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I'm living on less than that and very happy. I do have a SO thankfully that is very helpful. I have no car payment and no TV. I get internet for free from my neighbor, but, I do have a cool smart phone. I go to the movies a lot and buy fun clothes at TJ maxx or consignment shops. I walk my dogs a lot and go to afternoon theatres every other month. I do earn a bit of extra money pet sitting and if I really needed to I could get a part time job since I'm well under regular retirement age.
My mom is 75 and lives on take-home of about $28K per year. This is comprised of about $700 in SS, about $1,200 in a survivor's pension (God bless my late stepdad) and about $500 in annuities. About half of the annuity will run out when she's 80. She also has $200-225K in the bank from the sale of her home a few years back. She pays $1,050 in rent and probably $350 in monthly bills (utilities, cell phone, newspaper). She carries zero debt and has always been that way (except for when she had a mortgage). She has a newer car that she paid cash for, and may never need another car. She doesn't really travel or have any expensive hobbies. Every month she's able to put money in savings. If she only had $2,000 per month she would still be OK, although rents are high in our area.
My sister lives on $24,000 per year in low cost Alabama. She pays rent, never travels, and seems quite happy. She LOVES being retired. She worked until she was 70....found it very hard to keep learning new computer programs and new financial terms at that age. She started working at age 16 in an office and worked her entire life, raising three children. She was not able to save very much because she never made much. But she is happy now on $24,000.
My brother retired from a government job in his late forties due to medical problems. He had no savings to speak of. When he passed away at age 72, his net income was less than $2,000 per month. He was single and lived in a city in Texas with a fairly low cost of living. He didn't drive so there was no car expense. He was always able to afford modest but decent apartments, cable TV, and the occasional pizza or restaurant meal. If he had lived in L.A. or New York City, he would have definitely struggled, but he did OK where he was.
Never shame because there would you go but for the grace of God.
Sometimes horrible things happen to good people that did everything right and it is heart breaking.
I am fortunate that I am 67 and have every expectation of being able to work full time until I am 70 which nearly doubles my social security benefit from what if I was forced to retire and draw at 62. I will do well in retirement but I fully recognize that 75% of my fortune is due to pure luck.
Debilitating heart attack at 60 would have destroyed me and it does happen even to good people who exercised, ate right, didn't smoke and didn't drink.
Automobile accident, fell asleep at the wheel and ran off the road, leaving me wheel chair ridden with SSI or or age 62 social security. Throat cancer at 57, sometimes it happens to non-smokers, and never being able to speak again would have done me in.
Work your entire life at a single company being very successful until the company is purchased and you find yourself out of a job at 55. Happens.
But to the original question is it possible to live on $2,000/month?
I think so but a lot of it has to do with where you live. In New York or San Francisco you wouldn't do well but in some areas, Knoxville TN for example, you can live pretty well as long as you own your house or condo. No big trips or cruises but oh well.
Wow, that's quite a lot to have handled.
Hope things have improved for you.
I assume we are talking about a net of $25,000/year right? Is that really so little? I clear about half of my gross pay once taxes, health insurance, and yes 401(K) is deducted. So a $50,000 salary, which nobody considers poverty unless you are in NYC or San Diego, is really like the $25,000 you guys are discussing. Am I missing something here?
One thing I have noticed on this board is the vast majority of posters are either one extreme or the other. "My first million" is a phrase you don't read often but you see it here. Then there are the poverty stories. I guess it stands to reason, the folks in the middle don't have a story to tell. But they represent the majority of retirees and that's where I expect to find myself.
I recently read that the majority of poverty level people are women over 65. I guess this stands to reason as many depended on their husbands retirement and SS. My wife and I have the opposite. Her retirement and SS is much larger then mine. We presently live very comfortably on our income. We even go positive every month. We have not touched any of our retirement accounts other than required RMD 's and those we reinvest. All our retirement account and stock dividends get reinvested.
As I am the main spender, my wife would be financially secure without me. On the other hand, without her I will have to start using RMD's, dividends, and some withdrawal of retirement fund to maintain my present life style. This has been planned on since day one of retirement so I am not crying poor mouth. The older we get (73/75), the more sure we are that what we have will last.
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