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 hate to mention this, but not only should you look at your expenses when you have two incomes/two SS checks and two people but please think about what you would do with one SS check and one person. In my widow/widowers grief support group about 1/3 of the widows, and a few of the widowers, needed to move out of their house/apartment shortly after their spouse died as they couldn't afford the rent/mortgage and utilities anymore (several had to move in with adult children). Not that you should unduly worry about it but at least consider what would happen in the worse case scenario (death or serious illness of one of you). IMHO, try to secure extra income for emergencies though side gigs.
Could you do live on about $3300/month, after housing costs? What would you do to get ready?
What I'd do (and I did it myself), is start living on $3300 a month (after housing costs) to see how you'll manage. I'm assuming you'll be saving a fair amount monthly (bonus) and finding out what it'll feel like once you're both retired.
I hate to mention this, but not only should you look at your expenses when you have two incomes/two SS checks and two people but please think about what you would do with one SS check and one person. In my widow/widowers grief support group about 1/3 of the widows, and a few of the widowers, needed to move out of their house/apartment shortly after their spouse died as they couldn't afford the rent/mortgage and utilities anymore (several had to move in with adult children). Not that you should unduly worry about it but at least consider what would happen in the worse case scenario (death or serious illness of one of you). IMHO, try to secure extra income for emergencies though side gigs.
I don't know if this was common but my taxes went up $2,000 and my sister's went up $1,200 the year after both our husbands died, even though we had significant less money coming in.
Last edited by germaine2626; 06-29-2019 at 04:25 PM..
Yes, I know 3-4K per month seems comfortable to many, but it's impossible to overstate how expensive it is to live in Massachusetts! When rents are 3000+ (way more in the city and in suburbs with good schools) and house payments are the same, I have no idea how anyone here lives with children on less than six figures.
I live in a similarly high COL East Coast area, so I definitely feel your pain.
Several years ago I began tracking my actual monthly expenditures for the first time, in an Excel file. It was "interesting" to actually see how much money gets spent in each of the 28 categories I created (I wanted to really drill down into where the dollars go, but even then I ended up with a "Miscellaneous" category that usually is the largest monthly number except for December when the property tax bill gets paid, LOL.)
Looking at my 2018 expenses, the monthly totals ranged from $1800 to $2900 BUT with three important caveats:
(1) Those monthly figures do not include my property taxes (no mortgage) which are around $9000/year [this is considered on the low side for this part of the country]
(2) Those monthly figures do not include a spate of unexpected dental work, including an implant and an additional crown replacement, of almost $8000. That came out of savings. But hopefully this was a one-shot and I can get back to my usual $500-$600/year dental expense routine.
(3) Those figures do not include house renovation expenses that took place during that year ... again, because those were a one-shot that also came out of savings.
Figures do include things like Medicare premiums, food, gasoline, heating oil, tv/internet (the most basic package), water, electric, cell phone, homeowners & car insurance, and security system monitoring.... and the ever-present "miscellaneous", LOL
So if looking at normal, expected monthly expenses/spending, with nothing significantly out of the ordinary such as medical/dental/planned renovations, my roughly $2-$3K is not unusual for a single person in this part of the country. It may even be a little on the low side because I don't take vacations or eat at restaurants. Knowing the Boston suburbs somewhat (my dad's family is from there originally, and my son went to college there) I agree that two people on a $3300/month budget plan seems a tough row to hoe.
ETA: I am always in the red to some extent (Income vs. Expenses) at the end of the year, the difference having been made up from savings account funds. There was ONE year when I ended up a whopping $162 in the black for the year and it seemed like a miracle, LOL. First time I'd seen that since I began keeping track! But it is what it is. Sure I could move someplace where the year's cash flow number would always be black instead of red but at my stage of life it's just not worth forcing myself to be somewhere I don't want to be. Life's too short and unpredictable for that.
Last edited by BBCjunkie; 06-29-2019 at 04:06 PM..
You say you are accustomed to living on six figures, is that your current income? If so, make whatever adjustments you need to in order to start saving a minimum of $1500 a month. This would still leave you substantially more than you expect to have in retirement. Gradually increase the savings until you are living on what you expect to have in retirement. With 6-7 years before anticipated retirement you should easily be able to save 100-150K. Not much if you need to draw off it, but as an emergency stash, it's huge.
Also do not count on being bumped up to 1/2 of DH's SS if you begin drawing yours early. Your spousal benefits will be reduced because you began drawing at the earlier age.
In retirement, you think living on $5000 per month which is $60,000 per year is POOR??
Or, in retirement, even much less is poor?
I think it's relative to where you live. Those are poverty level wages in NYC or SFO. You could probably make it work with difficulty in Massachusetts if you are willing to live out of the city but the taxes would still take a huge bite out of your monthly income.
Oh, we've lived in the mid-west and I loved Iowa, especially, but don't want to move back. Dh and I are Yankees at heart and would rather be dealing with snow, etc., in VT or Maine than in the heartland.
You really have to change your definitions of WANT versus NEED while you still have options. Probably the big part of the pattern that needs to be adjusted.
In retirement, you think living on $5000 per month which is $60,000 per year is POOR??
...
Wow. And here I thought I was doing so well! If I stayed back East, that would have been my situation near Boston. How is that poor?
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.
