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In reply to the discussion: Have Americans Given Up On Saving for Retirement? [View all]Victor_c3
(3,557 posts)I bring home about 90-100k when my VA disability is included and I'm finally starting to be able to not live pay check to pay check.
I have a lot of debt from a couple of years ago when I lost my job and went 4 months without working. I had to move and take a substantial pay cut at the time. In 2009 I was on track to hit the $100k mark then I lost my job. I used to work for Amazon.com, but I had a ton of PTSD issues and wasn't able to do it anymore and I was canned.
I did a complete career change and took a huge paycut and had to move. In 2010, I made about $50k. It is VERY hard to downsize your life by 50%. Things like haircuts, new pants, and turning your heat up above 65 degrees in the winter are luxuries. Retirement savings isn't going to happen anytime in the foreseeable future. At best, I might be able to start socking some money away in about another 7-10 years when I'm in my early 40s.
My plan right now is to hope to have a house paid off by the time I retire so I'm not dishing out $1,000+ in rent each month, to collect SS, and to still be messed up enough with PTSD to collect my $1,500 a month in VA disability.
---edit to add---
I fell very lucky to messed up enough to draw some extra money from the VA for my service connected disability. That gives me a huge leg up that I often feel guilty for having over everyone else. It's sad that being "broken" is something that I feel lucky to have.
Honestly, I don't know how families get by without making $75k+ a year. It isn't like I live the high life. We never go out to eat, we drive two cars that are 10 years old, I live in a tiny 1,300 sqft house, I have one TV and two cheap pay-as-you-go cell phones and a bare bones cable/internet package.