Do you seriously think you can afford to retire? (pay, million, rent)
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"What is your retirement strategy?
I have no idea
Savings/investments/house and I'm on track
Savings/investment/house but I know I'm behind
Corporate/gov pension so I don't need to worry
I can just sell my house & downsize and should be ok
I may just live abroad in a cheaper place"
I am surprised that 4 of the 6 poll options involve a house.
I do not consider my house to be an investment or a retirement tool.
It is my home.
Also, having a company pension does not mean "I don't need to worry". It just means that you have another income stream.
DH and I are relying on SS, investments, savings, IRAs, 401(k), 403(b), pension. Even with that, we cannot afford to retire right now because of health care. Self-insurance is through the roof!
I am surprised that 4 of the 6 poll options involve a house.
I do not consider my house to be an investment or a retirement tool.
It is my home.
The reason that house is a factor for so many people is because of the overhead of living somewhere is reduced. Rent rates continually rise throughout the years, and owning a home outright can reduce the overhead of living expenses. Yes, you still have to pay property taxes and maintenance costs on your house. But by owning it free and clear, you can live off of a lower income in retirement.
Say you own a $150k home with a $120k mortgage, and pay about $900 a month for MTI, with about $700 going to mortgage. You also have maintenance costs of 3% of home's value a year, at $4500. That puts your total cost of living in the home to about $15k a year. If you live on $40k a year post taxes, you could live on about $31.5k a year if you paid off your mortgage, and still have the same lifestyle. Over a 20 year retirement, that would require $168k less than if you hadn't paid off your mortgage.
The reason that house is a factor for so many people is because of the overhead of living somewhere is reduced. Rent rates continually rise throughout the years, and owning a home outright can reduce the overhead of living expenses. Yes, you still have to pay property taxes and maintenance costs on your house. But by owning it free and clear, you can live off of a lower income in retirement.
Say you own a $150k home with a $120k mortgage, and pay about $900 a month for MTI, with about $700 going to mortgage. You also have maintenance costs of 3% of home's value a year, at $4500. That puts your total cost of living in the home to about $15k a year. If you live on $40k a year post taxes, you could live on about $31.5k a year if you paid off your mortgage, and still have the same lifestyle. Over a 20 year retirement, that would require $168k less than if you hadn't paid off your mortgage.
Property taxes have been rising faster than the rate of inflation. Do the math, then get back to us on just how much more you'll be paying down the line in taxes.
Property taxes have been rising faster than the rate of inflation. Do the math, then get back to us on just how much more you'll be paying down the line in taxes.
This point is irrelevant since it's impossible to avoid the property taxes. You will pay them no matter where you are living. Even if you are renting, the cost of property taxes is included in your rent payments. I know that property taxes are increasing over the long haul, but for the sake of simplicity, I avoided that in order to make my point.
Just an example below, I found how much property taxes are in the case of California if one could buy and live in a house with the figures below, it doesn't seem too bad and one should be able to live comfortably when one retires and their mortgage is paid off even though left with the annual property tax to pay.
Now my other question would be, is there a property tax exemption of sorts with age? Which I found here, California Property Tax Relief Information | eHow.com California-property-tax-relief-information.html but haven't yet read it all, but at least there's something about tax relief in most states!
Q: How much property taxes for $120,000 house in Riverside city, CA?
We have plan to buy $120,000 house in Riverside city, CA. That house value before was $250,000. I would like to know how much do we need to pay property taxes if we buy the house on April 09. Will 2009 and 2010 property taxes be same or different?
A: The tax value for the current year is already set in stone. For the next year it will be revalued based on your purchase price. As a generalization, figure tax at 1.1% of the purchase price to make provision for outstanding bonds or special assessments. If the property is in a Mello Roos district, you will pay significantly more. If it is in a Mello Roos district is something that should be disclosed to you because it affects what you are going to have to pay.
Under Prop 13, property taxes are limited to 1% of the value of the home. The value of the home will be the purchase price. Therefore your taxes will be $1,200 for the first year. They may rise not more than 2% per year after that.
Make sure that there are no Mello-Ross assessments, though! Those can be very costly.
Who knows, maybe we would reconsider returning to the U.S. at our really old age, but that still would be an uncertainty since we are already set in our ways here overseas where we have an affordable and comfortable lifestyle we are happy and content with! We'll see though in the next 10 or 20 years if I'm still around and kicking!
If homw values go up then it will go up. Just as a 250K home bought for 120K is goig to be any cheaper to maintain as that cost does go down with the basic sales price.bascially you wnt to be able to poay the taxes and maintainance cost has prices chnage. if they went up then went down they can go back up again.pretty simple really and you just have to take that into account in planning as a possibility like medical goig up.
I am surprised that 4 of the 6 poll options involve a house.
I do not consider my house to be an investment or a retirement tool.
It is my home.
Owning your home is a crucial retirement tool for millions of low income Americans; for many it makes the difference between being able to enjoy a modest retirement lifestyle and never being able to retire.
Half of all low-income renters spend at least half their income on shelter; these are people who can't afford to retire.
NOW can you see where owning your home with a paid-off mortgage is a retirement tool for low earners?
If a bank won't lend, have you tried lease with option to buy, owner financed ?
Those are usually overpriced (often WAY overpriced) and a poor value. Possibly better than nothing, but I haven't found one I was comfortable with.
Also, I suspect advancing age might have already doomed any such hopes of mine. These deals are always on contract ("land contract" aka "contract for deed") and if I don't live long enough to complete the payments, I'd probably lose all the equity I had built up, right?
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