Going to try to start living on retirement income now

[Value Buy]

Right now we anticipate having to pull $700 a month, on average out of savings.

Wife says we will not see a significant reduction in expenses, as we both have 2 mile commutes, so gas useage is minimal now. She also says if we travel as planned there goes the money!

We do have a house payment and could pay it off if we wanted. She wants to, I do not-would cut some dividend revenue and stock reinvestment, plus lose the homestead and mortgage deduction on the house. We are considering selling and downsizing. Two and a third acres of lawn maintence is wearing thin on me.

 I do anticipate to start taking cash distribution of some dividends for everyday expenses.

Two cars, one with a payment.

We have not decided if we should go to one car after retirement. I want to, wife says, no.

We both would like to wait til we turn 68 before hitting ANY distribution of IRA'S, to increase the dollar amount in the accounts, plus keep the income tax lower than when we start taking IRA distributions in our later years.

Writing the quarterly tax installments for Federal and state income taxes will be mentally tough on both of us

[nativetxn]

Blonde granny, I'm in your situation. My husband is a 100% disabled Viet Nam veteran.  If he dies first my income will go way down. He has a lot of health problems but so far is doing okay. However, we are moving to a simpler house situation near two of our children.  We have one car-seems to work out fine. We work on staying simple in our lifestyles and it has helped, and is just as enjoyable.

[Blonde Granny]

Welcome native txn...happy you have joined us here.

My DH is also disabled vet currently @ 80%. He has now filed for IU, maybe before he dies it might be granted...) But for centain if he dies first, it better be from service connection.

DH is 70 and I'm 69, we have enjoyed almost 20 years of retirement.  Sailing in & around Florida, new houses, golf course houses, full time in a motor home, cruises etc. We have just recently downsized from 3000sf to 1700sf. Our lives are simpler now, still have 2 vehicles as I can't convince DH that one would just as well.

We are 400 mi from our son & his family, his wife has never been one of our biggest supporters, so 400 is a nice distance.  We still travel some, have booked a cruise/land tour for Sept. for 14 days.  Our lives are much more simple than they were when he first retired, we felt we had to do everything right this minute, full speed ahead.  Today....not so much!

[Rocky Mtn Saver]

That sounds lovely, Blonde Granny! 

[Blonde Granny]

I've already told DH that if something happens to him first, and it likely will, there will be a for sale sign on this house within days. If I have to dislike where I'm living, I may as well go back to Nebraska.  At least our son and grandkids are there.  My DIL will just have to deal with it.

I'll also be in an apartment, not a house.  I have no intention of worrying about finding workmen or dealing with snow and ice removal.  A nice 2 bd apartment will be just fine.

[Blonde Granny]

lol.....all of the homes in our 55 + community are between 1700 sf and 2000sf. A widow built the house across the street from us.....and today is move in day. She has one of the 2000sf 3 bd 2 ba homes. 2 very large 2 Men & a Truck just pulled up, with 6 good looking hunks to carry the stuff. I was just in her house yesterday, and I have no idea where she is going to put this stuff. I see a garage sale of wonderful proportions in her future.

Good going on selling some stuff Pat, keep up the good work.

[nativetxn]

My husband had to quit working 14 years ago-has been through numerous surgical procedures since then but is pretty stable right now. We have had some nice trips-this house is 50 years old which is one reason we want to move-too much upkeep, plus there is a pool that we rarely use, only when the grandkids are here. There is a community pool right down the street from the new place-very nice and we don't have to take care of it! We're both 69.

[Blonde Granny]

By stating your age, I gather your DH was in Viet Nam. I recently read on a veterans message board.....this guy had it as his signature:

Viet Nam, the gift that keeps on giving. Thank him for his service and tell him "welcome home".

 From one VN wife to another.

[Blonde Granny]

Thanks Pat....for far too many, it's a death sentence. These guys are the walking wounded. Dying from their service due to Agent Orange, but no Purple Heart for them. oh well, back to our regular scheduled forum thread.

[TheOtherMe]

My mother passed away on May 19, so dad lost part of his income.  However, it was mom who would have been really hurting if he had passed away first.

She worked low paying jobs, so was drawing off dad, is my understanding.  It was not much.  Received a pension of $125 from the state for the time she worked there.  That doesn't sound like much, but she had put in about $4,000 in contributions and received over $44,000 during her retirement because she lived to be 90.  Her health insurance is no longer coming out of the bank account and that was higher than her pension.  

Their costs per month are now dad's health insurance, rent at their independent living apartment (no more extra person cost), telephone and Meals on Wheels for lunch.  Dad has commented that he isn't buying much at the grocery store now.  He does want to eat out both days on the weekend.  I just wish it was at places where I want to eat.  My eating out budget isn't going to a place I want to eat.  

Cable, utilities, etc. are all included in the rent.  He entertains himself with circle word books, so he has the cost of those.  

He is 90.  Sold the car a year ago and he should not have been driving.  Only annual expense is renter's insurance, which he didn't they they needed but we insisted they do need.  He also has a housekeeper once a month, which he does need.  He never did the cleaning.  Mom had her as she got too sick to clean and she passed mom's inspection.  

To me, it looks like dad doesn't have much quality of life.  However, he is 90.  I probably won't be doing much if I live that long.  He has no serious health issues.  He walks a mile a day, but not all at one time.  This time of year, he sits on the benches outside with his neighbors.  He plays bingo once a week.  He has a social life.  

He seems as happy as can be for a newly widowed man who was married 66 1/2 years.

[nativetxn]

Blonde granny-thanks on behalf of my husband. He was in Viet Nam, lost a leg, has chronic pain syndrome, diabetes from Agent Orange, PTSD, etc. but has an amazing spirit and faith in God. He did very well in his career in electronics and since quitting work has done lots of volunteer work for the church as well as being involved in a veterans' group. He is slowing down a lot but still enjoying life as much as possible. The grandkids all are crazy about him. I have heard him say the same thing about Viet Nam-the gift that keeps on giving.

[Blonde Granny]

I'm sure there are 4 of us that wish we didn't belong to this elite club.  But we've been blessed all these past years, and life has been very good to us. I wish you and your DH all the best for a bright future.

And again, we're happy you're here. Jump in wherever you feel comfortable. We're really very nice people...(well, some of us are...lol)

[kadee79]

And another one here who's DH was in Nam & has diabetes and has had melanoma removed that were both the results of Agent Orange! He still has "some" PTSD, but not nearly as bad as it once was! When we first got married, it was like trying to sleep with a moving freight train, but that has calmed down a LOT!

BG, you are right, not a good club to belong to from time to time!

[Blonde Granny]

Since a few have stated what Viet Nam has blessed them with, here's DHs list of favorites, : Diabetes (5 shots per day) Kidney disease, peripheral neuropathy of both feet and legs, tinnitus & hearing loss (jet engines) and the winner is.......Alzheimers.

[motherto2]

Before I comment on the actual thread, I'd first like to say thanks to all the vets. My father was a Viet Nam vet also, and I do have some questions. I don't want to sound rude, but I genuinely would like to know. My father passed away about four years ago, and he had the diabetes, neuropathy or something similar (feet and lower legs were numb and he had something wrong with both feet that made his bones on the bottom of his feet grow weird - had to have special shoes made). Poor eyesight and not sure what else. He and my mom divorced when I was young, so I didn't grow up with him or ever live near him after that. So, my questions stem from not being around daily. How do you know your spouses have these things as a result of agent orange? I know he was exposed to it, and my half brother who passed before him had some eye sight and a few other health issues that dad said he thought were a result of his exposure. I've always attributed the diabetes and foot/leg stuff to his family genetics. His father had it, had a foot amputated and died of complications.  Three of four sisters had it also. Fourth sister died rather young of some sort of cancer but my folks were divorced so I don't really know.

So, onto the thread. I'm retiring in four years and two weeks (YES! I am counting!!!!). My plan is to move to NC, and I will sell my current home with a small balance on the mortgage, but the cost of housing (for my needs) is a lot less than this area, so no mortgage. As of right now, I'm not sure what type of utilities I will need and the expense of those, but they shouldn't be any higher than what I pay here. Both of my kids are currently living at home looking for jobs and housing, but boy is that sticker shock for me! I just had to redo my expenses, and allow more for food, gas, etc. Plus our jobs just moved to a much longer commute (I clocked 92 miles round trip plus $2.10/day toll) so my commute $ has gone quite a bit higher. My current car has about 110Kmiles, but I'm putting away $ for a new one. I'm hoping this one will last me until I retire, or pretty close to it. I live a fairly simple life as a norm, other than when my kids are here. I'm hoping both will be gone by the end of this year - after all, that's why I lived the poor life all these years to help them get a college education (which I'm still paying on btw) so they wouldn't need my help and support as adults. I'm a fed, under the old system, so that's a huge bonus for me! I would love to put a little more away for when the retirement happens, because I know it takes several months to get the check settled and while they are doing that, you get a whole lot less than your final amount. Once the kids are gone, it should be a lot easier. Just not right now  Oh, and I too am giving them pieces of furniture, etc. when they move.  I'd rather go ahead and get rid of it now while they need it than hold on to it for a few more years and then they won't have a need for it.

[Blonde Granny]

Agent Orange was a defoliant (sp) that was sprayed liberally in Viet Nam to kill the vegetation. It was sprayed from helos and airplanes. There was a lawsuit a number of years ago against the VA because so many returning vets developed diabetes. The VA finally had to admit it and it became what is called presumptive. IOW, if you were boots on the ground, even for a day or hour, and developed diabetes it is an automatic 20% disability.

As diabetes progressing it can cause pheriperal neuropathy in feet, legs and arms and hands.  PN causes pain and numbness.  If DMII is uncontrolled long enough , like my DH is causes kidney disease, heart problems, prostate cancer, and a few others I can't remember.  Was your brother born after Dad came back from VN? if so, it also causes birth defects.

Diabetes does run in families, but in my DHs there is no one else that has it.  And neither of his bros were in VN.