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You are better then a lot of others...except for the above statement. "When we sell our home....". I'm not sure what that means and haven't read the other 8 pages. Unless you plan to live in a tent, the sale price of your house should not really count as assets for retirements unless it's a second house or you already have housing provided for. That's a mistake many do. You sell your home, you buy a new one, or rent one which simply means a wash.
Although housing is cheaper at least in TN and you can get a smaller place.
Although housing is cheaper at least in TN and you can get a smaller place.
That's part of the plan. Downsizing . It will be just the two of us in TN so we won't need a large home. I talked to our realtor today and we will probably realize more from the sale of our home than we previously thought. So that is good news.
That's part of the plan. Downsizing . It will be just the two of us in TN so we won't need a large home. I talked to our realtor today and we will probably realize more from the sale of our home than we previously thought. So that is good news.
Appreciate everyones posts and good advice.
And maybe a reverse mortgage too? Depending on if you have inheritance issues to work with, that would add some more cash. For many people this is an underutilized tool.
Unless you live in an area condusive to aging it may be quite a poor move.
Nothing more horrible then being stuck with a reverse moretgage on a home and finding now you can't drive and there is no public transportation in the area.
Many lack the right medical facilities or specialists and now they will have no money and no house if they try to move.
Something to think about .
we had a 2nd home in an area where we thought we would retire to. then the more we thought about what the area lacked we realized we would not be doing a wise thing growing old there.
My massages were suggested by my doctor for health reasons -- altho', I grant, they are definitely a luxury.
Good grief -- I'm NOT angry for ME -- you're the second person who has suggested that -- how stupid do you think I am. I am angry for OTHER WHO DO NOT HAVE what I have. And, yes, I do believe others should give it to us. The government should grant everyone, 65 and over, $40000/yr. not subject to taxes and with 5% COLA every year. (Those who do not have a sustainable retirement income of at least $40,000 from other sources.) Every single person, which means that, yes, married couples -- straight and gay -- would get $80,000/yr. And I don't care if you've never worked outside the home -- at 65, everyone would get $40,000/yr. Health care should be 100% free (if you want to try to live forever, do it on your dime -- I've smoked all my life -- when I get lung cancer, just make me comfortable as possible -- why would I expect other taxpayers to pay for my treatment -- which, in the end, isn't going to cure me anyway?!).
I live in New Mexico. 29.9% of our children go to bed hungry every night (I have good reason to think that's an under-estimate) -- and I don't know what percentage of our seniors do but I'm sure it's up there. Add homeless Vets. This is all unconscionable! Especially when big US corporations pay little or no taxes!
You absolutely should not have to live on (essentially) $1227/mo. I don't care if you don't pay taxes on it and that your health care is free. It is WAY too little.
I must disagree. You are essentially advocating for a doubling of Social Security and Medicare. Given that the system we already have is so troubled, expanding it would only make the problems that much worse.
The "trustees" have raided the "trust" fund as is, and you want to trust them with even more money?
There's always been a conflict of interest here - if a private company financed its own operations by issuing bonds and buying them inside its employees' own pension funds, it would be guilty of fraud and/or embezzlement. The federal government does exactly the same thing by holding Treasury securities in the SS and Medicare "trust" funds, why is it acceptable? I'd argue that we as a nation tolerate it to some degree as the lesser of the two evils relative to having homeless seniors roaming the streets. But this doesn't mean we should have more of it, as we have enough to make sure this usually doesn't happen - even though it isn't enough to live on "comfortably", it does allow for *basic* subsistence.
To make an analogy, just because you may be forced to have the fox guard the henhouse doesn't mean you should have the fox guard two henhouses (fox = trustees/the country, henhouse = trust fund, hens = money in trust fund)
Unless you live in an area condusive to aging it may be quite a poor move.
Nothing more horrible then being stuck with a reverse moretgage on a home and finding now you can't drive and there is no public transportation in the area.
Many lack the right medical facilities or specialists and now they will have no money and no house if they try to move.
Something to think about .
we had a 2nd home in an area where we thought we would retire to. then the more we thought about what the area lacked we realized we would not be doing a wise thing growing old there.
I would disagree with the descriptive and dramatic use of the word "many". Are their some people for which a RM is a bad option? Of course, but that is true of every option.
Also, you aren't "stuck", you can leave whenever you want. The RM does't say you have to live in the home for the rest of your life. I'm not sure how you arrived at the results that a person with a Rm who needs medical care would not have money or a house? With a RM they would have the house, and the monthly income. If they moved, they would have the value of the home, less payments already received. From that money they could move to a new house or apartment. It's as if you don't understand how a RM mortgage works, or the meds were kicking in?
The RM isn't for everyone, but in the OP's case it may be a tool that would work for them. Some people don't like them simply because they want the feeling of owning their home.
Ok, first off, I think your reply was rude. Second. I've lived in CA all my life. It's not just finding someplace cheap to live. It's all the TAXES!!! It's the cost of living. I live in the poorest area in the state and the cost of living is still 25% more than TN. And people are crazy here. Did I mention the TAXES!!!
My millions...you make me laugh. Yeah, it's more than $877/mo. SSI but I bet you're not living alone and if you have SSI you have some sort of "free" medical care and maybe other assistance like so many do in CA. You **** me off.
So it's humid in TN. It was 110 here the other day. And it stays that way for days. We're having a drought. Everyones wells are drying up. It was below freezing for at least a week this past winter. So it's not all fun and games in CA.
I am a TN native, and while I think you would be totally fine *financially* in most of TN, please DO NOT move there just because of the taxes. We receive thread after thread on the TN boards where "I'm moving from (insert liberal state) and want everything CHEAP, low taxes, great schools, etc." It doesn't work that way. Taxation is important to consider, but certainly shouldn't be your only reason (or even a main reason) to move to or from somewhere.
Sure, taxes are very low in TN, but you also get very little in return. Schools aren't very good, social/public services are overburdened or nonexistent, and crime (particularly drug and domestic crime) is high all throughout the state. Lots of transplants think rural TN is some kind of quaint Mayberry, but the truth is that rural TN is plagued by poverty, crime, and drugs.
If you stay within a suburb of Knoxville, Nashville, or Chattanooga, or within those cities, you'll be fine. Rural and small town TN is struggling immensely.
Not everyone lives life fixated on saving for a retirement that may or may not happen. You chose to be a saver and as a result you probably had to pass on some purchases or experiences that you have rather not. Your payoff is that when your old you can experience what they did in their younger years. As I ofrten post on CD, I agree with their "decision" and have done the same. the last thing i wanted was to be old and then enjoying things that are best enjoyed in youth when you can move and travel in a much more carefree environment. Beaches of St Tropez at 30 or at 70, you decide.
It doesn't have to be all or nothing. On can spend money on travel and other enjoyable experiences when young at the same time one has one's eye on the ball in terms of retirement planning. One aspect doesn't have to be totally ignored in order to absolutely maximize the other aspect. There is such a thing as balance, such a thing as a happy medium between two extremes.
I did some pretty cool travel when young - Alaska and the Caribbean for example. But I didn't choose to blow all my money on such stuff. Now, at age 70, I am very glad not to be destitute.
Just last night I returned home from a 25-day car trip extending as far east as Blue Ridge, Georgia. It was very enjoyable. Lots of people are still active and enjoying life in their 70's.
Not everyone lives life fixated on saving for a retirement that may or may not happen. You chose to be a saver and as a result you probably had to pass on some purchases or experiences that you have rather not. Your payoff is that when your old you can experience what they did in their younger years. As I ofrten post on CD, I agree with their "decision" and have done the same. the last thing i wanted was to be old and then enjoying things that are best enjoyed in youth when you can move and travel in a much more carefree environment. Beaches of St Tropez at 30 or at 70, you decide.
Ok, then as I see it you live with the consequences of your decisions. You can spend all your resources, traveling, living the high life, doing anything you fancy when you're young, and saving nothing for later when you no longer earn those resources.
If that is your choice, you have no right when you're old and destitute, to demand that others who have denied themselves some of those pleasures/adventures- to save for a later day, support you because you insisted on instant gratification of your whims and now have nothing to show for all those years of fun.
And no amount of pontificating, appealing to civic responsibilities, trying to lay blame or guilt-trips on
the savers changes this basic fact.
I'm not saying you personally do any of this, but we do know there's an entire establishment who does. Look left.
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. It will be just the two of us in TN so we won't need a large home. I talked to our realtor today and we will probably realize more from the sale of our home than we previously thought. So that is good news. 
All or nothing thinking
