AUTHOR: luvtoride44afe9eb1e on 5/12/2025 FIRST: Fran Moore on 5/12/2025 | RECENT: luvtoride44afe9eb1e on 5/14/2025
Comments
And we have 1 friend who retired (involuntarily) 2 years ago who has been struggling in retirement. He just got a temporary job in his field and hopefully he will be better with that…but sure wouldn’t be for me!
Mark,
That’s a good way to put it. I have similar feelings all the time as I watch my adult kids and other similar families in that age group and wonder “how did WE ever manage to make it through those challenging times” and make it to “ the other side”?
I guess we did enough of the right things to be able to reach and enjoy a comfortable retirement…but man, it was hard to envision it at that time!
All of the above! Wife’s Pension on the last day of each month. My Pension on the first day of each month. Social Security on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month. MYGA annuity payment on the 6th of the month, We are very fortunate to have these income streams in retirement and rarely need to tap into our other retirement accounts for spending other than certain large anticipated purchases or funding i.e.grandkids camp payments.
David, having recently completed my tax return, these reimbursements were not included in her 1099- R that we got for her pension. That said, it also doesn’t count as income for our NJ Stay, property tax benefit that we qualify for based on taxable income.
I have absolutely no issue with Medicare, Part B (Doctors and non-hospital medical). My wife and I applied for and started being covered the month after I retired at age 65 and 8 months. Along with her generous retiree 2nd health insurance benefit which covers us both it reduces our co-pays to $15/ visit. We go to whatever doctors we wish and have NEVER had Medicare questioned or denied as our primary provider.Yes, doing the math on health cost coverage and “savings” vs. what we paid in might be a bit more difficult, especially because of the ridiculous “CHARGES” that are submitted vs. the Medicare approved amounts that they pay based on, but it is still good payback vs. what we paid during our working years.
At the risk of being stoned here, I should also add that my wife’s retiree benefits include reimbursement for all the Medicare premiums we pay in retirement including substantial IRMMA premiums we pay. A very good deal, indeed!
I’ve been noticing this and thinking about these people more lately since I retired 3 years ago. We all made sacrifices to support our families during our working years, but hearing some of the stories of these “invisible” workers makes our efforts seem feeble in comparison. Like the waiter we met on a recent Europe River cruise, who was on a 3 month “tour of duty” with the line and just had a new baby born at home in the Philippines 2 weeks ago. It will be another 2 weeks until he can get back home to meet his new son. In a job that requires hard work and a pleasant and positive demeanor, this person could not have treated us and fellow guests nicer! No resentment that he missed the birth of a child. He appreciated that he had this job which pays him a good wage to support his family. Seeing people like this and hearing their stories makes me appreciate more the lives we’ve made for ourselves and less tolerant of the complaints of our grown daughters struggling with the busy scheduleS of raising our grandkids. These may not be the most glamorous jobs, but without people like our waiter to do them, life would be a lot different.
This. Too many friends who have died prematurely even before retirement! I’m not saying Spend like a drunken sailor but take advantage of enjoying your hard earned money when you can and don’t put off “til tomorrow “ too many things if you can plan to do them sooner.
I’ll add my two cents as a condo owner and an HOA board member. We are a community of 3 buildings with 197 condominiums units ranging in Size from 1-3 bedrooms. Located at the New Jersey shore, many residents own this property as a 2nd home enjoyed mostly in the summer months, but there are many full-time year round residents too. We engage a professional management company and have a full-time on site manager.
As a board member I can say that we are as concerned about HOA fees as all the residents but our overriding priority is to maintain the integrity of the building, grounds and amenities (we have a pool, clubhouse and beautiful grounds) and maintain financial stability of the community for current and any future repairs.
while maintenance fees have increased over the past few years we are very transparent with all owners as to the reasons and amounts of increases by holding quarterly open board meetings which all owners are invited to attend.
our population consists of various ages and demographic groups most of which are concerned about expenses and property values. Although we don’t have a lot of turnover, property values continue to rise and this is a direct result of the way the property has been maintained.
Our approach is not very different than an owner of a single home but it does impact ALL regardless of their economic situation and might cause more stress on some than others. Overwhelmingly, the residents/owners are quite happy with the running of the condominium association and property. We have very few collection issues for HOA fees.
Comments
And we have 1 friend who retired (involuntarily) 2 years ago who has been struggling in retirement. He just got a temporary job in his field and hopefully he will be better with that…but sure wouldn’t be for me!
Post: The Mirrored Funnel
Link to comment from May 10, 2026
Mark, That’s a good way to put it. I have similar feelings all the time as I watch my adult kids and other similar families in that age group and wonder “how did WE ever manage to make it through those challenging times” and make it to “ the other side”? I guess we did enough of the right things to be able to reach and enjoy a comfortable retirement…but man, it was hard to envision it at that time!
Post: The Mirrored Funnel
Link to comment from May 10, 2026
All of the above! Wife’s Pension on the last day of each month. My Pension on the first day of each month. Social Security on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month. MYGA annuity payment on the 6th of the month, We are very fortunate to have these income streams in retirement and rarely need to tap into our other retirement accounts for spending other than certain large anticipated purchases or funding i.e.grandkids camp payments.
Post: The never ending payday
Link to comment from May 10, 2026
David, having recently completed my tax return, these reimbursements were not included in her 1099- R that we got for her pension. That said, it also doesn’t count as income for our NJ Stay, property tax benefit that we qualify for based on taxable income.
Post: The reality of Social Security and Medicare- My real life experience.
Link to comment from May 6, 2026
lol, close….NYCERs, a Nurse who ran Homecare for NYC HHC for many years.
Post: The reality of Social Security and Medicare- My real life experience.
Link to comment from May 6, 2026
I have absolutely no issue with Medicare, Part B (Doctors and non-hospital medical). My wife and I applied for and started being covered the month after I retired at age 65 and 8 months. Along with her generous retiree 2nd health insurance benefit which covers us both it reduces our co-pays to $15/ visit. We go to whatever doctors we wish and have NEVER had Medicare questioned or denied as our primary provider.Yes, doing the math on health cost coverage and “savings” vs. what we paid in might be a bit more difficult, especially because of the ridiculous “CHARGES” that are submitted vs. the Medicare approved amounts that they pay based on, but it is still good payback vs. what we paid during our working years. At the risk of being stoned here, I should also add that my wife’s retiree benefits include reimbursement for all the Medicare premiums we pay in retirement including substantial IRMMA premiums we pay. A very good deal, indeed!
Post: The reality of Social Security and Medicare- My real life experience.
Link to comment from May 5, 2026
I’ve been noticing this and thinking about these people more lately since I retired 3 years ago. We all made sacrifices to support our families during our working years, but hearing some of the stories of these “invisible” workers makes our efforts seem feeble in comparison. Like the waiter we met on a recent Europe River cruise, who was on a 3 month “tour of duty” with the line and just had a new baby born at home in the Philippines 2 weeks ago. It will be another 2 weeks until he can get back home to meet his new son. In a job that requires hard work and a pleasant and positive demeanor, this person could not have treated us and fellow guests nicer! No resentment that he missed the birth of a child. He appreciated that he had this job which pays him a good wage to support his family. Seeing people like this and hearing their stories makes me appreciate more the lives we’ve made for ourselves and less tolerant of the complaints of our grown daughters struggling with the busy scheduleS of raising our grandkids. These may not be the most glamorous jobs, but without people like our waiter to do them, life would be a lot different.
Post: One World, One Kind of Work
Link to comment from April 30, 2026
This. Too many friends who have died prematurely even before retirement! I’m not saying Spend like a drunken sailor but take advantage of enjoying your hard earned money when you can and don’t put off “til tomorrow “ too many things if you can plan to do them sooner.
Post: Live a little
Link to comment from April 27, 2026
I’ll add my two cents as a condo owner and an HOA board member. We are a community of 3 buildings with 197 condominiums units ranging in Size from 1-3 bedrooms. Located at the New Jersey shore, many residents own this property as a 2nd home enjoyed mostly in the summer months, but there are many full-time year round residents too. We engage a professional management company and have a full-time on site manager. As a board member I can say that we are as concerned about HOA fees as all the residents but our overriding priority is to maintain the integrity of the building, grounds and amenities (we have a pool, clubhouse and beautiful grounds) and maintain financial stability of the community for current and any future repairs. while maintenance fees have increased over the past few years we are very transparent with all owners as to the reasons and amounts of increases by holding quarterly open board meetings which all owners are invited to attend. our population consists of various ages and demographic groups most of which are concerned about expenses and property values. Although we don’t have a lot of turnover, property values continue to rise and this is a direct result of the way the property has been maintained. Our approach is not very different than an owner of a single home but it does impact ALL regardless of their economic situation and might cause more stress on some than others. Overwhelmingly, the residents/owners are quite happy with the running of the condominium association and property. We have very few collection issues for HOA fees.
Post: The condo, HOA, senior citizen conundrum
Link to comment from April 20, 2026
I’ll gladly hand you the title!🤦🏻♂️
Post: Scent of a Cheapskate: Frugality Gone Wrong
Link to comment from April 18, 2026