Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sold a house for a woman who worked in a hospital laundry for 30 years and her pension was $18 a month, and her social security was $400 a month. She was in her 80s and had a reverse mortgage to pay for her living costs. She was able to pay off the reverse mortgage when her house sold and we got her into a county subsidized apartment. She had about $30,000 left from the sale of the house and $418 a month to live on.

Did she not work the first 20 or 30 years of her adult life?

Yes, she worked in the hospital laundry from age 15 to 45. She worked as a house cleaner from age 45 to 71 but only a few people contributed to FICA and she did not have the money to contribute to FICA. She inherited the house from an aunt and lived their free from about 65 until she sold it. She put the reverse mortgage in place when she inherited the house so that she could pay the property taxes and utilities.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sold a house for a woman who worked in a hospital laundry for 30 years and her pension was $18 a month, and her social security was $400 a month. She was in her 80s and had a reverse mortgage to pay for her living costs. She was able to pay off the reverse mortgage when her house sold and we got her into a county subsidized apartment. She had about $30,000 left from the sale of the house and $418 a month to live on.

Did she not work the first 20 or 30 years of her adult life?

Wondering the same thing. I mean, my dad had very low-paying, blue collar type jobs for all of his life and his SS is much, much more than $400. He even had several periods where he worked cash only jobs where nothing was reported or contributed.

Now, my brother, who is in the restaurant industry where most of his income is cash, would get around $500/month according to his first SS statement he got recently. Me explaining the importance of that to him was pretty eye-opening to find a better job.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This problem is really hard, there is no easy fix.

I feel for the uneducated. A nurse that has worked for 50 years and is not prepared for retirement baffles me. That is a good paying job. What happened?

Medical bills happened. They happen even to “the educated.”

Yes, as well as long stretches of unemployment where savings get drained.

That happened to my parents.

My mom, the highest income earner, got laid off. My dad was still working, but he made significantly less than my mom and his job offered no insurance benefits. Of course, what happens? My brother broke his arm during the gymnastics unit in PE class and required surgery. The medical bills combined with her not being about to find a job right away caused them to burn through their savings to keep us afloat. My mom wasn't able to find full-time employment again for over a year (this was at the height of the jobs recession). She worked temp jobs during the day and then came home and went to work at either Kohl's or Target in the evening to make ends meet.

We still felt the effects of her losing her job for about another year after she found a full time job because that year was spent paying off credit card debt and building the savings up again.

My dad will be 70 this year and just had to retire in 2017, but due to complications from a car accident, not because he wanted to. My mom is still working and doesn't have any plans to retire. Both did take their SS as soon as they reached the age where they were allowed.

Anonymous wrote:I sold a house for a woman who worked in a hospital laundry for 30 years and her pension was $18 a month, and her social security was $400 a month. She was in her 80s and had a reverse mortgage to pay for her living costs. She was able to pay off the reverse mortgage when her house sold and we got her into a county subsidized apartment. She had about $30,000 left from the sale of the house and $418 a month to live on.

Did she not work the first 20 or 30 years of her adult life?

Serious question: why is it the government's responsibility to "fix" this. American's think they are entitled tonwhatever they want. Redo the house, Disney vacations, boats, jet skis, and they live above their means and don't save. This is a personal problem. They don't think about the future and how one day they will be too old to work. They don't have any savings and are having to rely on their kids. Very very selfish. This is why people don't like boomers.

It’s easy to say older people should sell and get roommates. My dad died 3 years ago. My mom is lonely, bored, and has difficulty moving. She has to outsource lawn, snow removal ( lives up North), most maintenance, cleaning, etc. she won’t move can’t let go of her possessions, House my dad built, space etc. if you do t willingly downsize by line 65 most people stay until forced to move!

I sold a house for a woman who worked in a hospital laundry for 30 years and her pension was $18 a month, and her social security was $400 a month. She was in her 80s and had a reverse mortgage to pay for her living costs. She was able to pay off the reverse mortgage when her house sold and we got her into a county subsidized apartment. She had about $30,000 left from the sale of the house and $418 a month to live on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Social Security was supposed to supplement, people were supposed to save too. Medicare and Spcial Security have done wonders for the the poverty rates of the elderly. They are not 100% and were never intended to be. It was also never meant to subside for 30 years.

Plus, when Social Security was enacted the life expectancy was 65,now it is much older. We as a socially should expect to work longer as a result of our good fortune of living longer. Working to 70 or even 75 should be the norm in the future- hopefully older as our grand children live even longer. This is a good trend.

We have to stop thinking that we have to retire in our mid 60’s. If you want to do that- you have to save yourself.

This does not mean that we have to work at the same place/ same kind of job. I think more and more people will have several careers- some vastly different. Plus, if you are lucky enough to amass a bit of cash you can work part time or work in a job you would love but the pay is low. I think having the ability to buy into Medicare at any age would help people make the leap from their current job to a new adventure.

We need to rethink our expectations of life after 65.

Social security was supposed to be part of a "three-legged stool" for retirement -- social security, personal savings, and PENSIONS. Which have disappeared for the vast majority of people.

Not everyone had pensions, even backthen

My ILs retired at 60 and 63 respectively. They are LOVING life! Traveling a ton, both domestically and abroad, and spending oodles of time with their grandchildren. This is what I want to do. That being said, my FIL retired as a physician from his own practice and my MIL owned her own business. Not sure my DH and I will be so flush once we hit our 60s, but we save like crazy so here's hoping...

Good luck getting my elderly relatives to move in with others. I just spent 2 weeks with my 93 and 85 year old grandmas. They're comfortable in their own homes. Both still have plenty of money from their blue collared husband's jobs, but the $1800 they get in social security a month is enough for their city. Their houses are paid off and the $1800 is more than enough to pay medical, insurance and property taxes.

I also think it's healthier for some people to keep working as long as they can. My dad is a software developer who will keep working until 70 if he can. There's been a lot of evidence recently that working prolongs your life.

Anonymous wrote:Social Security was supposed to supplement, people were supposed to save too. Medicare and Spcial Security have done wonders for the the poverty rates of the elderly. They are not 100% and were never intended to be. It was also never meant to subside for 30 years.

Plus, when Social Security was enacted the life expectancy was 65,now it is much older. We as a socially should expect to work longer as a result of our good fortune of living longer. Working to 70 or even 75 should be the norm in the future- hopefully older as our grand children live even longer. This is a good trend.

We have to stop thinking that we have to retire in our mid 60’s. If you want to do that- you have to save yourself.

This does not mean that we have to work at the same place/ same kind of job. I think more and more people will have several careers- some vastly different. Plus, if you are lucky enough to amass a bit of cash you can work part time or work in a job you would love but the pay is low. I think having the ability to buy into Medicare at any age would help people make the leap from their current job to a new adventure.

We need to rethink our expectations of life after 65.

Social security was supposed to be part of a "three-legged stool" for retirement -- social security, personal savings, and PENSIONS. Which have disappeared for the vast majority of people.

I have several relatives in their 70s and 80s still working. They want to get up every day and go somewhere. They were hard workers their entire lives and don’t want to stop. They seem younger than my MIL who stopped working years ago and watches tv all day. My aunt is working a minimum wage job and says she can’t afford to stop. She retired from a professional job and saved. The truth is she could afford to stop but likes having a mindless job that keeps her active. She also likes making a little money on top of her retirement. I can’t imagine her not working at all and still feeling fulfilled.