36% of all Americans have less than $1,000 saved for retirement

[tvguy]

I have a house cat. Other than litter and food, she costs very little. Even when we had 3 cats, their cost was minimal.

It does depend on the pet. And to be honest, it also is an individual decision. I have know people who had pets who would put a pet to sleep if the vet bill was more than a certain amount, and alarmingly low amount in my opinion.
An annual exam runs about $75 here, and another $30 to $40 for rabies and feline distemper and feline leukemia shots. And $10 for the license.

 

[crisi]

It does depend on the pet. And to be honest, it also is an individual decision. I have know people who had pets who would put a pet to sleep if the vet bill was more than a certain amount, and alarmingly low amount in my opinion.
An annual exam runs about $75 here, and another $30 to $40 for rabies and feline distemper and feline leukemia shots. And $10 for the license.

Yes,

And its also relative to how much you make and how you view money - to some people the $30 our cat costs in litter and food a month is "not very much" to some people that $30 in food and litter is "a lot of money."

The dog is more expensive - he eats more - big dog. On the other hand, he doesn't need litter - although this winter was really cold and there were a few times he seemed to think seriously about the litterbox.

I hate buying litter - so even cheap I think its "a lot of money" - there is something about cat litter that feels like money down the kitty toilet.....

 

[AquaDame]

It does depend on the pet. And to be honest, it also is an individual decision. I have know people who had pets who would put a pet to sleep if the vet bill was more than a certain amount, and alarmingly low amount in my opinion.
An annual exam runs about $75 here, and another $30 to $40 for rabies and feline distemper and feline leukemia shots. And $10 for the license.

I guess I thought I was the exception more than the rule... we have three pets currently and growing up our pets/friends pets never cost much. This cat of mine though.. she has an autoimmune deficiency and my she has cost a pretty penny. Try telling 25 year old me to put down her first very own kitten at 6 months though and see how far you get. Two or three blood transfusions, xrays, years of blood work, eye visits, diabetes specialist (from being on steroids for almost 7 years now), cataracts (again, steroids) plus the medicine to keep the haemo bartonella she caught at 6 months at bay.... Now she is worth her weight in gold.. literally.

BUT, still happy and the best cat I've ever had. So she's worth it and lucky I'm the one who picked her up at the humane society all those years ago..

 

[akcire]

I guess I thought I was the exception more than the rule... we have three pets currently and growing up our pets/friends pets never cost much. This cat of mine though.. she has an autoimmune deficiency and my she has cost a pretty penny. Try telling 25 year old me to put down her first very own kitten at 6 months though and see how far you get. Two or three blood transfusions, xrays, years of blood work, eye visits, diabetes specialist (from being on steroids for almost 7 years now), cataracts (again, steroids) plus the medicine to keep the haemo bartonella she caught at 6 months at bay.... Now she is worth her weight in gold.. literally.

BUT, still happy and the best cat I've ever had. So she's worth it and lucky I'm the one who picked her up at the humane society all those years ago..

Don't feel bad.

My $50 shelter cat had one vet bill from a blocked uretha that was $2500. The crazy part was I literally earned an unexpected $2500 bonus at work the same week.

My husband likes to say I bought the cat twice. Once for $50 from the shelter. Once from the brink of death for $2500. He's had small issues since but nothing that expensive and since he's now going on 18, I'd be hard pressed to spend "heroic measures" money again.

On the other hand my mothers now deceased cat's largest vet bill was to have her put down. Literally her 24 year old cat never got sick. I feed my cat high quality cat food. My mom fed hers a combination of human food and cheap grocery store food. Who knows?

Neither cats were ever allowed outside.

 

[FergieTCat]

Just some random thoughts.

I think it's because of my age that I am so fastidious about saving for my retirement. I will retire in 20 years or less, unless they raise the retirement age to 75 or over. Judging by how fast the last 20 years passed, that's not a very long time. I am single, so I will be supporting myself, and I don't want to rely on solely on unforeseen Social Security payments.

When you are younger, it's easy to feel that retirement is WAY in the future and you have plenty of time to get your act together.

Also, I've owned 2 cats at the same time, and yes, they are expensive. Especially when they get older and their health starts to fail. I am not saying you shouldn't have a pet, but if a pet strains your budget, then you need to reconsider if you can afford one.

Other than that ... interesting thoughts about pensions. I always thought if you were lucky enough to have one, then you are good. I guess not!

 

[JanaDee]

It does depend on the pet. And to be honest, it also is an individual decision. I have know people who had pets who would put a pet to sleep if the vet bill was more than a certain amount, and alarmingly low amount in my opinion. An annual exam runs about $75 here, and another $30 to $40 for rabies and feline distemper and feline leukemia shots. And $10 for the license.

It does depend on the cat. One of my other cats cost us well over $2000 in a weeks time, and we still had to put her down after a stroke she would not have recovered from. I still feel guilty about putting her to sleep, though I know I exhausted every possibility for her.

 

[kymom99]

What a coincidence we are talking about cats. My 16 year old was just diagnosed with kidney disease. I won't go to any great lengths to prolong her life or suffering but I am going to try some pills the vet suggested.

I volunteer with a local charity and do home visits. I am amazed at how many people who cannot pay their electric bill or afford to buy food will take in a pet. I try not yo be judgmental, but I can't help thinking that is a chunk of money that could be spent on their basic needs.

 

[Colleen27]

I volunteer with a local charity and do home visits. I am amazed at how many people who cannot pay their electric bill or afford to buy food will take in a pet. I try not yo be judgmental, but I can't help thinking that is a chunk of money that could be spent on their basic needs.

A pet is a great deal of pleasure and relaxation - something the poor in this country often don't get much of - for a relatively low cost. Far less than cable or a gym membership. And there are often resources to help with things like spaying/neutering and annual vaccinations. One of the runs DD & I do every year funds low-cost clinics aimed at keeping pets out of shelters by bringing down the costs of pet ownership.

But I'll admit to not being in the camp that would spend thousands on a sick pet, though blessedly we've not had to face that question yet. Our older dog is 13 and hasn't had any major health issues yet, but if she does we've agreed we would put her down rather than subject her to painful and expensive medical treatments when she's already outlived the average life expectancy for her breed. The largest vet bills we've had for either of our two were having them spayed, and other than that it has just been annual vaccines and food.

 

[dpswift]

A pet is a great deal of pleasure and relaxation - something the poor in this country often don't get much of - for a relatively low cost. Far less than cable or a gym membership. And there are often resources to help with things like spaying/neutering and annual vaccinations. One of the runs DD & I do every year funds low-cost clinics aimed at keeping pets out of shelters by bringing down the costs of pet ownership.

But I'll admit to not being in the camp that would spend thousands on a sick pet, though blessedly we've not had to face that question yet. Our older dog is 13 and hasn't had any major health issues yet, but if she does we've agreed we would put her down rather than subject her to painful and expensive medical treatments when she's already outlived the average life expectancy for her breed. The largest vet bills we've had for either of our two were having them spayed, and other than that it has just been annual vaccines and food.

Yes pain suffering and age need to be taken into account when deciding on how much to pay for a sick pet. Unfortunately many vets today want to do anything to prolong the life of a pet and try to guilt trip people into going to extreme measures to keep a sick pet alive a few months longer.

When our 13 year old dog got sick suddenly I took her to the emergency vet they wanted close to $2000. When I did not want to spend that they sent me to my regular vet who did the same treatment for a couple of hundred. We had to drop her off in the morning and pick her up at night. It was a horrible night after having free run of the house for years we had to lock her in the kitchen. When she did get out she kept trying to hide.

 

[Colleen27]

Yes pain suffering and age need to be taken into account when deciding on how much to pay for a sick pet. Unfortunately many vets today want to do anything to prolong the life of a pet and try to guilt trip people into going to extreme measures to keep a sick pet alive a few months longer.

They really do. My mom's dog developed tumors as he aged, and I couldn't believe the pressure the vet put on her to have those tumors removed and biopsied. The dog was almost 17! Not an unheard of age for a toy breed but a long life nonetheless, and not an age where surgery, biopsy, and potentially further treatment make any sense.

 

[kymom99]

I am so thankful for my vets. They have never pressured me to do anything. This time, she offered me options and I chose the ones that were doable for me.

As far as the people who ask for assistance, I find it hard to justify paying for a pet and its needs when someone is asking for assistance to feed, clothe and house their children. There is also no way they are providing proper care to the pet if they don't have the money for vaccinations, etc.

 

[Meetmeinmontauk]

I am 26 and I have close to 8k in my 401k. My boyfriend has close to 10k and he is 24. We do have a lot of other expenses each month... I saw someone saying "Well do they have a mortgage & car note?!! etc". We might not have kids yet but we do have a mortgage, he has a car note, and I pay student loans each month. Our parents both stressed how important it was to save for retirement. Also, some our of best friends at work are in their mid 60's and had to come out of retirement because they had spent all of their savings!

 

[ellie05]

I love how the thread became about pets . I would do anything for my pets as long as I know their quality of life is good. Ironically when our dog got cancer the cheapest thing was the chemo. The most expensive part was the diagnostic, he had such a rare cancer that it took so many different test just to figure out what he had. With out that we couldn't make any decision. After two chemo treatments we stop because the cancer was not responding and a month after that we had to put him down . I would not change anything we did, we gave it a try and exhausted our possibility. We miss him every day. On the other hand our other dog that had the ACL surgery is doing great so worth the $2500 surgery. Our pets are family.

 

[dawnball]

For those that have a life of nothing but rainy days - and yes, there are some of those people - yeah, life sucks. But that isn't the bulk of the 36% that has saved nothing or near nothing for retirement. The bulk of those people are putting off today what they think they can do tomorrow. They are putting data plans on their cell phones and have cable TV.

Per the study, the bulk of "those people" have a household income less than $35,000/yr (two people, working full time at minimum wage), and about half of them can be expected to be below the federal poverty line. Fifteen percent were unemployed or underemployed.

The question that was asked was "In total, how much money would you say you (and your spouse) have in savings and investments, not including the value of your primary residence (or value of defined benefits plans)?" Three-quarters of the people who answered that survey question with "$1000 or less" had no retirement plan at all.

As can be expected, the biggest correlations with savings are income, health and education. However, the study probably didn't ask about data plans or cable TV.

 

[katyjeka]

No disrespect, but you really have no idea until you have children. If my dh and I just had a mortgage and student loans we'd probably not know what to do with all the extra money. Kids bring tons of pleasure and tons of bills, many unexpected. When your a family of two, you really have no idea.

 

[tvguy]

It does depend on the cat. One of my other cats cost us well over $2000 in a weeks time, and we still had to put her down after a stroke she would not have recovered from. I still feel guilty about putting her to sleep, though I know I exhausted every possibility for her.

My situation was complicated by the fact the cat was really my daughter's. And 5 weeks before the cat got sick, my daughter went over seas to study aboard for a year.
I had the money due to an inheritance from my mom, who also was attached to the stupid cat, so I was able to do everything possible medically to save the cat. And I think mom would have approved of that use of the money she left me.
Most interesting thing is, when we told our daughter that the cat passed away, she said she knew it was coming. She was far more in touch with how ill the cat was than we were.

 

[Meetmeinmontauk]

No disrespect, but you really have no idea until you have children. If my dh and I just had a mortgage and student loans we'd probably not know what to do with all the extra money. Kids bring tons of pleasure and tons of bills, many unexpected. When your a family of two, you really have no idea.

I'd love to know about all of this extra money you are talking about! We are both still in school & working! The mortgage, student loans & car note are definitely not the only expenses we have... just the larger ones.

 

[katyjeka]

Okay, here we go.... Groceries for six versus two. Utility costs for six versus two, health care cost for six versus two, clothing for six versus two, and this is just the beginning. Children require a lot, and we are the type of parents that only buy toys at Christmas and birthdays. We also limit extra activities to one per child, and the cost of this is terrible. I don't want to appear a complainer we chose to have 4 children(wouldn't change it for the world), but it is a fact that the more people you are responsible for the higher your cost of living. I'm thankful we saved as much as we did before kids and bought a house we could afford however the facts remain. If you find it hard to save before kids, have fun after, its a totally different game.

 

[Marionnette]

I'd love to know about all of this extra money you are talking about! We are both still in school & working! The mortgage, student loans & car note are definitely not the only expenses we have... just the larger ones.

According to a CNN study from last August, the average cost to raise a child from birth to age 18 in 2012 was $241K+. That's more than $20K per year and it does not include paying for a college education or any expenses incurred after the child turns 18.
http://money.cnn.com/2013/08/14/pf/cost-children/

 

[crisi]

Much of that is housing. An extra bedroom - or two - in your house adds a lot to the costs.

Surprisingly very little of it is daycare - my kids are teenagers - and a decade ago daycare for two was $20k.