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Why would you want to live like that unless there was absolutely no other choice?
If you are still working, you have time to increase your retirement savings, and you might be able to continue working until your savings reach a level that will prevent the kind of privation you describe.
I would definitely not have retired if all I could look forward to was the kind of life described in the OP.
Let's say you retire early and then your money runs out about the time when you start collecting Social Security.
It seems like you could do OK even as a single person. Let's say you get $1,500/month in Social Security.
You can move into a subsidized senior complex where you pay 1/3 of your income, which would be $500. You'd also get $200/month or so in food stamps, and you would also get Medicaid. If you live in a city, you could get senior bus/train passes which should be very cheap.
So really, your monthly expenses would be as follows:
$500 Rent
$50 Bus pass
$300 Food (since $200 is covered by food stamps)
$0 Medical since you get Medicaid
$50 cell phone with unlimited data
$100 household goods
------------
$1,000 total expenses per month
That means you would have $500 left over for whatever you want. Not a bad deal if you ask me.
Ok so I guess you and I have very different ideas of "ok". First medicaid does not cover every thing. What happens if you need a prescription? Next what do you actually do?? Ride the bus all day? No room for vacations??
Could you list the cities and towns and the waiting list time to get in? They don't exist anymore
Of course, they do. Just do a google search for low-income senior housing by city.
Here in WI - Milwaukee and nearby counties - we have many - AND - they are advertising for residents of late. Some are located in very nice suburbs. HUD developments exist in the Boulder, CO area - some only Section 8, others Section 8 and HUD. HUD developments normally don't charge more than 30% of one's gross monthly income. Wait lists probably about two years.
Food stamps, I'm not so sure. A $1,500 mo. gross income pretty much eliminates eligibility in most states. Congress decimated the program a few years ago.
I've known a number of women who have moved into these - two elderly women now deceased, one a living coworker. They were/are hardly living under a bridge. Three which immediately come to mind are in very nice suburbs - Wauwatosa, New Berlin, Waukesha.
Ok so I guess you and I have very different ideas of "ok". First medicaid does not cover every thing. What happens if you need a prescription? Next what do you actually do?? Ride the bus all day? No room for vacations??
Medicaid does cover prescriptions. Copays are usually $3. Women I know in these developments use buses, some have very old cars, or carpool with friends. They manage. They really do and are very happy, generally. One I know even manages to get to Europe every two years or so - think she works as a tour guide or similar. She's got it all figured out.
I know a lot of people getting SS checks, including me, and I don't know one person who gets that much a month. Most are less than $1,000 month. BUT if I got $1,500 a month I could live pretty good. My mortgage isn't much higher than your hypothetical rent, my car uses about $30 mo. in gas and I have a mechanic who is reasonable but it's rare I have to see him. I have Medicare, not Medicaid, and I still have to pay copays for doctors and prescriptions. I don't 'get' your figure for food though. Is that $300 mo. PLUS $200 in food stamps, which a single person here doesn't get. It's less than that and in some cases barely $100. When my mom died she was getting less than $700 mo. in SS, had Medicare and Medicaid and $87 mo. in food stamps. She started out about $150 but every year they took some of it away even though nothing changed. .She owned her home outright and hardly drove so not much upkeep there. Anyway, if your hypothetical food budget is $500 a mo. that's an awful lot. Mine is $200 and includes all the food, housekeeping and pet 'stuff', etc.. It might go a little over but not much. And I could still pay all my utilities, credit cards, etc. At $1,500 mo. income I wouldn't be allowed to have food stamps and Medicaid here. Too much income. When I was making $1,024 mo., way back when, they told me I could get $16 mo. in food stamps. I told them "No thanks".
Oh, and I don't own a cell phone but my TV/internet/phone bills are high. However, that is the ONLY entertainment I pay for. I don't eat out or go to movies or do a lot of running around. And I don't like to shop!
Husband gets 1600 I will get 1400 this year. We could live on that alone, but not if one of us passed. We are fortunate to have my fed pension (someday, when they get it figured and finalized) and his civilian pensions.
Let's say you retire early and then your money runs out about the time when you start collecting Social Security.
It seems like you could do OK even as a single person. Let's say you get $1,500/month in Social Security.
You can move into a subsidized senior complex where you pay 1/3 of your income, which would be $500. You'd also get $200/month or so in food stamps, and you would also get Medicaid. If you live in a city, you could get senior bus/train passes which should be very cheap.
So really, your monthly expenses would be as follows:
$500 Rent
$50 Bus pass
$300 Food (since $200 is covered by food stamps)
$0 Medical since you get Medicaid
$50 cell phone with unlimited data
$100 household goods
------------
$1,000 total expenses per month
That means you would have $500 left over for whatever you want. Not a bad deal if you ask me.
You wouldn't get Medicaid in Texas. The cutoff is $6k income a year. I assume there are other states like that.
Also, food stamps are not generous in many states for adults, even seniors. They give supplemental stamps to you for a while, and then they stop.
Bus pass? Are we supposed to have buses around here somewhere? Nope. Don't have 'em. Car (or relatives who will take you places) required.
Subsidized housing for Grandmas? Like buses, most places don't have such things. Maybe they can live in "the projects," which is federal subsidized housing for the poor. Those places are hotbeds of drug activities, gangs, etc.
So Grandma getting $1,500/mo better have some kids partially supporting her.
Let's say you retire early and then your money runs out about the time when you start collecting Social Security.
It seems like you could do OK even as a single person. Let's say you get $1,500/month in Social Security.
You can move into a subsidized senior complex where you pay 1/3 of your income, which would be $500. You'd also get $200/month or so in food stamps, and you would also get Medicaid. If you live in a city, you could get senior bus/train passes which should be very cheap.
So really, your monthly expenses would be as follows:
$500 Rent
$50 Bus pass
$300 Food (since $200 is covered by food stamps)
$0 Medical since you get Medicaid
$50 cell phone with unlimited data
$100 household goods
------------
$1,000 total expenses per month
That means you would have $500 left over for whatever you want. Not a bad deal if you ask me.
That isn't living, it's existing. In the real world, no one with that income is going to have $500 left over every month. There will always be unexpected expenses every month.
You all are wasting your time trying to provide sincere responses to the OP. He is in his early 30s and plans to retire "early" (whatever that means). In any case, trying to estimate what he'll receive from Social Security in 30 years (especially given that he may have decades of zero SS earnings), what he'll receive in food stamps in 30 years (assuming the program is even in existence under its current rules), and what subsidized housing will be available (and at what price) in 30 years, is totally pointless.
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