[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by vintageogauge

Yes, you can retire with one Million in savings/investments but do you want to live on a tight budget in a Historic District Mobile Home?

If we had a million in savings, we would have been able to afford a site-built home between Spanish Springs and Sumter Landing, which was our preference. We could've bought the house for under $400k, furnished it, got all new appliances, replaced the roof -

and then use the leftover $600k combined with our social security to not only pay our monthly expenses, but afford a trip every year to some place or another.

We have a MODEST pension, and two modest social security checks between the two of us. We had no savings to speak of because we had to blow through our investments trying to sell our house up north and had very little left. We live in the Historic Section and other than the yearly trips (which I really really miss doing) we do just fine.

You can live in the Historic Section, in an updated good-condition double-wide, for under $60k/year, paying your expected bills and having enough left over for dining out and buying drinks at the square every week.

[MrLonzo]

Originally Posted by AMB444

No real estate so need to pay mortgage.

Let's say this person is not yet 65.

The answer is 'yes'. Millions of people do it. It's a matter of living within your means.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by AMB444

No real estate so need to pay mortgage.

Let's say this person is not yet 65.

You can start taking your Social Security checks when you're 62. You get less per month, but you'll get it for three additional years.

[Ruger2506]

Not here in FL. When property taxes and HOA fees and Bonds and Fire district reach over $9000/year. When we retire chances are we are headed to hills of Alabama or another low property tax state. Same house in the hills of Alabama would cost us $1500/year in property taxes.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Ruger2506

Not here in FL. When property taxes and HOA fees and Bonds and Fire district reach over $9000/year. When we retire chances are we are headed to hills of Alabama or another low property tax state. Same house in the hills of Alabama would cost us $1500/year in property taxes.

No HOA fee in the Villages. Amenity fee (similar but not the same) is about $2,400 per year. Annual tax bill (property, school, bond, fire) is about $5,000 though of course this depends on the size of the home and the bond.

Total can be less than $7,000 but can probably reach $9,000 in some areas.

Location, location, location. Same house in the hills of Alabama would be in Alabama. Same house without the HOA fee (amenity fee in our case) would not have the pools, pickleball courts, golf courses, or rec centers that we have here.

Is $1M enough to retire on? As others have written, it depends on what you want to spend. Another thread asked whether someone could live on SS alone - many answered that you could not. If SS is $2,500/month then for two people that would be $60K/year. At $60K/year, $1M would last about 16 years. I hope to live longer than that.

[ROCKETMAN]

As of March 1st I had $250,000 in retirement/investments. I We have lived in the villages for 20 years and live in a small ranch purchased for $164,000 in 2005, now worth about $300,000. Other than annual trip up north to visit children/grandchildren and a mini trip on our wedding anniversary, that’s it for travel. Still have $750.00 mortgage and $350.00 car payment. We both worked part time 2 or 3 days a week until this year. I am 80 and wife 78. Income per month is $6000.00 from social security, v a disability, pension, and minimum withdrawal from retirement. Eat out once a week and stop for a drink once in a while. Everyone has a different story but I do chuckle at the million dollar figure.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by ROCKETMAN

As of March 1st I had $250,000 in retirement/investments. I We have lived in the villages for 20 years and live in a small ranch purchased for $164,000 in 2005, now worth about $300,000. Other than annual trip up north to visit children/grandchildren and a mini trip on our wedding anniversary, that’s it for travel. Still have $750.00 mortgage and $350.00 car payment. We both worked part time 2 or 3 days a week until this year. I am 80 and wife 78. Income per month is $6000.00 from social security, v a disability, pension, and minimum withdrawal from retirement. Eat out once a week and stop for a drink once in a while. Everyone has a different story but I do chuckle at the million dollar figure.

Thank you for your service.

[BlueStarAirlines]

Originally Posted by ROCKETMAN

As of March 1st I had $250,000 in retirement/investments. I We have lived in the villages for 20 years and live in a small ranch purchased for $164,000 in 2005, now worth about $300,000. Other than annual trip up north to visit children/grandchildren and a mini trip on our wedding anniversary, that’s it for travel. Still have $750.00 mortgage and $350.00 car payment. We both worked part time 2 or 3 days a week until this year. I am 80 and wife 78. Income per month is $6000.00 from social security, v a disability, pension, and minimum withdrawal from retirement. Eat out once a week and stop for a drink once in a while. Everyone has a different story but I do chuckle at the million dollar figure.

What you describe to me sounds like surviving..... You've adapted your lifestyle to fit your income.

You "chuckle at the million dollar figure", but if you had a million wouldn't you live differently?

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

No HOA fee in the Villages. Amenity fee (similar but not the same) is about $2,400 per year. Annual tax bill (property, school, bond, fire) is about $5,000 though of course this depends on the size of the home and the bond.
...
Is $1M enough to retire on? As others have written, it depends on what you want to spend. Another thread asked whether someone could live on SS alone - many answered that you could not. If SS is $2,500/month then for two people that would be $60K/year. At $60K/year, $1M would last about 16 years. I hope to live longer than that.

Many homes north of Sumter have their bond already paid off; the historic section never had bonds in the first place. So it also depends on WHERE your property is located, to determine whether you even need to pay a bond at all.

At $2,500/month in social security, two people can absolutely live on social security alone in The Villages. They won't have much left over for anything else, but yes it's doable.

That $1M in savings would only need to be spent UNTIL you start collecting those social security checks. And then, you have those social security checks.

If you're under 62, you won't get SS checks until you turn 62, at the very minimum. So if you're under 62, then yeah you would have to rely on whatever you have in savings.

But once you turn 62, you have those checks coming in monthly. You could wait til you're 65 and have bigger checks. You could even wait til you're 67 and have much bigger checks, than if you started getting them at 62.

But you only "need" to rely on savings until 62.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by BlueStarAirlines

What you describe to me sounds like surviving..... You've adapted your lifestyle to fit your income.

You "chuckle at the million dollar figure", but if you had a million wouldn't you live differently?

Yup. I would live differently. I'd live in a site-built home. I'd take a trip at least once a year to somewhere else. I'd have a newer golf cart than the one I have now.

That's about it. It's different, but the rest of my life wouldn't change, because the way I live now, is the way I ENJOY living.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Originally Posted by BlueStarAirlines

What you describe to me sounds like surviving..... You've adapted your lifestyle to fit your income.

You "chuckle at the million dollar figure", but if you had a million wouldn't you live differently?

In behavioral economics, satisficing describes a decision-making strategy where individuals choose an option that is "good enough" rather than striving for the absolute best. This contrasts with the traditional economic assumption of rational actors who always seek to maximize outcomes. Satisficing recognizes the limitations of human cognitive capacity and the costs associated with extensive decision-making.

That is why everyone is different, and they aren't you.

I hit my career limit aspirations in my late 30s, very early 40's. After that, my career was satisfying enough that i didn't need any more income, was a low/mid level manager, and that was just fine. And I saved, invested, worked at that level so that I paid off all my college loans from my kids, paid off my cars, and had a rebuilt 401K enough to retire without alot of fries. . and my salary was always just $1 or $2 above the max social security level for my entire career, so that means my retirement is not going be lavish, and the house has zero mortgage, as I paid down our mortgage off in 5 years. . I don't have a million adding the IRA and taxable account together. . but we can live just fine, meaning, you don't have to be a rich earner throughout your life either to save enough to buy a house, and retire to the villages either.

So everyone has limits, not everything is maximized in dollars, maximum financialization can be a trap as it's harder to maintain. . some fall into it, others desire it, many avoid it. .

My fidelity advisor said that she has people retired on $250K IRA and doing just fine.

Retirement is all about the lifestyle you want to lead, and are satisfied with. .
although one can live in the villages until you can't afford it, and sell the highly appreciated house and move to Alabama, or a lower cost of living area. .

or you might not live that long anyways.

[Craig Vernon]

The question was can and the answer is still yes...lol

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by Craig Vernon

The question was can and the answer is still yes...lol

Please answer again when this thread hits 100 posts.

[Pugchief]

Originally Posted by Ruger2506

Not here in FL. When property taxes and HOA fees and Bonds and Fire district reach over $9000/year. When we retire chances are we are headed to hills of Alabama or another low property tax state. Same house in the hills of Alabama would cost us $1500/year in property taxes.

Yes, but then you have to live in the hills of Alabama. I'm surmising the lifestyle is different than TV, so apples/oranges.

[Pugchief]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

or you might not live that long anyways.

If only we knew our expiration date, financial planning would be sooo much easier.