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Thread: How long do you expect to live?

  1. #21
    Senior Member Ultralight's Avatar
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    I got 83 on that longevity test.

  2. #22
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    I'm trying to arrange things to work around what is essentially unknowable. A pension and social security in the low six figures will cover the essentials and feed a reserve for emergencies, capital repairs and replacement and health care shocks for both our lives. A small investment portfolio can feed a fund for discretionary expenses like major gifts, travel, etc. and also serve as a secondary reserve. I won't feel cheated if there's still a little left in the tank when the wife and I are gone. The kid is welcome to whatever's left at the expiration date.

  3. #23
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    Before agreeing to a reverse mortgage ("Home Equity Conversion Mortgage") I would recommend consulting an elder law attorney... If the home owner hopes that after his/her death the house will pass to heirs, the attorney would presumably explain how a fast foreclosure by the lender could make that hope impossible.

    The fees on a HECM are usually high.

    US News and World Report had an article 6/16/2017: "6 Drawbacks of Reverse Mortgages", by Maryalene LaPonsie

  4. #24
    Senior Member The Storyteller's Avatar
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    Q1: Not more than 5 years, at least by the past year. I don't really worry about part 2 of Q1. It doesn't cost much for me to live. House will be paid off in about a year. I expect a decent pension+SSI will be more than enough to live and continue to save a goodly amount, after paying living expenses and covering insurance and medical costs.

    Q2: I expect to continue to save till I die, more because I will make more than I need to live and my needs are simple. I'm arranging my pension pay so it won't decrease for my wife after I'm gone. After that it is up to her what to do with our savings and properties. But she is a lot like me and will likely continue to save, so expect my kids will get what little property and money we have when she is gone.
    "There are too many books in the world to read in a single lifetime; you have to draw the line somewhere." --Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale

  5. #25
    Senior Member SteveinMN's Avatar
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    The "longevity calculator" said 94 for me (hmm -- said 94 for several of us). 94 would make me by far the longest-lived member of this family in several generations. I should run through the numbers for DW...

    "Dying broke", I think, will take more skill than we can muster, not knowing exactly how long we'll need to meet expenses. So I guess the plan is to leave some at the end, though we are not earmarking specific assets or amounts of money for anyone or anything. DD/DSiL have nicer stuff than we do!

    Our financial planner worked with us in developing some more constant streams of income beyond SS (DW gets a sizable pension; I managed to vest in two pensions which are really minor in the scheme of things) and we're investing to supplement that. Benefits largely have been set up for the individual who earned them (e.g., no spousal benefits). Neither one of us has discarded the idea of working after full-retirement age, though neither one of us will be doing what we did before retirement. I suppose the state of our health and the medical system will govern what we can do, too.

    Our expenses right now have always been set with an eye toward driving many of them down if we had to. I haven't participated in the "how low can you go" thread because I haven't done the math, but my guess is we could push our cost of living down by 20-30% very quickly if we needed to. Retirement likely will see us drop down to one car and the (paid-for) house. The rental property may stay as long as it earns its keep; one outlier strategy is to cash out of our current house and move into the rental as it is smaller and would cost less to live in.

    But, who knows? The next time one of us steps outside could be "the day". It's interesting to think that far ahead.
    Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington

  6. #26
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    Mine came up at 84 years. I don't know if I want to live that long. Sometimes I think, at 53, that I've lived quite long enough.

  7. #27
    Senior Member JaneV2.0's Avatar
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    Judging by my parents, averaging their ages, I'd say about 17 years; not nearly long enough.

  8. #28
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    1) My calculator result said age 85. I'd say that's a big maybe - typically my most recent generation of elders gets into their mid to late '70s and then it's lights out.
    2) I'll have enough money between pension, SS, savings and contribution from my live-in SO to be fine. If medical bills don't take it first, I expect to be able to bequeath two paid-for modest houses to my only child.

    I'm like everyone else in that the big unknown is Quality of life - I'm betting no one wants to live their last years with dementia or severe physical impairments (aside from the purely financial concerns that brings), so the focus on a high number age-wise seems the more minor aspect of this exercise.

  9. #29
    Senior Member The Storyteller's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JaneV2.0 View Post
    Judging by my parents, averaging their ages, I'd say about 17 years; not nearly long enough.
    If I did that, I died 2.5 years ago.
    "There are too many books in the world to read in a single lifetime; you have to draw the line somewhere." --Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale

  10. #30
    Williamsmith
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lainey View Post
    1) My calculator result said age 85. I'd say that's a big maybe - typically my most recent generation of elders gets into their mid to late '70s and then it's lights out.
    2) I'll have enough money between pension, SS, savings and contribution from my live-in SO to be fine. If medical bills don't take it first, I expect to be able to bequeath two paid-for modest houses to my only child.

    I'm like everyone else in that the big unknown is Quality of life - I'm betting no one wants to live their last years with dementia or severe physical impairments (aside from the purely financial concerns that brings), so the focus on a high number age-wise seems the more minor aspect of this exercise.
    “Oh Agent Starling, you think you can dissect me with this blunt lil ole tool?”

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