Sometimes you can do all the retirement planning you want, and it turns out to be slightly on the short side. So what can you do? You do the best to adapt by doing things like changing how you spend your money, and hoping prices might go down to help you with your budget.
This past year, there has been a lot of talk about changes that might help some retired people, if any of it comes true. Some of the carrots being dangled in front of us are rebates sent to us by our government. There’s been talk of a “DOGE” (Department of Government Efficiency) rebate that’s been going on for several months now. Then there’s the talk about the “tariff” rebate check. Neither of the amounts I’ve heard is going to make a big difference in anyone’s lives – the numbers I’ve been hearing are less than $1,000 for each. Helpful, but only for a short period. Since nobody is giving any time frame to either of those payments, I’m not holding out a lot of hope that I’ll see either check showing up in my bank account, and since nothing has arrived, I can’t do any planning for where the money might go.
The only confirmed tax help for senior citizens is the new standard deduction increase of $6,000. From what I understand, the new deduction will help me keep about $1,200 of the money I earn at my part-time job. That’s nice, but it isn’t life-changing, and it won’t cover the increased cost of living. If I chose to, it could mean I can afford to buy steak for the grill, maybe once a month.
One topic of discussion here in Florida is a change to property taxes. Our governor is saying he wants to eliminate the property tax we all pay on our homes. His thinking is that we shouldn’t have to pay the government to live in our homes. He also claims there are other ways the state can make up for the money it would lose by eliminating property taxes on homes. Now, this could be a significant change for me. The tax collected on my home is just south of $6,000; that’s nearly $500 per month. If you put that money back in my bank account every year, it becomes a significant change to my lifestyle. But then it’s only been talk, and as we all know, “talk is cheap,” so I’ll keep plugging along and hope against all hope that something is going to change for the better.
Have A Good Week!
