As harsh as it may seem, she's made these decisions and you can't change that. You also can't change the future she has created by those decisions. You've indicated that she does not want to let anyone know exactly what monies she has available, so you really don't have an accurate picture of her financial status. As long as other family members offer to take her in, there's not much you can do anyhow. You're not going to change her, so save yourself a lot of frustration. She is who she is. If that means that her "golden years" will not be what you would have wanted for her, so be it. You can't control her or her future, but you can prepare for your own future. However, as other forum members have indicated, she is eligible for Social Security. This should help her support herself. And if she truly has very little money, then she could get herself on a waiting list for low income senior housing.

Another thing that drives me bonkers about SS benefits is that if someone is receiving the benefits, but dies any time during the month, the entire month's benefit has to be paid back to the SSA. My brother, when he was dying of AIDS, received SS Disability benefits, because he was too sick to work. His benefit was deposited automatically into his checking account at the beginning of each month. He died in the afternoon on September 29 (not this year!), and the SSA insisted that the entire amount, to the penny, had to be paid back. To heck with the fact that he was alive for more than 28 days during that month and needed that money for various expenses. It made no sense to me then, and it makes no sense to me now.

Snidely, to be a little more clear... SushiPup originally said, "I started my SS at 63. My husband has planned on not starting his until he is retired, which should be next year when he turns 69. When he turned 66, he started getting spousal benefits from me. And his new (just this month) medicare B account is under my SS#! But when he starts collecting his own benefits, I'll start to get spousal benefits based on his account, which is more than mine." As you stated, Snidely, the spouse can file/suspend, but the spouse needs to be full retirement age (which, for most of us is 66 but is changing depending on the person's year of birth). That way, the spouse can receive one-half of the suspended amount while his/her own benefit increases because it isn't being drawn upon. The spouse who has suspended payments is also going to receive an increased amount when he/she finally begins receiving monthly payments. It seems that SushiPup's husband was not yet 66 when she started receiving her benefits at age 63. Because she started receiving her benefits before her full retirement age, she is receiving a permanently reduced benefit. Also, when her husband begins drawing on his own benefits, SushiPup can apply for spousal benefits, but, again because she was not yet full retirement age when she began receiving her own benefits, she will receive a reduced amount of spousal benefits. Here is an example/quote from one of the FAQs on the SSA web site: "Mary Ann qualifies for a retirement benefit of $250 and a spouse’s benefit of $400. At her full retirement age, she will receive her own $250 retirement benefit, and we will add $150 from her spouse’s benefit, for a total of $400. If she takes her retirement benefit before her full retirement age, both amounts will be reduced." [bolded emphasis added] Since SushiPup's husband plans on retiring when he is 69, and because he is already receiving a monthly spousal benefit (albeit not nearly as much as what he will receive from his own SS account), he might want to hold off claiming benefits on his own account until he is 70 so that he will receive the maximum. Yes, he could file and suspend so that SushiPup can get an increase by adding the spousal benefit, but since her spousal benefit is going to be less than half of her husband's amount because she filed early, it would be more beneficial to wait. Hindsight is always 20/20, so it pays to learn as much as you can BEFORE you begin drawing benefits. :-) For example, did you know that if you've started receiving benefits and then come to the conclusion that you should have waited (for whatever reason), you can pay it all back to the SSA and it would be as if you'd never received a dime? You can, but you have only one year exactly in which to do it. Day 366? You're out of luck permanently. My husband and I both started receiving our SS benefits early -- me at age 64-1/4, and Hubs at age 63-3/4 (quarter-years figure in when calculating amounts). Yes, we would have received more if we waited until full retirement age of 66, or even delayed until age 70. It's not like we needed the payments -- both of us simply put it into savings each month because we each have a government pension from working for the State. But, if I had waited until age 66 to claim my benefits, it would take me over 15 years to recoup the money I received between ages 64 and 66. It would take my husband almost 24 years. And who knows if we'll live that long??

In our early fifties we are starting to think about whether to retire or not. We have 401Ks with matching through our jobs. My clinic also contributes to a pension. I have automated an increasing percentage of my wage going to my 401K until it reaches 10%. Based on projections we should have enough to retire at 60 should we choose to do so, and the market goes as expected based on historical cycles. We like working, but can see working a lot less in 5-10 years. I am a little concerned about GDP growth moving forward due to automation, demographics, low wage growth among low skilled workers, and our current debt/credit based monetary system. This is why I am not too concerned about the bond portion of my portfolio considering the fact that Ben Bernanke has projected no normalized interest rates in his lifetime. I remember 14% interest rates on long term CDs. Those days are gone as there is just not enough impetus for grown given above trends. In that regard we have also started saving cash outside of our bank and credit union accounts, as well as some physical gold and silver. I would like to have a very sizable emergency fund in cash and bullion outside of financial assets by the time we retire. We do prefer to spend cash for many of our weekly expenditures. We haven't used a credit card in over a year now. We have some cash back and other incentives though our cards, but I don't think it is a good habit to use them. We developed the habit about a decade ago of saving all coins and small bills. I separate out all pre 82 pennies and nickels and set those aside from our rolled quarters, dimes and zinc pennies. I vividly recall getting Franklin halves, silver Kennedy halves and mercury dimes in my change in the 70s, so coins still fell like real money to me to this day. A 90% Washington quarter bought a gallon of gas the year of my birth, and today is worth over $3. I also consider our gardens as part of our retirement plan, along with our firewood harvesting, hunting, fishing, foraging and food preservation in terms of both a health lifestyle and continued self-sufficiency.