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After reading Deathwatch For The Amazon, in a National Geographic Magazine, realizing all too well the planet is dying a very rapid pace, I'm surprised more people aren't thinking: Do I really want to be alive in 10-20 years to see the death of the planet? And, booking a round the world cruise, even if they've done it already. And, add to that, the effect of the lowering of the fertility rate around the world!
My miserly sister, with assets galore, who all but stops breathing when the price of tomatoes goes over $1 a pound, will leave a very sizeable inheritance to her 4 children, and I hope they spend it like drunken sailors!
My miserly sister, with assets galore, who all but stops breathing when the price of tomatoes goes over $1 a pound
Your sister sounds like my kind of woman! I got giddy with delight this week while buying tomatoes at Walmart and realizing they were on sale for fifty cents a pound!
The problem would be solved if we could only know the date of our impending death. If you might live until 100, you should hang onto your money for your future years....you aren't denying yourself the fruits of your labors, you're being smart. OTH, if you are going to die at 65, you could spend all that money now. But nobody knows.
It's common sense to hang onto it in case you have a longer life than you thought...it's security.
That's a good point. My great aunt went into a long term care facility at 92 and was there for 11 years. The bill for that was 1.5 million, just about everything she had.
I'm living in a senior Mobile home co-op in Tucson, and I decided to head up an Art Fund Drive to put some art work/statues, sculptures in our artless community plaza. I kicked it off with a $250 donation, and I requested that 200 individuals in the park contribute $10 each.
It's been 6 months now and the fund is barely over $400, not enough $$ to buy anything decent. The office assistant said that you have to remember there's people barely scraping by here, and $10 is a lot of $$.
Ok! I asked for too much! Then how about $5 each and that would bring the fund up to $1250.
I was in accounting for 10 years and I have a keen nose for those scraping by and those that could write a check for $1000 or $5000 and not miss it the next day. One theory of mine is seniors are living under a veil of fear, fearful SS will run out some day, along with Medicare and better not spend it.
I ran into a man walking his dog the other night. He told me he just spent $6000 on an operation for his dog, and $1000 to remove 5 teeth. And not even $5 for the art fund? Scraping by?
I've grown so disgusted with it all I'm now going to request the Board refund the donations to the donees and close it down.
I had put together a nice catalog of potential works of art, for people to look at, and I added that anyone giving to the art fund would be able to vote on which art work they prefer for the plaza.
People get to choose how they spend their money.
Clearly, not many people care about the art.
Maybe that person cares more about their dog more than some statue in a community plaza. Overall though a 20% participation rate seems pretty good.
Given I kicked in $250 of that, that's not 20%.
As a gift to the community, I spent the summer painting those concrete pylons (70 in all) around the community that hadn't been painted for some time, with white paint peeling, and the concrete showing, and I bought some nice acrylic paint which I didn't charge the association for, nor the labor. While painting some of these in front of some houses, some of these people offered to pay me, and I refused, urging them to put some money into the art fund instead. I also painted the berms/car stoppers at the community center and pool area, which hadn't been painted in years.
Be that as it may, as elected Chairman of the Art Fund, I'm going to bring this project to a close and reimburse all the donors, and I'll take my $250 and put a sculpture in my yard and be happy.
When I first suggested the idea of an Art Fun to one of the older members here, she laughed in my face and said: Good luck with that one!
I suspect there are a number in the forum this might represent!
I don't think it's a bad thing to turn over generational wealth and I suspect that is driving a lot of the reluctance to spend. I just retired 8 months ago at just over 60 so I could have a long time to go before I die, I'd rather be conservative and have too much than liberal and run out and need it.
I ran into a man walking his dog the other night. He told me he just spent $6000 on an operation for his dog, and $1000 to remove 5 teeth. And not even $5 for the art fund? Scraping by?
Just because your art project is meaningful to you does not mean it is meaningful to everyone else. And people for whatever reason choosing not to donate to it their decision should be respected. I wonder if the man walking his dog was holding up a sign soliciting for donations to defray the medical costs for his dog you would have donated to him $5 ??
I've been retired less than 2 years. I have not touched the principle of my before or after tax investments, just taken some of the monthly bond dividends out as spending money. I usually cover all my monthly expenses from my private pension. I am not a heavy consumer and have accustomed myself to a fairly simple life. That doesn't mean I won't be spending some of my assets in the future.
I wanted to see how the first 2 years of retirement went, as far as actual spending. My last 18 working years were in Orange County, CA, where I paid very high rent for a 1 BR apartment. Since retirement, I've been splitting my time between Tucson for fall through late spring, and Germany for the warm weather months. In Leipzig, I rent a fully equipped furnished apartment (including utilities, TV & internet) for less than I would pay for an unfurnished apartment in most cities in the US. My cost of living in Leipzig is less than what it would be in most parts of the USA, being that I don't have a car here and have no bills aside from 700 Euro ($800) monthly rent. Groceries for me are about the same cost as in the US, and I don't eat out much.
I am now confident that my financial situation in retirement is going to be fine. I'm not fearful or nervous about finances. As long as my health remains good, everything else is secondary. I will probably wait until at least age 68 before starting social security, and that will give me another big bump in monthly income. I paid in at the maximum deduction into SS for most of my nearly 40 working years, so that will work in my favor for the amount I will receive. At age 70.5 I have to start IRA mandatory withdrawals. That will move me up in the tax brackets, so a good chunk of those withdrawals will be paid in taxes. That's OK, they have been accumulating and growing for decades tax free. I'm not worried about that and who knows, maybe I'll give away some of those IRA withdrawals to a good cause.
I'm living in a senior Mobile home co-op in Tucson, and I decided to head up an Art Fund Drive to put some art work/statues, sculptures in our artless community plaza. I kicked it off with a $250 donation, and I requested that 200 individuals in the park contribute $10 each.
It's been 6 months now and the fund is barely over $400, not enough $$ to buy anything decent. The office assistant said that you have to remember there's people barely scraping by here, and $10 is a lot of $$.
Ok! I asked for too much! Then how about $5 each and that would bring the fund up to $1250.
I was in accounting for 10 years and I have a keen nose for those scraping by and those that could write a check for $1000 or $5000 and not miss it the next day. One theory of mine is seniors are living under a veil of fear, fearful SS will run out some day, along with Medicare and better not spend it.
I ran into a man walking his dog the other night. He told me he just spent $6000 on an operation for his dog, and $1000 to remove 5 teeth. And not even $5 for the art fund? Scraping by?
I've grown so disgusted with it all I'm now going to request the Board refund the donations to the donees and close it down.
I had put together a nice catalog of potential works of art, for people to look at, and I added that anyone giving to the art fund would be able to vote on which art work they prefer for the plaza.
Maybe they simply didn't like your art collection. Maybe it wasn't personal, but prefer their plaza as is.
My family is in sunny Yuma, and the economy is booming. Plenty of old people spending their limited funds.
Retirees that did the right thing and were diligent in their financial planning will do fine, and like anyone, have their priorities when it comes to spending.
That old man in the Park Model may find his art on his computer!
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