How Do Retirees Live On SS Alone? (moving, community, 2015)
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Owning a condo could be risky if one doesn’t have savings.
What would a person to do if the condo has huge repairs - the assessment could run in several tens of thousand dollars.
You have no control what other people decide to spend your money on - the monthly fees could go up too.
Then the government could change regulations like it happened in FL - it would cost you too
Not a big concern based on 23 years of experience as an owner of multiple condos in several cities. It would be extremely hard to impossible for an assessment on a small condo to "run in several tens or thousands of dollars". If there is a major expense, the HOA may double condo fees for several months, but even that is not done too often. If you can't maintain a small condo any more (which would likely mean you are an assisted-living material anyway), you can always sell it.
What goverment regs are you referring to in FL? I'm not too familiar with FL, I do not intend to ever live there, somehow don't find it interesting (neither FL nor the Caribbean. My personally preferred ocean is the Pacific).
my mom was able to live comfortably on her ss income and rarely had to dip into her saved funds with the exception of the RMDs.
her home wasn't paid off, but she put a good amount down to get the payment she could easily afford.
her car, though, was paid off. gas expenditure was small because she stuck to local driving.
she was thankfully in good health (up until her cancer diagnosis, which sadly took her within two months) so she didn't have to pay for costly medications.
utilities were below 500 per month all in, but theyve started to increase due the usual bullcrap reasons.
she was thrifty, but had enough to buy the organic foods she preferred.
overall, by most metrics, she lived a good life and didn't save to a million dollars, or even half that. She was always very smart with money.
Owning a condo could be risky if one doesn’t have savings.
What would a person to do if the condo has huge repairs - the assessment could run in several tens of thousand dollars.
You have no control what other people decide to spend your money on - the monthly fees could go up too.
Then the government could change regulations like it happened in FL - it would cost you too
Nothing is 100 percent certain. This could happen, or that could happen whether you live in a paid off house, condo, rent or live in your car. Everything has some risk to it.
As soon as life is risk free, someone please let me know.
BTW, you don't need to live in CA or a fire zone for your house to burn down. All it takes is a lightning strike, an electrical spark from an outlet or some stupid accident and poof! That's why I pay for home owner's insurance even though my house is paid for.
Travel would be feasible with car camping, which I'd personally be prepared to do. And if you own your own home and are over 62, you can get a reverse mortgage. It gets a bad rap, but I don't know why. There's no one I plan to leave my house to, so why shouldn't I spend the equity in it while I'm alive?
I have already factored cheap accommodations in the consideration of cheap travel on soc security only (ie, hostels or AirBnB rooms). But even the cheapest airplane tickets still cost quite a bit, and one can't drive a car to Switzerland to do car camping there.
Btw, if I get my full projected soc security at 70, though I doubt I will, that would be about $3,600 per month in today's money, or about $42k per year. I actually hardly spend more than that even now, with all the travel I want. I won't get the maximum possible soc security, but what is projected is still good considering that I had only 25 years counting towards soc security benefit (because the 12-13 years during which I lived/worked in the US on limited visas did not count towards soc security benefits... probably not too relevant, though, because my income in those years was either very low or lowish-average).
You can buy loss assessment insurance that’s very cheap. So if each condo is assessed 10k your insurance pays. It’s a rider on your regular policy. Here if you don’t have homeowner’s insurance and your condo burns the association’s insurance wouldn’t pay for drywall or kitchen cupboards, etc so you need your own insurance.
You can buy loss assessment insurance that’s very cheap. So if each condo is assessed 10k your insurance pays. It’s a rider on your regular policy. Here if you don’t have homeowner’s insurance and your condo burns the association’s insurance wouldn’t pay for drywall or kitchen cupboards, etc so you need your own insurance.
When we had a big building fire, my condo building insurance covered all my walls (incl drywall and bathroom tiles), ceilings, floors, doors, windows, plumbing, electrical installations, kitchen and bath cabinets, all that is normally in the bathroom - shower/toilet/sink, kitchen and bath cabinets, stove and fridge.
If you own a condo, the building master insurance covers pretty much everything except your belongings. If you live on soc security only, it is unlikely that you own belongings worth insuring. I have a minimal insurance on my primary home condo, but that is only because without some home insurance you can't get an umbrella policy to insure your other assets if someone sues you for some type of damages. My condo insurance for something like $20k with umbrella insurance for $1 million (which covers my personal liability worldwide) costs around $270 per year, ie, practically nothing.
My unit did get totalled in a building fire several years ago, when I did not have any home insurance (though I owned the second condo in a different city, where I could stay without extra expense), and the building insurance policy covered the entire gut rebuilding of my condo.
My "walls-in" condo insurance is $700 a year, but it is probably more than I need, given that I don't have fancy furniture or valuable possessions. The mortgage requires that I have it.
Exterior damage is covered by the master insurance for the buildings, the cost of which is 24% of our HOA fee.
E Car? A person living on SS alone most likely doesn't have the money to buy one.
Game night? Christian church? Don't really understand this one. Why not temple or mosque?
Seems like you are pushing your lifestyle on health, religion, and energy instead of explaining how MOST people would live on SS alone.
This makes no sense. Are you feeling okay?
Of course an RV can be a dwelling and it is for many. There is even a massive movement with people who live this lifestyle. The website CheapRivLiving comes to mind. Yes poor people live in RV's as dwellings.
Secondly the poor also drive E-CAR'. Why not? We've seen them for 16-18k in the Bay Area of California. Heck that could even be your dwelling if you choose, making it even more affordable. Either of these groups could be getting by on SS alone.
Our two Specialized E-Bikes, I mean these are quality, we bought in Reno Nevada just a week ago. Power with solar like we have and I can ride it to work. Sure it will take a few hours but I need the exercise anyhow. Ride it home. We are so excited! We rode them once, a 3 hr round trip to the Mexican Restaurant. How fun!
Temples? Sorry I am just not familiar with Temples so thus I would not be speaking on them. My limited knowledge is of a Jewish? Temple in Loomis decades ago before we moved away. They have a yearly festival which is very entertaining. Budah's all over the place, they dress very crazy excentric. The food is to die for and was very reasonable. We visited bringing friends along to treat them 2 years in a row. I couldn't tell you if they are a religion or anything beyond that. So folks, to make my complaining counter-part on this website happy, I suggest you google your local temple to see if they hold any festivals. AND I stick by my advice of always googling the name and the word cult to ensure you are not making a huge mistake when choosing a church, most are Cults. Are you happy now?
I would much rather have someone give advice upon things they have already incorporated into their life than not though both are appreciated. So don't call it "Pushing a lifestyle" because someone actually recommends something which has more validity than lip service.
I know this is waaay off-topic but I highly doubt there is a Jewish temple anywhere on the planet that would have "Buddhas all over the place". Or even ONE.
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