Should my mother retire ?

[kevinbahnz]

She's 63. She wants to sell the house in Ma and move in with me. Father past away in 06 left her 2 houses and some cash. She spent half of it at foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in 7 years. My kid brother who was living with her got in some trouble and she's been alone for a month. Now she wants to sell everything, quit her job and move down to NC.

[slowturbo]

It sounds like your mother has a gambling problem. Imagine how much more of that money she would have blown through if she didnt have any income/had more time to go out and spend it.

[kevinbahnz]

Originally Posted by slowturbo

It sounds like your mother has a gambling problem. Imagine how much more of that money she would have blown through if she didnt have any income/had more time to go out and spend it.

We don't have casino's down here, so that's a good thing. If she has about 200k in the bank, plus 1k/month in SSI and another 1k/month from me. Is that enough for her to live comfortably?

[Ashley Schaeffer BMW]

I thought there were casinos at the reservations here?

Seems like she has enough left over as long as you dont live in Charlotte or Raleigh.

[135Pats]

Originally Posted by JAM3S

I thought there were casinos at the reservations here?

Seems like she has enough left over as long as you dont live in Charlotte or Raleigh.

Agreed, all about location in North Carolina. There are some beautiful, safe parts of the research triangle that are quite affordable due to the relative lack of population density. Obviously a place like Chapel Hill will be far more expensive.

[kevinbahnz]

the casinos at cherokee is 4 hrs away and she won't have anyone to go with. What I'm most worried about is health insurance. Does Obama care pick up the bill for senior citizens ?

[Ehwnnc]

I live near Winston Salem in Davie County. Its a small county, only one highschool. It would be a nice change of pace for here to move somewhere like that

[MiddleAgedAl]

Originally Posted by kevinbahnz

If she has about 200k in the bank, plus 1k/month in SSI and another 1k/month from me. Is that enough for her to live comfortably?

Anyone who offers to answer that question, without first asking a ton of other questions, should have their advice treated with a grain of salt.

Thats like asking how much gas you should buy for your trip, when nobody knows where you are going, or what MPG your car gets.

What is her definition of comfortable ? What else does she spend money on ? If she is in good health, at 63 she still has a lot of life left, and may become bored sitting around in your house after a year or two, so will want to find something to do which could end up being quite expensive (world travel, gambling, ?) If she's happy to putter around and just do gardening or something, and you will be paying for housing, then she could make it last a long time.

To begin with, a VERY ROUGH rule of thumb is that a nest egg should last 30 years if you start by withdrawing 4% of the initial balance annually, and increase that amount by inflation, assuming it's in an investment which earns enough to keep up with inflation. If you can beat inflation, then you can withdraw a bit more and still have it last 30 years.

[kevinbahnz]

Originally Posted by MiddleAgedAl

Anyone who offers to answer that question, without first asking a ton of other questions, should have their advice treated with a grain of salt.

Thats like asking how much gas you should buy for your trip, when nobody knows where you are going, or what MPG your car gets.

What is her definition of comfortable ? What else does she spend money on ? If she is in good health, at 63 she still has a lot of life left, and may become bored sitting around in your house after a year or two, so will want to find something to do which could end up being quite expensive (world travel, gambling, ?) If she's happy to putter around and just do gardening or something, and you will be paying for housing, then she could make it last a long time.

To begin with, a VERY ROUGH rule of thumb is that a nest egg should last 30 years if you start by withdrawing 4% of the initial balance annually, and increase that amount by inflation, assuming it's in an investment which earns enough to keep up with inflation. If you can beat inflation, then you can withdraw a bit more and still have it last 30 years.

thanks, thats what i was looking for some type of formula to calculate how much she would need for retirement. She will probably live with me during the summer and warm months babysitting the grand kids and whatnot and then I'll send her back to the homeland during the colder months.

[grimlock]

Solve her gambling problem first and everything will be minor in comparison. You're lucky she still has some left and is not completely reliant on you.

[Templar]

Don't go near Durham, obviously. Some areas of Raleigh and Charlotte, as mentioned, are pretty nice.

Since I work at Fort Bragg, I live in Harnett County. Some very nice areas, but kind of out there. It's an hour drive to Raleigh and about 45 minutes to Fayetteville (a dump). My neighborhood is nice though.