I am 72 y/o and have been retired for 3 years. My 503b had 78k in it and I am so grateful. (I have withdrawn $14.5k in 4 years and my account is only down $3k. I have SS and 2 small pensions. My husband and I were smart enough to take a smaller state pension and leave it 100% for the surviving spouse. My husband died in 2007. When I turned his death into the state I was able to tweak my pension back up to what it would have been.
I have enough savings to buy a used car if this one goes out. However, I own my own home (a 44 y/o dbl wide trailer), my car, a good insurance plan, and no debt whatsoever. Between SS & pensions, I make about $27k per year. I am saving nicely. My taxes, personal and property, are about $2-300 per year. How's that for a blessing? I live in a small town and use the OATS bus for local travel to nearby towns.
I feel like I am very blessed in old age. Especially since I did not start saving until I was nearly 50. I really feel comfortable and I take 2 trips a year to AL to see my kids. I have taken a very long Amtrak trip (MO - WA), flown to AZ, and will try Amtrak again this year or next to go to NH. Nothing deprived about my old age.
By the way, I do not use my 503b to live on. Each year in Dec. I take out the minimum and use it to do work on my home. We also used to use our tax refunds for that. To date, since April 1, 2009 I have only spent $1.4k for utilities because of this - new roof, new windows, new insulated siding, new furnace & central air. It can be done on less and still not feel deprived.
