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Old 04-22-2009, 10:08 PM
 
1,788 posts, read 3,910,972 times
Reputation: 1055

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I'm not talking the person or family who is griping because they can't buy 5 new Iphones, or take their annual summer trip to Europe......

I'm talking things like baby boomers who are starting over and have no where to turn.

Kicked out their homes, lost their jobs, and are literally bound for a shelter type lifestyle.

Dropped out of college because they can't afford to go.

Major life changing situation?

Tell me about who you know in these types of situations, what they are trying to do? Are the hopeless, dire and have given up?

What is your backup plan, do you have one?

Here is miy story?

Both my parents worked in the same profession for 30 years. Both are in their early sixties. Both lost their jobs just years before retirement. Mom has serious medical issues, now no insurance. Their home was almost paid off but they took loans 2 years ago to pay medical deductibles. Now the loans exceed the value of their home by 35%%. They are now loosing their home. Both of them look day and night for jobs. They apply to anything and everything out there, with hundreds of other applicants. Both are qualified, neither get called, mostly due to age. My father was self employed for 90% of his working years and so he will not get much social security. He brned through his IRA, paying bills and paying medical. My mom is 62 and she will get $1400 in 3 years when she turns 65, assuming we are not bankrupt fully as a nation by then, as I suspect will be the case. They are in a dire mess, nowhere to turn, soon nowhere to live. They refuse to come live with me, as they won't "burden" their child. I fear for them, really I do. How did they go from being financially secure, owning their home to being jobless and soon to be out on the streets?

Anyone else know anyone facing these issues? Perhaps yourself? Tell us your story.

Please no talk about Obama, or Bush, or waterboarding. Obama is a man, he means well, but he puts his pants on one leg at a time like the rest of us. His hands are tied. I fear what will become of us, as a nation! I fear what will become of our old and sick. I think or prosperous days are clearly numbered.

 
Old 04-22-2009, 10:36 PM
 
Location: Some place very cold
5,501 posts, read 22,405,623 times
Reputation: 4353
Me. I am truly hurting. You just learn to live with less and stop moaning and groaning.
 
Old 04-22-2009, 10:54 PM
 
1,627 posts, read 3,204,169 times
Reputation: 2066
My heart goes out to your Parents and you, CarolinaCowboy. I have a hard time comprehending that the United States spends buckos of money into military, Nassau, but not to provide affordable health care for all.

What happened to your parents can literally happen to anyone of us. We never know what tomorrow will bring.

All the people I know are cutting back. People are thinking twice before they purchase a car, a spa, or go on a vacation.

I do know people who are going through bankruptcy, and where I live there was a neighbor across the street that lost their house and one around the corner.

We all are worried about the future of the United States and the burden of debt that will be placed on future generations.

I wish for the best for your parents.
 
Old 04-22-2009, 11:14 PM
 
18,655 posts, read 33,243,985 times
Reputation: 37042
The guy who built my house, a wonderful contractor/craftsman, has seen his work dry up almost overnight, as people aren't using home equity for remodels, etc. His wife is stay-home, two kids. House paid for. No disability insurance, and has to pay out of pocket for family health insurance- $1200/month.
Yes, I think his eyes got big during the go-go years- had inherited some $150K in stocks, sent daughter to one year of private high school ($34k for a day student- that's just absurd) and now the stock is $42K. To compound things,he's fallen into an immobilizing depression and finding it very hard to do what work there is. Wife and daughter are not helping with expectations and demands. He's turning 50 this week.
I'm trying to talk him into seeing someone for antidepressants. He's spiraling down.

I absolutely feel for the OP's parents. The healthcare situation here is disgraceful.
 
Old 04-22-2009, 11:52 PM
 
Location: Native Floridian, USA
5,297 posts, read 7,593,225 times
Reputation: 7478
I am 65, my husband is 58. We are self employed but it jobs not a business and our income is slipping each month. We kept our insurance (medical) as long as we could but it became too expensive. A couple of years ago I had a huge tumor in my abdomon and it had to be removed. We are now 40,000 in debt, on credit cards for the medical bills. We will pay as long as we can.

We drive two older vehicles. The house is paid for but no money to make much repairs.

We had a little retirement that we didnt put into starting the business 20 years ago. We saw it drop 50 % in a matter of months. We were devastated.

We will just continue on as best we can as long as our health holds out. We are better off than some people but for how long, who knows.
 
Old 04-23-2009, 02:44 AM
 
10,494 posts, read 27,154,182 times
Reputation: 6716
I am 33 years old and suffering. I make $9.50 an hour and can barely make ends meet. I have to rent a room in someone's apartment because I can not afford my own place. I drive a 1991 ford escort with no air conditioning (I live in Las Vegas) that is all beat up. My employer provides absolutely no benefits including health insurance. I could go on and on, but I do not want to depress you guys.
 
Old 04-23-2009, 03:33 AM
 
Location: Moku Nui, Hawaii
11,048 posts, read 23,907,457 times
Reputation: 10901
We hire a friend for half a day a week to do yard work since he lost his job last fall, can't find another and has two young daughters. He has a place to live, though, at least for now. We can't really afford it financially speaking, but we can't really not afford it morally speaking.

Some other friends lost their house and have moved to the mainland to live with her dad. They are a small family with two kids and he had a business which hired three other people until work fell to nothing early last year.

Several other folks we know are getting about half the hours they usually do so they aren't out spending money on much of anything.

Some other friends are out of retirement and working part time to pay for the increasing prices of things.

Another friend is going to delay retirement since the $200K she had to buy a house with has turned into $40K and she's not certain if she will be needing that to live on pretty soon or not.

Several years ago, a friend of mine got us into looking at macro-economics, world economies and such. We started paying off credit cards and getting out of debt then so we are okay now. Had we not done that, we'd have been in a world of hurt now ourselves.
 
Old 04-23-2009, 01:30 PM
 
81 posts, read 194,092 times
Reputation: 97
I won't even go into this guys background because its pretty depressing.

He worked as an electrical technician at EMC. Him along with a bunch of friends saw the EMC stock go up so they invested almost all they owned into it. At its peak, they all were worth a couple of million apiece. We all know what happened with the bubble in 99; things regressed to normal. My friend had planned his retirment house, his kids education, and lost it all. Several of his co workers in the same sitaution committed suicide.

To this day, he can not sleep more than 1 hour per night. He has trouble keeping jobs because of the economy. He is an extremly hard worker and dedicated individual who would be a welcome addition during a healthy economy.
 
Old 04-23-2009, 05:36 PM
 
4,253 posts, read 9,428,892 times
Reputation: 5140
Carolina Cowboy - somewhat your parents situation is similar to my family's... I don't view it as hurting (or maybe I try not to view it as hurting). My husband is 61, and I'm 45. He's been self-employed for almost 30 years, - meaning, when it's time to collect his pension, in 4 years, it will be about $250 a month (accumulated before he became self-employed). On top of it all, we have small kids, 4 and 5 years old. (yes, we met later in life, and we are not blaming anyone for that, in fact, our kids are the best we could have done in our lives). I'm staying at home with them, and am trying to develop my business out of the house.

We used to have a property free and clear, but, regrettably, in the financial heydays borrowed against it. The debt is still under the value of the property, but it would be very sad to part with it as it has been inherited for 3 generations.

I guess, generally we are not expecting to formally retire. Living in the rural area, I'm aiming to provide 80% of the food from my land. We are building a house on another piece of land that is free and clear, thankfully. It's very helpful that my husband is a handyman of all trades. He's built a few houses and building ourselves, it will cost us a few thousands only. We are trying to stay clear of banks and various middlemen. There is no way a value of a house should be $200K or even $100K. It's too over-inflated. $30K, maybe. And that's real wood, not unhealthy chip boards.

Anyway. I am going through this "hurt" for the second time in my life, the first time was 20 years ago, so it's getting old and not as sensational. I lived through the fall of the Soviet Union, and that fall was absolute. Empty stores, stopped factories, gunmans boarding buses demanding ransom.

So I know that the life will rebound.

What I learned from these hard times, is that 1) the most important is to be able to make things with your own hands. Education-shmeducation. You can't eat your MBA diploma. and 2) Keep your money in your own account.
 
Old 04-23-2009, 06:07 PM
 
3,724 posts, read 9,296,602 times
Reputation: 1427
I hear some people around where I am complaining because they can't get the kind of jobs they want. It irks me some, because I live on a fixed income and budget well - all my bills get paid before I even think of buying groceries. I have enough stockpiled from sales, etc, that I can do that - it just gets boring at times. But I also have another house I want torn down, and I have a lot - and I do mean a LOT - of scrap metal that the sellers left behind when I bought my house. I have some trees that are winter-killed and well seasoned. I keep hearing that there are people who will tear down, remove, etc, for the materials that they can then recycle and sell. The trees alone would keep a family in firewood for the winter. But every single person I've talked to wants to be paid as well as getting the materials, firewood, all the scrap metal which they will then take to the local dealer and sell. If they are so broke, what on earth is wrong with workng for kind instead of cash at least part of the time? It seems to me that a lot of the people who are complaining most loudly are the ones who still have a sense of entitlement, they think that they should keep on getting paid just to show up [and I won't even mention the ones I've actually paid to repair things that still didn't work after they got their cash - 'no checks, please'].

I know others who have been laid off from good jobs, who just suck it up and take the first thing they can find that will pay the bills, or most of them anyway, and aren't shy about contacting creditors and getting them to work with them - and very few of them have credit cards they've used for anything other than a true emergency, anyway. Some of these people will work 2 or 3 part time jobs, whatever it takes to keep their families fed, housed, and clothed - and I don't mean designer labels or eating out a lot.

End of rant.
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