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If I were to lose my spouse, I'd be living on that. Many who wind up losing a spouse live on that or less.
This is what happened to me. When my husband died, his wonderful pension went away, as did, of course, his SS check.
I'm now living on SS plus whatever I withdraw from IRA's. I'm currently in the process of downsizing from a 3-bedroom 2-bath 2-car garage house in the suburbs (must drive everywhere) to a 1-bedroom condo in the city, a block away from grocery and drug stores.
I estimate when all the dust is settled from moving, etc., that my monthly expenses will be about $2200. That will reduce further once I qualify for the homestead exemption on my property taxes.
My mother and two of my sisters are living on ~ 12K a year. Their lifestyle and living habit are very much like Tallysmom's mother. One of the sisters even matches Tallysmom' mother in the impeccable dressing habit. This sister even makes her own clothes.
I think what helps them is the fact that they own their homes besides being extremely frugal. Their love of gardening also helps to cut down the food expenses.
The older sister was a housewife for a number of years. She also chose the 403b option instead of pension when she worked for the state of Michigan. She used her 403b saving to pay cash for a house in Florida. She is collecting her own SS which is about $1K/month. She was divorced but was married long enough to qualify for 50% of her ex husband SS when he claims his SS. Not knowing his number, I do not know whether she would get more with the spousal SS benefit.
The younger sister is living off her state pension (she was laid off few years ago), and delays collecting SS until at least FRA. With her current low income, she gets a nice CT property tax break so she is in no hurry to claim SS benefit and may wait until she is 70.
If I were to lose my spouse, I'd be living on that. Many who wind up losing a spouse live on that or less. Circumstances vary widely, such as owning outright vs mortgage/rent, medical insurance & copays, lifestyle, nonincome assets, etc. These kinds of surveys unfortunately don't tell us much, because of the many factors.
"IF" -- Isn't now the time to take action to protect yourself? -- Perhaps you are referring to his part of your total SS income, in which case, there may not be much you can do. But, if you are referring to his annuity or pension, you may be able to make adjustments in the plan that would cover your lifetime, in the event of his death. -- Otherwise, can you reduce expenses now or perhaps pay off the mortgage (the latter would give you a source of income later (HELOC or Reverse Mortgage)). How about taking out a term life policy on him now? (It would likely be expensive, but, might be better than 'living life under the threat of losing your security.'
I was unemployed for 14 1/2 months at the onset of the Great Recession. I collapsed my life down to my paid-for vacation home and lived on a $425/week unemployment check. I owned two paid-for cars. Obama picked up 2/3 of my COBRA health insurance payment for most of it so I didn't have much of a health insurance bill. My all-in housing cost including property taxes, condo fees, insurance, internet/cellular, and utilities was a bit less than $1,000/month. I had a very large emergency fund but decided not to spend it and see how I could do on $425/week. That came pretty close to covering everything and I only spent the interest earned on my emergency fund to pay a few big bills like car insurance and property taxes. I had a very high quality of life. I shopped carefully cooking my own food. I drove sparingly. I avoided restaurants and kept it to a couple of beers at the bar once or twice per week.
My take-away from that was that I couldn't own a condo in a high property tax place if I'm on limited income. When I started working again, I bought a small house in a $10 per thousand mil rate town that chopped my paid-for housing cost in half. Once I'm Medicare-eligible, I could sell the condo that has the high cash burn and be moderately comfortable on $25K to $30K of cash flow if I had to. That is my disaster contingency plan if my employment vaporizes now at age 57 and I have to start collecting Social Security at age 62.
My dad and his wife live on about 1500 a month which is 18k a year. They lived on other people's money (unbenknonced to me) charging up a 50k credit card debt. But at their age of 78 years old I have no sympathy for the credit card companies that continually lent them money. And to that stupid credit agency trying to get them lower payments grrrrrrr. Can you say bankruptcy?
Long story short they are finally living within their means and managing well. Living in housing that is better then the trailer they were in and I feel more comfortable about that too.
This is exactly why I've decided to continue working, probably to age 66. I would receive nothing, no survivor benefit (his EX gets that) when he passes. He is 10 years older than me.
I was unemployed for 14 1/2 months at the onset of the Great Recession. I collapsed my life down to my paid-for vacation home and lived on a $425/week unemployment check. I owned two paid-for cars. Obama picked up 2/3 of my COBRA health insurance payment for most of it so I didn't have much of a health insurance bill. My all-in housing cost including property taxes, condo fees, insurance, internet/cellular, and utilities was a bit less than $1,000/month. I had a very large emergency fund but decided not to spend it and see how I could do on $425/week. That came pretty close to covering everything and I only spent the interest earned on my emergency fund to pay a few big bills like car insurance and property taxes. I had a very high quality of life. I shopped carefully cooking my own food. I drove sparingly. I avoided restaurants and kept it to a couple of beers at the bar once or twice per week.
My take-away from that was that I couldn't own a condo in a high property tax place if I'm on limited income. When I started working again, I bought a small house in a $10 per thousand mil rate town that chopped my paid-for housing cost in half. Once I'm Medicare-eligible, I could sell the condo that has the high cash burn and be moderately comfortable on $25K to $30K of cash flow if I had to. That is my disaster contingency plan if my employment vaporizes now at age 57 and I have to start collecting Social Security at age 62.
Why didn't you get a roomate in vacation home?
Why dont you rent condo out and move to a cheap rooming house or low income housing.
Or plain old AIRBNB it?
Old women in my condo complex on a low income which has $1,000 a month carrying costs between, maint, utlities, and taxes etc if you have no mortgage got a roomate she charges $1,000 a month. So she lives for free.
I'm living on less than $25,000 and doing quite well.
Maybe not by some folks' standards-I don't travel, don't eat out, don't spend an afternoon at the mall. My car is a 2004. I don't get tv reception. I have a flip phone.
"IF" -- Isn't now the time to take action to protect yourself? -- Perhaps you are referring to his part of your total SS income, in which case, there may not be much you can do. But, if you are referring to his annuity or pension, you may be able to make adjustments in the plan that would cover your lifetime, in the event of his death. -- Otherwise, can you reduce expenses now or perhaps pay off the mortgage (the latter would give you a source of income later (HELOC or Reverse Mortgage)). How about taking out a term life policy on him now? (It would likely be expensive, but, might be better than 'living life under the threat of losing your security.'
These options aren't always available. In my case, I met my husband several years after he divorced his first wife. As part of their divorce settlement, he had to elect that his pension would go to the ex after his death, and that was irrevocable. Unfortunately, he died and she's still alive, presumably receiving his pension.
And as far as life insurance is concerned, when we got married he was 64 years old and had already had a heart attack. Life insurance was not an option.
I know, I know, my bad for marrying an old guy! Won't make that mistake again ...
I did take your third suggestion and pay off the mortgage.
I don't fit into that category (~ $25K annual income), but my brother and my wife's brother do.
3 years ago, we bought 33 acres in rural Maine. My wife's brother came up to help us build the ranch house -- he was a carpenter by trade all of his working life. He never married, had no kids. Had open heart surgery 2 years before, and still owed medical bills despite having medical insurance. He sold his house down in Rhode Island (where we lived all our lives), and paid most of the bills off, but still had some. He was a great help on the ranch house, and brought a single-wide mobile home onto the back clearing of our land, doing extensive mods on that mobile. He now lives there full-time, rent free, and has his entire income to spend as he wishes. He's been a lot of help for us on this land.
My own brother now has his own cabin on our land, as well. We all just finished it this summer. He's had several reversals of fortune during his life, including a nasty divorce. Sometimes people ask me if it isn't crowded on my land? Good grief...33 acres! More than 20 acres of that is still wooded and not in use at all. So no, it's not crowded here. My brother came to stay with us and lived in a 30' camper for over a year, rent-free. During that time, he saved up the materials for the cabin; we just helped with the work. Like my BIL, my brother now has his entire pension to spend as he wishes, and he too, has been a great help to us around here.
I don't regret for one second allowing family to live rent-free here on my land. Again...33 acres is a LOT of land, and with all the woods, it's very private. It's never too late to learn. Both of these guys lived high off the hog while young, and now realize that SAVING can get you much further than squandering. I'm always happy to help other out, when they come to that realization. Because there wouldn't be any 33 acres here for me to own, if I hadn't learned that lesson myself, long ago.
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Won't make that mistake again ...
