It's Time For Medicare (whether I want it or not)

[Williy]

YUP! And there are some people that never had
a chance to make good money to invest in anything
I knew people years ago that made less than $500
a month!

willy

 

[Tinhack]

I didn't read the whole thing. When I got to "It (S.S.) is the largest source of retirement income for a majority of seniors." Wow...that's really poor non-planning.

Poor planning has nothing to do with every retirement situation. I went through two divorces with child support during my "planning" years. It pretty much wiped my retirement savings out. I do pretty well with just SS even though I had to use it early do to a health situation.

And SS certainly wasn't free for me. I was paying into it since I was 16. And many of the later years at maximum. I earned/paid for what I'm getting. And I plan to beat the average return.

 

[Fuddy1952]

YUP! And there are some people that never had
a chance to make good money to invest in anything
I knew people years ago that made less than $500
a month!

willy

Dad (rip) made $200/month...later more... yet retired at 56 very well off from planning.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Well, Medicare, SS, etc are US items that don’t pertain to the rest of the world, so that would make the entire topic unacceptable in today’s climate.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

How to crack the code to happiness in the second half of life

Aging can be hardest for strivers, says social scientist Arthur Brooks, because they sometimes mourn that their biggest successes are in their rearview mirror.

www.npr.org

"On cracking the code to happiness in the second half of life​

You've got to do the work. You can't just wish for it, and you can't hope you get lucky."

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Poor planning has nothing to do with every retirement situation. I went through two divorces with child support during my "planning" years. It pretty much wiped my retirement savings out. I do pretty well with just SS even though I had to use it early do to a health situation.

And SS certainly wasn't free for me. I was paying into it since I was 16. And many of the later years at maximum. I earned/paid for what I'm getting. And I plan to beat the average return.

+1 on picking the right woman as the best path to a comfortable retirement. My first wife was a financial disaster, and cost me most of my assets in the divorce. I built my first house myself, then had to settle for its 1983 cash value, plus she cleaned out my bank account and maxed the credit cards 4 hours before she served me with papers. My second wife has been a true life partner, and has contributed as much or more to our retirement.

+1 on being fortunate enough to stay healthy. Having to hire help is expensive. Assisted living is expensive. Neither are much fun. I have had cousins who died in assisted living, and my brother just died last march. Nothing spoils retirement like pain, disability, or death.

+1 on not being downsized. My employer decided my job was superfluous, for the second time, two years before I reached FRA. I saw that one coming. I did gig work consulting for a couple years to fill the gap, but many people don't have the option to work independently.

 

[Fuddy1952]

Yes I should have mentioned planning is all encompassing, all facets of one's life have to be considered. It's not luck finding the right spouse, it's best especially dating in your teens knowing the spouses family, skills, mindset and reaction in all different situations, their friends, financial abilities, priorities, goals...the list goes on.
Then planning early, in your 20's, IRA, a Roth, investing, living below your means, diet, exercise...the list goes on.
Planning has nothing to do with luck or inheritance.
Luck doesn't bring you a generator and 1-2 weeks of stored food when the power goes out.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

About 7 years ago the retirement vendor changed where my wife works and I went with her for a one on one with a rep.

I got a big shock when she said short of a divorce our retirement plan was "OK". She said divorce was the major retirement wrecker for 55+.age couples.

I had neighbor in his 70's that got divorced that lead to selling the farm that they bought 45 years earlier. This triggered a major boost in income and somehow caused SSA to do a clawback and he was pissed.

Late in life decisions can be good or bad on retirement income for life.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Read about 5 articles about retirement funds this morning. At 71 hindsight is much better than foresight was at 31 or 41 in my case.

It seems like some business owners including land owning farmers that flirted with bankruptcy for a few decades and make it to retirement do ok. Businesses that survive teach many survival skills that can make retirement go more smoothly. Forced money management can lead to capital gains especially in farming. Being around other business owners especially the older ones can provide a lot of mentoring.

As some say experience can be a cruel teacher. By the time the teaching is done so is the time to use what one has learned.

SS income is nice so is learning how to maximize it if its one's main retirement funding.

Working for a strong company and maximizing their retirement benefits along with SS is the more common route for many.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I'm a big believer in the "many socks" theory of retirement. Plan for income from multiple sources, because one or two of them may not be here. If the gummint shuts down, no more SS. If the stock market crashes, no more equity. If the housing market crashes, no more equity. If interest rates go up, long term bonds go into the toilet. If you keep your money in money we all know how that goes, though some money is better than other money.

If every income stream stays reliable, you are in tall cotton. If a couple of them tank, you are still not broke. Stay insured. Even with Medicare, medical bankruptcy is still a thing in the US.

 

[JDZ735M]

Working for a strong company and maximizing their retirement benefits along with SS is the more common route for many.

I learned a lot from my parents. My Dad always worked for himself. We always seemed to have plenty of money when it was needed but we never lived 'high on the hog'. I never could understand why most of my friends parents had two Cadillacs and we had one Chev or one Ford at a time.

 

[ultrarunner]

A good first marriage is a common theme in many studies and one often cited in the book the Millionaire Next Store.

I know too many where divorce not only wiped out finances but also drive.

A lot to be said when both on the same page…

One of Dads first jobs was working for a rancher in Nevada and one day rancher said what a lucky guy he was to find the Mrs.

When she said yes he said we should get you a ring so it is all done proper…

She said do you have money for a ring and he said he had been saving for a long time.

Then she said what about that prized bull you have been talking about to start our own herd?

She told him invest in our future and buy the Bull… and at that moment he knew…

 

[ovrszd]

Read about 5 articles about retirement funds this morning. At 71 hindsight is much better than foresight was at 31 or 41 in my case.

It seems like some business owners including land owning farmers that flirted with bankruptcy for a few decades and make it to retirement do ok. Businesses that survive teach many survival skills that can make retirement go more smoothly. Forced money management can lead to capital gains especially in farming. Being around other business owners especially the older ones can provide a lot of mentoring.

As some say experience can be a cruel teacher. By the time the teaching is done so is the time to use what one has learned.

SS income is nice so is learning how to maximize it if its one's main retirement funding.

Working for a strong company and maximizing their retirement benefits along with SS is the more common route for many.

Thru their working years land owning farmers are "Asset rich, Cash poor". Their retirement funds are generally the land they own. Back in your and my growing up years these farmers had to sell the farm to retire in town. Not that they wanted to live in town, but because they had no cash assets to live on and they could no longer be productive on their small farms because of their physical age.

 

[drivesitfar]

Following along to gather information and give input when I have/need to sign up

 

[dmccarty]

...
I had neighbor in his 70's that got divorced that lead to selling the farm that they bought 45 years earlier. This triggered a major boost in income and somehow caused SSA to do a clawback and he was pissed.

I knew a guy who was married for decades and then got divorced. He was forced to sell land that had been in his family for generations that he had just inherited.

To say he was angry and bitter at his ex wife is an understatement.

Land a few miles from his property is getting subdivided into five acre lots and on the market for close to $100K per acre. Yes, acre, not lot. When he was forced to sell, I doubt he got more than $10K per acre.

Later,
Dan

 

[ovrszd]

For me,,,,,, it doesn't matter what that land is selling for today The important thing is that he lost his family farm. I'll bleed to save my family farm. He needed to feel that way. Then he wouldn't have put it at risk.

 

[Fuddy1952]

There are times when one needs a good attorney. That's one time he needed one, the family farm was HIS family's not hers. A good attorney should have worked out an equitable settlement based on her contribution to the marriage. Something could or should have been worked out.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Nearly Half of Americans Are Dead Wrong About Social Security's Most Important Rule | The Motley Fool

Could this mistake end up costing you benefits?

www.fool.com

 

[Fuddy1952]

I got to the $3,700 "free" money which I see I don't get since no mortgage almost 40 years ago. S.S. is a joke to me, no choice but paying it all those years. After ours is taxed, we're left with enough to buy TP & sodas with what's left.
If you're poor you can get lots of free stuff, paid for by the non-poor.
My 95 y.o. Mom's S.S. is taxed!

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I got to the $3,700 "free" money which I see I don't get since no mortgage almost 40 years ago. S.S. is a joke to me, no choice but paying it all those years. After ours is taxed, we're left with enough to buy TP & sodas with what's left.
If you're poor you can get lots of free stuff, paid for by the non-poor.
My 95 y.o. Mom's S.S. is taxed!

Means testing trigging taxing SS benefits didn't start until 1983 so years I realized many years ago SS benefits was becoming a safety net for the poor..

My dad signed up at 62 in 1983 and got $300 an month which just covered his heart Rxs bill.so I get the need for taxes on SS today.

My FRA was 66 so I covered taxes by signing up at age 70 to get my 32% bonus for the rest of my life.