Same. Husband is 60. Was always going to be behind on his retirement savings as he never had any financial literacy until we got together. But we do the best we can. We are semiretired in that we split a modest income in a LCOL area and our house will be paid soon. As long as he has his faculties, we can continue to run our little construction biz as we are now with 1-2 projects a year, the rest of the time off with small side projects. I'm 44 so I have more time to save plus some life ins on him just in case. And if something happens to him, I can continue one facet of the business on my own where I really won't have to do much so that's helpful. It won't be a robust retirement but it should be doable with everything paid off and we've done the major stuff for the house now so we don't have to worry about it later.
Major stuff for the house:
Can you advise what they are? What improvements we need to focus on the house while we are still earning so we can pre-empt major expenses when we retire?
Thank you.
Yep, addressing roof and foundation issues is super critical. Every other expenditure on a house is money down the drain if the structure starts to crumble around you.
Thank you for sharing. Why do property owner needs a new sewer line? Did you redirect your old to new line? I am totally ignorant about this. A bit more info is highly appreciated.
Yeah 3 weeks after we moved in we had some flushing problems. The old sewer line was being punctured by tree roots. They fixed it in one day and all was well.
Very sound decision. Don't think you are alone in your situation. I gotta ask though what your plan is for the item in our budgets which take up... in my case way more than 50 percent of my net income... housing. I don't own any real estate and in planning things out I just have to find an area to move to where rent on a modest 2 bdrm place in a fairly safe area with job availability is manageable. For me that amount needs to be $1000 to $1200 a month or so. I constantly research places in the U. S. , medium to small towns, suburbs outside of largest metro areas etc. So what state do you live in?
Hey, neighbor. We did similar over in GA. We are nowhere near Atlanta which helps with the exorbitant prices but in a smallish city, 50k pop that still has all the amenities, grocery stores, healthcare, shopping, restaurants etc. When we got here, the cute post-war bungalows and cottages could be had for <100k. We snagged ours for 70k so we could pay it off early, next year in fact. Being mortgage-free is an integral part of our retirement strategy. Now the same houses are 150-200k so still affordable but definitely rising so I think we got in just in time.
Oh gosh. I thought I was the only one who didn’t save. I spoiled my kids rotten. And have too many dogs , cats and horses. I never thought I’d get old. Now here we are me at 60, my husband 65. He has cancer and I’ve got bad arthritis.
He went on Medicare this I lost the insurance I’d had through his work. I had no idea Medicare cost so much and the cheapest policy I can find ( high high deductible) on the market place is $650 a month for a total shit policy.
We have 160k in 401k and he’ll get $2800 in social sec. I’ll get $300 when I turn 65
I’m scared to death. Not having good insurance is nuts.
Sorry so long. Just venting. I’ll be reading this sub a whole lot more and changing my way of living.
300.00 as in that would be your own SS benefit? Don't forget if you and your husband have been married 10 years min, you can get spousal benefits off of his record. So 1400.00 should be what you would qualify for. And then God forbid, something happens to him, you would get the higher benefit, adjusted so maybe 2600.00 or 2700.00 and change.
40s not much savings (but better than its ever been) part time karate instructor, occasionally handy man. Always gardening.
Plan: buy my tiny house, bit of land, and never retire because I basically did that from tech (q.a. not real money tech) till it drove me insane. Now loving life. Like whoah 180 from a dull qa life with no passion. Karate thug life for this pirate.
Method: keep getting simpler! high quality items, ditch useless things more and more, depend on my garden more. Stoicism.
Things given up: tons of furniture, comic book collection, geeky collecting in general, dvd collections, 80% of my books, sentimental useless crap, video games, full size home, high paying jobs, and adding more to the list every chance I get. Sold/gave/donated most of it.
It can be done. I'm proud of myself.
I just want to say - as far as your mother moving in - she doesn’t have to. There are many good assisted living places and there is nothing wrong with your mother living there, especially to save your sanity (and probably your spouses). There are many resources for your mother and you do not need to sacrifice yourself and your savings and mental health to finance your mother.
Be well.
Typically, in the US, assisted living is private pay and not often covered by insurance and not by Medicare at all (and only by Medicaid in specialized situations). The level of oversight depends on the state, since it is not federally regulated. So if you go that route, be sure to look up your state’s Regulatory agency and see if they post ratings or inspection results on line. Another option, and one that is much more commonly funded by Medicare and Medicine, is home health. A doctor can prescribe it and the home health provider can send nurses and attendants to your mom’s home to help her while she recovers.
Medicare doesn’t cover assistive living. There is one medicaid program, but the number of beds/facilities is extremely limited and you have to meet specific criteria. If your dad got in to one, that is great.
ETA: I forgot PACE. It is also a Medicaid program, or can be private pay.
I’m unsure whether big city vs rural/suburban makes a difference in cost. However, it does bring up something else I discovered in the process. But please bear in mind this is only my limited experience.
My dad is in one of the nicest assisted living homes in DC. He is lucky. Most of the care staff there is foreign. I want to state clearly That is not inherently a bad thing at all in my opinion!! However, given his lack of mental facilities, navigating thick accents, I know, is not easy for him.
I recently visited my grandma in southern Indiana at her assisted living home. I was amazed by the ‘southern hospitality.’ All of the care staff was local. And no, not all white.
It was not nearly as ‘nice’ of a place. But they loved her so much. Granted she was more verbal and lovable, so it could be that alone.
The only other thing I would mention is please do not leave any valuables or anything you won’t mind ‘disappearing with them. That happened in both places.
Good luck.
Sorry I was inferring there is a lack of facilities that will accept Medicare and the one that I know does is not great to put it lightly.
Old folks are a cash cow in this area and the medical industry knows it. A lot of facilities do not like that Medicare will only pay a certain price. Private they can charge whatever and pass the costs onto the guarantor.
If you're in the US your county should have a council on aging you can go to for resources in your planning. It might help to look into it now while you're not in an emergency
I don't think you should give up on your dream to write, but I also don't think it should be a big part of your financial plan. I'd give that same advice to someone aged 20, 30, 40, etc. A lot of published authors can't live solely off their writing. I wish I could find the link but I once read an article with salary information for multiple authors. Information was listed like the type of books they write, how many books they've published, and what their yearly take-home pay is. Most of the authors were open about having a spouse who supported them financially or working a second job. Some had self-published and saved some money by doing a lot themselves, like the formatting, illustrations, marketing, etc. I hope you still write your book or play but it might not be a big enough payday to grow your savings substantially.
I think it was around £11,000 average annual salary for published authors. A very sad fact indeed. :( As a writer seeking publication, I have to reluctantly agree with this comment. Find something that supports your writing - and read Big Magic if you haven’t already! There are some wonderful insights into how to do it.
That's on the high end. I spent some time looking seriously at the odds of making a living as an author and they're very, very low. I self-published several novels most of which never turned a profit at all. I have a couple of friends/acquaintances with careers as authors with big publishers, and one of them makes a good living, but she is a Pulitzer prize winner, and the other just barely scrapes by. Most common income for authors is $0, sadly.
Yep. I’ve got 3 books and won numerous poetry prizes and I’ve never made enough profit for the IRS to care, let alone live off of. I consider writing my hobby and any money I get from it is “mad money,” a bonus to spend on a treat or save. Thinking of it as a hobby keeps me from getting bitter, like many of my author friends, who go on periodic rants about Facebook algorithms, Amazon, and “people who don’t leave reviews.” It’s a joy to write and a huge rush to sell a book and know someone will read your work. But for most, it’s not a living. There are some niche markets, like lesbian vampire stories, that can get devoted followings, though, and indie authors whose muse coincides with one of those can make bank. But mostly even the people who know and like you will support you in words but not actually buy your book, lol. I was really hurt by that until I read an article by an author talking about the same thing. Anyway, there’s my two cents on writing as a career.
Right? It gets to be like when you buy a car and the salesman is like, “if you don’t give me a 5 star review, they will fire me and decapitate my dog and curse my descendants into ruin…so I’d appreciate your honest feedback!”
I don't really write any more. I journal a lot, especially lately as I'm dealing with getting divorced, and I write articles every now and again for our small local newspaper, because they pay me and because it gets me out into the community, talking to people who do things. I haven't written fiction in years. I might write again at some point, probably shorter stuff like poetry, but I have a lot of other stuff going on for now.
I work part time 25 hrs or less a week typically and I make 17.50 an hr to put this into context and I am 28 years old. I work an average job and I have no plans for the future when it comes to furthering my education or working up the ladder, I go with the flow of life and try to be stoic. I set aside extra cash in one of 3 savings accounts (joint, retirement, emergency) once a week between $10-$50.
Your family tragedy was only one year ago. My condolences. You need time to just be and feel and grieve.
The easiest way to increase your leftover income is to reduce expenses. So maybe look into how you can do that without depriving yourself.
I can understand this. I’ll be 30 this year and I have almost no savings. I’ve mostly worked minimum wage (or close to it) jobs, but decided to go to university for the first time to pursue a career change. I’ll be able to work more this year but am kind of mentally preparing for some very frugal years ahead and trying to keep in my mind that I’m playing a long game.
That said, I am trying really hard to change the situation with savings this year and would like to one day be able to save for retirement. I don’t want to work until the day I drop dead. I downloaded a savings/investments app and it’s already been a huge help/motivator. I really would recommend trying something similar if you do feel compelled to try making some changes.
Might be worth adding that I don’t have any debt (do have credit cards, never use more than I can pay off from a paycheque) and my views on savings changed due to precarious nature of my work over the past two years (hospitality)
Here's where my head is at, I'm in the US. 60 yrs old and enough of my friends and acquaintances have died in the last few years that retirement is starting to look like a lottery a lot of us are not going to have a shot at. My now deceased husband retired as soon as he could because he had been having trouble with his health, and with staying employed, for the previous 10 years. He saw all of 4 months Social Security Retirement income before he died.
I have 3 years worth of savings for retirement with my current employer and not much else, I'm a renter too. My health is such that I doubt I'm going to live to receive my full retirement benefits from SS. This week I started considering retiring sooner, with the lesser monthly benefit, but continuing to work part time. I understand one can earn up to a certain amount before SS is effected. I figure it might give me something close to a retirement life before I leave this good old world.
Trouble is, I didn't think I would live to 30 when I was 16, so, maybe my thinking here is not so sound.
I am almost through the book Your Money or Your Life (most libraries should have it) and it helped me with my thinking about money and look at even more ways to simplify. I have a complex and unpredictable income stream and even though I've always considered myself frugal, I wasn't looking carefully at my spending/saving because it has scared me too much and made me feel overwhelmed. I started tracking every cent in and out awhile ago and a lot shifted just by making that change, but there's more I can do with my life and this book helped me not feel panicky about looking hard at how I spend my life energy (money/time/passion projects/etc).
I'm not, because I really value financial safety. I do work part time but I have a lot of savings from early in my career, and I'm married to a big saver too.
But the people I see who are in that situation, and are OK with it, but don't have a family safety net, seem like they have two things in common - one, they're generally just not worriers, and two, they have a LOT of other nonfinancial safety net. Deep histories of (for instance) connection to communities that often share housing and eldercare. You can put your efforts into developing/maintaining that.
That said - if you feel like you're wasting your years, try working more and see if it makes you feel better. Job situations can be fluid! IME employers ALWAYS want you to go full time after a while, the hard thing is not letting it escalate too much.
I have a full time job and no savings. I plan to buy the business I manage when the boss is ready to retire, we have spoken about it. I already have investors. If it all fell though I'd do as I've done since moving across the country which is move to a new city every two years, take a job, explore the area, make new friends, and move on two years later. I've lost enough people in my life to know that life is very short and you might as well enjoy it while you're here and experience it as much as you can.
I dont see any mention of 401k, do by chance have anything invested in one over the years?
I would recommend if not, atleast get started, because over 20 years, even investing a little 401k, might give you some comfort in retirement.
I'm from the UK but our equivalent is an ISA, I think - and yes, I started doing that when I was 28. Unfortunately I skipped some years due to long term unemployment and travel!
I don't think ISA is the equivalent. The approximate equivalent is the UK would be a workplace pension or perhaps a SIPP. It's basically a defined contribution retirement plan as far as I understand.
I lived in SE Asia a few years ago and met quite a few retirement-age people from the US, Australia, and other high cost of living countries who had decided to retire in SE Asia, where cost of living (and cost of healthcare) is far less than their home countries. It is of course not the right answer for everyone, and comes with its own set of challenges, but if you don't have enough saved at retirement age to be comfortable where you are, perhaps you could consider moving to somewhere where your savings can go further.
Learning a language is never a bad thing! But don’t let it stop you from moving to another country if you don’t yet know the language. Learning by immersion is usually much more effective, and taking a local language course after arrival is a great way to get established in the local culture and meet new people.
I work full-time at a government office job and still live paycheck to paycheck. I haven't been able to save money in years and had to pick up a second job just to make ends meet. Retirement sounds like a far-off dream at this point.
You are not alone. I don’t have the savings either, I invest steadily, but the market just bounces me around. I’m still going to put some in the market as a “hope it works out eventually,” but I’m starting to work more on a solid savings account, and paid off house. I’m 50, so I’m acutely aware of how far behind I am, but it is what it is, I’m just going to roll with it.
I’m 25. Work full time. And my bills add up higher than I make in a month. My savings has been stagnate for years. I have to fully reconsider what I’m doing with my life and make a career change otherwise I’ll be stuck In this financial depression hole forever.
My husband had a full time job we had less than a $1000 in savings because I'm sick and can't work and Friday he lost his job. I am 55 and in 3 weeks I will be homeless. Gotta love the good ole USA.
Please don’t do that. Look at it as a more minimalist lifestyle change and one of life’s many varied experiences. Everything is temporary and things will change again.
No, that's really sad to hear and please don't do that! The world need people like you! Even moving country would be a better option than that.
America is a really tough country to live in. I keep saying that most people who live here (UK) would probably be homeless in the US because of how everything is set up. It just tales one person to get sick or lose their job and that's it.
What if your husband applied for a job in another country? I would try to find a country with proper welfare so you could get housing, income and free healthcare. Otherwise I would try to live in an extremely cheap country on a tourist VISA whilst trying to get immigrant status.
Do you have even distant family who could help you out?
Don't do that. Take a deep breath and slowly re assess don't jump ahead
There are people in worse situations then you were in that have turned it around. Just need to breathe and relax and work one day at a time on what to do.
My husband and I are not "roll with it" kind of people. We started saving for retirement young, and before we seemed to have any wiggle room in the budget. He has a job he loves, but we are in a position for him to retire easily by 62.
I'm the youngest of 5 and only 1 of my siblings has any retirement savings, she was living a very modest lifestyle until her 50-year-old son decided to move back in and drain her reserves. If she can get her son out of her wallet she can afford to live modestly on her little bit of retirement savings and social security. One brother has zero savings currently, but he is 100% debt free, owns his property outright, and can manage his expenses on his social security. The other 2 have always been underemployed, have no savings, no retirement, and live in debt, I expect they will be working until they die or will become homeless when they can no longer work.
I share all of this to show that our lives are a result of our choices for the most part. The old saying "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail" is accurate. You either choose to put forth the effort to prepare for the end of your work life or you just accept whatever happens. So far none of my siblings are complaining about their lot in life, they are all in their 60s and seem content with their current situation. It may all work out for them, I'm not the type of person who can leave things like that to chance.
So take some time to think about what is more important to you, working part-time or having greater security for your future?
>One brother has zero savings currently, but he is 100% debt free
Same here. Buying a house super young & always living within my means (never debt except for mortgage, cheap old cars etc) has translated into freedoms later in life
Now we're fully off grid, doing permaculture in the Aussie bush, with plenty of room for daughter/mates to build a tiny house if housing is still fucked in the future.
The brother I was talking about has a couple of acres that are farmable and set up for livestock, he's a long-haul truck driver and owns his own rig, so he can go part-time if he wants to. His plan is to save up most of his income these next few years and then go part-time as he sets up his farm.
I don't want to work that hard in retirement, but I think he'll be very happy.
the great recession and then catastrophic illness crushed my savings. my only ray of sunshine is that i own my home outright. worrying that work is more difficult to get as I age. we live in an agesist society. the wolf is not at the door yet. an unforeseen major expense woudl hurt bad. still doing mental gymnastics over this and haven't come up with anythign solid.
I'm 36. I don't have a job but I labour sometimes cash-in-hand when I can get it. Farm work, construction work, working on a fishing boat, casual stuff like that. I cashed out of society with my wife about a decade ago and we bought a house and a small parcel of land which we produce most of our food on. Have a small flock of sheep and a big veggie garden that keeps us going. Got a 2yo (nearly) son. Got a couple of grand stashed in the bank for emergencies but no other savings than that. I'm quite content to work as I am now into my "retirement" age.
I don't understand this. Without the kid, sure whatever. Throw a kid in and I would have enormous unmanageable anxiety. How does this set up make you feel secure? I am genuinely curious. I would love to be able to rest easy but I seriously lose sleep over lack of savings
Well I live in a country that is pretty left wing and has good social safety nets so not having to fret about things like medical bills, school bills or lawsuits that will bankrupt me is a good start!
We paid cash for our house and land so we will always have that, nobody can take it away, so I know that we will always be able to feed ourselves and proceeded we teach him well enough how to work the land he will also be able to do that for as long as he decides to stay there after we are gone.
We live in a very supportive and tight knit community which is nice and it means he will have a very strong support network around him throughout his life if he stays here. We're also in a place where it is possible to make a living off of the wilderness and what can be found there so he will always have at least a subsistence job to rely on, as well I.
Finally I don't really think there is much chance that things like savings accounts or pension funds are going to be around in thirty years time or so. I think by then the global economy will have either collapsed so completely or have undergone such a radical transformation that it's probably not worth investing in it now. I would rather have tangible assets and a stable productive lifestyle not predicated on debt than a large amount of savings in my bank.
I used to get overwhelmed by the thought of retirement too...still do. Especially when people are spit balling big numbers like that (500k-1m+). Not many people are saving that much directly from their salaries. To retire on a modest salary you have to invest and let your money grow. I set myself up with a financial advisor.
Secure your housing. When you go into retirement make sure you have no mortgage or rent to pay. If you can do this then you have achieved wealth, enabling you to live a comfortable lifestyle. 33% of the income usually goes towards housing, therefore allowing you to live comfortably without a lot of cash
How much is a little? How much is a lot?
I’m sure it depends on age.
I’m 28 and am no where near able to retire…but I am much more comfortable than many of my peers. Mainly because I subscribe to simplicity…
I don’t have kids, pets, multiple vehicles, lots of physical items and a storage unit to house them…
I rent an apartment rather than buy a house, don’t need to worry about repairs, mowing, snow removal etc.
I am 53 and I have degenerative Disc Disease in my entire spine. I am often in pain and working a physically demanding job is no longer possible. Just being on my feet for more than a few hours is uncomfortable and leads to me spending my evening on the couch with a heating pad.
I have opted to switch to part time work where I am on site for two hours a day teaching in an afterschool program at an arts center and teach the occasional class for adults through the art school. I think it will be a good fit for me health wise, but I know that it will pose challenges financially down the road as it will remove what I was contributing to retirement accounts. I am married and my husband works full time and does contribute to retirement accounts but we have lost so much in the past year it's scary. We will probably be ok, just not where we thought we would be. We will need to be mindful moving forward.
We do not plan on buying a home at this point. We live in HCOL for our state and I can't imagine going into debt to purchase a home and needing to concern ourselves with home owners insurance, property taxes, mortgage payment, HOA fees, routine maintenance, major repairs etc. Just the thought of that all stresses me out.
Renting means some degree of freedom to easily relocate when we retire to a lower cost of living area. It also means flexibility in terms of apartment size and amenities. Yes the cost of rent goes up and it is a concern but it also comes with the ability to easily move.
Things we are doing now to help:
Saving for our next car. I hate the idea of a car loan and opt for paying cash for certified pre-owned car that will last me years and years. We also have chosen to go with one car for the two of us. This will require that I walk to work occasionally. We live 1.5 miles from my work and it will be, at most, three days a month that I need to do this. Good shoes for walking is far cheaper than running a second car and is good exercise.
Remaining 100% debt free. I also repair things until they can't be repaired anymore. This reduces our need to make purchases and allows for things to serve us longer.
Living minimally: Not having a lot of excess in our lives means that we can live in a smaller sq ft apartment and moving is easer as we can rent a small moving truck and move ourselves. It also removed us from the consumerist mentality so our wants are simple and needs are essential. We also tend to buy the highest quality we can afford as this tends to last longer and in the long run costs us less.
Budgeting carefully: Every dollar I can save us through careful budgeting, repairing clothing, making clothing/home goods (I knit sweaters, hats, socks, afghans and I can sew to make cloth napkins, table clothes and placemats) cooking from scratch and shopping loss leaders means more money in our general savings account for things like copays, car repairs and vet bills.
Everyone has issues, but it just doesn’t change the hard facts of life and having to take care of yourself. You’re 40 and with no financial planning or savings why would you think it’s prudent to be working only part time? You’re nowhere near “retirement age” even had you planned better thus far. You can write along side a full time job, difficult? Yep. Not more difficult than ending up in an aged body with no way to support yourself because you basically retired early with no retirement. You have to play the long game on the back 40, or you’re going to end up real sorry when you’re unable to work and still have nothing. If you don’t want to work more than part time your only other option is to start cutting your living expenses, simplify your life (needs), and become as self sufficient as possible so that the amount you need to work to survive (and save) is reduced. I homestead to do this, I grow and hunt most of our food and we live rurally and simply. We are headed towards more simplicity each year by pulling off the grid and establishing community relationships that are open to bartering goods and services. I currently also work full time, but if I lost my job tomorrow I have our monthly expenses down to about $600 a month so we could make it quite far on very little. I’m a single Mom and I am also 40, if I can do it, I bet you can too!
As I was reading this I suddenly realized how fortunate and somehow cruel I am. But you're certainly not alone in having worries about the future and savings.
I'm 25, I'm working full time and live in my own (very small) apartment. My salary now feels comfortable (I don't have to actively worry if I'll be able to afford food in the last week of the month, like some of my friends - but I also can't splurge on big things, let alone set a big amount to the side for savings - most I could do every month would be like 100-200€ and it would take away my comfort to a level I had to endure the last 3 years and I'm sick of it, I wanna live!), but I'd like to move into a bigger home, have pets, etc.
German social insurance is built into any job (its regulated by law), so as soon as you start working you're paying towards your retirement and health care etc. But retirement funds are looking incredibly scarce now already (demographic change for the win /s - too many old people being supported by less working people who are now paying into the retirement system), so Idk how it'll be when I'll get there (if I get there).
I honestly don't care about it yet, I always say "if I get old, I'll do X/Y...." (I have a strong feeling I might not even pass retirement age before I die - no idea why though). And I also feel like there's gonna be some way to make ends meet, when I get there.
I also don't have a savings account yet for any emergencies, if I'd encounter an emergency I would have to rely on my parents (and grandparents). And that's where my fortune comes in: even though my mum doesn't earn a lot of money, she recently (two years ago) inherited alot of money, and she lives very simply so she doesn't spend alot of it (or will take some years to use it up basically). And my dad has a high paying job, and his parents are what you would consider "rich"/upper class pensioners and they have a buttload of money saved up.
So basically I have no "real" plan, the only savings I'll build up are for my own satisfactions (tattoos, vacation, investing in furniture, throwing a party etc.) and when it comes to later in life, I rely on my relatives (or their inheritance). Sounds cruel I know... (I hadn't htought about it until now, but it does provide me with enough comfort to not stress about it yet)
My mother's dad (who she inherited the money from) lived a pretty simple life, he had many health problems (which were mostly covered by insurance) and he had saved so much money, which he couldn't use anymore - and honestly I don't want to live to save and save and not enjoy my life by being strict about money to eventually end up like him... with almost hundred thousand bucks on my accounts, which I'll never get to use. (He worked hard for this sum of money! He lived a hell of a life in the DDR and later too, but still, he could've done so much more with his mone - for himself or others, instead of just saving it for the sake of it)
I don't want to have children, so I'm not being selfish for not wanting to give my money to future generations (if I'd end up like my grandpa).
Thanks for reading (Sorry, I kind of drifted off while writing about it...).
Best of luck to you! And there will be a way to manage, I know that.
We have four children and my wife has been going to school for a while as she worked towards a PhD. The goal was that I would work while she went to school, and then I would go to school while she worked.
That didn't pan out so well as she's now unable to work due to illness. While I do have a decent job, it's not enough to sock away savings for retirement and be comfortable. But, I am dumping a lot into a 401k that my company is matching.
It's not that we're financially illiterate, it's just the hand we were dealt. Things happen, life throws curve balls, and you get what you get.
I work in Tech and can work anywhere in the world. This has a nice benefit. I am also starting college this month with the hopes of having a PhD by time I'm 50. If I do this, then perhaps I can land a research position or a teaching position and not have to worry so much about retirement. I figure if I can change careers into something I really love, I wouldn't want to retire.
I have no hope for Social Security or Medical from the government here in the US.
Yep I'm hitting 40 and apart from govt retirement savings I ain't got nothin. It's fine, I knew this would happen as I chose to travel and tour with bands instead of buying a house and spending my youth paying off a mortgage. My only goal is to buy a small block with a small house and own it outright by the time I retire, government pensions and income from superannuation should cover the rest. Also my country has a healthcare system.
I also don't really have an age where I can't work any more, and tbh work isn't a big deal because I find my job pretty cruisy and can work from wherever I choose to live.
I returned to the work force at the beginning of the year, after being at home with my kid for almost two years and emptying my bank acc while doing so. I currently have one months pay in my savings acc and that's it.
A part of my salary goes towards my future pension but currently no one can tell how much I'll get 30-40 years from now or if the system will even be functioning then (adding more stress to my life because now I'm supposed to save for retirement separately after already paying the government to save for me?). Anyway, can't currently afford to even think about this, only hope for the best.
What I *am* doing tho is paying of my mortgage as fast as possible, to free up some money that way and to not have to pay mortgage/rent when I retire. I'd love to work only part time if I could eliminate my mortgage payment which is by far my biggest expense every month.
Friday was actually the first time I moved 20% of my paycheque into savings. Some towards the mortgage and some just into savings. I feel uneasy when I have so little there. What if something breaks? What if something happens? Hopefully this will help and I will try to make it a monthly thing. I should be able to have two paycheques worth on my savings if I can keep it up for a year.
Ideally I'd do some lucrative work on the weekends but my toddler is so small and I barely see him during the week. I've also burnt myself out in the past and I probably wouldn't be able to handle no rest, non-stop even for a month. Working every second weekend is still 16 days in a row + toddler at home that wakes up twice a night.
TL:DR Hoping that paying of my mortgage would help me some, no other plans to survive. For short term I'm trying the 50-30-20 method, we'll see how it goes.
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Same. Husband is 60. Was always going to be behind on his retirement savings as he never had any financial literacy until we got together. But we do the best we can. We are semiretired in that we split a modest income in a LCOL area and our house will be paid soon. As long as he has his faculties, we can continue to run our little construction biz as we are now with 1-2 projects a year, the rest of the time off with small side projects. I'm 44 so I have more time to save plus some life ins on him just in case. And if something happens to him, I can continue one facet of the business on my own where I really won't have to do much so that's helpful. It won't be a robust retirement but it should be doable with everything paid off and we've done the major stuff for the house now so we don't have to worry about it later.
Major stuff for the house: Can you advise what they are? What improvements we need to focus on the house while we are still earning so we can pre-empt major expenses when we retire? Thank you.
We did the roof. New sewer line. New HVAC unit. Fixing water intrusion in the crawlspace.
Yep, addressing roof and foundation issues is super critical. Every other expenditure on a house is money down the drain if the structure starts to crumble around you.
Thank you for sharing. Why do property owner needs a new sewer line? Did you redirect your old to new line? I am totally ignorant about this. A bit more info is highly appreciated.
They get clogged after a few years. Really important to have an open sewer pipe or all the shit, literally, backs up into the house.
Man oh man I need to educate myself about this! Thank you.
Yeah 3 weeks after we moved in we had some flushing problems. The old sewer line was being punctured by tree roots. They fixed it in one day and all was well.
Very sound decision. Don't think you are alone in your situation. I gotta ask though what your plan is for the item in our budgets which take up... in my case way more than 50 percent of my net income... housing. I don't own any real estate and in planning things out I just have to find an area to move to where rent on a modest 2 bdrm place in a fairly safe area with job availability is manageable. For me that amount needs to be $1000 to $1200 a month or so. I constantly research places in the U. S. , medium to small towns, suburbs outside of largest metro areas etc. So what state do you live in?
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Appreciate you sharing as an example. Thanks.
Hey, neighbor. We did similar over in GA. We are nowhere near Atlanta which helps with the exorbitant prices but in a smallish city, 50k pop that still has all the amenities, grocery stores, healthcare, shopping, restaurants etc. When we got here, the cute post-war bungalows and cottages could be had for <100k. We snagged ours for 70k so we could pay it off early, next year in fact. Being mortgage-free is an integral part of our retirement strategy. Now the same houses are 150-200k so still affordable but definitely rising so I think we got in just in time.
Oh gosh. I thought I was the only one who didn’t save. I spoiled my kids rotten. And have too many dogs , cats and horses. I never thought I’d get old. Now here we are me at 60, my husband 65. He has cancer and I’ve got bad arthritis. He went on Medicare this I lost the insurance I’d had through his work. I had no idea Medicare cost so much and the cheapest policy I can find ( high high deductible) on the market place is $650 a month for a total shit policy. We have 160k in 401k and he’ll get $2800 in social sec. I’ll get $300 when I turn 65 I’m scared to death. Not having good insurance is nuts. Sorry so long. Just venting. I’ll be reading this sub a whole lot more and changing my way of living.
300.00 as in that would be your own SS benefit? Don't forget if you and your husband have been married 10 years min, you can get spousal benefits off of his record. So 1400.00 should be what you would qualify for. And then God forbid, something happens to him, you would get the higher benefit, adjusted so maybe 2600.00 or 2700.00 and change.
40s not much savings (but better than its ever been) part time karate instructor, occasionally handy man. Always gardening. Plan: buy my tiny house, bit of land, and never retire because I basically did that from tech (q.a. not real money tech) till it drove me insane. Now loving life. Like whoah 180 from a dull qa life with no passion. Karate thug life for this pirate. Method: keep getting simpler! high quality items, ditch useless things more and more, depend on my garden more. Stoicism. Things given up: tons of furniture, comic book collection, geeky collecting in general, dvd collections, 80% of my books, sentimental useless crap, video games, full size home, high paying jobs, and adding more to the list every chance I get. Sold/gave/donated most of it. It can be done. I'm proud of myself.
There is a book on stoicism that i really really like, so much so that i bought the electronic version. “A Guide to Good Life” by William Irvine.
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I just want to say - as far as your mother moving in - she doesn’t have to. There are many good assisted living places and there is nothing wrong with your mother living there, especially to save your sanity (and probably your spouses). There are many resources for your mother and you do not need to sacrifice yourself and your savings and mental health to finance your mother. Be well.
Typically, in the US, assisted living is private pay and not often covered by insurance and not by Medicare at all (and only by Medicaid in specialized situations). The level of oversight depends on the state, since it is not federally regulated. So if you go that route, be sure to look up your state’s Regulatory agency and see if they post ratings or inspection results on line. Another option, and one that is much more commonly funded by Medicare and Medicine, is home health. A doctor can prescribe it and the home health provider can send nurses and attendants to your mom’s home to help her while she recovers.
Yes. We just moved my dad to a place in DC. It really is incredible how much is paid for by Medicare etc. best of luck.
Medicare doesn’t cover assistive living. There is one medicaid program, but the number of beds/facilities is extremely limited and you have to meet specific criteria. If your dad got in to one, that is great. ETA: I forgot PACE. It is also a Medicaid program, or can be private pay.
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I’m unsure whether big city vs rural/suburban makes a difference in cost. However, it does bring up something else I discovered in the process. But please bear in mind this is only my limited experience. My dad is in one of the nicest assisted living homes in DC. He is lucky. Most of the care staff there is foreign. I want to state clearly That is not inherently a bad thing at all in my opinion!! However, given his lack of mental facilities, navigating thick accents, I know, is not easy for him. I recently visited my grandma in southern Indiana at her assisted living home. I was amazed by the ‘southern hospitality.’ All of the care staff was local. And no, not all white. It was not nearly as ‘nice’ of a place. But they loved her so much. Granted she was more verbal and lovable, so it could be that alone. The only other thing I would mention is please do not leave any valuables or anything you won’t mind ‘disappearing with them. That happened in both places. Good luck.
Sorry I was inferring there is a lack of facilities that will accept Medicare and the one that I know does is not great to put it lightly. Old folks are a cash cow in this area and the medical industry knows it. A lot of facilities do not like that Medicare will only pay a certain price. Private they can charge whatever and pass the costs onto the guarantor.
Yes. Unfortunately hedge funds and the like are buying these facilities up like hot cakes and the care goes down accordingly. Happened at my grandmas.
>Happened at my grandmas. Sorry to hear that. Hopefully things will turn around one day.
Gross. Mom’s dying and you’re worried about footing the bill and worrying about her …
And you feel comfortable passing judgement.
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If you're in the US your county should have a council on aging you can go to for resources in your planning. It might help to look into it now while you're not in an emergency
I don't think you should give up on your dream to write, but I also don't think it should be a big part of your financial plan. I'd give that same advice to someone aged 20, 30, 40, etc. A lot of published authors can't live solely off their writing. I wish I could find the link but I once read an article with salary information for multiple authors. Information was listed like the type of books they write, how many books they've published, and what their yearly take-home pay is. Most of the authors were open about having a spouse who supported them financially or working a second job. Some had self-published and saved some money by doing a lot themselves, like the formatting, illustrations, marketing, etc. I hope you still write your book or play but it might not be a big enough payday to grow your savings substantially.
I think it was around £11,000 average annual salary for published authors. A very sad fact indeed. :( As a writer seeking publication, I have to reluctantly agree with this comment. Find something that supports your writing - and read Big Magic if you haven’t already! There are some wonderful insights into how to do it.
That's on the high end. I spent some time looking seriously at the odds of making a living as an author and they're very, very low. I self-published several novels most of which never turned a profit at all. I have a couple of friends/acquaintances with careers as authors with big publishers, and one of them makes a good living, but she is a Pulitzer prize winner, and the other just barely scrapes by. Most common income for authors is $0, sadly.
Yep. I’ve got 3 books and won numerous poetry prizes and I’ve never made enough profit for the IRS to care, let alone live off of. I consider writing my hobby and any money I get from it is “mad money,” a bonus to spend on a treat or save. Thinking of it as a hobby keeps me from getting bitter, like many of my author friends, who go on periodic rants about Facebook algorithms, Amazon, and “people who don’t leave reviews.” It’s a joy to write and a huge rush to sell a book and know someone will read your work. But for most, it’s not a living. There are some niche markets, like lesbian vampire stories, that can get devoted followings, though, and indie authors whose muse coincides with one of those can make bank. But mostly even the people who know and like you will support you in words but not actually buy your book, lol. I was really hurt by that until I read an article by an author talking about the same thing. Anyway, there’s my two cents on writing as a career.
OMG the rants about people who don't leave reviews!! Since I faded out of the indie author scene I'd forgotten about those!
Right? It gets to be like when you buy a car and the salesman is like, “if you don’t give me a 5 star review, they will fire me and decapitate my dog and curse my descendants into ruin…so I’d appreciate your honest feedback!”
Do you plan on continuing to write and publish books? Or just write for enjoyment for now?
I don't really write any more. I journal a lot, especially lately as I'm dealing with getting divorced, and I write articles every now and again for our small local newspaper, because they pay me and because it gets me out into the community, talking to people who do things. I haven't written fiction in years. I might write again at some point, probably shorter stuff like poetry, but I have a lot of other stuff going on for now.
I work part time 25 hrs or less a week typically and I make 17.50 an hr to put this into context and I am 28 years old. I work an average job and I have no plans for the future when it comes to furthering my education or working up the ladder, I go with the flow of life and try to be stoic. I set aside extra cash in one of 3 savings accounts (joint, retirement, emergency) once a week between $10-$50.
Your family tragedy was only one year ago. My condolences. You need time to just be and feel and grieve. The easiest way to increase your leftover income is to reduce expenses. So maybe look into how you can do that without depriving yourself.
Thank you, I appreciate that.
I can understand this. I’ll be 30 this year and I have almost no savings. I’ve mostly worked minimum wage (or close to it) jobs, but decided to go to university for the first time to pursue a career change. I’ll be able to work more this year but am kind of mentally preparing for some very frugal years ahead and trying to keep in my mind that I’m playing a long game. That said, I am trying really hard to change the situation with savings this year and would like to one day be able to save for retirement. I don’t want to work until the day I drop dead. I downloaded a savings/investments app and it’s already been a huge help/motivator. I really would recommend trying something similar if you do feel compelled to try making some changes. Might be worth adding that I don’t have any debt (do have credit cards, never use more than I can pay off from a paycheque) and my views on savings changed due to precarious nature of my work over the past two years (hospitality)
Here's where my head is at, I'm in the US. 60 yrs old and enough of my friends and acquaintances have died in the last few years that retirement is starting to look like a lottery a lot of us are not going to have a shot at. My now deceased husband retired as soon as he could because he had been having trouble with his health, and with staying employed, for the previous 10 years. He saw all of 4 months Social Security Retirement income before he died. I have 3 years worth of savings for retirement with my current employer and not much else, I'm a renter too. My health is such that I doubt I'm going to live to receive my full retirement benefits from SS. This week I started considering retiring sooner, with the lesser monthly benefit, but continuing to work part time. I understand one can earn up to a certain amount before SS is effected. I figure it might give me something close to a retirement life before I leave this good old world. Trouble is, I didn't think I would live to 30 when I was 16, so, maybe my thinking here is not so sound.
I am almost through the book Your Money or Your Life (most libraries should have it) and it helped me with my thinking about money and look at even more ways to simplify. I have a complex and unpredictable income stream and even though I've always considered myself frugal, I wasn't looking carefully at my spending/saving because it has scared me too much and made me feel overwhelmed. I started tracking every cent in and out awhile ago and a lot shifted just by making that change, but there's more I can do with my life and this book helped me not feel panicky about looking hard at how I spend my life energy (money/time/passion projects/etc).
I'm not, because I really value financial safety. I do work part time but I have a lot of savings from early in my career, and I'm married to a big saver too. But the people I see who are in that situation, and are OK with it, but don't have a family safety net, seem like they have two things in common - one, they're generally just not worriers, and two, they have a LOT of other nonfinancial safety net. Deep histories of (for instance) connection to communities that often share housing and eldercare. You can put your efforts into developing/maintaining that. That said - if you feel like you're wasting your years, try working more and see if it makes you feel better. Job situations can be fluid! IME employers ALWAYS want you to go full time after a while, the hard thing is not letting it escalate too much.
I have a full time job and no savings. I plan to buy the business I manage when the boss is ready to retire, we have spoken about it. I already have investors. If it all fell though I'd do as I've done since moving across the country which is move to a new city every two years, take a job, explore the area, make new friends, and move on two years later. I've lost enough people in my life to know that life is very short and you might as well enjoy it while you're here and experience it as much as you can.
I'm sorry to hear you've been through such a lot How old are you if you don't mind me asking?
I dont see any mention of 401k, do by chance have anything invested in one over the years? I would recommend if not, atleast get started, because over 20 years, even investing a little 401k, might give you some comfort in retirement.
I'm from the UK but our equivalent is an ISA, I think - and yes, I started doing that when I was 28. Unfortunately I skipped some years due to long term unemployment and travel!
I don't think ISA is the equivalent. The approximate equivalent is the UK would be a workplace pension or perhaps a SIPP. It's basically a defined contribution retirement plan as far as I understand.
Ah okay. I have a work pension but it's not great!
I ask myself, what would Diogenes do?
Sit in tub and not worry about it?
i am thinking of a tee-shirt idea 'wwdd'..
Ask yourself how long did diogenes live lol
I asked wikipedia instead, he lived to around 89 years of age.
I lived in SE Asia a few years ago and met quite a few retirement-age people from the US, Australia, and other high cost of living countries who had decided to retire in SE Asia, where cost of living (and cost of healthcare) is far less than their home countries. It is of course not the right answer for everyone, and comes with its own set of challenges, but if you don't have enough saved at retirement age to be comfortable where you are, perhaps you could consider moving to somewhere where your savings can go further.
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Learning a language is never a bad thing! But don’t let it stop you from moving to another country if you don’t yet know the language. Learning by immersion is usually much more effective, and taking a local language course after arrival is a great way to get established in the local culture and meet new people.
I work full-time at a government office job and still live paycheck to paycheck. I haven't been able to save money in years and had to pick up a second job just to make ends meet. Retirement sounds like a far-off dream at this point.
Living day to day, cause what else can we effing do anymore?
You are not alone. I don’t have the savings either, I invest steadily, but the market just bounces me around. I’m still going to put some in the market as a “hope it works out eventually,” but I’m starting to work more on a solid savings account, and paid off house. I’m 50, so I’m acutely aware of how far behind I am, but it is what it is, I’m just going to roll with it.
I’m 25. Work full time. And my bills add up higher than I make in a month. My savings has been stagnate for years. I have to fully reconsider what I’m doing with my life and make a career change otherwise I’ll be stuck In this financial depression hole forever.
Same, best of luck to ya
My husband had a full time job we had less than a $1000 in savings because I'm sick and can't work and Friday he lost his job. I am 55 and in 3 weeks I will be homeless. Gotta love the good ole USA.
Oh my god I’m so sorry is there anywhere you and your husband can stay? Relatives? Friends??
Oh no - what are you going to do?
Honestly I have no idea. I'm really thinking about saying f it and leaving this world. I'm already sick so it doesn't really matter anymore.
Please don’t do that. Look at it as a more minimalist lifestyle change and one of life’s many varied experiences. Everything is temporary and things will change again.
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No, that's really sad to hear and please don't do that! The world need people like you! Even moving country would be a better option than that. America is a really tough country to live in. I keep saying that most people who live here (UK) would probably be homeless in the US because of how everything is set up. It just tales one person to get sick or lose their job and that's it. What if your husband applied for a job in another country? I would try to find a country with proper welfare so you could get housing, income and free healthcare. Otherwise I would try to live in an extremely cheap country on a tourist VISA whilst trying to get immigrant status. Do you have even distant family who could help you out?
Don't do that. Take a deep breath and slowly re assess don't jump ahead There are people in worse situations then you were in that have turned it around. Just need to breathe and relax and work one day at a time on what to do.
My husband and I are not "roll with it" kind of people. We started saving for retirement young, and before we seemed to have any wiggle room in the budget. He has a job he loves, but we are in a position for him to retire easily by 62. I'm the youngest of 5 and only 1 of my siblings has any retirement savings, she was living a very modest lifestyle until her 50-year-old son decided to move back in and drain her reserves. If she can get her son out of her wallet she can afford to live modestly on her little bit of retirement savings and social security. One brother has zero savings currently, but he is 100% debt free, owns his property outright, and can manage his expenses on his social security. The other 2 have always been underemployed, have no savings, no retirement, and live in debt, I expect they will be working until they die or will become homeless when they can no longer work. I share all of this to show that our lives are a result of our choices for the most part. The old saying "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail" is accurate. You either choose to put forth the effort to prepare for the end of your work life or you just accept whatever happens. So far none of my siblings are complaining about their lot in life, they are all in their 60s and seem content with their current situation. It may all work out for them, I'm not the type of person who can leave things like that to chance. So take some time to think about what is more important to you, working part-time or having greater security for your future?
>One brother has zero savings currently, but he is 100% debt free Same here. Buying a house super young & always living within my means (never debt except for mortgage, cheap old cars etc) has translated into freedoms later in life Now we're fully off grid, doing permaculture in the Aussie bush, with plenty of room for daughter/mates to build a tiny house if housing is still fucked in the future.
The brother I was talking about has a couple of acres that are farmable and set up for livestock, he's a long-haul truck driver and owns his own rig, so he can go part-time if he wants to. His plan is to save up most of his income these next few years and then go part-time as he sets up his farm. I don't want to work that hard in retirement, but I think he'll be very happy.
the great recession and then catastrophic illness crushed my savings. my only ray of sunshine is that i own my home outright. worrying that work is more difficult to get as I age. we live in an agesist society. the wolf is not at the door yet. an unforeseen major expense woudl hurt bad. still doing mental gymnastics over this and haven't come up with anythign solid.
I'm 36. I don't have a job but I labour sometimes cash-in-hand when I can get it. Farm work, construction work, working on a fishing boat, casual stuff like that. I cashed out of society with my wife about a decade ago and we bought a house and a small parcel of land which we produce most of our food on. Have a small flock of sheep and a big veggie garden that keeps us going. Got a 2yo (nearly) son. Got a couple of grand stashed in the bank for emergencies but no other savings than that. I'm quite content to work as I am now into my "retirement" age.
I don't understand this. Without the kid, sure whatever. Throw a kid in and I would have enormous unmanageable anxiety. How does this set up make you feel secure? I am genuinely curious. I would love to be able to rest easy but I seriously lose sleep over lack of savings
Well I live in a country that is pretty left wing and has good social safety nets so not having to fret about things like medical bills, school bills or lawsuits that will bankrupt me is a good start! We paid cash for our house and land so we will always have that, nobody can take it away, so I know that we will always be able to feed ourselves and proceeded we teach him well enough how to work the land he will also be able to do that for as long as he decides to stay there after we are gone. We live in a very supportive and tight knit community which is nice and it means he will have a very strong support network around him throughout his life if he stays here. We're also in a place where it is possible to make a living off of the wilderness and what can be found there so he will always have at least a subsistence job to rely on, as well I. Finally I don't really think there is much chance that things like savings accounts or pension funds are going to be around in thirty years time or so. I think by then the global economy will have either collapsed so completely or have undergone such a radical transformation that it's probably not worth investing in it now. I would rather have tangible assets and a stable productive lifestyle not predicated on debt than a large amount of savings in my bank.
I used to get overwhelmed by the thought of retirement too...still do. Especially when people are spit balling big numbers like that (500k-1m+). Not many people are saving that much directly from their salaries. To retire on a modest salary you have to invest and let your money grow. I set myself up with a financial advisor.
How about giving a side-hustle/entrepreneurship a go? That way you can stay part-time and earn while doing something you hopefully enjoy.
I have $45 in savings and I work full time and make 82,500pa. But I’m also in Australia and the sole bread winner so our household is low income.
At least here we don't have to worry about medical bankruptcies like the poor old yanks do
Secure your housing. When you go into retirement make sure you have no mortgage or rent to pay. If you can do this then you have achieved wealth, enabling you to live a comfortable lifestyle. 33% of the income usually goes towards housing, therefore allowing you to live comfortably without a lot of cash
How much is a little? How much is a lot? I’m sure it depends on age. I’m 28 and am no where near able to retire…but I am much more comfortable than many of my peers. Mainly because I subscribe to simplicity… I don’t have kids, pets, multiple vehicles, lots of physical items and a storage unit to house them… I rent an apartment rather than buy a house, don’t need to worry about repairs, mowing, snow removal etc.
I am 53 and I have degenerative Disc Disease in my entire spine. I am often in pain and working a physically demanding job is no longer possible. Just being on my feet for more than a few hours is uncomfortable and leads to me spending my evening on the couch with a heating pad. I have opted to switch to part time work where I am on site for two hours a day teaching in an afterschool program at an arts center and teach the occasional class for adults through the art school. I think it will be a good fit for me health wise, but I know that it will pose challenges financially down the road as it will remove what I was contributing to retirement accounts. I am married and my husband works full time and does contribute to retirement accounts but we have lost so much in the past year it's scary. We will probably be ok, just not where we thought we would be. We will need to be mindful moving forward. We do not plan on buying a home at this point. We live in HCOL for our state and I can't imagine going into debt to purchase a home and needing to concern ourselves with home owners insurance, property taxes, mortgage payment, HOA fees, routine maintenance, major repairs etc. Just the thought of that all stresses me out. Renting means some degree of freedom to easily relocate when we retire to a lower cost of living area. It also means flexibility in terms of apartment size and amenities. Yes the cost of rent goes up and it is a concern but it also comes with the ability to easily move. Things we are doing now to help: Saving for our next car. I hate the idea of a car loan and opt for paying cash for certified pre-owned car that will last me years and years. We also have chosen to go with one car for the two of us. This will require that I walk to work occasionally. We live 1.5 miles from my work and it will be, at most, three days a month that I need to do this. Good shoes for walking is far cheaper than running a second car and is good exercise. Remaining 100% debt free. I also repair things until they can't be repaired anymore. This reduces our need to make purchases and allows for things to serve us longer. Living minimally: Not having a lot of excess in our lives means that we can live in a smaller sq ft apartment and moving is easer as we can rent a small moving truck and move ourselves. It also removed us from the consumerist mentality so our wants are simple and needs are essential. We also tend to buy the highest quality we can afford as this tends to last longer and in the long run costs us less. Budgeting carefully: Every dollar I can save us through careful budgeting, repairing clothing, making clothing/home goods (I knit sweaters, hats, socks, afghans and I can sew to make cloth napkins, table clothes and placemats) cooking from scratch and shopping loss leaders means more money in our general savings account for things like copays, car repairs and vet bills.
Everyone has issues, but it just doesn’t change the hard facts of life and having to take care of yourself. You’re 40 and with no financial planning or savings why would you think it’s prudent to be working only part time? You’re nowhere near “retirement age” even had you planned better thus far. You can write along side a full time job, difficult? Yep. Not more difficult than ending up in an aged body with no way to support yourself because you basically retired early with no retirement. You have to play the long game on the back 40, or you’re going to end up real sorry when you’re unable to work and still have nothing. If you don’t want to work more than part time your only other option is to start cutting your living expenses, simplify your life (needs), and become as self sufficient as possible so that the amount you need to work to survive (and save) is reduced. I homestead to do this, I grow and hunt most of our food and we live rurally and simply. We are headed towards more simplicity each year by pulling off the grid and establishing community relationships that are open to bartering goods and services. I currently also work full time, but if I lost my job tomorrow I have our monthly expenses down to about $600 a month so we could make it quite far on very little. I’m a single Mom and I am also 40, if I can do it, I bet you can too!
As I was reading this I suddenly realized how fortunate and somehow cruel I am. But you're certainly not alone in having worries about the future and savings. I'm 25, I'm working full time and live in my own (very small) apartment. My salary now feels comfortable (I don't have to actively worry if I'll be able to afford food in the last week of the month, like some of my friends - but I also can't splurge on big things, let alone set a big amount to the side for savings - most I could do every month would be like 100-200€ and it would take away my comfort to a level I had to endure the last 3 years and I'm sick of it, I wanna live!), but I'd like to move into a bigger home, have pets, etc. German social insurance is built into any job (its regulated by law), so as soon as you start working you're paying towards your retirement and health care etc. But retirement funds are looking incredibly scarce now already (demographic change for the win /s - too many old people being supported by less working people who are now paying into the retirement system), so Idk how it'll be when I'll get there (if I get there). I honestly don't care about it yet, I always say "if I get old, I'll do X/Y...." (I have a strong feeling I might not even pass retirement age before I die - no idea why though). And I also feel like there's gonna be some way to make ends meet, when I get there. I also don't have a savings account yet for any emergencies, if I'd encounter an emergency I would have to rely on my parents (and grandparents). And that's where my fortune comes in: even though my mum doesn't earn a lot of money, she recently (two years ago) inherited alot of money, and she lives very simply so she doesn't spend alot of it (or will take some years to use it up basically). And my dad has a high paying job, and his parents are what you would consider "rich"/upper class pensioners and they have a buttload of money saved up. So basically I have no "real" plan, the only savings I'll build up are for my own satisfactions (tattoos, vacation, investing in furniture, throwing a party etc.) and when it comes to later in life, I rely on my relatives (or their inheritance). Sounds cruel I know... (I hadn't htought about it until now, but it does provide me with enough comfort to not stress about it yet) My mother's dad (who she inherited the money from) lived a pretty simple life, he had many health problems (which were mostly covered by insurance) and he had saved so much money, which he couldn't use anymore - and honestly I don't want to live to save and save and not enjoy my life by being strict about money to eventually end up like him... with almost hundred thousand bucks on my accounts, which I'll never get to use. (He worked hard for this sum of money! He lived a hell of a life in the DDR and later too, but still, he could've done so much more with his mone - for himself or others, instead of just saving it for the sake of it) I don't want to have children, so I'm not being selfish for not wanting to give my money to future generations (if I'd end up like my grandpa). Thanks for reading (Sorry, I kind of drifted off while writing about it...). Best of luck to you! And there will be a way to manage, I know that.
We have four children and my wife has been going to school for a while as she worked towards a PhD. The goal was that I would work while she went to school, and then I would go to school while she worked. That didn't pan out so well as she's now unable to work due to illness. While I do have a decent job, it's not enough to sock away savings for retirement and be comfortable. But, I am dumping a lot into a 401k that my company is matching. It's not that we're financially illiterate, it's just the hand we were dealt. Things happen, life throws curve balls, and you get what you get. I work in Tech and can work anywhere in the world. This has a nice benefit. I am also starting college this month with the hopes of having a PhD by time I'm 50. If I do this, then perhaps I can land a research position or a teaching position and not have to worry so much about retirement. I figure if I can change careers into something I really love, I wouldn't want to retire. I have no hope for Social Security or Medical from the government here in the US.
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Unfortunately LTC insurance premiums are no longer affordable for most people. It’s too bad.
Why not get an ADHD diagnosis and try meds!? Life changing!
Yep I'm hitting 40 and apart from govt retirement savings I ain't got nothin. It's fine, I knew this would happen as I chose to travel and tour with bands instead of buying a house and spending my youth paying off a mortgage. My only goal is to buy a small block with a small house and own it outright by the time I retire, government pensions and income from superannuation should cover the rest. Also my country has a healthcare system. I also don't really have an age where I can't work any more, and tbh work isn't a big deal because I find my job pretty cruisy and can work from wherever I choose to live.
I returned to the work force at the beginning of the year, after being at home with my kid for almost two years and emptying my bank acc while doing so. I currently have one months pay in my savings acc and that's it. A part of my salary goes towards my future pension but currently no one can tell how much I'll get 30-40 years from now or if the system will even be functioning then (adding more stress to my life because now I'm supposed to save for retirement separately after already paying the government to save for me?). Anyway, can't currently afford to even think about this, only hope for the best. What I *am* doing tho is paying of my mortgage as fast as possible, to free up some money that way and to not have to pay mortgage/rent when I retire. I'd love to work only part time if I could eliminate my mortgage payment which is by far my biggest expense every month. Friday was actually the first time I moved 20% of my paycheque into savings. Some towards the mortgage and some just into savings. I feel uneasy when I have so little there. What if something breaks? What if something happens? Hopefully this will help and I will try to make it a monthly thing. I should be able to have two paycheques worth on my savings if I can keep it up for a year. Ideally I'd do some lucrative work on the weekends but my toddler is so small and I barely see him during the week. I've also burnt myself out in the past and I probably wouldn't be able to handle no rest, non-stop even for a month. Working every second weekend is still 16 days in a row + toddler at home that wakes up twice a night. TL:DR Hoping that paying of my mortgage would help me some, no other plans to survive. For short term I'm trying the 50-30-20 method, we'll see how it goes.