The Fixed Income Myth

[cptacek]

So why are such tips as "stop eating out" (if that's what the complainer is doing) be any less valid just because someone is older?

Yeah, that was my point.

[asmom]

I think it is interesting that when someone posts here about how much they are in debt, and wants help to decide what to do to get out of it, we all say things like stop eating out, stop cable, stop cell phones, sell a car, sell a house (well, maat usually does this one), etc, but no one asks how old they are and if they get social security. We don't change our advice depending on how old they are (except for investing allocation) we just tell them to suck it up and quit spending more than they earn or start earning more than they spend.

LOL! Elderly people are less likely to eat out, have 200 channel-cable packages, have cellphones with unlimited texting and drive a new car every 2 years. How much time do you really spend with the elderly? Look around, when is the last time you noticed an elderly woman with the newest coach bag, or an elderly man with an ipod?

[disneysteve]

LOL! Elderly people are less likely to eat out, have 200 channel-cable packages, have cellphones with unlimited texting and drive a new car every 2 years. How much time do you really spend with the elderly? Look around, when is the last time you noticed an elderly woman with the newest coach bag, or an elderly man with an ipod?

I think it depends on the age and health. My mom is 78. She lives in a senior apartment building. She has a better cable package than me. She has a cell phone. Her car is only about 3-4 years old (bought new). She eats out often enough (though certainly not every day). She regularly does activities and trips and shows and such run by the complex. She's probably been to the theater (live, not movies) at least 4-5 times in the past year. She went on a trip to NYC. She's gone to Atlantic City a few times. I think they went to Baltimore Inner Harbor last summer. She can comfortably afford it all, but if someone like her was to post here with financial concerns, I'd certainly want to know what their lifestyle looked like regardless of their age.

[Exile]

This is my home and I have a right to live and die in the place I was born and have worked and paid my taxes to live.

Just where is that written in the Constitution? How many people have been able to stay in the home or even the state where they were born until the day they die? Circumstances change and sometimes we have to adjust and move on--literally, like or not. That's what human progress is all about. If everybody just stayed where they were born, we would still be living in caves.

[cschin4]

You're missing my point, SacredFaerie. Relocating to the Philippines is the route that DW and I happened to take in order to escape the inflated costs in the U.S and to deal with other issues as well, such as job uncertainty. There are other options for securing one's future, and that's what I meant about thinking outside the box.

I have no desire to live anyplace except the USA. I will eek out an existence and stay in my native land. That is just how I feel. I would die of homesickness and loneliness if I left and relocated to another country. I just wouldn't feel comfortable no matter what the standard of living. The only way I would leave is to escape persecution and abject poverty.

[kork13]

I have no desire to live anyplace except the USA. I will eek out an existence and stay in my native land. That is just how I feel. I would die of homesickness and loneliness if I left and relocated to another country. I just wouldn't feel comfortable no matter what the standard of living. The only way I would leave is to escape persecution and abject poverty.

It's an interesting perspective.... I grew up outside the US, and traveled all over the world while I was young. With those experiences being the majority of my childhood, now finally living in the US feels almost awkward. I would happily live overseas again, and if I have anything to do with it, I will at some point. But as I said, it's a perspective thing. Some people are comfortable living outside what is totally familiar to them. Others prefer not to ever leave the US, or even their own state--and that's fine, because it's a matter of how you personally can be happy. Would I be happy living in the middle of Texas, Nebraska, or Iowa? Probably not. In Germany, Japan, or Australia? Without a doubt--but that's just me. Especially when you settle down and retire, I think it's important that you do it wherever you're going to be comfortable and can be happy, whether that's Boston, MA, Minot, ND, or the Phillippines.

[PetMom]

Interesting points made.

I will add:

yes, a deductible bill for a short hospital stay can have you on revolving payments with the accts. payable of the hospital.

Live in Texas and find out what electricity deregulation means for your wallet.

Also live in Tx. and have to replace an a/c for a very modest sized home ($4,000.00 to $5,000.00).

And as mentioned gas, food can always go way up further than any cola.

But,

a lot of people don't know that (here in Tx at least) a person over 65 living in a their primary residence does not have to pay property taxes on their resident. They do need to file a deferral of payment though - probably these taxes are taken out of any probate proceedings so eventually they are paid.

[Exile]

[QUOTE=cschin4;202144I have no desire to live anyplace except the USA. I will eek out an existence and stay in my native land. That is just how I feel. I would die of homesickness and loneliness if I left and relocated to another country. I just wouldn't feel comfortable no matter what the standard of living. The only way I would leave is to escape persecution and abject poverty.[/QUOTE]


Cshin4. HELLO! Like SacredFaerie, you ignored or selectively read my post. I said that relocating to another country is just one way to enjoy life as a retiree and that every person needs to plan for the future in ways that are appropriate for that individual. The most obvious and simplest forms of course are saving and budgeting now for a comfortable tomorrow. How much clearer can I make this?

[cschin4]

A bit touchy. I wasn't criticizing, just giving my perspective. Sheesh. Lighten up.

[SacredFaerie]

Cshin4. HELLO! Like SacredFaerie, you ignored or selectively read my post. I said that relocating to another country is just one way to enjoy life as a retiree and that every person needs to plan for the future in ways that are appropriate for that individual. The most obvious and simplest forms of course are saving and budgeting now for a comfortable tomorrow. How much clearer can I make this?

You can budget all you want to but if your savings or your stocks or your pension (or some creative collaboration of the three) are ripped from out under you, it sucks and you have the right to be mad about it.

Just like everyone can't move to the Philippines, everyone isn't bilking the system.

[maat55]

You can budget all you want to but if your savings or your stocks or your pension (or some creative collaboration of the three) are ripped from out under you, it sucks and you have the right to be mad about it.

Just like everyone can't move to the Philippines, everyone isn't bilking the system.

Exile never said anyone was bilking the system, he said some where using fixed income from SS as an excuse for not paying their obligations.

Exile chose to move to a lower cost area to survive with what means he has and was not condemning anyone for staying in the U.S.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Exactly. Much like moving to a lower COLA, the same goes for eating out. It's not a right to live in a HCOLA or eat out. It's a choice and a luxury.

[paycheck2paycheck]

Perhaps you could consider "fixed income" in this light.They saved planning for retirement with ss but what their $ could buy during their working years perhaps takes $5 now.Then consider what this market has done in terms of their retirement savings(my 401K,which by the way is a relative new investment vehicle that weren't available to most seniors,has dropped rather steeply in value)Imagine your savings being trashed the way it has been just these last 12 months and you're trying to manage under that "fixed income".Could it be that theirs isn't as "fixed" as the term leads you to believe.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

How is managing on a fixed income any different from surviving a layoff or firing? You have to cut back if the market is down.

Or if you were working and took a salary cut instead of being laid off?

[Exile]

You can budget all you want to but if your savings or your stocks or your pension (or some creative collaboration of the three) are ripped from out under you, it sucks and you have the right to be mad about it.

Just like everyone can't move to the Philippines, everyone isn't bilking the system.

See post #71 SacrefFaerie. Did I not acknowledge the fact that the meltdown has made it more difficult to save and budget? I reiterate that DW and I were lucky to get out when we did (in 2005). There's no way that we could have pulled it off if we were caught in today's economy. BTW, so far the Philippines financial system has been spared the fallout from the collapse, but there are predictions that things may change for the worse this year.

Exile never said anyone was bilking the system, he said some where using fixed income from SS as an excuse for not paying their obligations.

Exile chose to move to a lower cost area to survive with what means he has and was not condemning anyone for staying in the U.S.

Exactly. Much like moving to a lower COLA, the same goes for eating out. It's not a right to live in a HCOLA or eat out. It's a choice and a luxury.

maat55 and LivingAlmostLarge, thank you both for summarizing my perspective so succinctly.