A sobering letter from the Social Security Administration

[tree]

@GadAbout
"When my husband dies (if he goes first) I will be squawking "poverty" because I will no longer collect anything on his pensions or social security..."

As far as social security goes, it's not necessarily true that you would lose that.
Pensions, I don't know.

"If you were already receiving spousal benefits on the deceased’s work record, Social Security will in most cases switch you automatically to survivor benefits when the death is reported. Otherwise, you will need to apply for survivor benefits by phone at 800-772-1213 or in person at your local Social Security office.

In most cases, a widow or widower qualifies for survivor benefits if he or she is at least 60 and had been married to the deceased for at least nine months at the time of death."
Social Security When A Spouse Dies - A Guide To Survivor Benefits


What's the best age to start collecting Social Security?

 

[BlueSky Aozora]

One thing you do have going for you is a very high IQ. I suspect that with a degree in the hard sciences, you are at least at 115-120.
Depending on your age and health, would you be able to do some online work from home for extra income that would require someone with your mathematical and scientific skills, maybe even math or science tutoring for students?

imagine you studied hard for about 10years after high school until you got your PhD, have a very high-level mathematical/scientifuc skill, but only manage to get job to teach kids or undergrads the simple maths/science.

Sadly, not many people/companies in the world need people highly-skilled in advanced maths/science, other than reknowned research institutes.. Companies mostly wants slaves for menial tasks or managers..

How sad..

 

[BlueSky Aozora]

You're right. Academics get very modest pay considering the high stress nature of the job and the high education requirements. There's a lot of amusement (and bitterness) in academic circles at the moment due to the recently proposed £36k minimum salary threshold for UK immigrants alongside the governments promises to encourage scientists to work in the UK. That wage is far over what all but the most senior academics earn. These are people with PhDs.

OP I think you might be overestimating how much most people are paid... A mere Bachelors degree won't get you very far these days, it's the standard for all but minimum wage jobs. Even a Masters doesn't get you very far.

That is very sad. Considering how much college debt students need to pay back, and companies dont even need much of the students skills they got at uni. Companies just want slaves to do tedious tasks for them..

 

[GadAbout]

@GadAbout
"When my husband dies (if he goes first) I will be squawking "poverty" because I will no longer collect anything on his pensions or social security..."

As far as social security goes, it's not necessarily true that you would lose that.
Pensions, I don't know.

"If you were already receiving spousal benefits on the deceased’s work record, Social Security will in most cases switch you automatically to survivor benefits when the death is reported. Otherwise, you will need to apply for survivor benefits by phone at 800-772-1213 or in person at your local Social Security office.

Technically correct, but I didn't want to go into that much detail in my post. However, spousal survivor benefits are not as large as his full soc. sec. benefit while alive. We've already checked on his pensions - nada. He had a spouse survivor benefit but that was for a wife who already died and they don't extend it to a second spouse.

 

[tducey]

Yeah, it's the same everywhere. People are working longer because of the low amount of government pension.

 

[Mary Terry]

I think it is still the law that if you were married to someone for at least 10 years before you divorced, then you are entitled to a portion of that person's social security death benefits. So, if you're divorced and were married at least 10 years, then you can get some of your deceased ex-spouse's social security.

Edited: I think this is true unless you have remarried. If you remarried, then you can't get your ex-spouse's social security.

 

[Judge]

I think it is still the law that if you were married to someone for at least 10 years before you divorced, then you are entitled to a portion of that person's social security death benefits. So, if you're divorced and were married at least 10 years, then you can get some of your deceased ex-spouse's social security.

Edited: I think this is true unless you have remarried. If you remarried, then you can't get your ex-spouse's social security.

That's my understanding as well. I know because my cousin is going through this process at the moment, and it appears she has no barriers towards collecting a portion of her ex/deceased husband's social security.

 

[Mary Terry]

That's my understanding as well. I know because my cousin is going through this process at the moment, and it appears she has no barriers towards collecting a portion of her ex/deceased husband's social security.

It must aggravate a subsequent wife/widow to discover that her husband's social security will be partially paid to wife #1. And vice versa for men. It's just desserts for spouse-stealing people. LOL

 

[Edward764]

People do need to start saving money in their 20's to avoid hardship later, and it is worse being in California.

Senior housing here is well over 1000 a month.

Most people with a Bachelors degree and two certificates would likely require about five years of higher education, depending on the certificates.
I wasted 11 years and four months.

I believe the medium income in the USA is about $38,000, and about 35% of the adult population over age 25 has at least a bachelors degree. I am sure the medium income for those with a bachelors degree is much higher, probably well over $50,000.
My degree was in General Biology, which has little value as an end in itself. I made a foolish choice for reasons beyond this thread. One of my certificates could be obtained without formal education.

I do not believe my wages are at all common for my circumstances. I suspect an average yearly wage of about $15,000 is very odd when considering all my years in school

 

[Edward764]

It must aggravate a subsequent wife/widow to discover that her husband's social security will be partially paid to wife #1. And vice versa for men. It's just desserts for spouse-stealing people. LOL

This is not fair at all. I guess there is a silver lining to never being in a relationship.

 

[SusanLR]

At age 65 you will be eligible for Medicare which will pay approximately 80% of your medical bills. It is not free - you have to pay for your Medicare insurance coverage, and, if you're smart and have the money, you should also obtain and pay for a supplemental health insurance policy to cover costs and the 20% of medical bills that Medicare does not cover.

Unless your income is so low you qualify for medicaid.
I have what's called dual complete QMB insurance do to low income and disability SSI.
Medicaid pays for the Medicare insurance rates, the deductibles, the 20% co-pays plus part D
so my meds are only a couple of dollars if they are generic and $6.00 if they aren't.
And the donut hole is covered.
Having a low income counts when it comes to health insurance.

I get what used to be called Food Stamps also, now called EBT.
It isn't much, but, helps. $70.00 per month and that's at poverty level.

As far as seniour housing, there are sliding scale places for one-third of your income,
but, the waiting list is years to get a place and then for that money they are really nasty places and
neighborhoods to live in. At least where I live. Don't know about rest of the country.
If you are disabled, the independent seniour living isn't really viable anyway.
Seniour living in an ALF is nice, but, again there is no help to pay for it.
The only things I have found that help pay for this type of living is if you are a veteran
or spouse of a deceased veteran. Then you can get VA aids and attendence.
Also, if you are married and your spouse dies, your social security payments are replaced
with their's if they received more than you did monthly.

 

[Mary Terry]

I recently read an article about a man who investigated what it would cost for him to pay for a retirement home versus what it would cost if he moved into a Holiday Inn hotel under an extended stay agreement. He calculated that he would pay about $65 per day for the hotel room as opposed to over $200 per day to live in a retirement or nursing home.

In the hotel, he would have a private room and bath, daily maid service, TV, telephone, small refrigerator, microwave, coffee pot, wi-fi connection, air conditioning and heat, a gym and swimming pool, a downstairs lobby, restaurant, and small bar for socializing, daily free breakfast and newspaper, and a bus stop right outside the hotel for transportation. He carefully picked the hotel location in a decent area close to shopping and restaurants that he could walk to. There would be no medical services there like one would find in a nursing home but if one is healthy, then that would not be an issue.

I think it's an intriguing idea, worthy of further exploration.

 

[GadAbout]

I recently read an article about a man who investigated what it would cost for him to pay for a retirement home versus what it would cost if he moved into a Holiday Inn hotel under an extended stay agreement. He calculated that he would pay about $65 per day for the hotel room as opposed to over $200 per day to live in a retirement or nursing home.

In the hotel, he would have a private room and bath, daily maid service, TV, telephone, small refrigerator, microwave, coffee pot, wi-fi connection, air conditioning and heat, a gym and swimming pool, a downstairs lobby, restaurant, and small bar for socializing, daily free breakfast and newspaper, and a bus stop right outside the hotel for transportation. He carefully picked the hotel location in a decent area close to shopping and restaurants that he could walk to. There would be no medical services there like one would find in a nursing home but if one is healthy, then that would not be an issue.

I think it's an intriguing idea, worthy of further exploration.

I've heard of an older single lady who permanently lived on a cruise ship, and found it no more expensive than just living on her own in an apartment. Plus you get ALL of your meals. For me the problem would be putting on too much weight! The food on cruises is usually pretty darn good.

 

[tree]

The Holiday Inn vs. Nursing Home Fallacy

Retirement Living on Cruise Ships
Is a Cruise Ship Cheaper Than a Nursing Home? - The Senior List

 

[Mary Terry]

I've heard of an older single lady who permanently lived on a cruise ship, and found it no more expensive than just living on her own in an apartment. Plus you get ALL of your meals. For me the problem would be putting on too much weight! The food on cruises is usually pretty darn good.

I would do that if I didn't get seasick every time I'm on a boat or ship. Motion sickness would offset the weight gain!

 

[AloneNotLonely]

People do need to start saving money in their 20's to avoid hardship later, and it is worse being in California.

Senior housing here is well over 1000 a month.

Most people with a Bachelors degree and two certificates would likely require about five years of higher education, depending on the certificates.
I wasted 11 years and four months.

I believe the medium income in the USA is about $38,000, and about 35% of the adult population over age 25 has at least a bachelors degree. I am sure the medium income for those with a bachelors degree is much higher, probably well over $50,000.
My degree was in General Biology, which has little value as an end in itself. I made a foolish choice for reasons beyond this thread. One of my certificates could be obtained without formal education.

I do not believe my wages are at all common for my circumstances. I suspect an average yearly wage of about $15,000 is very odd when considering all my years in school

The mistake you made, which is one many people make, is to trud along when clearly the math doesn't pan out. If you made $15000 a year for most of your life... then why didn't you adjust your living standards and save money? I made around 20k in dollars a year (although hard to estimate over all those years due to EURUSD being all over the place) and often on benefits for 14k. I thought I was going to "move up" at one point and make more. That never happened, so I adjusted my living standards and started saving money. I didn't just go along and think things were magically going to get better and I would be saved by the circumstances, rather than to prepare for the worst, which is that things are about as good as they are going to get. And that's exactly what happened in my case. The only thing going well for me are investments, but I never got over like minimum wage +10% (which, honestly, is still quite a lot in Europe).

I know this won't really help you now, but it might be handy for people reading this that still have time. The only thing you can do now is do what you should've done 30 years ago, only far more drastic. No fancy Cauliflornia apartment, you are going to have to find a cheaper place that you can afford off $1000 in benefits, or continue working. Continue working would also be smarter in a cheaper area so you are not going to be working until the day you die.

 

[Mary Terry]

I'm not a financial planner by any means, but I think everyone should periodically calculate how much money they will have when they retire and how much their expenses will be, spread over 30 years based on the assumption that most people die within 30 years after retirement. Make a list of assets and liabilities to figure out how much you need to save during your working years.

I explained this to my brother last year and he realized that he was going to come up financially short although he is a high-wage earner. He should have figured this out decades ago and saved money rather than buying stuff like an imported Italian chimney flue for his massive outdoor pizza oven which he has used only once to make greasy focaccia bread (as if Americans don't know how to make chimney flues), a huge 3rd wheel camper (you can rent those things if you want to vacation in one), new cars and trucks every 2 years which significantly depreciate the minute you drive them off the sales lot, and other unnecessary luxuries. I feel bad for him, love him dearly, but he really dropped the ball on retirement planning.

 

[Judge]

Yep. "Logan's Run" is looking better and better all the time.

Where your future remains in the palm of your hand.

Trust me. Getting old is overrated.

 

[Mattymatt]

A couple days ago I got an updated letter from the SSA.
It says that if I retire at age 66 and one-half, which is just under five years away, my retirement benefit will be a paltry $1033 per month. I got my first job in 1976, and have only earned over $20,000 per year 17 times. My highest yearly wage ever was just over $26,000.

There is very little doubt in my mind that I would have been better off today had I been a high school dropout, but I have actually spent 11 years and four months ( not consecutively), in post high school education, including a bachelors degree and two certificates. These are bizarre facts that I will cover in detail in my book.

I can't help but wondering if this is unprecedented. Is there any other member of the 142 million people in the labor force who has this much education, has been eligible to work for almost 46 years, yet has earned so little?
I would think these strange facts alone would garner interest for my detailed writings.

This is a consequence of never overcoming hundreds of distractions surrounding academia, and thus never truly learning much or developing confidence in any discipline.

Sadly, retirement will happen when I die.

 

[Wolfnox]

Hey no taxes. We WIN! WOAH!!