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I remember the day when DH and I met up with our financial planner and he totaled up all our investments with him, and our IRA's and our savings, and he looked at us and said "Well, how does it feel to be millionaires?"
Not as good as I thought. Partly b/c that was the goal from 1990, and a million dollars seemed pretty sweet.
Don't get me wrong, I am very, very grateful for the money and the PEACE it brings my heart to know that we're OK and going to be OK. We didn't plan that SS would be working by 2022, and surprise, surprise, it was. But it's not our biggest source of income, now we're retired.
Really? Depending on so many factors, what would seem like a fortune to one person would be loose change to another.
We saved and saved and lived frugally. Raised 5 kids--all of them are married and very comfortably off b/c they pattern their finances after us. We've traveled some, and are looking forward to more. Our home is paid for. Our investments are secure. We don't do crazy things with the money and we sure as heck don't blow it on acquiring stuff just because we can.
On the flip side--My SIL (DH's sister) and her DH live so close to the bone..I don't know how they can sleep at night. She commented to me that they can't ever retire b/c they didn't plan for the future. They keep refinancing their home so they can afford the 'fun stuff' of life. At 67 and 70, they shouldn't still have 15 years left on a 30 year mortgage!
DH is in the slow process of liquidating his mother's estate. He's moving very slowly and his Sis is champing at the bit to get her hands on her third. He is not interested in moving this along at a faster pace, b/c WE don't need the $$ it doesn't occur to him that his SISTER really, really, does.
I'd get to a financial planner ASAP and set up a plan for the future and present. Smartest thing we ever did was go with a private planner.
If you're single and healthy and don't want a lot of 'stuff' in your life, I'm sure you can plan to live frugally and still have a great life.
I can SOOOOO identify with your "not as good as you might think" because it is absolutely true. AND I identify with your "don't get me wrong I am GRATEFUL".
Please do copy paste your GREAT answer to this question below in discussions, Midkid. She calls it something like "ducks in a row".
Right, just, like I said, be certain it isn't one who is a financial INVESTOR, because they don't always guide you to products good for you (annuities and etc) but that are good for THEM. Also would say this is so dependent on what your plans are for the future. 70,000 is a nice little chunk of change, but if you are 68, as our OP is, it isn't going to fund your lounged about on your yacht for the remaining decades of your life.
Ha, Anxietynacy, I think your question would be great for the Discussions thread. How much is Enough?
You could ask someone with 1M million and that person might say it isn't enough. You might ask someone with 100,000, and they might say it's just fine.
So much in life depends upon your lifestyle and how, where, and in what manner you wish to live. My brother ended his days in a marvelous little trailer park in the deserts of Palm Springs. It was a historical little place in that many of its vehicular denizens were born in the 60s/70s, so it was on old car tours and such. Beautifully kept up and a wonderful group of people--a pool, shuffleboard, library; just a great little community. AND CHEAP. He bought his little place in 2017 if I recall, for 30,000 cash outright. Put in another 20,000 in revamping it. Sold it in 2019 when he went to ALF for 100,000. The space rental AND utilities were 600.00 a month. Brother spent his life, buying and selling homes in California. Was a hobby for him to buy the downtrodden, bring them back to glory and sell then at a profit (he got bored when they were perfect). I teased him he could save a lot of angst buying and doing up dollhouses. But in those times it worked. Today, when an empty lot here goes for about 1M would not work. So he made money and lived all over our fair state, and as he lived like a monk and didn't spend, he managed to keep his money tucked away earning (again, this wouldn't work today. You cannot FIND a contractor today, not can you afford him or the prices he pays for the lumbar that is pretty bad stuff all in all).
I teased D., my bro, when we went looking for ALF that they all wanted him ONLY because of my description of his being 1M on the hoof (ask a farmer what that means). I teased him also that at 85 he could not outlive his money. Made him get the two room unit that existed, four in each cottage, one in each corner of building. The "boy" died with the same old cast iron pot and 12" pan he had when he first left home.
I could have been wrong about that latter not being able to outlive his money, because at 20,000 a month for some MC facilites, that money is going to go quick. IF you live any number of years at all.
So how much is enough? If you are in the trailer park you can still live relatively inexpensively. But at 60. Ummmmm. You have perhaps 4 decades of life left. SS isn't going to be enough. And trust me, any elder can tell you what inflation means when you are no longer working.
How much is enough? We have people out there living on next to nothing and people out there spending enormous amounts monthly. Suze Orman will gladly tell you that there is NEVER enough to retire on. Some others will tell you they did well on next to nothing. I personally don't spend much. I eat the same old huge pots of spaghetti or white beans and sausage or fajitas and veggies because I LIKE them, over and over. My Costco Kirkland blue jeans last forever. My 6.00 tees from Target are my favorites. I get free public transit. Our home is paid off so there's no rental (tho there are amazing insurance thingys and repairs you cannot do yourself on a 1870 home are dire). We no longer travel, did that decades ago. There's two of us so expenses are shared. My supplemental is Kaiser and I LOVE LOVE LOVE them and it's only 98.00 a month. I always describe myself as inflation proof. We no longer even drive enough to allow gas to be a problem. I still clip coupons. I still go to the library. My pots and pans only slightly newer than my bros as I will not fill our landfills with perfectly adequate pots and pans, and I love to thift shop. I spurge on good bakery stuff. Not much else.
In Chicago, as a young LPN working my slow way to RN I worked with a respiratory therapist named Galen. Will NEVER forget him for the one discussion we had in which we spoke about our lifestyles, and why it was important for people to hook up with like-minded folk. As a young mom I worked like a beast, struggled to educate myself further, watched every penny and made it work double time, clipped coupons, soaks and washed my own diapers (sorry, my kid's diapers) and so on and so on. I had no bills.
Galen, he worked like a beast, loved to gamble and was deeply in debt. And after much discussion he finally looked at me and he said "Al, you are gonna die with leaving your kids a bit of cash. And I am gonna die deeply in debt. But, yah know, we will have lived like we chose to live, and in the end, what's the difference."
I have to tell you I think about Galen. I bet he's retired somewhere and going gambling and is deeply in debt. But I suspect, now at 81, he might have been RIGHT after all.
How long have you had the unsecured debt? What do you have of value to show for it - pictures, property, things, vacations, lifestyle, education, etc? What is the annual interest of the debt? Does it keep you up at night? If you paid it off would you accumulate it again in short order or do you have a plan to manage your spending? How much could you earn conservatively on the $70k without risk of the principal ? 4-5% perhaps. With these answered you are prepared to outline if its better to pay off the debt. Remember the rule of 72. Take the annual interest you earn or are paying and divide it into the number 72. This shows how long it will take for your money or your debt to double. Make a plan iwith the numbers you evaluated and decide to payoff overtime or all at once. You got this!!
Welcome to the Forum, Tom. I personally don't see a whole lot of financial advice given on this Forum. Remember, we are just a bunch of folks out here from all around the world who are facing that same questions ourselves. When you need expert advice for something you truly can't make a mistake on, I would go to an expert. I advise against a financial manager if that is their job as they often steer people to vehicles that earn them a living. I would see instead a CPA and buy an hour of his time, discuss all of your assets, liabilites, information such as are you still working and do you intend still to work and save. Meanwhile tuck that money away into a good CD which can get you as much as 5.50 interest until you make final plans. You will have expenses coming up with your move, so remember to keep assets liquid for a while and not locked up in long term CD.
You need to see a person who helps people with their Credit. There maybe a way to get down your debt without using that 100k. Some people consolidate their debt. This way they have one payment and interest rate is much lower. But, you have to pretty much stop using credit cards. Only spend what you can afford to pay monthly. I only ran a balance once in my life. Back in the 70s for a $75 coat.
Its credit cards that put us in debt. If you pay the minimum, you will never get out of debt. You must throw a lot more on that card monthly to see a dent. And stop spending. Do you realize that finance charges are taken before your payment is applied. I missed a payment by 1 day. I was charged $35 in finance charges and $35 in a late fee. I was able to get the finance charges dropped but had to pay the late fee. If I had carried a balance, that would have been $70 that would have finance charges every month tacked on. Lets say you had been a good pay and were only charged 18% a year. That one late fee would take you back up to the highest % they are allowed to charge, lets say 25%. Taking out cash advances, 29%.
Since selling your condo, sell what you don't need. Throw the money u get against your debt. Every little bit helps. Maybe you can find a p/t job, throw the money u earn against your debt. There are things on the internet u can get paid for, throw the money against your debt. To get you debt down though, you have to stop spending on what you don't need. That Starbucks coffee you buy for $5 or more, throw that $5 towards your debt. Eat in not out. Just think the money you will save in tips.
Ah, I had thought Barb would beat you to that, Geaton, because she loves their Forums. I find with so much financial advice it really so depends on you, yourself, your area of the country, you lifestyle. I agree bogleheads.org is the place for our OP to explore!
By proceeding, I agree that I understand the following disclosures:
I. How We Work in Washington.
Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services.
APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid.
We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour.
APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment.
You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints.
Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights.
APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.
I agree that:
A.
I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information").
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APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink.
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APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site.
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If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records.
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You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
Not as good as I thought. Partly b/c that was the goal from 1990, and a million dollars seemed pretty sweet.
Don't get me wrong, I am very, very grateful for the money and the PEACE it brings my heart to know that we're OK and going to be OK. We didn't plan that SS would be working by 2022, and surprise, surprise, it was. But it's not our biggest source of income, now we're retired.
Really? Depending on so many factors, what would seem like a fortune to one person would be loose change to another.
We saved and saved and lived frugally. Raised 5 kids--all of them are married and very comfortably off b/c they pattern their finances after us. We've traveled some, and are looking forward to more. Our home is paid for. Our investments are secure. We don't do crazy things with the money and we sure as heck don't blow it on acquiring stuff just because we can.
On the flip side--My SIL (DH's sister) and her DH live so close to the bone..I don't know how they can sleep at night. She commented to me that they can't ever retire b/c they didn't plan for the future. They keep refinancing their home so they can afford the 'fun stuff' of life. At 67 and 70, they shouldn't still have 15 years left on a 30 year mortgage!
DH is in the slow process of liquidating his mother's estate. He's moving very slowly and his Sis is champing at the bit to get her hands on her third. He is not interested in moving this along at a faster pace, b/c WE don't need the $$ it doesn't occur to him that his SISTER really, really, does.
I'd get to a financial planner ASAP and set up a plan for the future and present. Smartest thing we ever did was go with a private planner.
If you're single and healthy and don't want a lot of 'stuff' in your life, I'm sure you can plan to live frugally and still have a great life.
Please do copy paste your GREAT answer to this question below in discussions, Midkid. She calls it something like "ducks in a row".
Also would say this is so dependent on what your plans are for the future.
70,000 is a nice little chunk of change, but if you are 68, as our OP is, it isn't going to fund your lounged about on your yacht for the remaining decades of your life.
How much is Enough?
You could ask someone with 1M million and that person might say it isn't enough.
You might ask someone with 100,000, and they might say it's just fine.
So much in life depends upon your lifestyle and how, where, and in what manner you wish to live. My brother ended his days in a marvelous little trailer park in the deserts of Palm Springs. It was a historical little place in that many of its vehicular denizens were born in the 60s/70s, so it was on old car tours and such. Beautifully kept up and a wonderful group of people--a pool, shuffleboard, library; just a great little community.
AND CHEAP. He bought his little place in 2017 if I recall, for 30,000 cash outright. Put in another 20,000 in revamping it. Sold it in 2019 when he went to ALF for 100,000. The space rental AND utilities were 600.00 a month.
Brother spent his life, buying and selling homes in California. Was a hobby for him to buy the downtrodden, bring them back to glory and sell then at a profit (he got bored when they were perfect). I teased him he could save a lot of angst buying and doing up dollhouses. But in those times it worked. Today, when an empty lot here goes for about 1M would not work.
So he made money and lived all over our fair state, and as he lived like a monk and didn't spend, he managed to keep his money tucked away earning (again, this wouldn't work today. You cannot FIND a contractor today, not can you afford him or the prices he pays for the lumbar that is pretty bad stuff all in all).
I teased D., my bro, when we went looking for ALF that they all wanted him ONLY because of my description of his being 1M on the hoof (ask a farmer what that means).
I teased him also that at 85 he could not outlive his money. Made him get the two room unit that existed, four in each cottage, one in each corner of building.
The "boy" died with the same old cast iron pot and 12" pan he had when he first left home.
I could have been wrong about that latter not being able to outlive his money, because at 20,000 a month for some MC facilites, that money is going to go quick. IF you live any number of years at all.
So how much is enough? If you are in the trailer park you can still live relatively inexpensively. But at 60. Ummmmm. You have perhaps 4 decades of life left. SS isn't going to be enough. And trust me, any elder can tell you what inflation means when you are no longer working.
How much is enough?
We have people out there living on next to nothing and people out there spending enormous amounts monthly.
Suze Orman will gladly tell you that there is NEVER enough to retire on. Some others will tell you they did well on next to nothing. I personally don't spend much. I eat the same old huge pots of spaghetti or white beans and sausage or fajitas and veggies because I LIKE them, over and over. My Costco Kirkland blue jeans last forever. My 6.00 tees from Target are my favorites. I get free public transit. Our home is paid off so there's no rental (tho there are amazing insurance thingys and repairs you cannot do yourself on a 1870 home are dire). We no longer travel, did that decades ago. There's two of us so expenses are shared. My supplemental is Kaiser and I LOVE LOVE LOVE them and it's only 98.00 a month.
I always describe myself as inflation proof. We no longer even drive enough to allow gas to be a problem.
I still clip coupons. I still go to the library. My pots and pans only slightly newer than my bros as I will not fill our landfills with perfectly adequate pots and pans, and I love to thift shop. I spurge on good bakery stuff. Not much else.
So how much is enough? Go figure!
In Chicago, as a young LPN working my slow way to RN I worked with a respiratory therapist named Galen. Will NEVER forget him for the one discussion we had in which we spoke about our lifestyles, and why it was important for people to hook up with like-minded folk.
As a young mom I worked like a beast, struggled to educate myself further, watched every penny and made it work double time, clipped coupons, soaks and washed my own diapers (sorry, my kid's diapers) and so on and so on.
I had no bills.
Galen, he worked like a beast, loved to gamble and was deeply in debt.
And after much discussion he finally looked at me and he said "Al, you are gonna die with leaving your kids a bit of cash. And I am gonna die deeply in debt. But, yah know, we will have lived like we chose to live, and in the end, what's the difference."
I have to tell you I think about Galen. I bet he's retired somewhere and going gambling and is deeply in debt. But I suspect, now at 81, he might have been RIGHT after all.
Remember the rule of 72. Take the annual interest you earn or are paying and divide it into the number 72. This shows how long it will take for your money or your debt to double. Make a plan iwith the numbers you evaluated and decide to payoff overtime or all at once. You got this!!
Meanwhile tuck that money away into a good CD which can get you as much as 5.50 interest until you make final plans. You will have expenses coming up with your move, so remember to keep assets liquid for a while and not locked up in long term CD.
I wish you best luck.
Its credit cards that put us in debt. If you pay the minimum, you will never get out of debt. You must throw a lot more on that card monthly to see a dent. And stop spending. Do you realize that finance charges are taken before your payment is applied. I missed a payment by 1 day. I was charged $35 in finance charges and $35 in a late fee. I was able to get the finance charges dropped but had to pay the late fee. If I had carried a balance, that would have been $70 that would have finance charges every month tacked on. Lets say you had been a good pay and were only charged 18% a year. That one late fee would take you back up to the highest % they are allowed to charge, lets say 25%. Taking out cash advances, 29%.
Since selling your condo, sell what you don't need. Throw the money u get against your debt. Every little bit helps. Maybe you can find a p/t job, throw the money u earn against your debt. There are things on the internet u can get paid for, throw the money against your debt. To get you debt down though, you have to stop spending on what you don't need. That Starbucks coffee you buy for $5 or more, throw that $5 towards your debt. Eat in not out. Just think the money you will save in tips.
bogleheads.org
I find with so much financial advice it really so depends on you, yourself, your area of the country, you lifestyle. I agree bogleheads.org is the place for our OP to explore!