In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age
of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this
financially independent lifestyle, they invite you
to take advantage of their wisdom and experience. |
|
Solving Some Problems of Retirement
Billy and
Akaisha Kaderli
Billy and Akaisha on the
beach, Naples, Florida
We
read
a
piece in Market Watch
about the state of retirees today and the problems they won’t
tell us about. If Market Watch is correct, and we have no reason to doubt it,
then we would like to share some of our solutions to these listed difficulties.
Retirees are broke
“According to the Census Bureau’s Supplemental Poverty Measure, roughly 15% of
people over age 65 live in poverty. Also, nearly half are considered ‘near
Poor,’ meaning that they live with incomes that are less than twice the poverty
threshold. ($31,460)”
The
US
Department of Health and Human Services
says $15,730 is income for a couple to be considered poverty level.
While there are some
locations in the States where cost of living is less than
the average, we understand that living in the States at the poverty level is
difficult. However, in locations such as
Mexico,
Ecuador,
Guatemala, Thailand
and Vietnam we know singles who are living on their social security and even
less per month. Couples can easily live on less than $24,000 annually and have a
comfortable life.
Our
average yearly spending for nearly 4 decades is around $30,000, so it can be done.
We
suggest if your retirement is under funded that you begin to
look at moving overseas for an alternative place to enjoy your retirement years. Often there is
better weather and lifestyle than in many states
in the U.S. and a lower cost of living as well.
Retirement is more stressful than it looks
Apparently, retirement is stressful, and is rated as the 10th
most stressful of major life events. This is higher than a significant change in
the health or behavior of a family member which comes in at number eleven.
Studies show that it is fear of “running out of money to live comfortably” that
is the biggest concern of retirees, while other retirees get stressed out by the
lack of structure to their days.
If
money is the number one stressor then this is the perfect reason to
track your
expenses and manage your daily Cost per Day. If you track where your money is
going, then there are no surprises at the end of the month. And if you manage
your Cost per Day, then there will be no surprises at the end of the year. This
puts you in control of your finances and is a big stress killer.
If lack of structure
stresses you out, before you retire, make a list of all the things you want to
do, places you want to visit, things you want to learn. Check out hobby clubs
you could join, and research websites like
MeetUp
or higher learning sites like
UDACITY
and
Udemy
.
Do this while you are
still working so that on day number one of retirement you are not facing a blank
calendar and will have things to look forward to doing. Get involved in your
retirement.
Retirees spend too
much time by themselves
According
to a
study published in 2012 in the Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and
Applied roughly one in 10 people aged 65 and older report that they are
severely lonely.
Some retirees don’t know
what to do with all this newly found time on their hands. If you have a tendency
towards being lonely, or miss your connections from your working life, we
suggest finding an organization to
volunteer
where your expertise is appreciated. Nothing enriches our lives like
volunteering. Take a class from your local university, join a club, get involved
in your church or synagogue or adopt a pet. Cook a meal for a widowed neighbor
and bring it over to them. Reach out to those less fortunate and make a friend.
We are never too old to broaden our circle of people we know.
We’re in denial about our health problems and health care costs
are huge
Retirement years span
the days from when we leave the working world to when we leave this life all
together. Our health challenges cover everything from finding quality health
care and a doctor we like to possibly needing assisted living or affordable
convalescent care. Not to mention reasonable costs of drugs.
It is our experience
that there is affordable and accessible health care in foreign countries such as
Mexico,
Guatemala and Thailand, for instance. With the Baby Boomers retiring at 10,000 a
day, foreign countries know that there is a business opportunity providing
quality independent living,
aging in place and 24 hour care for this generation. There is no need to be
limited to paying $7,000 per month for this care when, for example, you can
receive worthy continuing care in
Mexico
for $2,000 a month. Since Medicare doesn’t cover longer term skilled nursing
care, or nursing home care, having this option available to you is beneficial.
Prices for
prescriptions are generally less than in the states and $35 for an office visit
to a doctor is also reachable.
Living in multigenerational homes is becoming more attractive
Having several generations live under the same roof is common
place in many countries. It’s becoming more popular in the U.S. now too.
The number of Americans in multigenerational households doubled
between 1980 and 2012, reaching an all-time high of 57 million people, according
to the Pew Research Center.
But
for those who still prefer independent living with a little bit of help doing
laundry, going shopping or cleaning the house, these services are very
affordable and accessible in many foreign countries. With wages being lower in
countries such as Ecuador, Mexico, Guatemala, the Philippines and Thailand, having someone
do this day-to-day help is easy. Transportation costs are also cheaper, with
mass transit costing under a dollar to get to most locations and taxis running
less than $5 to get to the next town.
Getting to our days of retirement can seem to be a challenge, but once we
arrive, all difficulties are not necessarily resolved. Having these listed
suggestions can be helpful as alternatives and we hope you have found them to be
useful.
What's Your Number? - How much money do you need to retire?
About the Authors
Billy and Akaisha Kaderli are
recognized retirement experts and internationally published authors on
topics of finance, medical tourism and world travel. With the wealth of
information they share on their award winning website RetireEarlyLifestyle.com,
they have been helping people achieve their own retirement dreams since
1991. They wrote the popular books, The
Adventurer’s Guide to Early Retirement and Your
Retirement Dream IS Possible available on their website
bookstore or
on Amazon.com.
Retire
Early Lifestyle appeals to a different
kind of person – the person who prizes their
independence, values their
time, and who doesn’t want to mindlessly
follow the crowd.
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