Ihamo, I received my first MA from 1988-1990 and my 2nd from 1992-1993. My son went to a state university for his MA & PHD in 2003-2008 and got it every year.
Ihamo, I received my first MA from 1988-1990 and my 2nd from 1992-1993. My son went to a state university for his MA & PHD in 2003-2008 and got it every year.
Redfox, I somehow missed this thread which gave me the chance to read it over and think about what everyone is saying. I am your age (well, turn 58 next month, lol) so yeah, very interesting topic to me, too.
I think your situation may be more complicated (and improved) by the fact you have a younger spouse. So he can keep working for at least 20 years, and you can work for maybe 10 more years, something like that. So one thing to do is talk to people at SS about what you would get in the different years, like Catherine is saying. I think since you guys are at different places vis a vis retirement, the usual advice might not apply.
Same thing with your house. I wouldn't be so freaked about paying mortgage off early if I had a younger spouse paying it, too. WE have no mortgage because we elected to buy cheap, cheap, cheap foreclosure and never have a mortgage again, but it has meant stuff like living with no heat for 2 years, doing our own repairs, etc. But with a builder husband, that is certainly a possibility. But if you are happy in your 'hood and it seems very affordable for your area, I might just keep doing what you are doing there. Or if you want to get aggressive, how about making the studio apt a rental instead of the house, and having boarders live there? You have to think of your own comfort and your own stress level. Since you have faced a life threatening illness in the recent past, I vote you keep your comfort, happiness, security, and home at a premium. I wouldn't knock myself out to pay off the house. The only thing I might get gazelle about would be the credit card and the car. I would put eveyrthing into those 2 and lay back on the other stuff.
As for the student loan, I would pay the minimum til the cows come home or ss or whatever. I think that if that is what you have to do to get a job in this economy, and it sure seems to be, then it can come out of ss or whatever. If you can get the forgiveness program, fantastic. I'd look into that intensely, but I would not stress about paying it off early. I think it is very low priority and a cost of doing business in today's world.
(and this is new thinking for me, I admit.)
So I would prioritize credit card, then car, then retirement, all the while checking out forgiveness on student loans.
And one possible idea is if you can find a new employer who would pay off those loans as part of your package. No idea if this is feasible in your industry.
And I was like you, gave a lot of energy/time/money to my kids. And seriously, best investment ever.
+1Originally Posted by Florence
Originally Posted by Florence
Sell the house, the cars, the kids, and anything else you can get your hands on. Seriously. Both of you get some kind of second income. You know the live frugal drill and start paying off debt. At 59 with no retirement savings, this is an emergency. Get everything but the mortgage paid off and get some emergency savings in place before you start retirement savings. IMHO.
This, or you may end up living with your kids.
If you sell the house, then the big positive is that your debt goes from $383,000 to $118000. You would not end up with much cash--if you can sell it for 300 and you owe 265, then after all the fees and commissions, you might end up with around 11,000 cash, right--you sell at around 300k and then have maybe 8%, or 24k, and you pay off the 265, and you end up with 11,000.
Sell the house, the cars, the kids, and anything else you can get your hands on. Seriously. Both of you get some kind of second income. You know the live frugal drill and start paying off debt. At 59 with no retirement savings, this is an emergency. Get everything but the mortgage paid off and get some emergency savings in place before you start retirement savings. IMHO.
This, or you may end up living with your kids.
So you could use that to pay off both credit card and car.
That leaves you with medical debt of 7, plus the student loan debt.
It's certainly one option. If you could get forgiveness for the student loans you might get something like half forgiven, since you have to make 10 years of payments? Don't know the specifics on your loan, but you could figure that out.
I guess question is how important is the house for you? Where could you live more affordably, and still get to work and sustain your health?
Which stressors are worse, the debt, or the uncertainty about where to live?
I guess that is why the advice about sell everything has to be weighed against personal circumstances.
On other hand, that is how we got out of debt--but it was a better sich because we owned house outright and used 30k to pay off debt and bought foreclosure with remainder.
Maybe get a realtor in to give you a good estimate on the house? I don;'t trust Zillow, but I guess it's a good place to start.
What happens with a 10 year loan payoff if you cant work 10 more years? I would also look at putting money into your own IRA. That would give you a tax break now, and if you need the money you can alway's take some out when your 59.5 can't you. I don't know how IRA's work if your still working, so you would need to check that out. It may be a good place to put some of your emergency fund.
Redfox, I do apologize for maybe being too blunt, but I've never been one to sugarcoat things. We should probably just agree to disagree as far as SL debt goes. Yes, life happens, but I was raised to always be responsible for my debt, and to be cautious about taking on any debt that I couldn't possibly pay back, including SLs. I've lived on the edge of poverty all of my life, raised 3 kids on my own after divorce from their father who was a drug addict. Never received child support after he disappeared. My son had a medical problem that required several surgeries, and I, myself, have fought a battle with breast cancer the last 10 years, and progressive MS the last 20 years, that has disabled me so much at this point that I am in a wheelchair fulltime now. So yeah, life happens...but I did without a lot over the years to pay all of my debt off, including my SLs, and I always made sure my kids were fed, clothed, and warm, but I did not take on a mortgage or own a car. I guess I expect no less from anyone else....and that's just my opinion. You can take it or leave it. Peace.
And you may be married to the most wonderful guy in the world, but it is never good for any woman to put full reliance on any man to give them a comfortable retirement. I hope for your sake that he is always there for you, but there's always that chance he may not be. He's young and may move on someday, leaving you floundering in your older years. It happens everyday to women that never thought it would....
It is your choice to not take on a car loan or mortgage but that does not mean that is the absolutely correct thing to do. Really you are being very judgmental by assuming that your path should be everyone's path.
Like I said in my above post - it's my opinion and redfox can take it or leave it. Just because I disagree with how she handles her finances doesn't mean that I am being judgemental....just sharing my opinion like anyone else here, which is what the OP asked for originally.
So, being judgmental and name calling is allowed, only if one is a moderator? (Redfoxes posts calling others racists)
When are views not judgments?
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