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Most people rely on Social Security income to pay for their retirement expenses. Almost all retirees (84 percent) qualify for Social Security payments, and the majority of retirees (61 percent) receive at least half their income from Social Security, according to the Social Security Administration. For a third of retirees, Social Security is their only major source of income in retirement.
It isn’t easy to live on just a Social Security check. The average monthly Social Security payment was $1,341 in January 2016. A married couple where each member received an average Social Security check would have a retirement income of $32,184, which would be adjusted for inflation each year. “To be just depending on Social Security is really a very difficult situation to be in,” says Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. But where you live plays a big role in how comfortable you will be. “The cost of living varies dramatically across the country,” Munnell says. “If you are in a low-cost area, you can make that benefit stretch much further than if you are trying to do it in Boston or Washington, D.C.”
I'm going to guess that - exacerbating the problem described - retirees living only on Social Security disproportionately had low incomes during their working years, and therefore smaller Social Security benefits than the average retiree, and even more so compared to retirees with multiple sources of retirement income.
Take Boise for instance. Just because you get "discounted" tuition for college classes and museum entry doesn't make a city economical for retirement.
Cape Coral, Colorado Springs and Richmond? Inexpensive? You gotta be kidding me.
Grand Rapids and Rochester? You'd freeze to death because you couldn't afford the heating bill. Ditto San Antonio for the air conditioning cost.....can you say "hot and humid"?
Dayton and Pittsburg? Who the heck wants to retire to Dayton or Pittsburg?
I won't comment on the economic reality of living on SS alone in these places but the list surprised me in that I have been to all except Dayton & Grand Rapids & think there is much to be said for them in a positive sense, obviously they all have their drawbacks too. Pittsburg is really nice for an urban area, Rochester is also an interesting medium size city.
I suppose for folks that are willing to live with winters there is a whole tier of places in the northern half of the country with low costs & other advantages.
Grand Rapids and Rochester? You'd freeze to death because you couldn't afford the heating bill. Ditto San Antonio for the air conditioning cost.....can you say "hot and humid"?
Can't speak to Rochester, but for Grand Rapids...hmm. I am curious where you got that. Last month was the first month I used heat; cost was $22.19 for the month. December 2015 I spent $72.56 for heating. Contrast: in Maine where I used to live, I paid an average of $550/month for oil heat for Oct-Jan; Michigan has natural gas, which is low cost. I'm not rich or poor, but that doesn't seem to be bad to me.
There are usually lower cost options available near where many people currently live if they want to remain in the area. Here in Connecticut one can relocate to the northeast corner, many areas of New London county or even some 1st-tier suburbs in the Hartford area where housing costs are lower. As implied in the article, having a paid-off house is the key to being able to live on a lower income in retirement. Selling a paid-off house, downsizing and moving to a nearby town with lower housing costs can make the difference between having to work in retirement or not. I am getting ready for an early retirement and we decided to move in closer to the city. We now can walk to the grocery store, library, restaurants, bus stops, train station, and many other conveniences. We are planning on selling one of our cars, doing more walking/biking and taking advantage of public transportations. I'm sure that many people with social connections would find any one of the cited locations equally desirable retirement options.
The trouble with these articles they are written by people who have no clue. First off if you are in CA and are only going to have SS and decide to find a cheaper place to live you have to also get a place to live in those places. It costs money to move there and if you are going to buy a house you will need a larger income than SS to make ends meet unless you are putting down a large down payment or paying cash.
To the OP places like Belize, Panama, Ecuador should be on your list if you are in looking for places out of the US.
If you want a 3rd world country, where the cost of living is very low, where you can buy a nice condo for around $50,000, and where the climate is a compromise between cold and hot, and where there's lots of fishing, basketball, horses, and bourbon, you should try Kentucky.
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