February 21, 2017

Raw Data: Retiree Spending Across the Country

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In case you’re wondering what finally got me to try GeoFRED,1 it was a report I got this morning from the retirement boffins at EBRI, “Geographic Variation in Spending Among Older American Households.” This put me in mind of maps, and reminded me to check out FRED’s mapmaking prowess.

Anyway, the EBRI report turned out not to be all that interesting, but here’s a bit of raw data anyway about retiree spending:

The folks down in Texas and Arkansas sure have low expenses, though I’m not sure how much this tells us. Do they really have low expenses, or do they just have low incomes and can’t spend very much? Probably some of both. In any case, this gives you an idea of how much retirees spend in whatever part of the country you live in.

1I realize no one was wondering that. Work with me here.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

The upshot: Being able to rally $253,000 in donations over these next few weeks is vitally important simply because it is the number that keeps us right on track, helping make sure we don't end up with a bigger gap than can be filled again, helping us avoid any significant (and knowable) cash-flow crunches for now. We used to be more nonchalant about coming up short this time of year, thinking we can make it by the time June rolls around. Not anymore.

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Getting just 10 percent of the people who care enough about our work to be reading this blurb to part with a few bucks would be utterly transformative for us, and that's very much what we need to keep charging hard in this financially uncertain, high-stakes year.

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