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I can't even imagine someone struggling trying to live on $3300 a month after housing costs. There must be a lot of money going out on new clothes, expensive cars, eating at expensive restaurants on a regular basis and expensive vacations.
This is all fine if you have the extra money to do it but it's not like you're going to starve or live in rags on $3300 per month after housing costs. That's hardly poor or someone that needs any kind of subsidies.
It's not "struggle". It's adjusting to that kind of cash flow when you're used to 2x as much. I have one of those max Social Security checks coming at age 70. It will let me live comfortably in my small paid-for coastal home and I should be able to spend down other wealth I've accrued to sustain some other lifestyle things but on a beer budget.
And a wide selection of wonderful, fresh produce available too.
I love me some California for this reason (in part). I'm from N Cal originally. Now I live where produce is not fresh and not cheap.... for the next 6 months, and then we MOVE!!!!!
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I live on $716/month in Silicon Valley, SSA retirement income. I also get food stamps and Section 8.
Look into any subsidies you qualify for. And don't be shy or embarrassed.
I just looked it up. The 2019 SSI amount for a single person is $771, so it seems to me that you are eligible for an additional $55 per month from SSI.
I love me some California for this reason (in part). I'm from N Cal originally. Now I live where produce is not fresh and not cheap.... for the next 6 months, and then we MOVE!!!!!
I've lived in California all of my life and I love it here. I've never lived in the really expensive parts.
You're near Carson City, IIRC. Where do you move to?
I've lived in California all of my life and I love it here. I've never lived in the really expensive parts.
You're near Carson City, IIRC. Where do you move to?
We are in Hawaii, moving to Carson area.
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Well I guess $60K a year would make you poor in Boston or California.
But it would make you rich elsewhere so why not look elsewhere ?
One of my kids lived in a very expensive area in California, such as Manhattan Beach, with that amount, oh yeah she paid for self employment tax, health care, it can be done.
I moved from expensive suburban Maryland to suburban Tennessee in 2007. My monthly pension after deducting for insurance and taxes is around $5,500 net. I rent a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment and I didn't have a house to sell to come here.
My rent this year is finally close to the same amount I was paying for a 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment in Maryland 12 years ago. My electric bill still hasn't hit what I was paying for electric in Maryland 12 years ago and in both places everything is/was electric (heating, cooling, appliances).
There are no toll roads here or toll bridges (at least none that I've come across). I haven't had to pay for parking (street, lots or parking garages) since I got here.
Besides no state income tax (they tax dividends, I think) for me here in TN, I discovered very quickly that it cost me money just to go to work.
I no longer have a 16 mile commute to work. I live close to everything I do regularly in retirement including activities and doctors...and the hospital is at the bottom of a hill from where I live. My club meets around the corner. I'm lucky if I gas up the car once a month now. It takes more time to hit car servicing mileage targets so there's a savings, too. Gas is cheaper here than on the East Coast mostly, I think, because of taxes. I know this because I've done annual road trips to Maryland, Delaware and New York sometimes since I've lived here.
I live in machine washable inexpensive "play clothes" meaning no more weekly dry cleaning costs and no more expensive new clothing costs that I had when I was working.
No more going out to lunch or eating in the cafeteria every day, another money saver. I do go out to eat lunch occasionally but it's not 5 days a week, every week. No more vending machines, either.
No more chipping in for parties or gifts.
Apart from work:
Cable and cell phone costs are the same. I didn't have to change companies when I moved here. Verizon and Comcast are just as expensive here as they were in Maryland.
All state parks are free admission-wise and don't charge for parking here. The standard annual plate fee for a passenger vehicle is $26.50. We're only a one plate state and emissions testing is only required for the largest cities (Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville). The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is also free. There is a lake at the end of the road I live on - free. The town band performs in one of the parks (free) between Memorial Day and Labor Day. I would like to add that the rangers in these parks also hold a lot of learning events/wildlife walks and they are free.
I do my shopping online except for meat and drugs so that would be the same wherever you lived. Food costs a little more.
My hobby is outdoor photography. The equipment costs money but it costs nothing for me to actually do it unlike, for example, bowling. So, the cost of your hobby in retirement depends on what you like to do.
I have more discretionary money in retirement than I ever had when I was in the workforce. You will, too, if you pick the right place to live but you will definitely save some money by not going to work.
$3000+/month will allow a person a decent standard of living in many parts of the country.
I would urge you to save what you can to put a down payment on a place when you figure out where you want to be. If dh is a handyman, a fixer upper might be the ticket.
Renting puts you at the mercy of inflation, which makes it difficult for those on a fixed income. Rents go up, but the income doesn't.
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