Taking SS early (62)

[30338]

My dad is 94, has a $30,000 pension, social security and some dividend income. Every year he saves money, fishes, and lives on his own. Roll the clock back to when he was 84 and 74 and nothing has really changed. So just wondering what amount it takes to have to eat cat food and live in a trailer by the river?

Lot of fear mongering around how much money you need. Healthy life expectancy, the years when you may spend a little money on trips and things you enjoy doing is 64 in the US. Life expectancy is around 77. So since we want to play the odds, I think doing all you can to do what you want before you get too old is very reasonable.

I've been self emplyed for the last 15 years now and have been paying very large sums of money on health insurance so I know what my bills are going to be for the next 5 years. I'm not a gambler and actually have a plan that has been in place for over 35 years. I just needed the motivation to pull the trigger. And I got it.

 

[riversidejeep]

Like my wife tells me, be careful with that money because one might want better quality diapers in the old folks home HAHA!

 

[180ls1]

My dad is 94, has a $30,000 pension, social security and some dividend income. Every year he saves money, fishes, and lives on his own. Roll the clock back to when he was 84 and 74 and nothing has really changed. So just wondering what amount it takes to have to eat cat food and live in a trailer by the river?

Lot of fear mongering around how much money you need.

For what it's worth, that probably puts him in the top 20% of retirees. Not many have SS, Pension, Investment portfolio and a house (assuming he does).

There is certainly fear mongering but there is an alarming amount who desperately need to maximize their SS as that's their *only* income, even worse if they don't own a property.