possible horrible expenses---it was only prudent.
I can't even imagine the living circumstances where one has easily arriving unexpected expensies of $20K, $30K or even larger! This boggles my mind as to the kind of expense this might be that could easily arrive at any time.
I don't think that HighCotton is unenlightened. I do believe that s/he is rather young, maybe 35-40, gets a very high paying job that s/he expects to have forever(without knowing that these kinds of jobs tends to get pulled out from under us when we reach a certain age---look at Jerry Lewis) , or is old-wealthy-money and doesn't understand how even the somewhat affluent elderly live(perhaps those with a good pension/or investments and SSA). During the 40 years of my working life, I never had an unexpected expense much more than about $1000 from some stupid car breakdown. I consider myself lucky. But then I never owned anything expensive enough so that insurance wouldn't cover it. I guess if my ferrari or Rolls Royce needed a new engine, it could have done me in, if I'd had one of those instead of a cheap Fiat or ford escort. And I carried a lot of insurance to cover possible horrible expenses---it was only prudent.
I can't even imagine the living circumstances where one has easily arriving unexpected expensies of $20K, $30K or even larger! This boggles my mind as to the kind of expense this might be that could easily arrive at any time.
I used the word "enlightened" because the word I would have liked to use would not have gotten past the censor. I have a feeling HighCotton is just trying to yank some chains.
I would also have a difficult time seeing as large an emergency expense incurred as $30,000 or more unless maybe one is talking about medical expenses.
I would also have a difficult time seeing as large an emergency expense incurred as $30,000 or more unless maybe one is talking about medical expenses.
I agree 100%, but most of us try to hope that our insurance will provide for that. In any case someone who is planning ahead and has some resources usually gets insurance for that kind of bill. Its the bills that are way above that which exceed our insurance. But these don't happen every few years or so.
I am hoping that s/he is not pulling chains because then we would have to describe him/her using the internet "T" word.
..... I have a feeling HighCotton is just trying to yank some chains.
Geez, I hope not. The prostatic discomfort of "chain-yanking" is unwelcome at this age. However, I am enjoying the graphs. Since I don't anticipate needing more than $580K, I think I will go ahead and die at 80.
[quote=Minervah;20784939
I would also have a difficult time seeing as large an emergency expense incurred as $30,000 or more unless maybe one is talking about medical expenses.[/QUOTE]
You can lose your job and then a large emergency expense will be incurred, so you can easily go through 30,000. Losing your job, you can also lose healthcare coverage and even if you are able to elect cobra, that would be at a very high rate.
You cannot count on unemployment because you may be fired for cause. I have always tried to maintain a sufficient amount of money in assets to always have the option to "tell the man where to shove the job"--and I have done that many times.
Losing your job will also prevent you from borrowing money. You may suddenly need a new car and you have no money and you cannot borrow--what do you do? You may need a car for another job.
All your expenses will go on and with a family you will need more emergency funds.
When I got suddenly ill, I had sufficient emergency funds and assets to help me survive because I always lived below my means. That with being frugal made everything easier because I was able to pay off all my debt which was only my mortgage and a small car loan. Now, 16 yrs. later, I am sicker and disabled and I still maintain emergency assets with little income but no debt; but I still live below my means to increase my emergency funds.
Some people buy insurance for every possible and remote disaster. They buy all the extended warranties which certainly are profitable for the businesses because they keep pushing them every time you buy something. Some people buy an item that cost less than 100 dollars; and then they buy insurance for that small inconsequential product.
It makes more financial sense and you can save money but absorbing some losses yourself and self insure with a sufficient emergency fund and that would involve more than a few thousand. If my water heater goes or my furnace needs repair, then it could easily be more than a few thousand. Also, there are many hazards that you cannot insure against.
I have not paid much attention to these important, well researched, but somewhat obsessive pedantic posts about delaying social security; as I was forced into social security disability to get health insurance. I am sure the idea make good sense for some people but, as it has been said, many times one does not have full control of when one must take social security--as in my case.
Livecontent
Last edited by livecontent; 09-07-2011 at 07:12 PM..
If you truly believe this you are a very unenlightened person. People cannot always elect as to when they retire. Somwone can be finanically sound with all the savings in the world but also can lose everything due to illness, loss of investments or job loss. All of these happened to me.
It can happen to anyone.
I can assure you that I am a very 'enlightened' person. More than you would probably ever imagine.
You said; "People cannot always elect as to when they retire." You are twisting my words with the key word 'elect', which you have used very poorly. If you elect to retire (meaning that you have chosen to retire, not be made to retire against your will), then you better have ample assets to take care of an unexpected expense to the tune of multiple tens of thousands of dollars, which is not a lot of money.
I feel sorry for you that you fell on hard times and lost everything due to illness, including loss of investments and job loss. It sounds like you did not 'elect' to retire - did you? You imply that your retirement was brought on against your will caused by something that you had no control over. It is what it is, and I hope somehow you can overcome that hardship. Again, someone like you is not the people I'm addressing - I'm addressing the people who 'elect' to retire yet they don't have any meaningful assets to take care of an unexpected expense costing $5k, $10, $30k or more...or multiple unexpected expenses over the years costing a great deal more than that. To think you don't need such assets (and don't have such assets) and still 'elect' to retire is simply unwise and asking for potential major financial problems when you can least afford it - because you cannot afford it...and have no abilty to overcome the problem or recover from it.
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