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We are in a home now in Texas I hope to move to Arkansas sometime we need to downsize at some point!Butvwhatvdo seniors do on social security how do they live!I need answers to know what I may have to do or not hopefully but I am a senior now and life isn’t getting any shorter!my husband gets va disability 80 percent and social security plus I work some are great now!But home is not near paid off and if something were to happen no family to help they all gone!What do we have to look after ourselves?

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You need to find out what your entitled too as a Vets wife. Does DHs disability die with him? Are you as a spouse entitled to anything thru the VA. As said, when he passes, you get his SS and yours drops off. Or you look at it as you already get half you get the other half when he passes. It works out to be the same amt.

For me if I lost my DH, my house is free and clear. So I could sell it and put that money in the bank and with my DHs SS using the proceeds to help with my monthly expenses. I would pay off any debts I had.

Call your Office of Aging to see if there is someone who can look over your finances and see what would be good for you. If Medicaid is in your husnands future, your house will need to be sold at market value. If he eventually needs to go into LTC, you will need to see an Elder Lawyer about protecting your part of your combined assets.
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Reply to JoAnn29
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Simply put, if you don't plan you plan to fail.

Start planning now. Sell your home, take any profit and invest it somewhere safe, CD's are an ok safe investment right now.

Cut back on your spending, save as much as you can, don't waste your money on unnecessary things. Set a budget and stick to it.

Now is the time, don't wait until it is too late.
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Reply to MeDolly
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lkdrymom Aug 26, 2024
You are correct. Everyone needs to plan for the future. I've known a lot of people who live paycheck to paycheck (I did it myself but I was also contributing to a pension). They claim they can't save for the future yet they do nothing to change their situation. Brother in law was always broke but somehow had money for cigarettes. Claims they can never get a head but no one had a second job. After my divorce I went back to school to get a professional license on top of the degree I already had so I could increase my earning potential. So if a single mother with two toddlers could figure it out I'm sure others can too. People have got to start planning ahead because social security is not enough to live on. Let's hope the OP owns their house and can downsize.
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I would say...start downsizing now. Don't wait until one of you dies before action is taken. It's much easier to do now.
And start paying off all of your debt now as well. That will make living off a smaller income if and when the time comes much easier.
Thankfully I was able to pay off our small home, and all of our debt before my late husband died, which now allows me to live comfortably on just my SS without having to dip into my savings except for the occasional bigger expenses.
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Reply to funkygrandma59
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You would likely have to sell your home if your husband passed; you would want to check on collectin HIS social security rather than your own. For my own brother the cost of living, even in expensive Palm Springs at a historic trailer park, was not too bad. Home would NOW run about 100,000 and the space and utilities about 1,000 a month after that.

You would also be able to consider shared rental with someone, renting a room in a home. Or could consider other options for ECFs that would accept Medicaid if you needed to apply. For now, you are thinking in the right manner in that you are trying to consider all the "What ifs" that could happen to you.

You aren't alone. I surely wish you the best.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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dlawrence, welcome to the forum. If anything should happen to your husband, social security would transfer his social security check (if it is higher than yours) to you, and drop your social security (I know, it doesn't sound fair not to have both). So you would have a bit more to work with.


I look at my own social security, and it would have been difficult to live on that. Rents in my area are higher when my whole SS check. Thank goodness I paid off my house by being very frugal. Frugal to a point of being eccentric.


I bet in your area they must have low-income senior apartments where you pay according to your income. Look around and jump onto a waiting list as it could take quite awhile for something to become available. As for health care, there is always Medicaid (different from Medicare) that is a saving grace for those who need it.
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Reply to freqflyer
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Most seniors have a nest egg and investments to rely on in retirement because social security is not nearly enough to live on. You'd need to sell your home and use the proceeds to buy or rent a much smaller place so the cash would be extended as long as possible. Since your husband is in bad health now, please see a Certified Elder Care attorney for guidance about Medicaid and what to do to qualify,

Best of luck to you.
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Reply to lealonnie1
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