You ought to go for it. It sounds similar to a cohousing project I used to be a part of.
I’m in the Bay Area, and I can’t afford to downsize my house. It isn’t property tax - the problem is that it has appreciated so much that I’d get killed on the taxes if I sold it. When one of us dies it gets revalued at the current market price, and then the survivor can sell it. I know, first world problems.
Plus I’m only 2 miles from my clinic and surgery centers, which in the past 6 months has come in handy, in walking distance from 2 supermarkets and more restaurants than I can count, and close to BART. I’ve lived in lots of other places, as well as New York, and towns are not the same.
As for retirement homes having activities, my father-in-law lived in a very nice one. It had a lot of people in the arts - he was a composer and fit in well. They had lots of activities. But if you think that this is the same as New York, I can only conclude you’ve never been to New York.
Pensions are a problem. But remember that the solution to the pension problem, 401Ks, hasn’t exactly worked well either, given the woeful underfunding of them for a variety of reasons.
The big problem is not the cost of living, given that inflation has been low for a long time, but that the average worker has been screwed by low raises for ages now.
I’ve been retired for 3 1/2 years and I’m doing fine, and I have enough money to easily outlast me. I’ll be doing even finer in terms of cash flow when I turn on my social security at 70, and I converted my pension to an annuity for more if I need it. But we were unAmerican and bought new cars only every 15 years or so and never spent more than we had. Which is a lot simpler if you are making reasonable money, so this isn’t a virtue thing in comparison to those making less. It is in comparison to those making as much or more than I did and who wasted it all and now can’t retire.
I guess you didn’t read all the way to end of my post - my last paragraph addresses that.
Uh, yeah, right - you can’t rent a “nice” anything around here for $600/month and we’re more out in the sticks that Indianapolis.
I’d check out Zwillow but they don’t want to let me look at their site without giving my email and profile picture so fuck that noise. Seriously? People can’t take a look without handing over their privacy? Wow. Not doing it.
Except that a lot of old people don’t trust Uber, are afraid to get into a car with a total stranger, don’t use a smartphone, and Uber drivers in no way have to be handicap accessible. Unlike municipal buses and trains.
The homeless don’t bother me, largely because I don’t bother them.
I was bothered by the two dead homeless people I encountered in Chicago on my way to work, but that’s because they were dead, not because they were homeless.
It’s an option, but it costs money to move, and there’s that whole business about security deposits, needing a job or, if you’re on a pension, getting things adjusted… Moving is a headache and I can why people avoid it and put it off. Sometimes until it’s too late for them to make that choice.
So… she’s jobless and homeless and you suggest she move to a different city where she will be… jobless and homeless?
At least when you’re a pensioner your income will move with you for sure, but if you’re jobless and homeless you’re in a really bad place. I’m not sure relocating to a new city where you can be jobless and homeless without knowing anyone there or where things are improves things. She’s still jobless and homeless.
Yeah, that’s great if you’re upper middle class or better but if not you simply won’t be able to afford such a place. Those amenities aren’t free, you have to pay for them. Not only that, you get what amenities the place has, once you’re there your options drop to zero.
And there can be problems - one of my aunts and her husband moved into such a place. Oh, great, they’ll provide meals! Except the place completely failed to accommodate the dietary needs of their medical conditions. As just one example. Typically you have to sign a contract which means if you’re not happy moving out can be a lot harder than moving in - my Aunt and Uncle started calling the place they were in “Hotel California”. They did finally get free but they had to go to court to do it.
Of course, it’s not always like that - some people can afford such a place and are happy there. Good for them! But it’s hardly a one size fits all solution.
It is CERTAINLY not a solution for those on the lower end of retirement income.
Also - not everyone NEEDS “assisted living”, even into their 80’s or 90’s. I have several friends in that age range who live on their own in their own condo, not in “senior housing”. They have contacts with social agencies for some types of help, they have friends and family around here (which they would NOT have if they moved far away looking for cheaper housing), and sometimes will pay for a service if they need/want it.
My downstairs neighbor is 88. She still drives, is still able-bodied, she doesn’t need all that other stuff.
Yes, that is true - everywhere is getting more and more diverse.
On the other hand, for some people being immersed in a culture is very important. A black woman who is a Christian is likely to be better accepted in a rural Midwest village than, say, a Muslim woman would be. There is less bigotry, and less of it is racial, but it’s still out there. Which is not to say it’s impossible for a Muslim woman to find community and happiness in Viborg, SD, it is possible, but it would be silly to ignore that there may be obstacles.
Life insurance companies get themselves into trouble too; here’s a partial list of companies that have gone into liquidation over the last few decades. Actuarial mistakes aren’t the only cause of insurer failure, of course, but bad judgments in risk management are usually very high on the list of causes. With insurance contracts, however, very often the policies are taken over by another and more sound company which will continue to collect the premiums; there’s not so much of a market for companies to take over failed pension programs, so those tend to be more visible.
The enrolled actuary for an ERISA plan is generally actually employed by an accounting firm or other consultant, not the pension plan itself, and is required to present a report annually to the trustees of the plan about the funding levels and assumptions used. A version of their report is required to be filed with the US Dept of Labor, and hence is publicly accessible. You know whether a pension plan is underfunded or not because actuaries have run the numbers.
As a counterpoint, a lot of potential crisis situations never happened because we took them seriously and we found a solution before the shit hit the fan.
Mass famine? Norman Borlaug and others found ways to increase crop yields.
Ozone depletion? The world got together and changed what chemicals they used to more environmentally friendly ones.
Y2K? The public and private sector spent a ton of time and money updating computers to deal with the problem.
Peak oil? Advances in geological science increase the amount of oil we can extract from the ground.
So yeah, maybe the retirement crisis won’t happen but maybe that’ll be because we adopt solutions before it gets too out of hand.
Subsidized apartments for the elderly, or public dormitories for the elderly.
Elderly moving in with family or friends.
More subsidies for health care in old age.
Make health care more cost efficient.
etc.
These things will help us avoid a retirement crisis, but only because we took the problem seriously and dealt with it before it got out of hand.
Our elderly now have more resources than they’ve ever had at any point in history. But a lot of elderly may have to adapt to a lower standard of living. Smaller houses, shared housing, living in RVs, living in public housing, etc.
Absolute worst case scenario (IMO) is the destitute elderly live in public dormitories or public apartments, and only get 80% of what modern health care has to offer (health care seems to follow a pareto distribution, where 20% of spending results in 80% of outcomes), combined with having to travel overseas for care. It’ll be unpleasant but not life ending. Lots of elderly may live in subsidized public housing and have to travel to mexico for surgery or long term care.
That assumes politicians are willing to enact legislation to make the issue better. Thats not guaranteed.
I think you meant to reply to chappachula, not me.
Yes, you are correct. My bad for fumbling the quotes.
slash2k, thanks for the information.
People seem to think that there are only 2 places to live in the US-big cities and far rural locations. Uh, the choice isn’t binary. I know the suburbs have a bad reputation now, but the living is easy near but not in many mid-sized cities. Where I live good housing is $200K, doctors are 10 minutes away, emergency services are a quicker than most big cities, crime is low, groceries are 5 minutes away and public transportation is poor but available if you have to use it. Yeah, I don’t have a major museum around the corner and I do have neighbors within sight of my back door, but it isn’t a terrible life. Nor is it expensive. I couldn’t live here on 20K/year, but taxes are low. If you are surviving in the big city, you do have good choices around the country. I don’t have a mountain view, but I also don’t have to look at the backside of an adjacent skyscraper either.
In finally reading the entire thread, it is clear that many people are worried about their high cost city life because they don’t want to leave behind all the amenities. Can’t blame them. But that isn’t a crisis. If their financial situation allows them to stay and enjoy all those community centers great. But if not, there are options and that avoids the crisis. Faced with living in a dorm of destitute seniors or moving to the suburbs-well that is still a choice not a crisis.
In many medium sized and some larger cities in the south and Midwest, real estate in good neighborhoods is $100/sq ft.
You won’t live in the upscale neighborhood but you won’t live in a slum either.
I dont know about things like travel but I do like the idea of government subsidized apartments.
We’re close to the same age. I’ll be eligible for SS retirement in August of 2026. I got very lucky and married a woman from Vietnam, she’s about 10 months younger than me. We’ll have the house and both cars paid off in less than 4 years. If everything goes well, we’ll be renting out the house to a young Viet-American couple and moving to Da Nang in June of 2027. The daughter will be 24 years old and hopefully she’ll have steady employment. The wife wants to stay with her brother and sister-in-law at first They’ll allow us to pay them a couple hundred US monthly for rent, but we probably won’t stay there too much, as there are lots of places we want to visit. We can live comfortably in Vietnam on our Social Security and my 401k. The rent from our house here will pay for travel and allow us to save more.
We may sell the house here after a year in country.
The government doesn’t subsidize anything. Tax payers do.
You say that like there’s a difference.
Alot of people are also retiring to the Phillipines.
It might be government built apartments in low cost of living areas.
I believe before social security we used to have public buildings for destitute elderly people. Sadly we may go back to that.