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I'm only 31, but this whole topic scares the crap out of me. I try to make good choices and save as much as I can, but I feel like I, along with most people my age, am going to end up in this situation. Sigh....
I'm a liitle bit older than you (76), but when I was your age there was much doom and gloom forecast. Keep making good choices and save as much as you can and and invest. You have some control over this. You can't do much for luck.
The laws regarding helping people with mental illness are awful. If you have a family member who suffers from severe metal illness and desperately needs help, you can not do a thing to help them unless they are deemed a threat to themselves (suicidal) or to someone else. At that you can only Baker Act them for a whopping 36 hours, and then they are put out on the streets. It is in my mind criminal and inhumane.
If they need institutional care, and they refuse it, you have no way to force the situation. I have sat in front of a doctor with a family member who was in absolute Never Never Land, and the only thing the doctor kept asking him was if he had thoughts of killing himself. You could not talk with him or reason with him. He was totally delusional, and they are leaving his care up to him? Something must be done to change these laws. I sometimes wish every one of our representatives in congress could have this happen to a close family member. Preferably their child or spouse. Then we might see some laws changed real quick.
Yes, it is a bad system. My friend was involuntarily hospitalized for being a threat to himself and others. I don't think he hurt anyone, but he was threatening to, with a weapon, which caused them to call in the SWAT team to help the psych team. Also he was driving all over on the interstate while very, very drunk. He was held for 3 weeks then released to a halfway house. He began telling them he was going to sue, so they let him out. He flushed the meds as soon as he got away from supervision.
The social worker told me people would drink like that to try to blunt the hyper-manic state, instead of taking meds.
I'm a liitle bit older than you (76), but when I was your age there was much doom and gloom forecast. Keep making good choices and save as much as you can and and invest. You have some control over this. You can't do much for luck.
This is excellent advice and I'd like to add : LIVE BELOW YOUR MEANS ~~ all those lifestyles have worked for me ~~ now in retirement.
I'd like to add : LIVE BELOW YOUR MEANS ~~ all those lifestyles have worked for me ~~ now in retirement.
BINGO! IMO this is the best tip ever, worked well for biscuitpop and me during our decades of working and it has continued to work for us in retirement.
I think Americans need to take a look at how recent immigrants adapt to, (and succeed at) life in the U.S.
Immigrants:
-Help each other out: they share information, micro lend within their group of friends, acquaintances and family.
-Communal housing. Often they will buy a whole house and divide it up (i.e. a floor per family).
-SAVE their money.
- socialize with each other by doing simple things-getting together for a potluck dinner, play music and/or dance together.
Living by yourself can be very expensive. I think an alternative to the usual American rugged individualism is perhaps people start thinking about communal living again. One doen't need to be an old hippie to do this and unlike many communes of previous times, people can maintain their own individual bank accounts. They can share the cost of many expensive household necessities, such as lawnmowers, appliances, even reducing on the number of automobiles in the household.
I remember listening to a roundtable discussion with community leaders, ministers and priests, and advocates for the poor and homeless. I will never forget when a social worker and minister who were both involved with an organization which helped the poor and underserved state that it was so difficult to convince those folks that life will be so much easier if they helped each other out. Practical things like childcare, buying in bulk together, giving each other leads on jobs- these are all things that immigrants do to help each other out but this idea is rejected by many Americans.
I think Americans need to take a look at how recent immigrants adapt to, (and succeed at) life in the U.S.
Immigrants:
-Help each other out: they share information, micro lend within their group of friends, acquaintances and family.
-Communal housing. Often they will buy a whole house and divide it up (i.e. a floor per family).
-SAVE their money.
- socialize with each other by doing simple things-getting together for a potluck dinner, play music and/or dance together.
Living by yourself can be very expensive. I think an alternative to the usual American rugged individualism is perhaps people start thinking about communal living again. One doen't need to be an old hippie to do this and unlike many communes of previous times, people can maintain their own individual bank accounts. They can share the cost of many expensive household necessities, such as lawnmowers, appliances, even reducing on the number of automobiles in the household.
I remember listening to a roundtable discussion with community leaders, ministers and priests, and advocates for the poor and homeless. I will never forget when a social worker and minister who were both involved with an organization which helped the poor and underserved state that it was so difficult to convince those folks that life will be so much easier if they helped each other out. Practical things like childcare, buying in bulk together, giving each other leads on jobs- these are all things that immigrants do to help each other out but this idea is rejected by many Americans.
Up until a number of decades ago, that hallmark of America was indeed rugged individualism. Thankfully, some vestige of that remains. It's what made this country strong in the first place. Unfortunately, more and more it's being diluted and people are becoming softer and more needy. I don't think it bodes well for up-and-coming generations or this country.
I wouldnt rely on that Costco job being a given, I retired and had planned to work partime,In 3yrs i put 5 applications in the local Walmart,to date no call back. In fact i've put in probably 50-60 applications in various enterprises around town and not a single call.
That's odd about Walmart not contacting you. At my store we have employees from age 17 to 84. They hired me at age 67 and I'm still there. I work part time, 32 hours a week, (my choice) and this job has truly 'saved my bacon' as far as income. Yeah, I'll probably work there till I die but luckily for me I really LIKE my job. If you really want to work I wouldn't give up.
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