I found this question on Quora:
What percentage of my salary do I need to save in order to maintain my current quality of life once I retire?
So I said:
Definitely, you should live in your mom’s basement and save all of the money you earn. Using your salary to live on? BIG mistake.
Just saying.
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Categories: Humor, Money, Retirement
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
Retire? Not any time soon…no pensions, and living on Social Security would not be easy.
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Eventually, we all have to. Presumably there’s a pension in your world somewhere? Even a little bitty one? Garry’s are small (very), but that plus two SS checks is manageable. Not easy, but we get by.
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The system is bent against us. With interest rates so low and the economy so rigged, you’ll never have enough money. I know our government says there is low or no inflation – they lie. I don’t know who’s paying for their food.
Leslie
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Funny you should mention that. Apparently they shop in different stores than we do. VERY different.
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Yes but their stuff is still made in China in a lot of cases. Sometimes you can get some really good stuff at Value Village. (it’s what they throw away)
Leslie
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The only thing that scares me about retirement is Medicare. My insurance from work is good and pays for everything. I am still on chemo and Medicare doesn’t pay much…unless I purchase extra coverage. And there goes my money. But I will have to work this out because I am not going to work forever!
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Medicare is a pretty good system, a lot better than you might think. It depends on what state you live in, but things like chemo, they cover. Also, you can get extra help for that. I’ve had two cancer surgeries and major heart surgery — both on Medicare. I got brilliant medical care. Don’t worry too much. So far, so good.
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I think you just helped me breathe a sigh of relief, Marilyn. I am in Florida. Surely they help the retirement state!
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People don’t realize what a good system Medicare IS. It could be better, but it is as good or better than any private medical care I got. The Rx stuff could be better, but it could also be a lot worse … and chemo for cancer is NOT considered medication. it’s done in a hospital, so it’s part of treatment.
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Marilyn, thanks so much for this.
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More people need to speak up about this. It really is a good system. I wish they would make it for everyone.
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Don’t bother to work it out, but make the most of the time we still have. I would rather take photos that sit at my desk drawing up a plan. It won’t work in any case. Today I read that our TV man has gone bankrupt and he only took over the place a few years ago.
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When we were getting our taxes done the other day, I realized how much better off we are than so many other seniors. We are poor, certainly compared to where we were when working, but we get by. I also heard from a friend who moved to the other side of the country some years ago and we had been close, way back. I asked him if he would ever likely be on this coast and he said “ARe you kidding? Airports? Airplanes? Not a change.”
So in the end, we don’t have much money, but we aren’t doing stuff for which we need a lot more money. A little more would be helpful, but you know? If we had saved furiously, I bet we’d still be in pretty much the same place anyway.
It’s not so bad being us. With all the physical problems, we do have fun anyway 🙂
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Turns out the last job I had was one of the best moves I made, and all the while I was thinking like I did when I was in my 20s. I had only planned to stay for a couple of years and then move back to the east coast. 21 years later I ask myself what happened to my plans? Well benefits, a government based job (state University), various retirement programs and a pension set me up to have a workable income, coupled with Social Security, for retirement. Reality is that if I lead a fairly uneventful life and die quietly with no diseases requiring long term care I’ll make it out of here and even leave a little behind for my relatives and friends.
The next smartest thing I did was to luck up on a house for sale, in a decent area, at a ridiculous price. I hesitated for only a second and grabbed it. That lowered my living expenses and allowed me to sell my old house for a little profit. This house is now worth 3 or 4 times what I paid six years ago and the value is still rising. I still run a side business which brings in a few thousand dollars each year, all with no advertising, just word of mouth. I don’t want to commit to any more than I can handle so this works out fine. Bottom line; I too am poor, but my life has been a series of accidents, or fortunate opportunities… and i’m sure God has assigned me a Guardian Angel as well. His name may be Clarence?
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We struggle, but we manage. And we aren’t working hard to save any more. I think we are at a point where saving would be … like … for tomorrow? So we are cautious, but trying to enjoy life. I wish we could come back, but the airport thing has gone totally off the rails now.
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Yeah, traveling by air has become a horrific experience. The seating is uncomfortable, bathrooms inconvenient and they want you to pay for it…, and now your bags as well. Who travels without bags? The whole concept is absolutely ridiculous. Now if government wants to do something for us, they could regulate this practice and prevent the airlines from charging for luggage. But NO, they’re more interested in giving the rich tax breaks, the rich who don’t give a rat’s ass about baggage charges and get to ride in the big comfy seats of first class. So let’s allow the airlines to soak the economy passengers and squeeze their knees and bladders at the same time.
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Also, there is NO way I’m checking my computer or cameras. Not a chance. They really have made air travel so unpleasant, most people won’t unless they can afford business or first — and even then, it’s still a misery. It means all the people we know who live far away, we will never see. The whole “charging for bags” thing is stupid. All they are doing is convincing people to not travel by air.
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My parents never had money, they never saved and lived from one weekly wage packet to another. They did not squander money, they just did not have it and I suspect that they had no idea how to save. I do not know, it is easy to judge. However, it was a warning to me that stayed all my life that I did not want to tell my kids “No, we don’t have the money, so do without”. We were not always rich and rolling in money, one of the reasons that I was a working mother and the kids were in a day center, but we managed OK. We both had good jobs. Even today my scars are still there. We have enough, both on a state and private pension, but you just never know. Swiss health insurance is not free and I never know how my illness will develop when I am old. Now I need a cane, perhaps one day two canes and afterwards something for my mobility and that will cost and I want to be sure I have the money.
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We try to keep a little money in case something happens — like the roof needing repair, for example. It’s funny, sort of. When we moved here, we built a new roof and did all kind of expensive things … and now, they all need doing again. I thought once was forever!!
I grew up nicely middle class than promptly dropped down and down and down. Many middle class kids are growing up a lot poorer than their parents. Times change, sometimes a great deal.
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It’s definitely no longer true that costs go down when you retire!
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We have noticed!
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