Retirement Secrets

[jcommin]

This is for a different post. Health care is the best for those who can afford it and there lies the problem. Shouldn't it be the same for everyone no matter the income?

i don't want this to go to PARf. My cousin just put her husband in a home costing $10K/ month. It is not covered by anything - it is all hers. You ready for that. She can afford it. Can you? Can most? I can't........

[dmcummins]

Originally Posted by jcommin

This is for a different post. Health care is the best for those who can afford it and there lies the problem. Shouldn't it be the same for everyone no matter the income?

Sorry, no.

[mreid]

Originally Posted by Don Ro

You think Obummercare sucks now?...just wait.

This is so unfortunately true.

[930addict]

Originally Posted by jcommin

i don't want this to go to PARf. My cousin just put her husband in a home costing $10K/ month. It is not covered by anything - it is all hers. You ready for that. She can afford it. Can you? Can most? I can't........

This happened to my grandparents. They owned nearly an entire block of residential property in downtown san jose california. Within 6 months of each other they both ended up in nirsing home $10k a month each! We had to sell their home off one by one to pay for everything. There was a little lleft to go to the kids but not much.

[Don Ro]

Whatever happened to the tradition of offspring care-taking parents in-home and holding their hands as they pass?
Or at least until their last days in a hospice?

[tabs]

Originally Posted by motion

Its even worse than I thought: Americans' Average Net Worth by Age -- How Do You Compare? -- The Motley Fool

Was your question a rhetorical joke? Or have you just just been obliviously in outer space the whole time? Haven't you noticed the demand curve and velocity of money for the past 7 years? What do you think that is all about, could it be that Americans are all in, tapped out and living on fumes? All of that traveling and second home with 5M in assets is and always was a Pie in the Sky delusion as Americans haven't saved a dime and furthermore are so deeply in debt both personally and as a nation that the music is about to stop and most don't have a seat to sit in. The sad fact is that over the last 5 decades every American has already eaten their retirement hamburger.

With the mass of Boomers hitting retirement and requiring SS to get by, YOU are going to have to pay your fair share. Haven't you been paying attention to Barrack and Bernie, I know you don't pay attention to me! There are more of them than you and they will vote. The government will not dare and cut them off and let them eat the cake you heartily endorse them doing for fear of massive civil unrest. The government will let them die and the quicker the better by limiting medical treatment. This includes you.


Since the government will have to pay all that SS and medicare for the next 25 to 30 years and tax revenues WILL NOT MEET the burden. They will have to borrow money to pay people a subsistence check. When that starts to happen in earnest the system will throw a rod right through the block and then everybody gets to eat gruel. You see you are already broke and don't even know it yet.

Ohhh and there is no place to run in the world either as all will be effected.

[tabs]

Originally Posted by fintstone

Finances and increased retirement funds seemed to get a lot better after the kids moved out and we were in our peak earning years. Unfortunately you lose some ability for long term compounding. What has helped us is that we were putting so much of our income into investment, that we were already living on half our salary. Our after retirement net income will be more than we net/spend now...as we are far to busy to spend much and lots cones out for investment. Ss, etc.

Read my ^^^^^ post to Motion.

Sometimes I look around and see things moving along as always, and think, "Can what I say be true?" Then you look at the "debt clock" and realize the staggering truth of those numbers, and know there is just no way this system is sustainable. Further I just mentioned the economy at the grocery store or anywhere I go for that mater and virtually everybody says, "It is in the dumps with everybody just struggling to get by."

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Originally Posted by motion

Boring. Not for me. I prefer to live life.

Fkin A brother...

I do have a copy of that book and while it makes some good points, the jist of it is "live miserably so you can continue to live miserably after you retire - since you're used to it, you won't notice the difference".

No thanks.

I'll live as much as I can now before I'm too old, take a few risks, etc. but also sock some money away when and where I can, try to invest if and when I can and do the best I can to cultivate multiple revenue streams - SS, a pension, some stock funds, a 401k, whatever I get from continuing to do occasional projects (I doubt I'll ever completely stop working - I'd get too bored, I just want to work a lot less and on my own terms because I want to - not because I have to).

I don't consider living like a pauper an option. I'm only getting to do life once - I'd like it to not suck.

[Crowbob]

Originally Posted by recycled sixtie

Well Motion if there was a continuum between Crowbob's post and the Millionaire next door I am sure you will find a comfortable position.

Crowbob if your humour is anything to go by then it is time for you to write a book on retirement lifestyle as you suggest. Lots of explicit pics rather than too many words would guarantee it to be a bestseller....

Secret to Retirement, or Zen and the Art of Fear and Loathing On the Big Two-Hearted River For A Dollar Or Less Per Day-A Pictorial Tutorial

$1.99 On Sale Now! Free Delivery with Amazon Prime

[tabs]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Fkin A brother...

I do have a copy of that book and while it makes some good points, the jist of it is "live miserably so you can continue to live miserably after you retire - since you're used to it, you won't notice the difference".

No thanks.

I'll live as much as I can now before I'm too old, take a few risks, etc. but also sock some money away when and where I can, try to invest if and when I can and do the best I can to cultivate multiple revenue streams - SS, a pension, some stock funds, a 401k, whatever I get from continuing to do occasional projects (I doubt I'll ever completely stop working - I'd get too bored, I just want to work a lot less and on my own terms because I want to - not because I have to).

I don't consider living like a pauper an option. I'm only getting to do life once - I'd like it to not suck.

This ^^^^is the mentality that most Americans have had for the past 50 years and is why the shyte is going to hit the fan. It has been the previous generations that lived "miserably" so that they could have something in hard times or when they were too old to work. U see those folks knew just how miserable and frightened you become when you don't have anything to eat or a roof over your head. So they worked hard, lived frugally and saved their money. That is how America got rich, so that now Americans just can't seem to deny themselves anything. That is until the music stops and then they will realize what it is to be cold, hungry and scared because they don't know where their next meal is gong to come from.

[tabs]

To sum it up past generations knew what it was like to have to survive. They prefered not to have to go through that again so they were prudent and lived accordingly. My generation and I include myself have not had to taste that bitter fruit and have lived a prodigal life. This is true for all Americans of my and succeeding generations if not on a personal level then on a governmental level. We have truly eaten our hamburger last Tuesday and we are now facing having to pay the bill.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I see your point but don't entirely agree. Life is meant to be lived - not suffered through. By the same token it's not appropriate to indulge one's every fantasy and live beyond one's means to do it. There has to be a balance of restraint and experience - of enjoyment and suffering. As with most things the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Either extreme leads to ruined lives. I see the problem much as you do - that people have (for the most part) lived too far to one end of the spectrum for too long. I suspect we just draw where the line is between appropriate and inappropriate in slightly different places.

[motion]

Tabs, I personally haven't had any debt since I was 40, aside from real estate, so I am a bit immune to the debt levels others may have. It just doesn't register on my radar. Maybe its huge. I dunno.

POP, this is one thing we agree on. I don't see Tabs' life in the desert, picking thru used bargain shops and not going anywhere or seeing anything as something that appeals to me. I place great value in experiencing life on my terms, when I am young and the quality level is high. In my opinion, once you hit 65 or so, the quality level of anything you get to reap after your life of sacrifice will be very low. No thanks.

Interesting: BBC - Capital - Can you live the good life on less than $1,000 a month?

[motion]

BTW, I am in Saigon right now. Amazing, affordable city. Just beautiful. Communists and all.

[jcommin]

Originally Posted by dmcummins

Sorry, no.

Cudos for lifting out of context: answer the remaining part of my response.: My cousin just put her husband in a home costing $10K/ month. It is not covered by anything - it is all hers. You ready for that. She can afford it. Can you? Can most? I can't........
__________________

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by jcommin

I struggle with this. I am one month short of 65. What I thought my retirement would look like at 50 is totally different today. At 50. I thought I would still be married, saving, investing in my IRA looking to retire early. What happened: My company eliminated retire medical benefits. Pension is all but gone. The dot com crashed destroyed my savings. I got divorced in 2006 and wasn't pretty), the recession came and my house lost 30% of its value, my son had a drug problem
I have lost so much money from 2000 - 2010 - I can honestly say my 50 to 60 yrs on this earth was the darkest days of my life. did I plan this?, no did I see this coming ? no. I adjusted. Lucky for me, I had money to sustain every ugly event during this decade. The problem: I have no time to recover. I have no savings or home. My retirement Savings is a fraction of what I want. I will work longer than t want to. I can't afford to live in Chicago in retirement years.

I can dwell on the past but that doesn't help me going forward. I will adjust - there is no choice. In spite of what I don'rt have, I'm probably better than 95% of the population. I don't count money or wealth any more. In a wink of an eye, we are one catastrophic event away that can change your life.

Don't brag to me of how much you have or it will never happen to you - cuz in a moment, it can change. The question is: can you adapt?

My biggest fear: health care costs. I can budget everything but that. Healthcare in this country just sucks and that is before Obamacare.

Good luck Jim. At least you have your health.

My story, The divorce happened when I was 37. Fast forward 13 years and I feel I should be a lot further along than I am. Oh well. Just keep going I guess.
What else can you do?

[aschen]

There is a huge chasam between living the life of a miserable pauper and simply saving prudently and living below ones means for most of us here.

"Living life to the fullest" is putting a bit of a romantic spin on irresponsible spending for some

[VincentVega]

I thought of this thread today. I just heard about an acquaintance that was told her apartment is being sold and needs to vacate. The chick is ~55 and has zero to her name, to the point she needs to beg for the security deposit for the next place. wtf? nails get done on a regular basis, drinks/goes out regularly... Not making a ton of $$ is one thing, not having the forethought to be independant and absorb regular expenses is just careless in my mind.

Rather than plan for anything in the future its all about right now for her. You dont need to travel the world or commute in a 991 to be successful in my book but you should be able to stand on your own feet and be mature enough to be independant.

I feel for those with bad luck or unfortunate circumstances. Those that make good on difficult situations deserve a lot of credit, those that dont...

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by aschen

There is a huge chasam between living the life of a miserable pauper and simply saving prudently and living below ones means for most of us here.

"Living life to the fullest" is putting a bit of a romantic spin on irresponsible spending for some

That's true... But we're forgetting one thing.

Most of the people that post on this Forum are in the top 5% of the world's population in wealth.

I get the concerns but I promise you things will be OK. That happens by default just living in the West.
......... I really think people do stupid things to make sure they're broke at 65.

[Hugh R]

I work in the movie industry, most "below the line", meaning crew will get a small pension for 35 years of work. (Like 25K-30K per year, But they will get a health plan, something I won't get, since I'm considered "Management"). The Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plan says over the last 50 years they averaged 18 monthly pension checks, that's it. You work your butt off and then you die.

During the Screen Actor's Guild and Writer's strikes 10 years ago, a lot of crew lost houses, medical benefits, everything. Most didn't have a month of savings in the bank. But they had the RVs, ski boats, jet skis, etc.