r/SurvivingOnSS

Just here to vent about the absolute disaster Social Security is…my father recently passed and my parents live off of his social security. the day before he passed his social security check was put into their account, and the day after he passed, my mom went in and paid their bills. NOW 8 days later, my mom is trying to switch over his payment which they don’t even have an appointment to help her either until September, AND now they took back his SS payment from around the time of his death andddd their account is overdrawn and got charged an additional fee. HOW TERRIBLE is it that when going through the absolute worst days of our lives, social security has to be complete JERKS and make this that much more stressful 😔

I plan to retire in the next 6 months. I have a State Pension, a 457 Plan and Social Security that I have contributed to for the last 48 years. The 457 Plan has a retirement calculator built into it. It explains that most retirees live on either 75% to 90% of their working income. At my current contribution rate I am at 113% of my working income. I planned that to include cost of living increases as I got older in retirement. That number was at 136% 3 years ago. But due to inflation and lack of pay raises, my buying power has dropped. I have a side business that is not figured in my retirement numbers, it doesn't bring in much money so I don't count it. However I may have to expand it if money gets tight. I live in Kansas so cost of living isn't bad as far as food and utilities. Property taxes are on the rise. And I plan to cheat the tax man on my vehicle purchases when I retire. Public transport is non-existent, so you have to have a vehicle. What I wish I could change was the amount I had contributed to my 457 plan. I would tell my younger self to save more. You never know what will befall you later in life. My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer 5 years ago and has been under going treatment during this time. Expensive treatments. I worry that when I retire I won't at some point have the finances to care for her. I won't move because all our children are here and frankly they are who I will depend on as I and my wife grow old and need help.

Also, I hope there are some young people on here reading this. I say to those kids. Now is the time to save for retirement. I feel like I'm fortunate to have what I do. But you need to be saving money now. In your teens and 20's so when you're in your 60's it's a coast down hill not a scramble up hill.

So my questions are for current retirees;

What percentage of your working income do you now live on?

In retirement do you think you live a comfortable life? (It doesn't matter how much you make or what you can afford to go and do. I just want to know if you feel your retired lifestyle is comfortable and doable. Or do you struggle with day to day expenses.)

Do you have more than SS income that you live on?

If you have more than SS income what are the streams? (Full time Part-time Jobs, 401K or other retirement plans, Pensions, Inheritance...)

Where do you live now? (Country, State, City...)

Did you move to a new location after work to make your retirement go further?

I don't need elaboration or details about income numbers or expenses. I'm just looking for some short answers. Because we live all over the world our cost of living will be different and income numbers will be more or less dependent on where you worked and where you now live.

There's a version of retirement most of us were sold. There was an RV, cruises, a workshop in the garage, the freedom to be generous with the grandkids. When the actual retirement turns out to look different, there's real grief in the gap between what we pictured and what is. It's occurred to me that grief deserves acknowledgment, not dismissal. We're allowed to mourn a life we didn't get. And once we've let ourselves feel it, we can also start to see the life we do have with clearer eyes. And relax into what it is.

What part of the retirement you pictured have you had to grieve, and where are you in that process?

... about frugal retirement or living on SS? I love youtube and have learn so much there.. I will share my fav: Buzz's Retirement Garage.. I also love any of the FIRE channels.. yes they are much younger persons but the frugality they embody really motivates me. We are retiring next year.

I'm new so if I'm breaking any rules, I apologize. For years, I have felt so alone with this issue of trying to survive on social security. The thoughts in my head, the beating myself up for not having done more to secure my future when I was young. But here I am, 70 years old without a pension, and without a secure nest egg of $3 million dollars. Anyway, it's nice to not feel so alone with this anymore, and I' enjoying the tips as well. The only thing is that I notice that a lot of the posts are not current. I'm going to check this sub everyday for updated posts and will try to contribute as much as possible.

My husband will be 65 next year and will file for Social Security and retire at that time. I will be 64 at the time that he files (I retired a few years ago but have never filed for SS.)

Even at just half of his SS, my benefits would assuredly be less.

If I file for spousal at the time he files, does anyone know what % my benefits will be reduced from half?

I really appreciate any guidance!

I sat down last month and went through three months of bank statements with a highlighter. I was focused not on the big charges, but the small recurring ones. A streaming service I forgot I had. A cloud storage upgrade I didn't need. A magazine subscription that auto-renewed. Individually, none of them looked like much. Together, they added up to real money leaving my account every month for things I wasn't using. The exercise took two hours and it's still paying me back. What's the small recurring charge you were most surprised to find and cancel?

Friends, this subreddit is to discuss and share ideas about how to survive on a limited Social Security income. What's working for you and what is not. It's not for worrying about something that you believe is going to happen, warn us about what you are sure you know, or spread fear. There are innumerable subs to talk shit about the government and the direction you believe it's heading. This ain't it. Bring something constructive or move along. Survival is past a political discussion.