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Wait, what are we arguing? I'm good at finding data.
That you are less healthy in low COLAs? You live longer in high COLAs?
Remember it's statistics, so even if it doesn't apply to you, it may be true.
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Why getting so furious just because I merely say retirees can live longer in high COL states?
OK. All those who don't buy my argument can choose to retire in low COL states. In fact, if just 1/1000 out of all retirees on Mainland choose to retire in Hawaii, I don't think the islands have the capacity to cope.
In fact, in all Hawaii-related topics, any local who writes that people from Mainland should move to the islands are always being scolded by other local posters. I'd better keep my mouth shut and keep our wonderful way of life.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,858 posts, read 58,487,579 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunaimer
Back to the OP questions please.
Income you're living on
it Depends
High COL, many here are over $240k, very comfortable, very happy, worries? +/-
Median ?? (here) $80k, plenty happy and comfortable
frugal... $40 - $60k Plenty to go around, just be careful (unless you are abroad, then it might be a bundle of dough)
Some here (by necessity or choice) $24k They are not complaining... why? (hint... they are doing OK and accepted what they have and grateful for that MUCH!
Many of our Friends who are NOT posting here are retired for 20 - 30 yrs and have lived on $20k - $40k for mostr of their life. (Why change now?)
Plenty in each category, some in each are doing better than others it Depends
High COL, many here are over $240k, very comfortable, very happy, worries? +/-
Median ?? (here) $80k, plenty happy and comfortable
frugal... $40 - $60k Plenty to go around, just be careful (unless you are abroad, then it might be a bundle of dough)
Some here (by necessity or choice) $24k They are not complaining... why? (hint... they are doing OK and accepted what they have and grateful for that MUCH!
Many of our Friends who are NOT posting here are retired for 20 - 30 yrs and have lived on $20k - $40k for mostr of their life. (Why change now?)
Plenty in each category, some in each are doing better than others it Depends
Individual COL is largely a function of whether you own or rent your home. Living on $24K is vastly easier for those who own a mortgage-free home than it is for those for whom rent consumes half their income.
Individual COL is largely a function of whether you own or rent your home. Living on $24K is vastly easier for those who own a mortgage-free home than it is for those for whom rent consumes half their income.
Yup. Owning a home free and clear nails down a big expense. I'm so glad I did that.
However, I've known people who kept doing cash out re-fies or simply moving to a new house and re-setting the debt clock so many times that at retirement time have too much debt and little remaining equity.
They usually try to continue working. Unfortunately, many corporations won't let them do that.
Yup. Owning a home free and clear nails down a big expense. I'm so glad I did that.
However, I've known people who kept doing cash out re-fies or simply moving to a new house and re-setting the debt clock so many times that at retirement time have too much debt and little remaining equity.
They usually try to continue working. Unfortunately, many corporations won't let them do that.
Flip side of that is that people who get lucky in the booming, prestigious markets can simply cash out and often walk away.
One of my high school buddies bought a house in east Nashville back in 2009, right after getting a regular job and graduating undergrad. He said the house gained about $400,000 in equity between when he bought it and when he sold out last year. The neighborhood wasn't nearly as cool then, Nashville wasn't yet booming, and he bought the house because it suited his lifestyle at the time. He had no idea he was going to make so much.
In the intervening years he also become a pharmacist and moved to another part of the state, and bought a nicer home in a more reasonable area. He's in his early 30s and probably has no or at least a very minimal mortgage.
Individual COL is largely a function of whether you own or rent your home. Living on $24K is vastly easier for those who own a mortgage-free home than it is for those for whom rent consumes half their income.
Do the math on the cost of capital, property taxes, insurance, and maintenance. You do better renting. You've never owned a home so you have no clue what it actually costs to own one even if it's paid for.
Nationally, the median home price is about $200K. Nationally, the median property tax is about $2,200. Homeowners insurance where I live for that size structure is about $1,000. All kinds of things fail and need to be replaced. Roof. Heat. A/C. Water heater. All the appliances. To keep up with all of that costs money. Call it a ballpark of $5K per year long term. The long term S&P 500 market return is up over 6%. Call it 4% with a more balanced portfolio adjusting for inflation so that $200K in home equity is $8K cost of capital. Total all that up and I get over $16,000 per year. If you have to sell it, you also have all the selling costs and liquidity issues.
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