If You Are retired --do you often worry about your finances? Now or for the future.

L

Lon

Well-known Member
Location
Central California
The only time in my adult life that I was worried about finances was when I was in my early 20's, married, going to college on the Korean GI BIll and wife became pregnant. I panicked because I thought having a baby would cost thousands of dollars. I did some checking and discovered that my fears were for naught. I had a part time job and was able to prepay both the OB doctor and hospital the grand sum of $350.00. This was 1958. Since that time I am happy to say that I have never worried about my finances.
 

Lon said:
The only time in my adult life that I was worried about finances was when I was in my early 20's, married, going to college on the Korean GI BIll and wife became pregnant. I panicked because I thought having a baby would cost thousands of dollars. I did some checking and discovered that my fears were for naught. I had a part time job and was able to prepay both the OB doctor and hospital the grand sum of $350.00. This was 1958. Since that time I am happy to say that I have never worried about my finances.
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Well, that is great for you Lon!
 
One of the worst times I did was when I was raising 2 girls by myself with no child support, working 2 jobs and doing accounting at home as well. I was able to avoid welfare as I always felt like it was for people in worst shape than me. I was blessed with an employer that understood and really didn't care about the hours I worked as long as the job was done. I could leave early to take the kids to band practice, etc as he knew I would be there on Saturday to make up the time. I was the only parent in the bleachers on Friday with my briefcase scanning my general ledger for accuracy and making entries on paper so I could post the next day. Each year he would stop by my office and say "its raise time, decide how much you need and raise yourself by that much" He knew I would not take advantage and always gave me a large bonus at Christmas time. Of course he was very wealthy and it wasn't much to him but it meant so much to me. I do now as I am on a limited income but I live simply and you do what you have to do.
 

I had my share of financial rough spots when I was young. I remember driving to the utility company, more than once, to pay the bill in person the night before the power was scheduled to be turned off. Starting each week with less than $5.00 bucks to my name and being afraid to spend it because that was all the money I had. I worked two jobs, gradually gained the education and experience needed to command a living wage.

These days I worry a little about keeping up with inflation and the possibility of outliving my assets if I have an extended stay in a skilled nursing facility.

I also have some concerns about what to do with whatever is left when I finally croak.
 
I've just recently retired, so I'm still a bit nervous.. I've been keeping close tabs on my finances, making spreadsheets and figuring a budget. So far so good.. but I don't think I will be able to relax until I get a full year of retirement and all remains OK.
 
No worries whatsoever.

Thanks to the Socialism of FDR's New Deal (Social Security) and LBJ's Great Society (Medicare) I have it made in the shade.:bigwink:
 
I'm 100% sure our early years when I was in the U S Navy with a total monthly income of $198.00 taught us a valuable life lesson in money management. I sincerly believe not worrying during the last 23 years in retirement came from understanding that paying for "needs" came before buying "wants". That and planning long before there was any real expectation of being able to retire early.




A series of good things happened to us in the form of finally getting jobs that paid well & with benefits. Before that low pay and part time work paid for any health care issues for us and our 3 very young sons. We could have blown our new found better wages on "wants" but chose instead to invest. Not everything went into the future, a summer place in N J, a power boat stored at the Marina in Fortescue, N J. Sold those for a motor home to travel with our teen age sons to see America.




Life together for us began as a struggle but as I said in our 1st. years together we learned a valuable life lesson in money management. Like Trade Soc. Sec. & Medicare which we never really thought we would get, turns out to be a source of fun money for us.
 
Like others I had financial stresses when I was in my 20's on into about mid thirties when my salary got a big boost. Now I'm in a good place financially although I probably wouldn't be considered wealthy by most standards. I have a more than adequate emergency fund, I have investments that are consistently doing well and plan to continue investing most of my Social Security for the next 8 years at least. Paying my monthly expenses in full each month is never a stressor or a budget buster. The only thing that is a slight worry is what if I have to go into a nursing home long term? Here in jersey, that could be a financial catastrophe. All I can do is try to keep up healthy habits and pray that I never have to go in.
 
I've lived frugally most of my life and am in a good place right now but longevity runs in my family. G-grandmother lived to be 101. I do occasionally wonder if I might run out of money before I run out of life but not to the point that it keeps me awake at night.
 
46% of my retirement income is from Social Security and 54% is from my pension. So roughly half and half. That's comfortable. If I had to get by on one or the other by itself it would be tough.
 
debodun said:
I have enough to live comfortably. My greatest worry about money is that someone will hack my bank account and clean me out. It happened to my uncle a few years ago.
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Did he get his money back. My account was compromised to the tune of $1,200. But the credit union I deal with replaced it after I signed off on the transactions that were not mine. The money was withdrawn in Las Vegas. I haven't a clue how they did it.

There were others that got scammed as well.

One of the fine points of dealing with a credit union was that they replaced the funds themselves.

With a credit card you have to go through the police.
 
I worry all the time, but I try to just make sure I'm on top of everything - my account, and such. stress isn't good :)
 
I vividly remember what it was like scraping together nickels to go to the grocery store and buy food when we first came back to the US. We were getting by on the G.I. Bill educational benefits and what I earned. We weren't going hungry but there wasn't an extra cent and I constantly worried about emergencies. Every time we got a little ahead, something happened to the old car or we had doctor bills and got wiped out again.

It left us with a burning desire to live frugally (but not miserly....) so that we'd never have to worry again about this.

Now, I have enough for what I need and some of what I want. I'm content.
 
Trade actually had something good to say about Socialism. Great ! I have the same attitude. When nations go wrong, it rarely is because of Socialism. The big problem is almost always bad governance. Think of North Korea and Venezuela.
 
I have had to supplement my retirement in hopes of staying even. I suspect that is true for some here. I am looking into some online work or affiliate work.

Do you know if you can share links in these comments to sites that offer some part time or full time supplemental employment?
 
Camper6 said:
With a credit card you have to go through the police.
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That's not quite correct.

You must send a dispute letter within 60 days of the first statement that contained the mistake to the address for billing inquiries. A phone call is NOT sufficient. Then the creditor must do an investigation and resolve it within two billing cycles or 90 days, whichever comes first.

Here is the exact process to begin with the credit card company:

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0219-disputing-credit-card-charges

IF your local police department has an e-crime division, it is a good idea to contact them to see if they would like to have a report on it. Often you can file it easily on-line. This kind of info is of great use in establishing crime statistics locally, which enables them to identify trends of increasing/decreasing activity for specific crimes.
 
As long as Boeing stays healthy, so will I, with my 37-year Aerospace Pension that they deposit into my account the first of every month!

Also Socialized Security from me and my Wife's accounts, and some consrvative IRA growth.

No Mortgage, paid cash for both cars, too.

Knock on Titanium!

Hal
 

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