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We are those people who made buckets of money in the 80s and 90s and then took a lot of losses on the 2000s. Although we were always pretty frugal, We could have socked away a lot more if we knew what was is store. If we had a crystal ball we would have beaten the real estate bubble and sold our business before the bottom dropped out.
So now we are retired, and we live on SS benefits and a part time job. We are just now taking some IRA money in order to pay for a new car.
Bottom line is, we are really doing fine. We cannot afford vacations anymore, but we took a lot of very nice ones when we were young, and I really don't care to travel much now anyway. We want for nothing important.
The major worries after retirement are medical expenses, and rising insurance and property taxes....things we have no control over.
I often think of a childhood memory. It was a Christmas, which would have been in the 1950s, in which my mother and her siblings chipped in and bought my retired grandfather a winter coat for his gift, and he wept. I cant even imagine being so poor that I couldn't buy a coat. Its all relative.
Our gardening/landscaping isn't dirt cheap. Far from it. And that's only the dollars and cents part. Spring breaks our backs as well these days. Even when it comes to the relatively small amount of stuff we do ourselves - as opposed to hiring people to do things for us.
What kind of garden/property do you have? And what kind of gardening do you do?
We like watching birds in our backyard. But the bird seed that attracts them isn't free either (although Costco sells great bird seed at relatively inexpensive prices). Our birds will go through about 40 pounds of seed every 3 weeks or so this time of year.
Hiking? Forget about it at our age - especially with my husband's MS and his missing ACL. A hike around Costco or a couple of miles on level ground in an urban environment is about it for us today. Robyn
I buy lots of seeds and start sprouting them. I get a kick out of seeing them grow. I love to buy seeds, I think I might spend about $500 a year max. That's a lot of money for seeds but I like seeds, they make me feel rich. They are like gold to me. Haha.
My yard is small, typical California tract house that is less than 6000 square feet. But to make up for the small size, I grow them vertically. I like intense gardenning. I have about 50-70 fruit trees. I keep them small because I like to be able to pick them. I don't buy anything for the birds. I think they come and peck on my lavender and all sort of flowers. Lots of humingbirds around here.
We hike not that steep of a slope, but still sloping, up and down the beach.
I'm not quite organized yet, just retired about 5 months ago. But when I have time, I will play some tennis, backmington and table tennis. I mean lots of things to do and we have not been to the library regular yet. Lots of free DVDs to check out and lots of books to read.
Right now, I'm just spend time taking care of all the retirement paperwork and booking for travel.
I am not "damn wealthy", not by a long shot. But I don't think about money - haven't thought about money since I retired almost 11 years ago. My pension is secure, and is partially inflation-protected. I could have, in the same month, a new water heater, a major plumbing repair, a major car repair, and a hospitalization for the entire month and my reserves are more than adequate to cover all that. Each month, I have at least $1000 more coming in than I spend. If one of the foregoing were to occur in a given month, then I would be in the hole slightly for that month.
You have gone on record as being against generalizations, but you just wrote a whopper above.
Either you are wealthy enough to not worry about money, or you are going to have some surprises. My experience is that people who do not concern themselves with money and who are not wealthy are quickly separated from what little they have.
You would do well to learn more about money. Guaranteed pensions sometimes fail; inflation projected to be 2% can turn out to be 10%; a major illness can involve uncovered costs that almost no-one can pay. Forewarned is forearmed. Be prepared.
Robyn - you have some seriously spoiled birds. But I think this is not unusual for any species residing on your property and you are well aware of it. We have plenty of birds despite never buying food for them.
Yup - they are spoiled . The birds would live here even if we didn't put up/maintain feeders/bird baths. But they'd spend all their time in trees/shrubs - where we couldn't see them. And I like to see them - from my desk - the dining room - etc. One of life's small indulgences. Robyn
Gardening bills are a bit unusual. Quality gardening and landscaping can often run into thousands of dollars, just for the tools.
Riding mowers are at least $1000, push mowers $300, and that's just for cheap stuff. Count in leaf blowers, weed eaters, rototillers, hand tools (shovels, hoes, pruners, etc.), chainsaws, etc, and it's a TON of money, and that's not counting the cost to fuel, maintain, and repair the items.
You're right about the cost of equipment. Some of which has to be replaced on a somewhat regular basis. BTW - one tool we'll never use is a chainsaw. Too darn dangerous (at least for us - we are not handy people). If we need work done that requires a chainsaw - it's a job for our landscaping or tree service. OTOH - this is one of my favorite tools (got it as a housewarming present):
Means I can do a lot of things without needing a chainsaw.
We have about 3/4 acre - which is quite a bit larger than the 6000 sf Newbie has. And - unlike properties in more rural areas - we kind of maintain our yard to look like a park. So there's a lot of tree work - shrub work and the like. Water for irrigation costs a fair amount. Also - we have more "hired help" now than when we were younger. Overall - I wouldn't buy such a labor intensive property like this at our current age. But I'm glad we've owned it for all these years. Am also glad we can afford to hire people to do work we can no longer do ourselves. Robyn
Either you are wealthy enough to not worry about money, or you are going to have some surprises. My experience is that people who do not concern themselves with money and who are not wealthy are quickly separated from what little they have.
You would do well to learn more about money. Guaranteed pensions sometimes fail; inflation projected to be 2% can turn out to be 10%; a major illness can involve uncovered costs that almost no-one can pay. Forewarned is forearmed. Be prepared.
I don't think you're listening to Escort Rider. He *is* familiar with his personal finances - and has made lifestyle choices that are commensurate with his income. He just doesn't obsess about them. What would be the point of doing that at his age/stage in life (about 70 and retired)? It's not like he's 40 years old - still working - and can make (drastic) changes. My husband and I are pretty much in his situation in terms of our stage in life. And we think pretty much the same way.
FWIW - last time I looked Escort Rider was with a Kaiser Permanente Medicare HMO (which seems to be a popular lower cost Medicare option in California). Which he's been pretty happy with. Since I'm a long time Florida resident - I'm not personally familiar with Kaiser - but I know there is nothing similar to it where I live. Robyn
You're right about the cost of equipment. Some of which has to be replaced on a somewhat regular basis. BTW - one tool we'll never use is a chainsaw. Too darn dangerous (at least for us - we are not handy people). If we need work done that requires a chainsaw - it's a job for our landscaping or tree service. OTOH - this is one of my favorite tools (got it as a housewarming present):
Means I can do a lot of things without needing a chainsaw.
We have about 3/4 acre - which is quite a bit larger than the 6000 sf Newbie has. And - unlike properties in more rural areas - we kind of maintain our yard to look like a park. So there's a lot of tree work - shrub work and the like. Water for irrigation costs a fair amount. Also - we have more "hired help" now than when we were younger. Overall - I wouldn't buy such a labor intensive property like this at our current age. But I'm glad we've owned it for all these years. Am also glad we can afford to hire people to do work we can no longer do ourselves. Robyn
I have a chainsaw, but I hate them. Not that they are too dangerous. But that they are too hard to start. If I have to pull a start cord more than three times I am done.
Ratcheting loppers are the best
Most of my gardening is perennials, plant once and enjoy for years. I do not bother with cutting grass.
I do not worry about the expense of gardening tools it is all a write-off anyway.
I have a chainsaw, but I hate them. Not that they are too dangerous. But that they are too hard to start. If I have to pull a start cord more than three times I am done.
Ratcheting loppers are the best
Most of my gardening is perennials, plant once and enjoy for years. I do not bother with cutting grass.
I do not worry about the expense of gardening tools it is all a write-off anyway.
Have you thought of a Sawzall? My hubby is retired, and has given up on the chainsaw too, because of the weight and difficulty of using it. He uses a battery powered sawzall for lots of tree branch trimming, and the latest thing he used it for was to cut out some old shrubs at the roots. If I want to plant something, but old shrub roots are in the way, he uses the sawzall to cut the hole, and it works great.
Either you are wealthy enough to not worry about money, or you are going to have some surprises. My experience is that people who do not concern themselves with money and who are not wealthy are quickly separated from what little they have.
You would do well to learn more about money. Guaranteed pensions sometimes fail; inflation projected to be 2% can turn out to be 10%; a major illness can involve uncovered costs that almost no-one can pay. Forewarned is forearmed. Be prepared.
Hmm, I can see where you are going, but, I must disagree.
I would not consider myself to be 'wealthy'. Following threads in this 'retirement' sub-forum, I see that many posters have pensions and Net Worth far greater than mine.
We settled in a low-cost area, a number of our neighbors earn less than we do, even some of them who are still raising children. My pension is well above the 'per capita gross income' around here I feel confident that there is no need for me to 'worry' about money.
We learned tax-planning long ago, so we have been in the long habit of watching our budget in terms of tax write-offs and tax-shelters. I have not paid any of my salary into Income Taxation since 1983. Nothing gets with-held from my paychecks and nothing is owed when we file our taxes. We pay attention to our budgeting from that angle.
But we are not concerned about our income in terms of not having enough, after all we are among the top earners in our township. Certainly not wealthy though. My pension is just a hair under $1500/month.
There is a distinct possibility that my pension/healthcare could fail. I get it. However join me in reality. When the US Government fails into collapse, do you honestly think the New York Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ will be left standing?
I hear your 'The sky is falling, the sky is falling", but it is set within a limited context that you assume it will only fall a little tiny bit. If the sky falls, then it falls, and we all lose our pensions, and stocks, and mutuals, and the power grid, and corporations, and it all goes down.
Have you thought of a Sawzall? My hubby is retired, and has given up on the chainsaw too, because of the weight and difficulty of using it. He uses a battery powered sawzall for lots of tree branch trimming, and the latest thing he used it for was to cut out some old shrubs at the roots. If I want to plant something, but old shrub roots are in the way, he uses the sawzall to cut the hole, and it works great.
We love cordless sawzalls. I have a herd of pigs in 5 acres of woodlot, when I walk their fence-line I commonly come across downed trees across the fence. I carry ratcheting loppers and a cordless sawzall with me. I can easily clear the debris with these tools and get on my way.
My wife loves butchering pigs. [really, she is good at it] She has her own meat blades for the sawzall. It makes a huge difference in processing the carcass of a 400 pound sow.
We have a small fruit / nut orchard where the sawzall is good for pruning. I like to keep all of the branches low enough for harvesting without needing ladders.
The sawzall is among the tools that allow us to continue doing stuff, as we age.
That and a small diesel tractor with front loader, pallet forks, backhoe, disc harrow, snow-blower. Without certain tools rural life would become very laborious.
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. The birds would live here even if we didn't put up/maintain feeders/bird baths. But they'd spend all their time in trees/shrubs - where we couldn't see them. And I like to see them - from my desk - the dining room - etc. One of life's small indulgences. Robyn
