<p>Congratulations, gloworm!</p>
<p>Oprah Magazine had a feature this month on older women, including Jessica Walter (73), Tippi Hedron (84), Tao Porchon-Lynch (95), yoga teacher, and Agnes Zhelesnik (100), full-time kindergarden teacher:</p>
<p><a href=“Fashion for All Ages - Timeless Style”>Fashion for All Ages - Timeless Style;
<p>There is video online of Tao P-L doing incredible yoga poses and ballroom dancing.</p>
<p>The thing is, many who get older find that they cannot do as much, from cooking ones own meals, clipping ones toe nails, doing ones hair, getting out and staying in touch with the world. My MIL had the good fortune to be well to do, so she could have afforded doing more of these things, but she was always miserly, and got more so as she got older, and it seriously impacted the qualify of her life negatively. She looked awful. Her hair was just ratty looking. Her clothes old and mussed up. She needed to have someone come in, wash, iron , organize her clothes and she needed to go out and buy some pieces and not be cheap about it. It can make a big difference in how one looks. She should have had an occasional facial or spa treatment, needed special shoes and hose. She should have gone out more. In her case, it was quite the tragedy she did not do so, but for some it’s a balancing act and others simply cannot afford it. </p>
<p>My mother could not. Though all of us kids sent her money, she did not have the margin to feel safe, and the ideal of getting a perm, going out to eat, those things really would put a dent in her account. And the reality was that it was an issue. Now she can indulge a bit as she has few expenses, as she now lives with us.</p>
<p>I worry. My teeth have been falling apart after a good 30 years+ of no problems. Fillings are not guaranteed that long, you know… Root canals fail–you can get cavities under crowns, so dental bills can be hefty. You may find you just can’t put together the meals you used to, and routine things can get difficult. Both my mother and MIL were not in great shape when we took them in, as we waited longer than optimal before making this move that none of us wanted to make. But they need special cleaning, make up products due to skin sensitivity that has arisen, fresh clothes make a big difference even when they have so much already, and a visit to the salon really makes a difference. It’s tough when things get tight as you can do less. My mother needs compression socks and hose now–not cheap. MIL does better with special shoes, and they are expensive. They feel the cold more and we have put space heaters in their rooms as our central heat is not set high enough for them. It was warmer than I would have had it this winter, and still they needed that extra. A lot of things that I can do myself or do on the cheap are not options for the elderly. And they need it more than I do. I can see this as an issue as I get older.</p>
<p>“Does anyone have thoughts on life insurance policies that come with LTC riders?”</p>
<p>Hayden- We ran all the options. In the end we decided to purchase simple (guaranteed rate for life) term LTC not tied into life insurance or other hybrid type annuity products. I hope I never need to use the LTC insurance and that it is a waste of my money. To me this is what insurance is all about!</p>
<p>On living to 100, <a href=“How Many People Live to 100?”>http://www.genealogyintime.com/GenealogyResources/Articles/how_many_people_live_to_100_page1.html</a></p>
<p>Apparently it’s about 1 in 6000 live to 100. Probably something more like 1 in 3000 live to 95 then. But both of these seem amazingly high. I’m surprised so many of you have family living so long.</p>
<p>Oh, goodness. </p>
<p>And this is why I’m paranoid about finances in the future. </p>
<p>My great uncle (dad’s uncle by blood) passed away around 107. My dad will be 90 this year and has very few health issues, takes no meds. His older sister has many health problems and is still alive. Mom will be 85 this year and has few health issues and takes no meds. </p>
<p>My docs can’t give me any firm answers about my future longevity. Originally, they thought my chronic health issues might cut it short, but we and they have decided I could live another 50+ years and die of “old age.”</p>
<p>I expect H and I could live many more decades. With guaranteed defined benefit pension with COLA and some positive cash flow from rentals, I’m confident we will be ok, even if I never get back any of the $$$ I paid into SS. The CFPs agree. </p>
<p>Where we live us fairly expensive but we paid for our home and have no plans to ever move. </p>
<p>For those with rentals, I’d like to share one caution. My parents self-managed rentals, but it is getting harder as they age (now 82 & 86). They are not holding enough properties to hire a property manager. Selling the properties means both capital gains and a loss of the stream of income. They are in the rust belt which has its own set of problems. Your mileage may vary!</p>
<p>mom22039 - Could you parents work with a rental agent to take care of their properties? When my brother lived overseas and he had 2 rental properties in CA, he paid an agent to take care of those rentals for them. I don’t think he paid a lot of money for their service.</p>
<p>Oldfort, I will try again to have that discussion. They do have a capable handyman who fields calls when they travel. It’s the process of finding good tenants that’s the biggest challenge.</p>
<p>Just turned 57 and plan to work another 9 years. I enjoy what I do and while H and I have quite a lot saved for retirement, I want to be in position to not worry and be able to travel, etc. My dad retired (closed his business) at around age 74 , I don’t feel I need to retire early. FIL did retire early (late 50’s) and a year ago or so MIL told me he should have worked longer. H used to talk about retiring at around 60, but has changed his mind and now plans to stay working longer. Of course, health issues or layoffs could alter our plans, you never know.</p>
<p>Mom22039,</p>
<p>While selling the properties might have tax implications, couldn’t the profits be put into something that would be set up to provide a continued monthly cashflow?</p>
<p>We have friends with rental properties, and used a management company, I think through a real estate agent, to handle the tenants and tenant issues. The charge was a percentage of the monthly rent, I believe.</p>
<p>My mother and MIL are both just about 90. I expect to be losing my mother this year which is bringing some issues to head. Her health is failing and she really needs more care than I alone can provide. My MIL’s family tends to live in the three figure range, and she has no life shortening health issues. Her stats are better than mine. Her bones, her ears, eyes and mind are what are failing which all require care. I expect in the next few years to have to have her placed in a nursing home, which will be very hard on my DH. She did very poorly upon being placed for her rehabs after orthopedic surgeries and few years ago, and he blames those stays for her mental deterioration. </p>
<p>I had a not so nice house in a vacation town years ago that I bought into when in my early 20s with two friends, and ended up with full ownership of it. I had a rental company take care of the thing. I think I set foot in the place 3 times the 30 years I owned the place. So, yes, there are such management agents out there. But they do take their cuts.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is literally near world-record level age. There are only 73 people on earth living today who are older than 110. There’s even a list on wikipedia of all of then: <a href=“List of oldest living people - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_living_supercentenarians</a></p>
<p>Basically, today, about 1 in every 100,000,000 people live to be 110 years old.</p>
<p>My parents died in their 80s, as did my MIL. FIL is going strong in his 90s and his mom lived to be >100. My grandmothers lived to their 80s while my grandfathers died in their 50s. Dh has long insisted that I must let him pass first. Given how much he takes after his dad, that could be a problem. I have no intention of spending years suffering from Alzheimer’s as did some of our family, and am not against taking my own life rather than endure a decade in a nursing home suffering from various complications. Neither of us can obtain LTC insurance and I do not want dh left impoverished by my care, nor do I want him tormented by witnessing my decline.</p>
<p>Dh used to say he would take early retirement at 50. Then S1 was found to have an incurable medical problem and we wanted to set aside funds for him, despite some financial hits we’d taken. The next target was 55, but after dh’s employer’s stock lost most of its value we had to reconsider. The current target is 60. Our mortgage is paid off and we live pretty frugally, so we should have significant savings. We expect to recognize a large loss on the sale of our house, and will put the proceeds into a smaller house that will be easier and cheaper to maintain. I think we’ll have about $3 million, total, at that point, which seems gracious plenty to me but dh may want more. He runs the numbers assuming we’ll both live to 100 and continues to worry. Despite his long commute, long hours and frequent irritation with certain sr. execs, dh likes his job. It won’t surprise me if he chooses to delay retirement, again, until 65.</p>
<p>DH has longevity on his side - numerous relatives along the chain, and he had a great grandmother live to 87 after she and her children (DH’s paternal grandfather and siblings) survived small pox in a mud hut in North Dakota before moving back to WI. Grandfather deteriorated after surgery for inguinal hernia that doctor insisted needed surgery (anesthesia took a toll) - died shortly before 96. One sister died of a heart condition at 87; 5 sisters lived to 103 - 107 (1 at 103, 1 at 104, 1 at 105, and 2 at 107). MIL and FIL doing pretty well with various ailments; doctor’s missed caratid blockage which caused preventable stroke on FIL - so his difficulty ambulating (due to missing nerve sensations on left foot due to stroke) is contributing to his decline. DH’s maternal side also has longevity.</p>
<p>I believe since the cancer is ‘behind’ me, I will have longevity.</p>
<p>I believe if you are paying attention to what is going on around you and making sure your money is doing well for you, you will be doing better than most. If you work a little longer so you have peace of mind, that is fine.</p>
<p>My parents had great cash flow from apts my dad built and then parents managed. We were able to sell at a fair price.</p>
<p>Some areas can do better with property than others. Also one bad tenant can really take a toll. Same with flipping. Neighbor wanted to flip a house he bought and renovated, and had to rent it out instead. Property has to be managed and it should be nearby if you are purchasing (another thing to hold on to property in a desirable location where property managers can work out).</p>
<p>You can only plan for so much. Sometimes worrying when you have already covered the major issues is borrowing trouble. If you think about major things in present and future and have a plan, that should take away the worry.</p>
<p>I also meant to mention advances in Immunogenomics which may help with some conditions considered ‘chronic now’. Thinking of your comments about Chrohn’s Disease 2016Barnardmom.</p>
<p>Medical advances are being made. And it does help to be optimistic with realistic too. Good things can happen, and you can think of yourself in the beneficial numbers with any medical condition. Statistics lag a little, so you can think higher numbers on survival rates etc.</p>
<p>I personally benefited from a biologic drug, Herceptin which saved me from having breast cancer kill me. They don’t know if I ever will go further with cancer, but although I am cautious with my health, I think like ‘cancer free’ will be continuing.</p>
<p>HudsonAlpha is doing immune repertoire portraits which can help identify disease-related DNA sequences. These sequences could be biomarkers that point to different diseases. They have the potential to help physicians diagnose disease earlier, treat it more effectively, and improve prognoses. HudsonAlpha is currently doing a Repertoire 10,000 or R10K project - aim to sequence the immune repertoire of 100 patients from a list of 100 diseases. As of April 2014 they are working on over 30 diseases.</p>
<pre><code>My great uncle (dad’s uncle by blood) passed away around 107.
</code></pre>
<p>This is literally near world-record level age. There are only 73 people on earth living today who are older than 110. There’s even a list on wikipedia of all of then: <a href=“List of oldest living people - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_living_supercentenarians</a></p>
<p>Basically, today, about 1 in every 100,000,000 people live to be 110 years old. </p>
<p>But there are about 66,000 AMERICANs over age 100. There is a big difference when one goes from 100-110. I was at my MIL’s first cousin’s wife’s funeral last week. She was 90. There were a dozen or more over 90 in the room that I could identify and that wasn’t all of them in the family that I knew; a lot not there–cousin is 92. More octogenerians than I could count, and some also not present, but alive like my MIL. but right now no one over a hundred, though two are over 95. About half of the gatherings I’ve gone to in the past with this family group, had someone over the century mark but this is the record for the sheer number of family members in their 89s and 90s. </p>
<p>My side of the family … not so good. Though my mother is pushing 90, she holds the record. And my father died at age 62.</p>
<p>We are planning on living a long time … not that I have any clue if we will … we just want to make sure we don’t run out of money if we do. We don’t have nearly enough saved, although we are diligent savers. H’s company froze his pension a few years back, leaving us short of what we thought we would have in retirement - not that we could have saved more, because we do live within our means as it is. We will have a pretty decent amount of money in an HSA to help with health care costs. We own our home, but there is upkeep, taxes, etc. We own our cars, but there is insurance, gas, maintenance (and they’ll wear out). We plan to work until we are 65, and we will certainly have enough to be okay … but I would really, really like to travel, eat out once in awhile, and basically not have to shop at the dollar store for the stuff I need (sorry, MIL, but that bathroom cleaner does NOT do the job!). So I will work, save, and hope for the best. And every time I see a death notice for someone younger than I, I realize I should just be happy to have more time on earth to spend with my family! :)</p>
<p>We have a managing agent that takes 7.5% of the rentals as his fee. He collects rents, raises them as needed, gets new tenants when needed, advises of maintenance and repaid, supervises all work that needs to be done, balances the books, pays excise taxes on rentals, deposits net revenues and anything else concerning the properties that needs attention. We feel he earns his fee and is very honest and loyal, handling anything that comes up promptly with tenants. Before him, the property manager was always in the red and wanting more $$$. Since him, we’ve always been in the black and fully rented with periodic rental increases. We had tried to manage the property, but the agent is better able to get higher rents and all the maintenance than we were. </p>
<p>I know my family does tend toward longevity, and we are accordingly well prayed (as much as anyone can really be). My paternal grandma died at 90 and was active until then. Even my Mom’s side is fairly healthy. H as a relative who lived till after he turned 100 and an aunt in her 90s–we think 93. We had the numbers for our finances run, assuming we’d live another 50 years, making us over 100 years old. </p>
<p>We feel we can provide financially well for ourselves and likely can help our kids substantially. H’s pension is fortunately very secure and we feel getting me a 55% survival benefit was a great investment. </p>
<p>DH has been doing a large scale financial analysis to see if we can afford to move to California, or rather how much we can spend on a house. We are in an income gap at the moment. Both of us retired in the last five years; DH because he hit full pension eligibility and me because my job was eliminated and I was eligible. We’re getting pensions but both were reduced when we hit age 62 (current age). He’s doing consulting but is in a low income period right now. His calculations assume we can start drawing his SSA and both of our IRA/401k’s at age 66. I started my SSA to get some current income; my benefits are low enough that it wasn’t worth waiting. We have decent savings (not $10 million, unfortunately). House is paid for and kid done with college and thankfully gainfully employed once again. No debt; no obligations to others.</p>
<p>My brother and I will be beneficiaries of my dad’s trust and will also share mom’s trust at hopefully some far future date when she leaves us. She’s 88 and my dad passed away at 81; FIL lived into his 90’s and MIL passed away just short of her 97th birthday. DH saw his parents’ money get eaten up by at-home care (they would not move out of their house) and certainly it looks like we should plan for longevity. We’re lucky so far that both of our previous companies include retiree health insurance; not cheap but good coverage with acceptable annual out-of-pocket costs. Of course all this is very subject to change but all you can do is play the cards you’re dealt, right?</p>
<p>DH’s analysis showed what some of you said in the first page of this thread: a substantial portion of the income needs during retirement are non-tangible and not areas in which we can easily cut back. Interesting point about taxes:
but you really have to look at the specifics. We’re in Illinois which does not tax pensions; we’re thinking of moving to California which does tax them. So I calculated what our 2013 state taxes would have been had we lived in CA. Much to my surprise, they would have been a bit lower in CA. (CA tax is graduated with broad brackets; IL is flat rate.) Also, I’ve determined that property taxes for the area where we would like to live are a bit lower than our current property tax.</p>
<p>So based on our analysis we do have enough basically to stay retired; once we hit age 66 we’ll be in a better cash flow position. And we’ll get a substantial influx via the trust inheritance when we’re much older.</p>