Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am getting by on SS with just a gentle tap on savings to pay my property taxes on my mortgage-free home. I have no subsidies. I lease a car and have a monthly payment and must carry insurance on same. Since I'm 83, I'm probably going to turn in the car this year and will then rely on family/Uber for transportation. (I'll have money to pay for Uber since I won't have a car/insurance payment)
If I need a new roof or furnace, I'll figure it out. That's what life is about, right? You figure it out?
Plans are not something one makes lightly. Plan all you want and then there's that big bad bugaboo staring you in the face that shoots your well-made plans in the foot.
I plan on waking up tomorrow. As long as the coffee's hot and I'm vertical, it's going to be okay.
Yep. Life has a way of derailing even the best laid plans.
Yup what bigdogmom said. I'm talking about how my mom got by on permanent disability and SSI for her last 3 years, after she had to stop working due to her health. She got a total of about $660/month. She was on medicaid, so no healthcare costs. She had a subsidized apartment in an IL situation, a studio with kitchenette and the dinner meal was provided in the communal dining room. This "meal plan" was a requirement of living there and cost her another $135 month over and above her 30% of income rent, so that totaled about half her income. She had no car, so she relied on the complex's van, or me, for transportation. She had very little necessity for food, since she often took home the leftovers from her dining room dinner for next day's lunch, so breakfast food, snacks and cat food/litter were her other daily expenses, plus occasional sundries, and monthly phone bill were all that was necessary. All the other utilities were paid. She also was entitled to a chore worker (IHSS) a few hours per week to help with her heavier housekeeping, laundry, etc (she was unable to walk, or lift anything over about 5-10 pounds). I paid for any new clothing or other expenses that were not in her budget, and took her out to a restaurant meal weekly. My brother would take her to his house for a couple days occasionally for family time, and activities, usually at least once a month. There was no way for her to have survived without government subsidy (and our subsidies when needed).
Last edited by TheShadow; 01-16-2019 at 03:16 PM..
Add in the spousal benefit and the payout is $4030 per month. If your house and cars are paid off and you live in a low COL area, that's enough for a comfortable lifestyle.
I waited until just short of my 70th bday to collect an enhanced benefit while my wife waited to her FRA.
We're in a medium COL area and we do just fine on what we get. Not rich but comfortable.
Add in the spousal benefit and the payout is $4030 per month. If your house and cars are paid off and you live in a low COL area, that's enough for a comfortable lifestyle.
"The maximum monthly Social Security benefit payment for a person applying in 2017 at full or normal retirement age is $2,687" is very misleading.
The vast majority of people in the U.S. do not have a high paying job which elicits anything even a tiny bit close to that figure after paying into Social Security during their working years.
The average Social Security check received per month is $1421.00.
And the majority of people take Social Security at age 62.
For those who are currently young or for those without a full understanding or for those without a lot of information, it is very important to know that "The maximum monthly Social Security benefit payment for a person applying in 2017 at full or normal retirement age is $2,687" is very misleading. And the average amount received is a little over $1400 per month.
Last edited by matisse12; 01-16-2019 at 05:00 PM..
it is not misleading at all . it clearly says the maximum benefit . there is nothing misleading about it , it is exactly that . it does not say average or median or typical or anything other then the maximum benefit.
My mother lives on SS alone. Her house is paid off. She is 87 so really doesn’t expend on much as she doesn’t leave house much. Only doctors apt and when I take her out to dinner. As she has aged she is less willing to leave home. My brother goes by daily and brings dinner for her.
She definitely is not getting anywhere near max as neither of my parents where high earners but they were and she still is very frugal
Doesn’t have a car, doesn’t have cable or internet. Definitely a different retirement than most of us younger ones would plan on. But she never relied on any of those things so doesn’t see the point in them.
Wow, that's incredibly cheap for a crown! I haven't paid that little for a crown since the 1980s. The going rate here is between $1000 and $1500 if one doesn't have some kind of dental coverage.
No kidding. A $400 crown is something I've not seen in many many years.
With all due respect, you are not getting by on SS alone. You are getting by on SS plus discounts and subsidies from the government and charities. I understand that it's a very modest lifestyle but it's not SS alone and I wonder how that picture will change as more and more baby boomers retire with no other substantial income but SS. I suspect there will be cutbacks, more stringent eligibility requirements and fewer "cute little subsidized apartments" to be had.
Wow. Screeching cat noise. You can draw your cute claws in now.
With all due respect, uh hem, anyone living on just SS who is very low income, is most likely also taking advantage of any and all subsidies and charities and senior discounts that they qualify for. If they didn't, that wouldn't be very wise.
So, it's reasonable to assume that any seniors with a very low income amount of SS, will also be taking advantage of things they qualify for, in order to actually still have some cash on hand in case of emergencies.
Some people, especially women who can't draw from their husband's SS and who stayed at home with the kids, and maybe their husband divorced them before they'd been married for 10 years --didn't earn enough credits to have a nice cushy SS income. Some people earned enough work credits, but never earned a decent salary. Some people earned enough work credits, but became disabled.
Low income seniors who earned enough work credits, but qualify for and accept help -- are not evil, lazy people. Nobody gets SS, unless they worked at least 10 full-time years.
At any rate, do you qualify for the cute senior discounts at, say, the movie theater, and do you pay the lower price simply because you're a senior? Even though you can afford the full price ticket? I bet you do.
Yeesh. People really need to get over the idea that it's somehow evil to accept help if you need it - and qualify for it. But, some people, I guess, have a self-esteem problem and need to feel superior. C'est la vie.
And if all subsidies disappeared? Hopefully, people like me will have been able to save up enough to buy a mini-van to live in, I guess.
Last edited by NoMoreSnowForMe; 01-16-2019 at 08:45 PM..
With all due respect, you are not getting by on SS alone. You are getting by on SS plus discounts and subsidies from the government and charities. I understand that it's a very modest lifestyle but it's not SS alone and I wonder how that picture will change as more and more baby boomers retire with no other substantial income but SS. I suspect there will be cutbacks, more stringent eligibility requirements and fewer "cute little subsidized apartments" to be had.
For those of you who are doing fine now, a few questions:
1. If you have no car payments, what will you do when the car needs replacement or the transmission dies?
2. If you develop dental problems and need a $1,000 root canal can you come up with the money?
3. If you have a paid-off house, can you handle the expense of a new roof or a new furnace?
4. What are your plans if you can no longer live on your own?
I understand that thrifty habits in the day-to-day things (using the public library, no fancy cell phone or cable plans, no credit card debt, replacing shoes and clothing only as they wear out) can keep your cash flow healthy in an average month- I've got pretty much the same habits even though I could afford to spend more. But what do you do when the major problem occurs? Right now I've a got a friend who hasn't been to church in weeks because her car windshield is broken and she's waiting till she has the money to get it fixed. SH'd told me before she and her DH lived on SS alone.
Why would you assume all people that live on SS alone have absolutely no savings for emergencies and why do you sound so resentful? The question was asked how people make ends meet on social security alone and people have been very honest in responding. Many people have worked all their lives and not taken a dime in public assistance. If people reach a point in their lives where public assistance is needed and they qualify then it's there for them to use. That's why it exists.
Last edited by marino760; 01-16-2019 at 08:54 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
