Author Topic: So how much does it really cost to live early retired?  (Read 44713 times)

pbkmaine

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Re: So how much does it really cost to live early retired?
« Reply #150 on: May 26, 2018, 07:06:45 PM »
Dicey, that is interesting. I just assumed it was a general rule as it is too dangerous to be alone.  Losing friends is hard as you know. We have lost 3 friends between 59 & 67.

In order to qualify for hospice care a doctor has to certify a patient is sick enough that she might die in the next six months. It's funny the state would be worried it's too "dangerous" for a hospice patient to be alone... Wonder what they're worried about? I mean, what's the worst that can happen? :)

I know you're not being serious, but falling, breaking a hip or arm, then dying of starvation over the course of a week because nobody visits and you can't reach the phone doesn't sound like a good way to go.

Yeah, sure, but that doesn't seem like a very good reason to not allow somebody to stay in her home alone. It wouldn't be hard to attach a small cell phone or emergency alert button to a lanyard around a patient's neck, so that in an emergency she could call for help. It just seems like if a patient is expected to die within six months or less, anyway, worries about "safety" shouldn't need to be taken quite as seriously...

Yes! This is what Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal is all about. There’s a big trade-off for the elderly between safety and freedom. Most children want their parents to be safe, but most older people would prefer less safety and more independence.

Cassie

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Re: So how much does it really cost to live early retired?
« Reply #151 on: May 27, 2018, 01:29:20 AM »
Yes I agree most people prefer freedom.

Shane

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Re: So how much does it really cost to live early retired?
« Reply #152 on: May 30, 2018, 02:32:08 AM »
My sister told our mom to keep her cell phone in her pocket at all times so she could call for help. She forgot to and had laid 24 hours in her waste until her sister checked on her.  Then they took her to a hospice facility where she got awful care even though it looked nice.

@Cassie sorry to hear your mom had to suffer like that. That sucks. Paying $10K-$15K/month for in-patient Hospice care seems crazy and sad to me. By definition, the care people are getting in a Hospice facility is "unskilled," which means any able-bodied person could provide it. It's sad that the norm in our society, now, is that most people are so busy working at jobs to earn money to pay mortgages and other bills that they can't afford to take time off to care for family members who need it. One of the nice things about FIRE is that we are now available to move anywhere in the world to help any family members or close friends who may need it.

Cassie

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Re: So how much does it really cost to live early retired?
« Reply #153 on: May 30, 2018, 09:23:49 AM »
My sister lived a hour away and was retired. She would stay for the weekend and go home. I was still working and lived 2k miles away.

marion10

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Re: So how much does it really cost to live early retired?
« Reply #154 on: May 30, 2018, 12:19:10 PM »
I googled and there are some hospices that are now providing service if you live alone.

Acastus

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Re: So how much does it really cost to live early retired?
« Reply #155 on: May 31, 2018, 12:01:53 PM »
Car Jack, do you even realize that most people can't afford 65k/year for private tuition and do not live in your world?  The median salary for a family of 4 in the US is around 50k last time I checked.

Your point is valid, however, here are some better numbers. Median household income, regardless of household composition and size for 2015 was        $56k.
Male head of household:    $56k
Female head of household: $38k
Couple household:             $82k
Single Male:      $41k
Single Female:  $29k

I think this really helps demonstrate why the upper 10% think they are middle class. Couples with families live in neighborhoods with other couples with families, and they average 2 times the income of 3 of the 4 other household types. They think this is normal, and it is for them.

dmc

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Re: So how much does it really cost to live early retired?
« Reply #156 on: June 04, 2018, 10:06:34 AM »
My 83 yr old father’s assisted living home cost $72,000 per year. In he Midwest

My wife and I retired at 50 a little over 10 yrs ago.  We spend $100k to 120k a year.  Health insurance runs $18,000.  We live in SW Florida.

Billy B. Good

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Re: So how much does it really cost to live early retired?
« Reply #157 on: September 15, 2018, 09:49:52 PM »
My 83 yr old father’s assisted living home cost $72,000 per year. In he Midwest

My wife and I retired at 50 a little over 10 yrs ago.  We spend $100k to 120k a year.  Health insurance runs $18,000.  We live in SW Florida.
So if I understand correctly, your health insurance is about $1,500 per month. Your other spending is in the range of $7k to $8k+ per month.

Would you mind identifying the most significant drivers of the other spending amount?

Siwan

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Re: So how much does it really cost to live early retired?
« Reply #158 on: September 29, 2018, 11:13:15 AM »
My husband and I live on the West Coast of Florida, one bedroom condo, paid off, share one car, paid off, no debt.  Our base annual expenses are about $14,400 (maintenance, power, internet, cell phone, health insurance, gas, food, car insurance, real estate taxes, homeowners insurance), plus our personal allowances bring it up to a little over $20K.  We estimate we spend about $1,000- $2,000 extra per year on misc. (dental, eye appointments, RX, over the counter meds, grandkid expenses, etc).  I basically feel like I'm on vacation all the time so I don't need to travel, but we do go to Germany every other year to see friends, and we did a lot of traveling  before retiring.  Well, I retired from my career 4 years ago and now I work 16 hours a week, so *almost* retired.

freeat57

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Re: So how much does it really cost to live early retired?
« Reply #159 on: September 30, 2018, 02:04:39 PM »
Just before my grandfather died at 92, he spent about 6 months in an assisted living facility and HATED it. He, literally, tried to escape on foot, with his walker, two or three times that we know of. Once they caught him a few blocks away at a McDonalds eating a Big Mac. The other time, staff from the assisted living place caught him at a convenience store as he was about to buy some illicit snacks. Apparently, my grandfather's doctor had him on a strict low-fat diet, which he hated, and he wasn't allowed to eat nuts, because the staff were afraid he might choke. It's seems bizarre to me to worry about a 92 year old man choking on some peanuts or dying from a heart attack because he ate too much fatty food. WTF is the point of living if you can't do the things you enjoy? It just makes no sense...

Guess we kinda hijacked the thread..... When my mom was lying in the hospital very near death from kidney and liver failure (78 yo diabetic), staff came in to wheel her away for her annual mammogram!  Fortunately my dad was there to stop them.  He was enraged!

Hikester

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Re: So how much does it really cost to live early retired?
« Reply #160 on: September 30, 2018, 09:05:48 PM »
I would start with the major expenses in your life. Housing, Transportation, Utilities/Internet, Food, Health Insurance, Recreation/Other and see where these take you to start with. You’ll get a baseline of your needs somewhere in the ballpark. It’s hard to quote a number because it will be different for everyone. Housing and Transportation tend to be largest so if you can keep these low, that’s a big help. The difference between HCOLA and LCOLA can be huge.

Bird In Hand

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Re: So how much does it really cost to live early retired?
« Reply #161 on: October 01, 2018, 06:27:26 AM »
My husband and I live on the West Coast of Florida, one bedroom condo, paid off, share one car, paid off, no debt.  Our base annual expenses are about $14,400 (maintenance, power, internet, cell phone, health insurance, gas, food, car insurance, real estate taxes, homeowners insurance), plus our personal allowances bring it up to a little over $20K.  We estimate we spend about $1,000- $2,000 extra per year on misc.

~$20k/yr is pretty amazing.  When I see figures like this it makes me want to take a closer look at our nut to see if we can make it any smaller.  We're closer to $50k in a MCOL area, not including health insurance premiums (though we have a family of 5 right now).  Nice work!

dude

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Re: So how much does it really cost to live early retired?
« Reply #162 on: October 01, 2018, 08:04:53 AM »
Just before my grandfather died at 92, he spent about 6 months in an assisted living facility and HATED it. He, literally, tried to escape on foot, with his walker, two or three times that we know of. Once they caught him a few blocks away at a McDonalds eating a Big Mac. The other time, staff from the assisted living place caught him at a convenience store as he was about to buy some illicit snacks. Apparently, my grandfather's doctor had him on a strict low-fat diet, which he hated, and he wasn't allowed to eat nuts, because the staff were afraid he might choke. It's seems bizarre to me to worry about a 92 year old man choking on some peanuts or dying from a heart attack because he ate too much fatty food. WTF is the point of living if you can't do the things you enjoy? It just makes no sense...

Guess we kinda hijacked the thread..... When my mom was lying in the hospital very near death from kidney and liver failure (78 yo diabetic), staff came in to wheel her away for her annual mammogram!  Fortunately my dad was there to stop them.  He was enraged!

Common milking of the Medicare teet. I saw a program one time that said 85% of all Medicare expenses come from "end of life care," which consisted largely of unnecessary tests and procedures for very old people on death's door.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!