Millions of Americans are Social Security recipients. The modest increase coming in January will feel like a drop in the bucket. Every little bit helps and it will truly be a little bit compared to the financial needs of senior adult Americans.
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“Fear or fearless”? I so no gain in being fearful so imma say “fearless”.
ReplyDeleteBetter pair for the majority would be "Clueless or feckless?"
ReplyDeleteAt seventy three and on SS, I try to put away what I can afford and process for long term storage. Primarily food but sanitary and medical supplies, tools and barter items, and the means to hang on to it. Doesn't matter if you feel fear or not, it is whether you plan as best you can and get ready for what is obviously coming.
ReplyDeleteThis week I have bought a cheap brisket, cut it up and placed it in a cure to make it into bacon, I bought two on sale pork shoulders for the same end today. A local store is closing out Butterball turkeys for $.69/lb and I have cooked a couple of them, dried the meat and made bone broth out of what was left which I canned. You can always do something to get ready.
Most of the small increase was eaten by the increase in the Medicare premium.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'm facing 2024 armed to the teeth....
ReplyDeleteI will stumble through 2024 with I hope the right amount of fear
ReplyDeleteWill the SS increase do anything more than push you into a higher tax bracket?
ReplyDeleteI am on SSD, my wife is on SS, and my daughter is on SS. Between the 3 of us, we are doing pretty well. But the COLA raise we got this year was taken by a raise in Medicare and in our rent here in the trailer park we live in.
ReplyDelete3 weeks ago, we got notice that our rent was going up $20 per month. So now we are paying $435 a month, I think. But that includes our water and garbage service plus we get free cable.
I have a small amount in savings that is an emergency fund, but it is hard to keep it built up, when things like the new washer I had to buy a month ago, for around $500, plus a similar amount the same time for car repairs, keep on hitting us.
The greatest thing that we have going for us is we have zero debt. A wise old pastor told me over 35 years ago that you should always avoid paying interest on a depreciable item. Cars are the worst one. You home will normally gain in value, so interest on that is acceptable. He said that any young couple getting married who followed his advice later came back to him and told him just how the idea made their lives much easier. The problem is that it is hard to do. Cars are the worst, especially when you put a lot of miles per year on them.
My car had around 138,000 miles on it, so I hope to get another 4 years or more out of it. Then we will pay cash for another car which I hope we can find for around 6-8 grand. Also with the money losing value just sitting in the bank, anything you buy that will last, like stable food stuffs, or extra medical needs like first aid cream or aspirin, will actually increase you wealth as the price goes up.
If you have 10 packages of TP on the shelf, already paid for, and the price goes up a dollar a package, you just earned $10 by having that sitting in your pantry. Or a few extra cans of soup or chicken broth, the same thing. You don't have to call yourself a prepper to do this. My parents and grandparents always "put up food" , canning or freezing it for the coming year. It was just a way of living. I don't have a garden, and buying produce to can is expensive. I let the manufactures can things, and buy it from the store. A can of peaches for a buck and a half, is probably just as good of a deal as buying peaches and then canning them.
There is also a lot to be said for Blupert and being armed to the teeth. I see the cost of ammo is getting close to becoming a good deal again.
When are you publishing chapter 2?
DeleteGreat insights, thank you very much.
Delete“Then put your trust in God, my boys, and keep your powder dry.” (Oliver's Advice)
ReplyDeleteI keep track of dogs and cats in the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteThey'll be on the menu.
I'll face 2024 the same way I have faced every other year.
ReplyDelete#1 leave me alone
#2 I'll leave you alone
thank the lord i don't smoke, but the cost of diet coke has doubled so looking at cutting those out. my income almost doubled from my second retirement but its been eaten up already by insurance, taxes and inflation. didn't do much good to work my ass off all those years. 2024? look for a job.
ReplyDelete