# Mortgage & Retiring



## Smalltowngirl (Mar 28, 2010)

It looks like I'm the first post in this new forum. Thanks to those who put this up; I think it will be a good addition.:goodjob:

My question is are you going to be retiring while you still have a mortgage?
If you will still have a mortgage, are you planning on working part time or opening a small business to supplement SS/pension?

I'm working on paying off the homestead mortgage as soon as possible but I still want to maintain a 'cush' in case there's unexpected expenses.

I hope to open a small homestead based business once I move plus I'll be transferring to the local branch of my current employer but I'll only be working about 16 hrs a week. :indif:


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## wvstuck (Sep 19, 2008)

One of the things we stumbled upon while planning our future was retiring with any kind of debt at all. After careful research, planning and thinking... We decided you could retire at any age if you had no debt. A small amount of money will go a long ways on a homestead if you owe nothing.

My inlaws have looked at our plans, goals and success so far and they are now selling their house, and moving here to the homestead so they can live debt free also. They will be building a small house or buying a repo double wide... 

I'm only 45 and I was not working anywhere until recently living just fine and farming hard (multi-crops) and getting by without wanting much. The only reason I am working now is the company I used to work for got themselves in a bind and offered god money for me to come back and help them straighten it up... I though sure, more money in my non-invested retirement fund.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

I took care of that the last place I lived, and I'm still only 61.

About 5 years ago I built a 2-story cottage in northern Nevada on 2 acres. I got the parcel for under $1000 and built the cottage out of pocket money. I lived there rent & mortgage free. I honestly expected to stay there the rest of my life.

About 2 years ago I found myself in a position to buy a home in Las Vegas for cash, partially due to the real estate crash (thank you very much, George Bush). As it happened, Las Vegas was ground zero for the mortgage crisis. I bought a home in Las Vegas and sold the cottage up north. With property taxes only $350/year, I expect to be here for the rest of my natural life.

It's an oldie, built in 1954, but it's a 1-story 4-br brick house that's really a lot more than I need.

Thank God I'm mortgage-free!


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## SageLady (Jun 10, 2008)

We retired completely debt free, no mortgage, no anything, but it still costs plenty to live...

We are in our mid 50's. DH receives a small pension which does cover all of our needs. We are very frugal people.


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## Explorer (Dec 2, 2003)

I retired debt free at 54 and am almost 71 now. It still costs to live, especially medical bills and insurance. Just think what will happen if you expect to live on SS and any pensions you have and the whole corrupt financial system goes belly up. Suddenly no income to pay any mortgages and now you are broke and homeless. NO DEBT upon retirement.


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## Parttimefarmer (May 5, 2011)

Our farm is mortgage free, we will retire mortgage free/debt free. We were almost paid off on our last house when we sold it. It's nice not to have debt.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Explorer said:


> Just think what will happen if you expect to live on SS and any pensions you have and the whole corrupt financial system goes belly up. Suddenly no income to pay any mortgages and now you are broke and homeless.


No question about it, a lot of our generation is going to be in trouble. Many did all of the right things but the recession took the equity on their homes, their retirement savings, and even some of their pension plans. And it's still not over. What's going to become of them?

I suppose most anyone could do what I did in northern Nevada and build a cabin on inexpensive land, but not a lot of people are willing to do that. Most will stay in the city until the money runs out, but I don't know what will happen to them after that.

Now many congressmen insinuate that people who are drawing Social Security are freeloaders, despite the fact that they paid for it. Those congressmen may very well get their way and end Social Security & Medicare altogether.


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## goatlady (May 31, 2002)

Looking at things realisticall though, if and when the SS is not deposited, mortgage payments will be waaay down on the list of worries. I checked with my local bank last year and found out 80% of their in-house mortgages are paid via SS deposits, so if those stop my bank is out of business (probably along with many other banks) and will not be able to foreclose on anybody. When SS stops there will be rioting and a huge mess nationwide not evenfiguring in the "ripple effect" of the lack of SS payments. It won't just be ONE or TWO folks effected, it will be 1000s all over the country. Folks still working will be very busy scrambling trying to take care of their parents who now have no income, etc. Not much time or thought available for legal paperwork for a while I would think.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

goatlady said:


> Looking at things realisticall though, if and when the SS is not deposited, mortgage payments will be waaay down on the list of worries. I checked with my local bank last year and found out 80% of their in-house mortgages are paid via SS deposits, so if those stop my bank is out of business (probably along with many other banks) and will not be able to foreclose on anybody. When SS stops there will be rioting and a huge mess nationwide not evenfiguring in the "ripple effect" of the lack of SS payments. It won't just be ONE or TWO folks effected, it will be 1000s all over the country. Folks still working will be very busy scrambling trying to take care of their parents who now have no income, etc. Not much time or thought available for legal paperwork for a while I would think.


The Social Security/Medicare issue is not a question of funding, it's a question of the government meeting its debt obligation. The fact is that the government has borrowed $2.6 trillion from the Social Security fund. Some congressmen argue that the government simply doesn't have the money to pay it back, so they suggest defaulting on the loan and getting rid of Social Security & Medicare.

So looking at this logically, Social Security debt represents about 1/6th of the national debt right now. From the debt ceiling argument congress just faced, it's clear that they don't intend to default on any debt except for Social Security debt. That means that private investors and foreign government will all get their money back plus interest, but the Social Security find will get nothing. Why are they considering defaulting on ONLY Social Security debt?

The answer is simple, because they think they can probably get away with it. But I wonder if they will. National polls have consistently shown that Social Security is an enormously popular plan, with over 80% of Americans favoring not touching Social Security. With numbers like that, are they really going to get away with it?


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

I just retired in July, no debt at all. 55 years old. PERS retirement. I own properties, although small they are all paid for and provide livelyhood for our retirement. We have always lived frugally. Life is good....James


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## belladulcinea (Jun 21, 2006)

No debt on retirement. Our house, if we decide to stay here is on target to be paid in 6 years. That's the only way to do it.


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## Staceyy (Jun 16, 2007)

I recently paid a chunk down on my mortgage. I'm eligible for SS next month, the amount will cover my mortgage payment. I paid cash for a new car and have a years worth of food put away, plus I am gardening. I started a small business to help with additional expenses.


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## ronbre (Apr 26, 2009)

we haven't had a mortgage for years, we made it our goal to get out of debt a long long time ago and got rid of credit cards too so there is no debt other than a few hospital bills that we have to pay off


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

i have no debt either. i know several my age though who are still deep in debt. ~Georgia.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

newfieannie said:


> i know several my age though who are still deep in debt.


Most are still in debt. That's probably more true today than it was 3 years ago too. We are all going to need to stand firm to protect Social Security and Medicare for our less fortunate brothers & sisters.

I'm not in as good of retirement shape as I could have been in, but I recognize that I'm a lot better off than most. I'll never forget that I could have been in much worse retirement shape, and vote accordingly.


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## CountryWannabe (May 31, 2004)

DH is "pretty much" retired, and we are totally debt free. We have some savings that we can draw on if we need it. We worked long and hard to make this happen, both doing without things we would have liked, in order to have everything we needed. 

Mary


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

We have been doing a lot of reading and planning for retirement lately. Still about 9 years away but we were typical for our generation - having too good a time to save much until we were in our 40s. Most of what I have been reading says that you should have an income for retirement of 70% of what you are earning (net) when you are working. This is if you have no mortgage and minimum or no debt. This 70% incorporates the possibility of heavy medical expenses. We live in Canada so have Universal healthcare. I am planning for and hope that we will have at least 50% of our current income.

So far we have paid off all personal consumer debt, student loans and our car and have accelerated our mortgage payments. We have a strict budget and live on cash only. We have emergency savings for 6 months of expenses, savings towards a new car when needed and have upped our payments into registered retirement funds. 

We will continue to live as frugally and in the same self sufficient manner as we have been living until retirement and afterwards - as long as our health allows.

The mortgage should be paid off by the time my husband retires (2 years younger). I am not concerned about this actually. To be blunt we have mortgage insurance and I have a life insurance policy so if I die before retirement age (I have cancer) then he will be safe and secure. House paid for and a nest egg for him and the really nice and loving new partner I pray that he will find.


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## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

My husband was self employed and we had been working on our retirement plans since our early 30's. I retired in 1999 at the age of 48 because my husband made 3x's the money I did and I could make better use of my time taking care of the homestead. We never had a mortgage, we paid for everything as we went along; building the barn, machine shed, then our 3300 sq ft house. We have kept exact records of our expenses and incomes.

Right now I am in a year of transition. My husband died 4 months ago at the age of 60 so I am re-evaluating everything. This year will be especially useful to understand what my expenses will be. Before he died, we estimated my bottom line expenses at $22,000/year. Utilities (internet, electric, water, propane for cooking) are my biggest expense at $3600/yr, then health insurance, at $3,400/yr,. then real estate taxes at $1400/yr....

Even though I am debt free, my expenses still exceed my income. Our plan always was to start spending down our savings in retirement. Plus my husband expected to continue to work part time for a long time, as a computer software consultant, to extend our savings. So much for that plan.

Funding for my retirement is much on my mind. I work on it almost everyday. I have several CD's rolling over in 2012 and am reading to decide what to do when they do. Between 2017 and 2024 I have a bunch of 30 year treasury bonds maturing and have no idea what I will do with that money.

It will be cheapest for me to stay living right where I am. I need to decide if I want to continue paying taxes on 70 acres, mowing 5 acres and keeping up a large house by myself.

Great forum! Thanks..


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## Tarheel (Jan 24, 2010)

goatsareus said:


> It will be cheapest for me to stay living right where I am. I need to decide if I want to continue paying taxes on 70 acres, mowing 5 acres and keeping up a large house by myself.
> 
> Great forum! Thanks..


Sorry for your loss.

This is the only down side (and always has been) to homesteading is loosing your spouse. Now I know it's been done over the years but it's still hard. I know how much that me and the wife do together, and when that's left up to just one person it weights heavy on them. We-like you mow about 5 acres including around the pond. If something were to happen to me I could sure understand her needing help.

It would be great to have the retirement resources to hire help if and when a person needed it.

Good luck on your decision, I know you will make the right choice for your situation.


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## SageLady (Jun 10, 2008)

Nevada said:


> We are all going to need to stand firm to protect Social Security and Medicare for our less fortunate brothers & sisters.


I certainly agree with this statement! For alot of folks SS and Medicare will be all they'll have. I remember both my widowed Grandmothers making do on their SS checks - it was all they had to survive on, and at their advanced ages there was no way they could go back to work.


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## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

Tarheel said:


> Sorry for your loss.
> 
> This is the only down side (and always has been) to homesteading is loosing your spouse. Now I know it's been done over the years but it's still hard. I know how much that me and the wife do together, and when that's left up to just one person it weights heavy on them. We-like you mow about 5 acres including around the pond. If something were to happen to me I could sure understand her needing help.
> 
> ...


Thank you Tarheel for your kind words. I really appreciate them.

My husband and I also did many chores together. When we received his terminal cancer diagnosis, I asked to sell the goat herd right away. I knew I could not manage them by myself and did not want to be dealing with his death and the loss of the herd at the same time. The goats went in Nov. 2009 and he died May 2011. My husband went to great lengths to prepare the homestead to make it easier for me to stay here; removed the goat fencing to make bushhogging easier, remolded/updated the whole house. etc. I plan to take my time in figuring out my future. Working through the grief process is difficult.


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

My parents retired mortgage and debt free (they lived that way all their lives) with some savings and a small pension and my father was able to keep working contracts in his field because he was really, really good and people kept knocking at his door. However he only had 10 years of a good retirement before he got ill. He died at 81 leaving my Mom who was 8 years younger with no debts but a pension cut in half. 

My father kept working because his work was specialized but they would have still had a meager retirement if they had had to keep paying a mortgage or if their old age pensions had been downsized (which they were anyways because increases came no where near to matching inflation). 

My husband and I are anxious to pay off our mortgage because when we retire we seriously do not to expect to be able to keep working even if we want to. I know that the government in both Canada and the US are talking about raising the retirement age but are they crazy? At the same time they are "suggesting" early retirement for many, especially government employees. Sure. Why not flood the market with even more competition for every job. There just won't be enough jobs to supply the old and the young and not to mention the returning veterans. With population growth and the disappearance of middle class jobs raising the retirement age would be a disaster.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

55 now, planning on having the mortgage paid and 2 new vehicles (2020 or 2021 model year) paid for before I retire. Hopefuly the job lasts 10 - 11 more years so I can make it.


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## sdnapier (Aug 13, 2010)

emdeengee said:


> To be blunt we have mortgage insurance and I have a life insurance policy so if I die before retirement age (I have cancer) then he will be safe and secure. House paid for and a nest egg for him and the really nice and loving new partner I pray that he will find.



I am so sorry about the cancer. Best wishes!


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## TNHermit (Jul 14, 2005)

Lot of talk about being mortgage free and no problems. Question. My property taxes have doubled in last 5 years. Insurance has gone up. So how is 100-300 a month gonna effect your position. My taxes are 60.00 a month plus 100.00 for insurance. My daughters property taxes on her place are 3600.00 a year. for 5 acres,house and pole barn. And this is not that unusual. insurance generally runs around 1000.00 a year.
Some people don't realize that insurance rates are going up if you live very far from a fire station or water.


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## Ode (Sep 20, 2006)

We plan to have a mortgage to build our retirement home, but the plan is to pay off the mortgage after it is finished. We are downsizing considerably for our final home, and the plan is to have no payments for anything except property taxes, and a small amount of propane as we need it. The property will be paid for completely by then, and we'll be off-grid with no water, sewage, or utility bills. Property taxes in rural areas of Maine are pretty low, so aside from our living expenses (food, healthcare, and other expenses like gas for the car, clothes, entertainment and such) we won't have mortgage payments or utilities to worry about aside from the occasional repairs/replacements to our off-grid setup.

We will have a small pension to live on that should be more than enough for our expenses. Even so, we still have a 401k to tap if needed, and investments we made in the stock market. And our health insurance is a benefit of our pension plan. We feel pretty lucky, because most employers no longer offer pension plans. And ours is also one of the few that are fully funded, so we have no worries of it evaporating into thin air just when we need it most. And we won't need to depend on social security or medicare either, thank goodness. Who knows what will be happening there by the time we retire, it is sure seeming pretty iffy at this point.

So, for the hubby and me...our retirement will be a modest one. Not a wealthy one, but certainly enough to supply all of our needs and allow us to enjoy ourselves with the occasional vacation trip and things like eating out and other pleasures without skimping elsewhere to afford them. The only work we plan on doing is the work we enjoy. Animals, gardening, writing, reading and so on. But if we weren't planning on a rural life with no mortgage payments and no utility costs, things might be a lot different.


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## Ramblin Wreck (Jun 10, 2005)

I retired with a small mortgage and the intention of paying it off within 2-3 years, but adjoining land came up for sale (some family property and some neighbor property). It was either bite the bullet and buy it or let it be sold to some stranger. So I bought it. It has not been a strain on my budget so far (prices were great compared to recent history around here), but it sent my debt the wrong way (up). As I weighed things out, it would have bothered me more to see the land out of family control than it would to see my debt increase.


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## Bentley (Jul 10, 2008)

DW and I retired two years ago at 57 and 56(me). We have no pension. What we have is what we saved during income years. Home and land is paid for. Our biggest cost is healthcare, and it will only go up. We enjoy our homestead a lot, and love the garden, chickens, and the deer/squirrels. 

Not having close neighbors is wonderful.


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## Txrider (Jun 25, 2010)

Smalltowngirl said:


> It looks like I'm the first post in this new forum. Thanks to those who put this up; I think it will be a good addition.:goodjob:
> 
> My question is are you going to be retiring while you still have a mortgage?
> If you will still have a mortgage, are you planning on working part time or opening a small business to supplement SS/pension?
> ...


Nope, I'll be debt free when I retire, though I will likely never retire really completely.. I will always likely at least do jobs for folks, repair stuff for folks, or at least make something to sell.

No pension here, only what I have saved.. no SS for about another 15 years, but I'll likely retire before then..

I'm in a position I could be debt free and own my place any time I choose.. I choose not to just yet.

My biggest issue will be healthcare and property taxes when retired.. Texas counties are getting a little out of hand with it.


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## Esteban29304 (Apr 29, 2003)

I had a mortgage & had to retire at 50 due to medical problems. I was lucky in the fact that I had a good bit of equity in the home. I sold it pretty quickly, as this was long before the housing crisis. I took the equity & moved to Florida & bought a much smaller & cheaper place, paying cash for it, & have been totally out of debt ever since, 12 years. 
I STRONGLY suggest to everyone to get rid of their mortgage before retiring !!!


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