[SallyR]

Both my husband and I recently lost our pensions and are sick with worry. We can buy a house in the villages (a small patio villa perhaps) free and clear, but will only have social security to live on. We have to leave the cold north. I am having a nervous breakdown about this. Does anyone there live on just social security? Is it possible and if not, any suggestions for us? Thanks.

[kittygilchrist]

suggest you sit together, hold hands, close eyes, and take several deep breaths, once an hour.

don't buy a house free and clear if you can get a mortgage. keep your cash.

praying...
Kitty

[Irishmen]

I guess the obvious question back is What will be your combined benefit?

[gomoho]

If you were both collecting the maximum amount and were frugal it might be possible. The beauty of TV is so many things are free so you can keep yourself busy and entertained with very little additional cost.

[Midvale]

Good advice.
There are also many nice manufactured homes in the historic area, some for under $100k.

Originally Posted by kittygilchrist

suggest you sit together, hold hands, close eyes, and take several deep breaths, once an hour.

don't buy a house free and clear if you can get a mortgage. keep your cash.

praying...
Kitty

[tucson]

Sent you a pm. (private msg)

[redwitch]

Incomes here run the gamut from below poverty to extremely wealthy. All seem to live the type of life they want.

I do know some that live on only Social Security. All of the ones I know have no mortgage. They can't play golf every day; they do have good medical to go along with their Medicare; they do have fun here and their friends are not limited to just those in the same financial circumstances.

Purchasing a manufactured home is not a bad idea. You get a nice place with beautiful old growth around you. Your taxes are lower and there is no bond. Regardless of what you choose to own (or rent), all activities are open to you, so pick and choose what you want to do and go for it.

[ROCKETMAN]

Originally Posted by SallyR

Both my husband and I recently lost our pensions and are sick with worry. We can buy a house in the villages (a small patio villa perhaps) free and clear, but will only have social security to live on. We have to leave the cold north. I am having a nervous breakdown about this. Does anyone there live on just social security? Is it possible and if not, any suggestions for us? Thanks.

The average ss payment is $1260 but the high end is around $1900 so don't know where you fall in. You can do it but need some savings money for buying golf cart, roofs, furnaces, depending the age of unit you are purchasing. Utilities, amenities, property taxes, house and car insurance all add up. Everyone is different but a house in the historic section with more money in the bank would do it for me.

[queasy27]

Gosh, that's a huge blow, SallyR. Did you both used to work at the same company that lost its pensions?

Living on two SS payments should be possible. To give you an example, my budget when I lived on the historic side was $2050/month, which included a $547 mortgage, amenity fee, utilities, lawn maintenance, home repair, gas, food, entertainment, and all other normal expenses. I also budgeted an additional $500 a month in discretionary income.

The biggest variable might be health care costs, depending on your situation with insurance or Medicare.

[asianthree]

first what does it cost to live yearly where you are...find a planner either in person or online...how you budget may not be how we budget..there are patio villas with little or no bond. if you have not been here i would off season a couple of months before i would think of buying a home and try for a mortgage..are you a veteran than you can go that route for a mortgage on a preowned

[DianeM]

Maybe it's just me but I would prefer to have my residence paid for and then not have to worry about a mortgage payment.

[Madelaine Amee]

Originally Posted by SallyR

Both my husband and I recently lost our pensions and are sick with worry. We can buy a house in the villages (a small patio villa perhaps) free and clear, but will only have social security to live on. We have to leave the cold north. I am having a nervous breakdown about this. Does anyone there live on just social security? Is it possible and if not, any suggestions for us? Thanks.

First Don't have a nervous breakdown over this, hundreds of people have been in this position before you and you will manage................

Get in touch with your company and go to this website to see if they have picked up your pension Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp - PBGC Protects America's Pensions

This is the website for the The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and your pensions may have been picked up by them.

[Bill Tasker]

This is a good question. I have often wondered the same thing. My spouse will have a small pension, hopefully enough to cover medical coverage. We will both have SS (hopefully) and I have a 401K. Buy a house out right or keep the cash has always been a quandry for me. When we looked at the historic side, most of them required a lot of updating. The realto rwe spoke with advised that TV will be completed 2015 and prices are moving up up and away. :-(

[eweissenbach]

Based on my research if you have no mortgage, you can live as cheaply in TV as you can in almost any other place, and cheaper than many, especially near either coast. As has been stated, social security payments can vary widely, if you both collect near the maximum, you could live very well, if toward the minimum you had better count on at least some part-time work. Because of all the activities available with no or low cost, I think this is an outstanding choice of destination for someone with moderate income, giving them the ability to do things that would be difficult, if not impossible in most places. For example where else could you afford to belong to even one country club, much less ten, enjoy live entertainment every evening, and play executive golf every day for free?

[coach]

My opinion is not to have a mortgage. The reason is that if one of you dies that SS money is gone. Can the surviving spouse live on one SS check and still make the mortgage payment?

Living on SS is possible but it must be with no debt.