Poor senior citizens. (supplement, emotionally, divorced, dump)

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by meo92953

Serious, you still have quite a ways to go before you retire and your salary should rise accordingly. Make sure you put money away each paycheck, pay attention to senior advisors (I'm thinking Mathjack) and you should be fine by the time you retire.

I need to be able to "bore with a bigger auger." A person isn't going to make much headway on a <$100k salary, nor is $125k in Boston necessarily a solution.

It's a complex, moving, and difficult to hit target, even for senior technical employees who don't want to live in the five most elite US metros.

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by E-Twist

There are many reasons why some people end up barely able to make ends meet. It can be poor decisions, unexpected medical issues, or lots of other things. One thing I have noticed are people that give their adult children money to support lifestyles better than their own; money that they should be saving. They will complain about it with one breath, then brag about all the stuff their kids buy with the next. Or, they will be paying for the college educations of grandchildren, which seems to me should be the responsibility of the kids parents.

One thing I've learned as I've gotten older is that a sudden stroke of ill fortune could happen to most of us, bankrupting us in short order.

[k7baixo]

Originally Posted by jasperhobbs

65% average returns huh. Are you invested with Bernie Madoff.

I suspect she left out a decimal point. Guessing it’s 6.5%.

[xPlorer48]

We camp frequently in the spring and fall. Mostly, we camp at federal campgrounds or boondock but occasionally we stay at a private RV Park. The ones at the RV parks have big shiny new Class As or new trucks hauling behemoth fifth wheels or trailers. These people retired well and have no worries unless they are mortgaged to the hilt. Ditto, state parks or national parks. At boondocking spots or federal campgrounds we see the more wealthy occasionally but a number of the campers have older RVs that may be what remains and all they can afford. They may have lost a large portion of their net worth to the 2008 recession or medical bills, divorce as others have mentioned.

[jrkliny]

Originally Posted by Serious Conversation

One thing I've learned as I've gotten older is that a sudden stroke of ill fortune could happen to most of us, bankrupting us in short order.

Not to most of us. At least the possibilities are greatly reduced with planning. When I worked I always opted for additional life insurance and for extended disability coverage. I built an emergency fund to handle my expenses for at least a year.

[rodentraiser]

Originally Posted by augiedogie

So I thought it would be an intersting discussion for posters to tell what they know to be other reasons why people, after working their whole adult life are still living paycheck to paycheck.

I left an abusive home before I graduated high school. Both my parents had assumed I would marry and let my husband take care of me, so they had no interest in teaching me about finances, retirement, or having me get a college degree.

I went to work for a bank when I was in California during the late 70s. The rents were starting to go up then and no matter how much I made, my rent was almost always 50% of my take home pay. When I got a raise at work, rent went up to offset it. I don't believe at that time there was any pension offered.

When the tellers were cut to part-time, I decided to go back to community college to get a degree. I had to take a minimum paying job to be able to have the flexible hours. In the meantime, I tried to go into the Army Reserve and was in the Delayed Entry Program. I was due to ship out when the first Gulf War veterans were coming home and the military was kicking out people right and left. My position at the Monterey School of Languages was cut and I found myself back in a minimum wage job again.

When college tuition started for the first time, I could no longer afford community college and opted to work for Kinko's instead. Great place to work then. I ended up with a room to rent, and then rented a trailer after being homeless for 6 years. My salary went up and I replaced my 17 year old truck. I thought things were really looking up. I even managed to save some money.

Then my landlord decided to almost double my rent. I used my savings and came up to Washington state. Transferred my job and got an apartment here. I even ended up buying a house. Almost as soon as I signed the papers on my house, the building I worked at in Seattle was closed and I had to work for a different boss. I had been working 3 12-hour days. This manager wanted me to come in 5 days a week doing 8 hours a day. Because of that, my commute was 30 hours a week, so after a year I decided to look for something closer to home.

I sold my house and I ended up working in another bank and in 2008, that bank was bought out. In 2009, I took a nasty fall down some steps and twisted my back up. I still tried to look for work, but wasn't having any luck.

Meantime, in 2004, I had an auto accident that totaled my truck (not my fault) and because of having a house payment, I couldn't qualify for an auto loan. I was able to buy a junker and when that finally fell apart three years later, I ended up with another car and a 4 year car payment. Had I been able to keep my truck, it would have been paid off and would have been only 8 years old.

So when I lost my job in 2008, I had both rent and a car payment and unemployment didn't cover both. I used up all my savings again, but the car was repossessed and I ended up living with my mom for a couple months before I came back to Washington (that's a story in itself, but doesn't belong here). I lived in my car for a couple months, got subsidized housing which I'm still in, receiving $200 a month for state disability and food stamps for 4 1/2 years. My back had gotten so bad it was to the point where I couldn't even stand for more than 10 minutes.

After 4 1/2 years, my disability claim was approved and I received the back pay. That's the largest chunk of money I've ever had in my life. If I had been younger, I might have tried to go back to college with it. But at 60? So I bought a lot out in the boonies with water and next spring I'm planning to move out on it and save until I have enough to buy a small trailer, get electric, and put in a septic system.

I figured it might take about 4 to 5 years. Now I'm not so sure anymore. Last week I had two TIA episodes in two days. I suppose with my usual luck, I'll have a stroke that won't kill me but will leave me unable to take care of myself. That means I'll end up in a nursing home after having to sell the land. I had planned to live to 100. I just hadn't figured what condition I'd be in when I got there.

About the only regret I have is not saving more when I was younger, buying my house, and not looking for another job after I got the second bank job. I knew it was a bad fit working there after a couple months and instead of moving on, I tried to make it work. That was a bad, bad decision.

[fluffythewondercat]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

Yes. And women have to stay married to their husbands for 10 years in order to collect any of their husbands' SSA retirement money, and then just a portion of it. That's how we value women who stay home to take care of the home and kids.

So, what if he divorces her after 9 years for a younger model? Yep, she's SOL.

Studies at the University of Michigan and Stanford University have shown that women are twice as likely to file for divorce as men.

[fluffythewondercat]

Originally Posted by rodentraiser

Last week I had two TIA episodes in two days.

I'm sorry to hear that, after your berry aneurysm. Don't forget to eat your fruits and veggies.

[mathjak107]

Originally Posted by jrkliny

Not to most of us. At least the possibilities are greatly reduced with planning. When I worked I always opted for additional life insurance and for extended disability coverage. I built an emergency fund to handle my expenses for at least a year.

same here . we have good health coverage and a good LTC PLAN . there is not much we can't handle .

[mathjak107]

Originally Posted by fluffythewondercat

Studies at the University of Michigan and Stanford University have shown that women are twice as likely to file for divorce as men.

i would think it was even more .

men tend to try to burn the candle from both ends . they will find someone else and let the marriage stay on life support until they get caught and backed in to making a decision . women tend to be much more proactive and honest in that respect . they tend to just file for divorce if not happy , remember i said most ,not all