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Actually many rural areas. Such as Pennsylvania, Up state NY, Tennesee, Kentucky, Arkansas etc. You can def. get by with $500 a month. It may not be Beverly Hills, but you can do it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GregW
So how and where do you retire on $2,000 per month? Inquiring minds would like to know?
Elderly subsidized housing and no car could make $2k quite managable (if not opulent). Living in a mobile home somewhere near things you need, like transport or groceries. (I loathe the nasty term "trailer trash." It's *affordable housing* that isn't an apartment).
Ideally, I guess living in a town (not needing a car) in a low-cost area, like Oklahoma or Arkansas or somewhere, not necessarily in a very rural area where transport is so vital.
I could see retiring wit $2K a month. I'd rather not, and am working hard to have more, but it could be done. I couldn't live the way I do now, and couldn't adopt multiple dogs and give money to charity or live where I do, but it could be done.
So how and where do you retire on $2,000 per month? Inquiring minds would like to know?
You can certainly do that around here.
My pension is less than 2/3 of that. We still have our youngest son living at home, so we support the three of us. My Dw works part-time for extra money to build our farmhouse with.
We used our investment portfolio to buy a lot of land, and are now building the house and putting land into farm production, and building up a herd.
We have neighbors [the Ts]: two adults raising two teenagers, on one person's full-time minimum-wage income. Owning a home, making their mortgage payments, etc.
Other neighbors [the Ss]: two adults who bought a farm and are paying a mortgage, have one full-time seasonal income. The husband works during the summers.
If you owned your home out-right, two cars and only two adults; then $2,000 / month would be about twice what you need. [minus medical].
It seems that the original poster was looking to hear from people about how they were prepared for retirement, not how they were going to retire on $2,000 per month. So, in your words, Bideshi, what's the problem?
The OP wanted a comparison and Buckhead is a comparison. A very positive comparison. We need to learn how not to be envious of those who are successful but to be students of success. There is so much anti fat cat animosity in our society there is no wonder that we are in the mess we are in.
Ideally, I guess living in a town (not needing a car) in a low-cost area, like Oklahoma or Arkansas or somewhere, not necessarily in a very rural area where transport is so vital.
My parents never had much money but lived quite well when they retired and moved to Arkansas. It's a beautiful state that has a lot going for it. There isn't much work there, but it's a great place for retirement. It gets hot in the summer, though.
One person's medical if he paid cash all the way, might be $50/year.
Or it might be $5,000/month, plus annual surgeries at $100,000 each.
My own drug habit would cost me $975/three-month script, if I paid for it myself with cash [$325/month on average]. My current co-pay is $18/three-month script.
My Dw's scripts run about twice of mine. She has had three heart attacks, each with a week in a cardiac ward, plus surgeries. If you paid cash for her medical needs, it could have easily exceeded $500,000, in the past five years.
We have one set of renters whose drug bill exceeds mine by double. Two diabetics, with high-Bp and high cholesterol, one with spine nerve damage. They are both over 65, medicare only covers a portion of their drug bill. She works part-time and her employer provides full-coverage, so now they only need to make their co-pays.
I personally wouldn't want to move anywhere more humid than Boston-area (I hate summers here). And I'm aware that living on a relatively tight budget could mean no car. I could see retirement on that budget somewhere like, say, Minnesota or maybe the Midwest, some walkable smallish city or town.
Wouldn't be my first choice, but it is a backup plan. I never want to be caught flat-footed if I can help it. My mind sort of reflexively thinks, "If this doesn't work, I can do this, and if that doesn't work, Plan C..." It's almost a tic.
The OP wanted a comparison and Buckhead is a comparison. A very positive comparison. We need to learn how not to be envious of those who are successful but to be students of success. There is so much anti fat cat animosity in our society there is no wonder that we are in the mess we are in.
Thank you TuborgP! I may need to lose a few pounds, but I've never considered myself a fat cat!
Until my father died last spring, he was living on $12,000 a year, by choice. He had a nice nest egg and didn't deny himself anything that he wanted, but his wants and needs were fairly simple.
He bought whatever he wanted at the grocery store, but didn't waste a thing. His house was paid for, so he just had the taxes to pay.
He finally stopped driving 3 years ago at 85, but sure wasn't happy about it and wouldn't sell his beloved car.
I cannot imagine living on $12,000 a year! I can barely manage the thought of $2000 a month. I wish I had the where-withall to do with less the past 20 years or so.
We are fortunate; we don't have to live that frugally, but I do admire and respect those seniors who have truly learned the value of a dollar and are not wasteful. I am aspiring to that value system.
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Buckhead is right
