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I expect that quite a few old people who run through their savings will end up living their children.
That's how most of the world has forever dealt with this problem.
My observation is that many people who tried to save had to deal with illness, job loss or divorce. Those big 3 can deplete savings quickly.
As for me, when I was a kid my parents had 7 children and not much money. So I learned how to adapt and thrive in spite of that. Those skills learned so long ago make it possible to be very satisfied doing without many things that most people regard as necessities.
Yes. I grew up probably frugal compared to many today, but we were pretty "rich" in comparison to others. We had 2 TV's, 2 cars (older ones), a house paid for (small one), even 2 fireplaces! When you went to the doctor and dentist, you didn't worry about going bankrupt either! You just went and that was that. My parents didn't live on credit cards, heck, not sure they had any. Stuff was bought on "time" back then with no interest.
Enjoyable article but several things people are overlooking. The couple RV's it to where their children live. They do not roam the country looking for jobs. They know where they are going. Also with $22K in SS, I am quite sure they could settle down in one location (rent or buy a small home) and have fairly easy part time jobs such as in retail. They are more choosing that life style then being forced to live like that.
Agree - traveling and paying their expenses along the way.
I agree, needs vs want has changed and plays into it. We repaired clothes, went to shoe repair shops, rarely ate out, kept appliances until we needed a new one etc.
1) I am old enough to remember when clothes were well-made, not Chinese junk, and repairing them made sense.
2) Same with shoes.
3) A family could survive on one income so mom was home and had time to cook meals.
4) Appliances were made to last. We just sold my mother-in-law's house where her 37 year old fridge, 30 year old washing machine, and 27 year old dishwasher still worked just fine. Me on the other hand? I've had to replace 2 dishwashers and 2 washing machines just in the past 10 years. Stuff now is make to be junk but they are still more expensive than ever.
Yes, we have more luxuries today (bigger houses, more bathrooms, computers, air conditioning, fast food, etc) but there are always tradeoffs. I bet you'd find many millennials who would jump in a heartbeat to have that tiny house in New York or Los Angeles that their grandparents could afford back in the day on one income if it meant giving up other luxuries. Nobody is truly happy with the expensive rat race we have now but it's the world we are forced to deal with. I know of couples who would love to replicate what their parents did (have a large family, mom who could afford to stay home, college that was affordable for all their kids with part time and summer jobs/no debt, etc).
You think life is tuff now ? Wait until real inflation starts to kick in.
We're all working past retirement age because things cost so much more then we were growing up and we all have that fear that things aren't going to get any cheaper.
Throw in the growing cost of health car which the monthly costs are more then our parents mortgage payments were and there is a lingering fear that we may just outlive our savings and become dependent on the graciousness of the state to house us when we get to an advanced age.
Growing old is not for the timid as you just never know what next is coming down the road to attack our nest egg.
Enjoyable article but several things people are overlooking. The couple RV's it to where their children live. They do not roam the country looking for jobs. They know where they are going. Also with $22K in SS, I am quite sure they could settle down in one location (rent or buy a small home) and have fairly easy part time jobs such as in retail. They are more choosing that life style then being forced to live like that.
I agree - it's a choice. The article makes it seem as though they have to travel 1400 miles just to find a job. The article says they own a mobile home in Indiana. Seems to me they are financing their family visits and vacationing/traveling by working while doing it. I'm sure there are jobs in their area they could do.
If someone has half a brain, theres 101 ways to live on a shoestring. I meet retired people all the time that have found ways to live on a tight budget.
OK, this may be straying a bit from what the OP was asking.
New technology. Why is it so dang hard? I just bought a new cell phone. Heck of a time activating it (should have just taken it to Walmart).
Set up Voice Mail. How do I even listen to it if I get one? I'll have to go back to Walmart to find out.
There once was a time in my memory when things were very clearly explained in the literature received with the product. Not so anymore. Very frustrating.
OK, this may be straying a bit from what the OP was asking.
New technology. Why is it so dang hard? I just bought a new cell phone. Heck of a time activating it (should have just taken it to Walmart).
Set up Voice Mail. How do I even listen to it if I get one? I'll have to go back to Walmart to find out.
There once was a time in my memory when things were very clearly explained in the literature received with the product. Not so anymore. Very frustrating.
The literature they send with things now is very generic. They don't want to print something up for every version.
Try YouTube or ask the question on Google.
What kind of phone is it?
I have an iPhone - to listen to the voice mail - you just go to the phone icon, on that page, hit the voicemail icon, see the number it came from, hit it and play it - either listen to it via speaker or the regular old way -put phone to ear.
Richard Dever had swabbed the campground shower stalls and emptied 20 garbage cans, and now he climbed slowly onto a John Deere mower to cut a couple acres of grass.
“I’m going to work until I die, if I can, because I need the money,” said Dever, 74, who drove 1,400 miles to this Maine campground from his home in Indiana to take a temporary job that pays $10 an hour.
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News, The new reality of old age in America
