Can we afford to buy and live here?
 

Hello,
My husband has disabled vet pay, and I have disability pay. Total $4800. He still works where we are in a federal gov job in NC. NC is not overly senior-friendly for retirement places. At some point, he needs to stop working. The only debt we have is our truck payment. Can we afford to live there on such little money? My husband seems to think we can, I think, no. What if something significant happens in the house we buy and is costly? By the time we pay movers, closing costs, and other expenses, life-savings will be much lower. We are not rich by any means. We both have no family and need to find a home to settle in one place after years of military service.
What does a couple do when you have no family and are getting old? Do they have places or companies to help people who will need help in the future if that happens? Currently, we live on a military base as retirees, which is super cheap. $1025 for EVERYTHING! But NC does not have options when we get older...thatsbhowbwe oaid all our debt off :)

A lot of questions, I apologize in advance for so many.

Any advice and knowledge would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Yvonne

Maybe this short video will give you some answers. What It Costs To Live In THE VILLAGES - YouTube

$4800 a month is more than enough. You can easily get by on 3200 a month.

Thank you for your service.

I think you need to consult a financial adviser and figure out what you will have available in income so you could figure out costs (including housing) of living here.

Best of luck to you.

Please read the three Sticky messages at the top of this thread:
https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...-villages-139/
Moving to The Villages - Part 1 & 2 & 3
They will give you more information about the cost of living in TV.

Yvonne,

You are leaving an important source of revenue out of the equasion, the FERS annuity. Perhaps social security as well. If he has 30 years and has reached the minimize retirement age (MRA) or 60 and 20 years service he will get a special retirement supplement until age 62 as well.

Think of renting a long term home, monthly $$$ will be more than you are paying now, but gives you all the amenities. You can rent for a year then decide if you want to live here. We also have A base near Tampa that you can get supplies from.

You have not mentioned if you will need to buy a home with a mortgage, that will also influence where and what you want to buy. On base you should have the ability to see a financial advisor that can help guide you.

Florida is extremely Veteran-friendly. I have an acquaintance, 100% disabled, who pays less than $100 in property taxes.

This link should have some info for you.

Good luck with your decision.

There is a VA clinic up in the far North end of the Villages I believe also

It depends on whether or not you'll be able to buy a house outright, or if you'll need to secure a mortgage.

With a mortgage, it'll be affordable, you'll be able to handle all the mandatory monthly bills, plus typical weekly expenses (groceries, gas in your car), yearly expenses (car maintenance, HVAC checkup, etc), and all your typical "interests" expenses (dining out, a couple of concerts every year, a yearly trip to somewhere else for a week), but not much left over for savings.


If you own property now and will be selling it to buy a new home in the Villages, it'll not be merely "affordable." $4800 will be enough to cover all your expenses, all or your interests, with plenty left over to save "just in case."

Your medical and your husbands' medical are covered since you're both disabled, so you'll have minimal expenses for that unless you get into long-term or catastrophic care needs.

No one on here can tell you if you can afford it. There are so many variables. I would encourage you to do a detailed budget of income and expenses when you both retire. There are ways to supplement your income here if needed. Look at all the expenses you will have and make your determination. A six month or one year lease may be a good idea. It will help you fine tune your expenses, get a feel for this place and weather, and see if you want to spend your senior years here. This place is not for everyone, but for many of us it is a perfect fit. Good luck on your adventure.

Lottoguy and Stu are correct. You need to speak to a financial advisor to find out how much you can afford to spend, both upfront and an ongoing basis. Then, check out the YouTube video that lottoguy referenced. We don’t have the information to tell you whether you can afford to live here.

We really enjoy living here but it is a major change so please review this thoroughly and be very careful before making a financial commitment that does not work for you.

Lot of great info here and the people are very helpful so ask your questions.

Beings none of use know what bills you have, how much saving you have, what you consider affordable in housing down here? Now if you have house and vehicle paid for, and no credit card debt you can live comfortably and probably Save over 1000.00 month again depending on what you have on hand and what you purchase. IMO insurance down here cheaper for where I came from, but food and services are higher.

I think you should see if the base has any one services that can help you with a budget. You need a good budget and it has to cover all your retirement years.
Remember you will need to buy a car or two
Paint the home
Put on a new roof
A new A/C system
Check your insurance expenses - auto and home, hurricane, sink hole (?), real estate tax, utility costs (for the actual home not just the community)
etc etc.
You can probably find an existing home at a lower costs than a new one. But remember to get a home inspection.
Be sure to include taxes in your budget.
As a ball bark answer which means a guess I think you will have a tough time. First couple of years maybe ok but it will get harder as the years pass and inflation takes over.