Many boomers will stay in debt to retire in comfort.

[pepper]

Yikes not too many mustachians in this poll!

"Leger Marketing says 57% of respondents aged 50 to 59 said they would rather work longer to live better in retirement, versus just 25% who said they would live more modestly in order to retire early."

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/09/21/many-boomers-will-stay-in-debt-to-retire-in-comfort-poll

[Jamesqf]

And kind of a short-sighted poll, too.  (The on-line one at the bottom of the page, that is.)  Where are the boxes for "I already HAVE changed my lifestyle" and "I like my work, and don't want to retire"?

[happy]

Retiring with debt  in general is a scary thought isn't it? We have become blind to debt.

[newb]

Its amazing to me still how many people trade off the short term wants for their long term needs/wants. Well, I REALLY want that new $60,000 truck, and its only $250 payments biweekly. I can afford that. Well, by the time they have to get the full insurance plus gas theyre spending around $750 a month on this stupid vehicle that they'll never see again. Especially when the next words out of their mouth are "I hate my stupid job, and wish I didnt have to go to work"......really?

[kisserofsinners]

Retiring with debt  in general is a scary thought isn't it? We have become blind to debt.

Yes, we're blind to it. I think it's because we don't understand math well (as a culture in America). When i was in debt i never did the math to understand how much it was really costing. It's taken repeated demonstrations with generic data for me to start to get it. It would be better if our interest was calculated as pain.

Taking that further, the new MMM math (that being, think about what it would be worth to NOT spend X) i stop myself before spending by understanding long term positives.

[Angelfishtitan]

Retiring with debt  in general is a scary thought isn't it? We have become blind to debt.

Ah, not all debt is bad to retire with. I plan on retiring with a mortgage still in tow just because I like the flexibility of choosing what I can invest my money in, and my rate will be so low. Of course I am young and still have quite some time to change my mind.

I also will probably work a year or two longer than when I reach FI just to give myself more leeway in spending in retirement. Just a couple years can add $5K-$10K dollars/year for the rest of my life, and I have not fully decided what I want to do with the rest of my life when that day comes.

[Jamesqf]

Ah, not all debt is bad to retire with. I plan on retiring with a mortgage still in tow just because I like the flexibility...

And if your mortgage payment is somewhere around what you'd otherwise be paying for rent (as mine is), what's the problem? 

[PJ]

Yes, we're blind to it. I think it's because we don't understand math well (as a culture in America). When i was in debt i never did the math to understand how much it was really costing. It's taken repeated demonstrations with generic data for me to start to get it. It would be better if our interest was calculated as pain.

 

Once I started actually adding up how much interest I was paying each month, I did start feeling it as pain.  Or maybe that was just me punching myself in the face repeatedly.  :-) 

I'm going to be stuck in debt repayment stage for a while, and what is really motivating for me is to see how much less interest I pay each month as the debt level slowly goes down.  Not my total debt, just the interest portion.  I think it's because I don't mind so much paying for the stuff that I've bought, whether it was lasting or fleeting, but to think of how often I bought something "on sale," only to pay interest on it, is agonizing.   

[happy]

I'm going to be stuck in debt repayment stage for a while, and what is really motivating for me is to see how much less interest I pay each month as the debt level slowly goes down.  Not my total debt, just the interest portion. 

This is how I am motivating myself to pay off the mortgage I got that I didn't really need..ouch another face punch. Making extra payments and seeing the amount of interest I'm paying go down each month really helps.

[gooki]

Agreed, I was super proud the day my mortgage payments were 50/50 principal and interest, and from there I just got more aggressive about getting that interest payment down.

[prosaic]

I know a number of people in the 70-78 year range who are still carrying multi-thousand per month mortgage payments, working part or even full time (the 78 year old). Two of these folks recently refi'd their mortgages, one to a 15 year mortgage, which surprised me (their spouse is the same age).

So carrying a $2,000/month payment into your late 80s/early 90s? Eek.

[happy]

I assume they must have more equity in the house than the loan amount? Otherwise how is it the bank will loan the money? Or is this a reverse mortgage?

[prosaic]

I am assuming they have at least 20% equity (which is the minimum for refi), but don't know any details beyond that.

None of them has reverse mortgages -- all are paying.