percent of income and assets for housing

Aunt Bea said:
To me the question is 45-60 percent of what.
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I suspect that the lower your means, then the higher that percentage and when you get to 60 percent you are bad financial shape... real bad. Now there could be exceptions to that but I think they would be rare and considered outside the norm. How many grouping do we use for our disposable income and in what order do we list them as far as priority is concerned... housing, food, health, transportation, entertainment, charity, and what else?
 

Aunt Bea said:
Also as you become older you can look at slowly depleting your investment portfolio by a few percentage points each year to help keep pace with inflation. I would not worry if I started to gradually spend down my portfolio when I hit my mid 80's or beyond.

No one size fits all answers exist, we all need to come up with our own plan.

Good luck!
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the problem is drawing down a portfolio late in life or early is really dependent on your draw rate and market sequences . the so called 4% rule assumes under worst case scenario conditions that you end 30 years with at least a buck left . so it isn't a case of just living off gains much of the time .

if the losing years are up front that portfolio is reduced day 1.

there can be a difference as much as 15 years given the same average return in how long the money lasts just based on the sequence the gains and losses come in . so we can't really know whether we wll be burning principal or gains early on .

this is our 3rd year in retirement and so far gains have not kept pace with spending so we are down a bit principal wise .
 
Shalimar said:
Homeless and hungry? What a horrendous thought! Yes, society should take care of it's elderly if they are unable to do it themselves. Btw, why would she be embarrassed by staying where she is at some point?
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No location of where Aurora lives so I wouldn't know what was possible for supporting a person without money. This web site seems pretty good at identifying the quantity of homeless http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/526/homeless-facts.html It ain't pretty.


As for why would she be embarrassed. You would have to read her posts to understand that she wrote that she has told all her friends that she was moving and would feel uncomfortable if she didn't. I took her concern for what others thought as being embarrassed.
 
Thanks for your replies. I want to move badly either south like to Florida or maybe Nashville. Denver looks too expensive now.
M y general figure is about $3400 a month to spend for 9-10 years in future. This includes rent for a one bedroom, electric, phone,internet.
the electric will be much higher in Florida because of the a/c running constantly.. I am very frugal so there's nothing to cut from my modest lifestyle.I must then add auto insurance, gas, travel, dentistry (big for me), health maintenance.No cable TV. My retirement current income is about 2400. a month only but this rises a bit each year. Right now my rent is quite low so I actually save money. When I move my rent will rise by at least 35%. I will have to research more because I don't know much about where I am moving.
 
Knight said:
No location of where Aurora lives so I wouldn't know what was possible for supporting a person without money. This web site seems pretty good at identifying the quantity of homeless http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/526/homeless-facts.html It ain't pretty.


As for why would she be embarrassed. You would have to read her posts to understand that she wrote that she has told all her friends that she was moving and would feel uncomfortable if she didn't. I took her concern for what others thought as being embarrassed.
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I'd just tell 'em all I changed my mind. Nothing wrong with that, people do it all the time. Friends would probably be glad she's staying. Anyway, I wouldn't make a big financial commitment based on the fact that I'd told all my friends I was going to do it.
 
Aurora said:
Thanks for your replies. I want to move badly either south like to Florida or maybe Nashville. Denver looks too expensive now.
M y general figure is about $3400 a month to spend for 9-10 years in future. This includes rent for a one bedroom, electric, phone,internet.
the electric will be much higher in Florida because of the a/c running constantly.. I am very frugal so there's nothing to cut from my modest lifestyle.I must then add auto insurance, gas, travel, dentistry (big for me), health maintenance.No cable TV. My retirement current income is about 2400. a month only but this rises a bit each year. Right now my rent is quite low so I actually save money. When I move my rent will rise by at least 35%. I will have to research more because I don't know much about where I am moving.
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Aurora, I wouldn't make a commitment to move somewhere I didn't know much about. Too often our idea of what life is like in a place has little or nothing to do with day to day reality. Before I actually up and moved, I'd go stay there (like in a little apartment in the area you'd like to move to) for a few months and see how you really feel about the place, or at least make an extended visit there. You don't want to wind up stuck in a place you hate because you've invested too much in it to leave.
 
I agree, do as much research as possible on the internet and then go for a vacation to the area to check things out first hand. Check out the subsidized senior citizen apartments in the area you are interested in and fill out an application to get your name on the waiting list. I would need to visit an area several times before I made the decision to just pack up and leave. Take your time and do your research, something will turn up!

Good luck!
 
Butterfly said:
Aurora, I wouldn't make a commitment to move somewhere I didn't know much about. Too often our idea of what life is like in a place has little or nothing to do with day to day reality. Before I actually up and moved, I'd go stay there (like in a little apartment in the area you'd like to move to) for a few months and see how you really feel about the place, or at least make an extended visit there. You don't want to wind up stuck in a place you hate because you've invested too much in it to leave.
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That's an excellent idea Butterfly.
 
What would you think of allocating 35% of my total assets, including stocks and other savings for my retirement in a warmer state, after I move
AND about 80% of my income which is from pensions, social sec and stock dividends? On my frugal budget, I could afford a $400 increase in
rent a month. I have very low rent now. Retired, No job.
After I reach 70 1/2 I must take money from my IRA (over 5000 a year.) There's nothing in my budget to cut! I'm tight.
My recreation is almost zero, but I do go on vacations, alone.
I am depressed of staying put for the rest of my life here in my suburban apartment in midwest. It's a very old rut.
No one wants to encourage me or talk about it.
What say you?
 
Victor said:
What would you think of allocating 35% of my total assets, including stocks and other savings for my retirement in a warmer state, after I move
AND about 80% of my income which is from pensions, social sec and stock dividends? On my frugal budget, I could afford a $400 increase in
rent a month. I have very low rent now. Retired, No job.
After I reach 70 1/2 I must take money from my IRA (over 5000 a year.) There's nothing in my budget to cut! I'm tight.
My recreation is almost zero, but I do go on vacations, alone.
I am depressed of staying put for the rest of my life here in my suburban apartment in midwest. It's a very old rut.
No one wants to encourage me or talk about it.
What say you?
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I say do whatever will make you happy Victor and only you are the one that can answer that.
 
Just be careful not to paint yourself into a corner where you have no wiggle room if something goes haywire -- like if you need help at home because of an illness or accident and can't afford to pay for it because you've got all your $$$ committed to rent. OR if you got into a new place and got a big fat rent increase you can't afford.

Be sure you are moving for the right reasons. Maybe there are things you could do where you are to spice up your life? Too many people move hoping it will fix things, but find that they face the same old problems, but in a different venue with a new set of problems, too.
 
Victor said:
What would you think of allocating 35% of my total assets, including stocks and other savings for my retirement in a warmer state, after I move
AND about 80% of my income which is from pensions, social sec and stock dividends? On my frugal budget, I could afford a $400 increase in
rent a month. I have very low rent now. Retired, No job.
After I reach 70 1/2 I must take money from my IRA (over 5000 a year.) There's nothing in my budget to cut! I'm tight.
My recreation is almost zero, but I do go on vacations, alone.
I am depressed of staying put for the rest of my life here in my suburban apartment in midwest. It's a very old rut.
No one wants to encourage me or talk about it.
What say you?
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35% of your total assets doesn't translate to a dollar amount to be spent for a place to live, I'm not interested in you saying what that is, that isn't any of my business. $5000.00 a year is only $416.00 a month. Utilities and general expenditures like trash pick up or in a place that has a HOA can eat that $416.00 in a month. And you have to know that MRD doesn't last forever. You might want to calculate when it will be totally depleted and figure that into your plan.

Of course where you move to where it's warm should be investigated. A reasonably priced place to live may not be in a neighborhood you would want to live. Taxes on your pension is another potential cost depending on what state you are thinking about. Health and access to doctors and emergency facilities another biggie, are you confident you will find what you need?

Relocating on a tight budget as you point out as having, brings with it a lot of careful planning. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want to find yourself out on the street in that warm place.

So I say while you have time to decide and internet access research & research some more. One thing for sure knowing the length of time you will have $5000.00 a year to draw on is important.
 
A follow up to my last post.

For anyone not understanding MRD payout and how the value is calculated to determine when the MRD is finally finished this calculator should help.

https://web.fidelity.com/mrd/application/MRDCalculator
Maybe not understood is a person has to have cash their account to cover the capital value represented. Only good news is taxes are paid on the amount paid out on the MRD, not the value still in an IRA account. If there isn't enough cash to cover the value represented by holdings then some of the holdings would have to be sold to meet the pay out required.

That last part is where some get into trouble. Selling the asset to cover the payout reduces the long term. A person really does need to do research and fully understand how their finances are affected.

I am not promoting Fidelity. The use of their calculator may be wrong on my part & this post should be removed if I am wrong in using it.
 
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