Do you think our social security will be enough to get by if we have a small pension also...and?

Question

we have been working our whole life??? since 17...then retired at 65 years of age????? ( i was thinking, some people will be out in the streets maybe!!!) i don't know!!!

Answer 1

the way things are going it will be more than "some" people out in the streets.

Answer 2

You're lucky you're getting it. I paid into it and by the time I reach retirement there's not going to be any left. People are living longer and drawing on it with less births and less people paying into it. You'll do fine especially if you have a small pension.

Answer 3

I think y'all are pretty safe, although there's been a LOT in the news lately about company's weasling out of their pension payments.

I'm more worried about what happens to us baby busters (1965-1980).

Answer 4

If you own your own house then this will be easier on the budget. Bear in mind that you may be entitled to a pension card if your assets are under the threshold.
I think that it will be do-able.

Answer 5

Without more information, it is very difficult to answer with any meaning. This is like those who come on a Mexican forum, and ask how much it costs to live in Mexico. Do they expect to eat smoked salmon every day, or the local veggies from the market? Do they expect to use public transit, or a Cadillac?

So, in your case, do you live in Beverly Hills, or in a mobile home in Viola, Iowa? Do you expect to continue your same exact lifestyle, or will it be changed? Do you have any savings? How much is a 'small' pension?

Let us assume you are in the US, you don't even say that.

Where I worked we learned that Boeing did a study, and its workers who retired at age 55 lived to be an average of 78. Each year longer they worked, they died YOUNGER. By the time those who retired at age 65 died on average of 66. Seriously! So, we started bailing at age 55, and this is what I did. We had an income leveling plan, which means the pension estimated what we would get from SS at age 62, and paid us the amount so that at age 62 we would still get the same amount, which means the pension pays less as of age 62. For my wife and I it came out to around $36,000 a year total. (With SS COL we are coming out ahead.)

A lot of people looked at the dollars involved. We learned that most retirees need less money, without especially sacrificing.

For example, FICA (SS) and the taxes you have to pay on the FICA withholding amount to around 11% of your income, so that alone, since they don't take it out of your retirement, means you live exactly the same on 11% less, just for FICA alone.

Oh, I forgot to mention if you were saving for retirement, that also means you can live on the amount as reduced by that amount you saved, AND the taxes you paid on that amount. That is, if you saved $300 a month for retirement, you will now need $300 a month less to live the same, PLUS be sure to subtract the amount of taxes you paid on that $300, since that is another savings.

Next, most retirees spend less on eating out. Who wants to cook after working all day? A lot of retirees, busy with various activities, learn to eat out of the crockpot, not to save money, but so as to not interfere with hobbies to go out to eat. This saves a lot!

Then, some save because they had to spend a lot on clothes and hairdo's at work, and after retirement, they knock around in jeans and sneakers.

Some save a lot on cars, because when you commute, especially in very cold weather, you need a really new car all the time. When you retire, if you have a really good car, like a Honda or Toyota, you can drive that sucker for years and years, because the daily commute was hard on a car, and it needed to start at 30 below. After you retire, when it's -30 you turn over and go back to sleep until mid-day. :)

Working vacations tend to cost a lot, because they are fast, you gotta' get back to work in two weeks, etc. When you retire, you can take your time, stay with family, visit parks, stop at Motel-6 instead of a resort motel, etc. Plus a lot of visits for retirees are extended visits with kids and grandkids, so there is no expensive hotel stays like working people take.

Some people start gardens for fun, and this really doesn't cost much, no matter if it's roses or tomatoes. Plus, you get yummy veggies for a few weeks in the summer.

Some women do sewing, and this not only doesn't cost much, it also fills a lot of stuff that had to be bought.

Many retirees find major social activities that really fills a lot of time at little expense. I never cared for it, but in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where we worked before retirement, a very large number of Collins retirees go to Hy-vee grocery store for breakfast, and for a couple dollars, hang out and visit with friends every day, and that includes their breakfast. Sounds dumb to me, but a large number do this, and it is great fun to them.

Few retirees start expensive lifestyles after retirement. We actually had retirees who said they never had so much money in their life, due to the type of savings I have listed here.

I assume you are also worried about costs down the road. Many retirees stay in their big houses after retirement, and the yard work and house stuff is part of their hobby. I have noticed that by the age 70's, most of them no longer want to mow lawns; clean roof drains; or shovel snow, and by that time, they move into a smaller place, such as a retirement park with mobile homes or an apartment.

And, another ten years, the man has usually passed away, and the widow moves into a one bedroom place.

With our house, my wife and I had probably $150,000 to $180,000. In the 9 years since retirement, we have spent around $75,000 of those savings, BUT it went to build a house in the mountains of Mexico. Each month we are there, we save around $2,000 of our retirement, and we are still paying costs to maintain an old mobile home in McAllen, TX. Plus that house in the mountains could be sold for nearly $100,000.

About every three months, we drive back to the States. While we are here, we also drive to family in such places as Amarillo, TX; Cedar Rapids, IA; Moline, IL; Milwaukee WI; Bowling Green, OH; Christiansburg, VA. We move around so much we get e-mails asking, "Um, where are you now?"

That is with an annual income around $36,000 for two. I think around 2/3 of that is SS, so the $12,000 by definition is the pension.

If you live cheaper, and that is not hard, then you will do better.