OneEyedDiva
SF VIP
- Location
- New Jersey
In a way, I know what it must be like to live on Social Security only. I retired at 50 and because of that my pension was reduced by 12%and I was too young to collect SS, I never asked my husband to contribute to my personal expenses; he was having financial troubles of his own trying to keep his business afloat and literally paying out more than he was taking in at times.
When I first retired, I was getting approximately $1,200 a month. As I've mentioned on the forum a few times, what helped me is that I was debt free, live in a co-op where our housing expenses are extremely low, have great retiree health benefits (including prescription coverage) and a nice nest egg that I continued to contribute to. We were getting pension COLAs for a few years after I retired, but they were discontinued when Christie became our governor. I didn't like it, but realized it was necessary because our pension plan was short by billions.
When I first retired, I was getting approximately $1,200 a month. As I've mentioned on the forum a few times, what helped me is that I was debt free, live in a co-op where our housing expenses are extremely low, have great retiree health benefits (including prescription coverage) and a nice nest egg that I continued to contribute to. We were getting pension COLAs for a few years after I retired, but they were discontinued when Christie became our governor. I didn't like it, but realized it was necessary because our pension plan was short by billions.