South Florida, a senior enclave, sees more people ‘unretiring’ due to living costs

[JHZR2]

I’m not sure this is new. The grandparents eating dogfood, the retirees going to work at Walmart, etc. that was all the case in the 80s, when the WWII era folks were retiring. I’m sure it was the case before.

The difference includes more taxes, less pensions, and probably greater desire for independence (and luxury) on behalf of the retirees. They want AC, cars, trips, phones, etc. too. And they want fancier and bigger homes. Back when parents would live with kids or make other arrangements more often it seems.

 

[CKN]

Yeah, but if someone is in a precarious financial position, it might not be possible to bear the costs involved in moving, not to mention the gap that is inevitable between sale and receipt of funds with which to fund a house purchase in a low cost state, and getting any kind of financing when effectively broke would likely not be possible.

OK-I see where I wasn't clear. Assuming a paid off house in Florida-and buying another less expensive house in the states I mentioned for cash. You can buy and sell a house concurrently-it's routine.

 

[Leo99]

I'm sure all those internet "Experts" that tell everyone to retire early and take your SS early, isn't helping the situation. There are people that simply cannot take early retirement, due to having too much debt, and having little to no savings. I have a family member that believed SS would cover all her bills, and life would be a dream . Turned out to be a never ending stress fest. Everyone's financial situation is different . And if you couldn't or didn't plan for retirement, working until you drop is your only option.,,

Most experts I've seen say to delay SS if you can and delay retirement if you can. It's the best financial security. Might not be the best use of our remaining time. I'm hoping to cash in stock options next year and retire. We'll be comfortable but have to budget our money and watch where it goes. Working another year until I'm 63.5 will make us very comfortable so that we won't have to worry much about money as long as we don't get extravagant. But my father died at 63 so I'm not too confident in that plan.

 

[We're Metals]

What line of work are you in that you were affected by economic downturn ?

Yes, you learn from your mistakes and circle the wagons….. you’ll sleep well at night.

Right now, I "own" and manage a tourism business. Low barrier to entry and high competition. But you just need to find people who want to go somewhere & Create a branded experience along the way. Not recession proof but easy to sell assets and low-er overhead.

 

[Dave Hess]

OK-I see where I wasn't clear. Assuming a paid off house in Florida-and buying another less expensive house in the states I mentioned for cash. You can buy and sell a house concurrently-it's routine.

2-3 more years I’m out of Florida and headed somewhere else.

Maybe I end up like Ted Kaczynski living in a small cabin in Idaho.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Money isn't everything. "Marry up" sounds great and my wife makes well over 200K a year, but I'd be happier if she was a stay at home mom and we had kids.

Financial security is pretty darn important. I hope you have never experienced being broke and homeless.
At least when you are young you have a chance, but at retirement age you are SOL.

 

[CKN]

2-3 more years I’m out of Florida and headed somewhere else.

Maybe I end up like Ted Kaczynski living in a small cabin in Idaho.

My Son lives in Boise-prices are coming down. It's been crazy there.

 

[TomYoung]

If you go in to retirement without a paid off home-your planning was beyond poor.

That's a pretty broad blanket statement, and though I agree with the sentiment, it's not universally true. Whether you carry debt on a home wisely depends on income, expenses, marginal tax rate, effective tax rate, return on other investments, level of other investments, personal desires and more. Much more.

 

[CKN]

Most experts I've seen say to delay SS if you can and delay retirement if you can. It's the best financial security. Might not be the best use of our remaining time. I'm hoping to cash in stock options next year and retire. We'll be comfortable but have to budget our money and watch where it goes. Working another year until I'm 63.5 will make us very comfortable so that we won't have to worry much about money as long as we don't get extravagant. But my father died at 63 so I'm not too confident in that plan.

Right working until you die is a great financial plan....for your heirs.

 

[JeffKeryk]

______ morals and values are more important than money.

I know some very wealthy folks that are miserable people.

Go see sick, aged street people.
Bottom line is we live in a material world, and it seems to be getting to be more so.

 

[CKN]

Most experts I've seen say to delay SS if you can and delay retirement if you can. It's the best financial security. Might not be the best use of our remaining time. I'm hoping to cash in stock options next year and retire. We'll be comfortable but have to budget our money and watch where it goes. Working another year until I'm 63.5 will make us very comfortable so that we won't have to worry much about money as long as we don't get extravagant. But my father died at 63 so I'm not too confident in that plan.

Right working until you die is a great financial plan....for your heirs.

That's a pretty broad blanket statement, and though I agree with the sentiment, it's not universally true. Whether you carry debt on a home wisely depends on income, expenses, marginal tax rate, effective tax rate, return on other investments, level of other investments, personal desires and more. Much more.

Yea-agree. If you can afford a house payment in retirement. It's fine. Assuming you are prepared for unplanned medical expense, long term assisted care and the like.

 

[JeffKeryk]

That's a pretty broad blanket statement, and though I agree with the sentiment, it's not universally true. Whether you carry debt on a home wisely depends on income, expenses, marginal tax rate, effective tax rate, return on other investments, level of other investments, personal desires and more. Much more.

The way I saw it years ago was, ya gotta have a place to live. I didn't.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Curious, which do you find questionable? I have a specific reason for every one.

I said I could go either way. Not the same as questionable. A lot of them are situation specific.

Consult your advisor - but IMHO:

Pay off the home: If you have a 3 handle on your note, and t-bills pay 5.3%, take the arbitrage. Look at it this way - you beat the bank at their own game. That never happens. Bask in it - don't give them their money back. Now if it makes you sleep better at night - sleep is better than money.

Dividend stocks pay high dividends for a reason - there usually pretty bad companies. Dividend funds even worse sometimes. If you want to own a specific stock and it happens to pay a dividend, icing on the cake. If your looking for an income stream, bonds are better - IMHO.

Tech for the long term? Define long term. 20 years, OK. Less than 20 years - I remember 2001, and 2008. We shall see next go around.

Muni bonds are purely a tax question. You need to be in a really high tax bracket to make Muni's work at current spreads. If I may ask (and don't feel obligated), what your double tax free muni's current yield - calculated not face value?

Again, IMHO and situation dependent. Depending on the situation I could go the other way too

 

[Leo99]

Right working until you die is a great financial plan....for your heirs.

The cynic in me thinks the delay retirement and 4% rule financial advice is a ploy so that you die and leave everything to your heirs who keep the money invested with some financial advisor. Your heirs and the financial advisor make out well. We are dead and didn't enjoy the fruits or luck of our labor.

I watched a YT video and the presenter said, "You need to work and save more money. There are a lot of folks still alive in their 90s that didn't think they'd live so long and wished they saved more money." What he left out was that there are a lot of people in the cemetery that didn't think that they'd die so young.

 

[CKN]

The cynic in me thinks the delay retirement and 4% rule financial advice is a ploy so that you die and leave everything to your heirs who keep the money invested with some financial advisor. Your heirs and the financial advisor make out well. We are dead and didn't enjoy the fruits or luck of our labor.

Exactly........

 

[Pablo]

Can we have another SS now vs delay to FRA+ thread? It's been like a whole week!

 

[BigCahuna]

Most experts I've seen say to delay SS if you can and delay retirement if you can. It's the best financial security. Might not be the best use of our remaining time. I'm hoping to cash in stock options next year and retire. We'll be comfortable but have to budget our money and watch where it goes. Working another year until I'm 63.5 will make us very comfortable so that we won't have to worry much about money as long as we don't get extravagant. But my father died at 63 so I'm not too confident in that plan.

If you do a U-Tube search, you'll see tons of people with varying degrees of opinions on retirement. Working until your 70 will get you the biggest benefit, if that works for you. If you find yourself in a situation where your health isn't the greatest, early retirement sounds appealing. But can you afford to keep going until then ?. Having cash in the bank to handle a situation like if your car dies and needs replacement, Or the roof of your house dies and needs to be replaced, can empty the funds quickly. We paid off all our bills before we retired, and with our income now, were comfortable. Were not the kind that spend fortunes on vacations and other things, so that helps keep things in balance. With our new used car, we paid off half and make lower payments so it doesn't have a big effect on finances. Thing is, you can't start retirement broke. Worrying about dying shouldn't be your problem , worrying about living should be the concern. Steve Martin the comedian once said in a skit, Let me tell you how to have 1 million dollars and not pay tax on it. First thing get a million dollars.,,,

 

[Leo99]

If you do a U-Tube search, you'll see tons of people with varying degrees of opinions on retirement. Working until your 70 will get you the biggest benefit, if that works for you. If you find yourself in a situation where your health isn't the greatest, early retirement sounds appealing. But can you afford to keep going until then ?. Having cash in the bank to handle a situation like if your car dies and needs replacement, Or the roof of your house dies and needs to be replaced, can empty the funds quickly. We paid off all our bills before we retired, and with our income now, were comfortable. Were not the kind that spend fortunes on vacations and other things, so that helps keep things in balance. With our new used car, we paid off half and make lower payments so it doesn't have a big effect on finances. Thing is, you can't start retirement broke. Worrying about dying shouldn't be your problem , worrying about living should be the concern. Steve Martin the comedian once said in a skit, Let me tell you how to have 1 million dollars and not pay tax on it. First thing get a million dollars.,,,

We have ample funds to buy a car or fix a roof. We have no debt. The necessities are covered. It's our spendthrift ways of going out to eat 4 times a week and weekly trips to a casino and a few trips to Vegas a year, golf, bowling, shopping, etc. that we enjoy and have to decide if giving up a lot of that in exchange for not working is worth it.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

South Florida, a senior enclave, sees more people ‘unretiring’ due to living costs​

https://www.housingwire.com/article...s-more-people-unretiring-due-to-living-costs/


I always tell younger folks to get very serious about saving for retirement.

Don’t dismiss a company 401K or 403B plan at your job is useless and a waste of time.

I’ve seen people retire and within 3 years they are back at work cause they realized nest egg is much smaller than they thought.

Probably won’t matter anyways. Check out the Haig-Simons unrealized gains collection plan. All of it will be basically worthless anyways if that ever gets legs.

 

[Dave Hess]

Go see sick, aged street people.
Bottom line is we live in a material world, and it seems to be getting to be more so.

Yes, I was in Seattle recently and saw lots of homelessness.