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Keep applying. DH retired early (not by choice) and got a PT job at Home Depot for the medical, which became unavailable the next day LOL. Anyway, the wage was a very bad blow to his ego, but after 90 days of cart pushing, he was offered a job in hardware, which he finds very enjoyable, and strangely fulfilling. We will have a very meager retirement when we quit working PT, but we will just adjust our lifestyle accordingly.
If your income drops substantially when you retire, you will find ways in which to be resourceful. During your working years, you didn't have the time to really explore all the options that might be available for you to save money. There is planning of course in finding and selecting your final retirement home (if your current one is too expensive) That is a major step in the right direction. I have found in getting older, that I prefer a smaller home. Less cleaning, utilities, real estate taxes, insurance, maintenance etc.
I learned how to get a phone for the house for $4.95 a month in just taxes (Ooma phone) I learned, I didn't enjoy my cable enough to pay $120 a month for it, and learned about OTA TV, and building a computer DVR to record the few good shows that do come on network TV. (mostly from PBS)
I started looking at my grocery store flyers each week, and took advantage of the sales offered each week. I learned of other stores to shop for certain things which were more attractively priced. I enjoy going to Goodwill on senior day (it's fun), and see what treasure I can find 1/2 price and also add to my DVD collection for $1.50 ea. (good for when you have company) Last time I was there, I found a nice Sears canister vacuum cleaner (which I needed) that looked brand new with all attachments (costs over $100 at sears) and was priced at $25, in which I got 1/2 off and bought for $12.50. I buy stuffed animals there for my dog at $1.00 each, instead of paying $7.00 for one like I used to.
I used to spend a lot of money on books and audio books. Then I discovered my local library, Kindles and mp 3 players, and now I download more than I can possibly read -all my books and audio books for free.
Learning all the ways you can save actually becomes fun, and I pat myself on the back each time I learn something new. As long as you have enough money to pay for all the essentials (taxes, utilities, insurance, etc.) you will learn ways to still get what you feel you need, only at a much reduced price, and hopefully won't feel deprived at all. All you need is a positive outlook, and an inquiring mind.
If your income drops substantially when you retire, you will find ways in which to be resourceful. During your working years, you didn't have the time to really explore all the options that might be available for you to save money. There is planning of course in finding and selecting your final retirement home (if your current one is too expensive) That is a major step in the right direction. I have found in getting older, that I prefer a smaller home. Less cleaning, utilities, real estate taxes, insurance, maintenance etc.
I learned how to get a phone for the house for $4.95 a month in just taxes (Ooma phone) I learned, I didn't enjoy my cable enough to pay $120 a month for it, and learned about OTA TV, and building a computer DVR to record the few good shows that do come on network TV. (mostly from PBS)
I started looking at my grocery store flyers each week, and took advantage of the sales offered each week. I learned of other stores to shop for certain things which were more attractively priced. I enjoy going to Goodwill on senior day (it's fun), and see what treasure I can find 1/2 price and also add to my DVD collection for $1.50 ea. (good for when you have company) Last time I was there, I found a nice Sears canister vacuum cleaner (which I needed) that looked brand new with all attachments (costs over $100 at sears) and was priced at $25, in which I got 1/2 off and bought for $12.50. I buy stuffed animals there for my dog at $1.00 each, instead of paying $7.00 for one like I used to.
I used to spend a lot of money on books and audio books. Then I discovered my local library, Kindles and mp 3 players, and now I download more than I can possibly read -all my books and audio books for free.
Learning all the ways you can save actually becomes fun, and I pat myself on the back each time I learn something new. As long as you have enough money to pay for all the essentials (taxes, utilities, insurance, etc.) you will learn ways to still get what you feel you need, only at a much reduced price, and hopefully won't feel deprived at all. All you need is a positive outlook, and an inquiring mind.
Yes, it becomes a kind of game, really. We have downsized our house, we will go down to one car eventually, and who knows what else. Most of what we have, we have been told we need it, but we really don't.
Wear my patience wears thin, is with people who still today cling to the default viewpoint that most everyone in dire circumstance of need is a slacker and a freeloader. I used to be much more inclined to that view. But I have come to realize the profound damage that wall street greed and reckless irresponsibility has done to the well being of working families.
This is not the same America we knew even 10 years ago....and bears no resemblance to the one I grew up in 50+ years ago. Lots are hurting out there through no fault of their own....but rather because of the treasonous irresponsibility of the financial community that has been of late milking average Americans of every dime they can get their sticky fingers on.
One more point I want to make with regard to those who have correctly pointed out that there are jobs available. Yes, there are minimum wage jobs. And that is all well and good if you live in Joplin, Missouri or most of heartland America. Here in the Bay Area or other very high COL areas, that wage is pocket change, even if full-time, and won't even rent you a decent room in a decent neighborhood.
It certainly isn't the same America as 40 or 50 years ago...
Citizens have more protections than ever and no one is drafted off to war...
When they closed the vocational ed classes in the district high schools it was heralded... kids today will benefit from modern advances and no longer need to get their hands dirty... use your brain and not your back is what I heard often.
Interest rates have never been this low since records started being kept... Our parents in the 30+ years ago were paying 15% or more... people didn't know how they were going to get to work waiting in gas lines for a 10 gallon purchase on even/odd days.
Medical advances are phenomenal... Aids used to be a Death Sentence... many other afflictions were something a person just had to live with...
50+ years ago segregation was still the law in parts of the country...
Each generation has to make its way... looking back it is easy to think how good people had it.
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 01-01-2014 at 10:58 AM..
I will say, I have four kids, all self supporting, thank goodness! If I need help when I am retired, I am pretty sure they will help me, same as I help my own Mother out. I pay my Mom's cell phone, and expense she cannot pay, like a new heat pump. She is broke, and lives alone by choice, she would never be homeless.
Don't these friends of yours have kids who would take care of them? Or family? Maybe they have burned their family out...
Wear my patience wears thin, is with people who still today cling to the default viewpoint that most everyone in dire circumstance of need is a slacker and a freeloader. I used to be much more inclined to that view. But I have come to realize the profound damage that wall street greed and reckless irresponsibility has done to the well being of working families.
Thatmust be your "default POV because it certainly isn't mine and I've watched the changes since the 40s. No, not everyone is lazy and uninspired but more and more, entitlement attitudes have proliferated. I think it an "easy out" to blame it all on Wall Street.
This is not the same America we knew even 10 years ago....and bears no resemblance to the one I grew up in 50+ years ago. Lots are hurting out there through no fault of their own....but rather because of the treasonous irresponsibility of the financial community that has been of late milking average Americans of every dime they can get their sticky fingers on.
Again the blame on financial institutions. At what point are responsible people supposed to take accountability for their own fates or like so many today who blame everything on their parents, are they just to supposed to find a convenient scapegoat?
One more point I want to make with regard to those who have correctly pointed out that there are jobs available. Yes, there are minimum wage jobs. And that is all well and good if you live in Joplin, Missouri or most of heartland America. Here in the Bay Area or other very high COL areas, that wage is pocket change, even if full-time, and won't even rent you a decent room in a decent neighborhood.
Heartland America ain't half-bad. If someone can't afford the celestial altitudes you obviously believe you occupy along with the other sacred pachyderms who inhabit it, they'd be better served moving somewhere more within their budget and earning capacity.
Reality and responsibility are a real pain, aren't they?
Sad to see only one other poster manage to discern this. This country isn't gonna be the one to survive this mess, its easy to see. Too much selfishness, but not even enlightened enough selfishness not to know how to vote for one's own best interests....i hope the people who all sanctimoniously warned each other to keep anyone poor at arms length and sic killer animals on them get a taste of their own medicine real, real soon. a little bit like the movie "THE PURGE", much? oh, wait, for many of you on this thread that was porobably your idea of a happy lil fairytale rather than a nightmare dystopia.
and they say this country is full of christians.
I've been reading this thread with great interest. I'm one of those broke 60-year olds (sort of) and my sister (one year younger) is another one. We made different mistakes though. I was one of those people who made good money yet lived above my means, going deeply into debt, never saving. However, I worked, always. My sister decided work wasn't for her, addled her brain with drugs and alcohol, got herself on SS disability based on her addled brain, and lives hand to mouth because SSI pays so little.
The only thing I did right was that I worked for almost 20 years in a job I didn't like but which had a pension plan, and when I lost that job in the recession I was able to start my pension, which is enough to support me, now that I've drastically curtailed my lifestyle and expenses. (Hoping to work again but with the job market - who knows?) My sister is still beyond broke but at least not homeless (subsidized housing). I have exhausted myself helping her financially and otherwise and am no longer financially able to help her, now that I'm jobless. I told her many times to GET A JOB, but she wouldn't hear of it. "I'd lose my benefits. Besides, it's almost time for me to retire." She's very into hair and makeup plus she's very bright and chatty - I thought she should look into training as a cosmetician or something.
There's something about giving money to people who refuse to work, to even try to work.... You know they'll never get on their feet. If you lend them money, you'll never get it back. And they'll keep coming back for more if you help them even once. I'm not hard-hearted but I hate the thought of throwing money down the drain. For me, that's the decision point. Not someone's present circumstances but their history of work, and willingness to work. In my opinion, everyone should work, if they possibly can. And keep working until they can stop without being a drain on anyone else.
Up until a number of decades ago, that hallmark of America was indeed rugged individualism. Thankfully, some vestige of that remains. It's what made this country strong in the first place. Unfortunately, more and more it's being diluted and people are becoming softer and more needy. I don't think it bodes well for up-and-coming generations or this country.
Actually, I don't think that's true at all. Historically, Americans have tended to be much more community minded/cooperative than many are now. Most public institutions from hospitals to libraries to fire departments were established through communal efforts. Ethnic/racial/religious/neighborhood groups formed self-help/self-improvement/self-insurance groups. Examples that still exist today: YMCA, YWCA, the Grange, volunteer fire departments.
"Rugged individualism" has always been a myth in the US but in recent years it's been raised to cult status by some members of some political persuasions.
I've been reading this thread with great interest. I'm one of those broke 60-year olds (sort of) and my sister (one year younger) is another one. We made different mistakes though. I was one of those people who made good money yet lived above my means, going deeply into debt, never saving. However, I worked, always. My sister decided work wasn't for her, addled her brain with drugs and alcohol, got herself on SS disability based on her addled brain, and lives hand to mouth because SSI pays so little.
The only thing I did right was that I worked for almost 20 years in a job I didn't like but which had a pension plan, and when I lost that job in the recession I was able to start my pension, which is enough to support me, now that I've drastically curtailed my lifestyle and expenses. (Hoping to work again but with the job market - who knows?) My sister is still beyond broke but at least not homeless (subsidized housing). I have exhausted myself helping her financially and otherwise and am no longer financially able to help her, now that I'm jobless. I told her many times to GET A JOB, but she wouldn't hear of it. "I'd lose my benefits. Besides, it's almost time for me to retire." She's very into hair and makeup plus she's very bright and chatty - I thought she should look into training as a cosmetician or something.
There's something about giving money to people who refuse to work, to even try to work.... You know they'll never get on their feet. If you lend them money, you'll never get it back. And they'll keep coming back for more if you help them even once. I'm not hard-hearted but I hate the thought of throwing money down the drain. For me, that's the decision point. Not someone's present circumstances but their history of work, and willingness to work. In my opinion, everyone should work, if they possibly can. And keep working until they can stop without being a drain on anyone else.
I too lived above my means, falling into the "free" money with my real estate malarkey. In my fifties with two kids & getting back on track, working hard & building up again. I have my eye on a few opportunities in Ft. Lauderdale. With my little money, charm, intelligence & an understanding banker (which I dread having to deal with), hopefully everything will go according to plan. You see, I refuse to give up. After I lost everything, I've been a cleaner, cook, fish & chip fryer, laundry attendant... you name it I've done it to earn some cash. I believe in the American work ethic, if it's easy & comes from the government, watch out. I've run my own businesses before & I love the freedom & satisfaction from a project I've begun. So wannagonorth don't give up, something's always around the corner. Love your sister but be careful, don't put yourself in a position where you may have to say or do something you'll regret. And don't worry about tomorrow, it usually works out fine if we don't panic, pray, be kind & stick with it.
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Yeah, actually, you folks ARE heartless
