Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Location: Living near our Nation's Capitol since 2010
2,218 posts, read 3,464,891 times
Reputation: 6035
I do. A friend of mine ignored doing financial planning and she spent money as soon as she got it. She used her home as a piggy bank by using equity line of credit, she let the house fall apart all around her (example: she never once cleaned her refrigerator in the 10 years she had it, when it broke, she found stuff in there that had been expired for 9 years.)
So, now it is 2016 and she is selling her house to one of those "we buy any house" groups. She will get less than 40% of the assessed value, she leaves hundreds of thousands of value behind because she let the house get so bad.
Now, she is 65, unemployed, and it dawned on her that not only does she have no savings...none...but she is only getting $150K for a home that should have sold for $500K in good condition. She thinks life is SO unfair to her. And of course, she asked me for a $20K loan. She never paid me back for the last loan I made to her....so, no.
I do. A friend of mine ignored doing financial planning and she spent money as soon as she got it. She used her home as a piggy bank by using equity line of credit, she let the house fall apart all around her (example: she never once cleaned her refrigerator in the 10 years she had it, when it broke, she found stuff in there that had been expired for 9 years.)
So, now it is 2016 and she is selling her house to one of those "we buy any house" groups. She will get less than 40% of the assessed value, she leaves hundreds of thousands of value behind because she let the house get so bad.
Now, she is 65, unemployed, and it dawned on her that not only does she have no savings...none...but she is only getting $150K for a home that should have sold for $500K in good condition. She thinks life is SO unfair to her. And of course, she asked me for a $20K loan. She never paid me back for the last loan I made to her....so, no.
Your friend is disgusting to the max. And what is equally disgusting is that we taxpayers will be subsidizing her existence from now until she dies. And some people want the "rich" to pay more taxes to help people like your friend.
I have a sister who has very little, but she'll survive. She made some poor choices in life (two loser husbands) but her current LTR of 25 years is better. Still, she only ever held jobs that didn't pay much more than subsistence wages. She and her S.O. live in a small cabin on someone else's property and have done so for years, taking care of the property in exchange for living there.
My sister saved enough to pay off a tiny house that she rents out to a tenant. She also had saved some money, but a stroke at age 60 wiped out her savings in medical bills. She has some weakness still on one side and uses a cane. She started collecting social security at 62 because she knows she will not likely find work again.
She survives on it. She and her S.O. are hunters and grow a large amount of vegetables. They had laying hens for a while, but a bear ate them. Her S.O. gets some kind of pension also.
They both drive old cars and rarely leave the rural area in which they live.
GuyinSD---that graph is sobering---but it does specify "savings account." The article seems to allude to retirement savings more generally, but I wonder if this graph is just limited to actual savings accounts people have at banks. I have a checking account, but not a savings account. I have investments at a brokerage firm, but none of it would be considered a savings account, so technically I would fall under the 22.8 of Boomers who don't have a savings account....
I know someone (50 yrs old now) who has been a dead beat all of his life. Partying has always been his #1 priority. He always has a lackadaisical attitude about work when he does manage to find a job. Eventually he gets fired. He has always borrowed money from people under the guise of "friends helping out friends" and then he drags his heels when it comes to paying them back. Recently he seems to have run out of people to bum money off of and free places to stay. So now he's an Uber driver. Always complaining about the system and the 1%ers.
I have a sister-in-law and her husband that are living on their SS. They have nothing else. As long as there are two, they get by. When there is only one, the day of reckoning will take place.
GuyinSD---that graph is sobering---but it does specify "savings account." The article seems to allude to retirement savings more generally, but I wonder if this graph is just limited to actual savings accounts people have at banks. I have a checking account, but not a savings account. I have investments at a brokerage firm, but none of it would be considered a savings account, so technically I would fall under the 22.8 of Boomers who don't have a savings account....
Quote:
Originally Posted by SFBayBoomer
That graph is just plain wrong. I don't believe it for a minute. The amounts are way too low.
Pretty much. I haven't had a savings account in 25 years. When we had enough, we moved into money markets because they paid more... ah, those were the days....
Still have money market at a brokerage house. If I was asked about a savings account, I would answer that I don't have a savings account.
Most of my friends are not retired yet. A couple of them are not saving anything, and seemingly spending everything they can get their hands on.
The few that are retired, one is terrified of spending in case she runs out, and she has a pension. The other one is completely opposite, apparently merrily spending her savings as fast as she can.
Because I am on the outside, and I don't know their facts, so it's hard to say if they are skinflints and spendthrifts. I'm sure they might feel the same about me...it's so hard to judge.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
