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Relative to the WaPo article and impoverished seniors, personal finance needs to be taught in grade and high school, the power of compound interest, present and future value of money, budgeting, etc.
Can't say I learned anything of what I know today about money when I was growing up. I learned it in the workplace working with bankers, investment managers, real estate investors, and top-flight attorneys - and reading financial publications.
Most valuable course I ever took in my late 30's was a commercial real estate investment course which taught present and future value of money, income streams, etc. Course was held in San Diego. Sat next to the atty son of the then atty general of the US (William French Smith II), who declared that one week was the equivalent of a semester of college - worth its weight in gold. This coming from a rich kid.
Children need to be taught these things as soon as they can read, add and subtract/multiply and divide - with personal finance/investment courses continuing into high school, imho.
You are so right! I don't know why HS doesn't teach a mandatory Finance class. When my son entered HS I taught him about the stock market and helped him pick a few stocks based on his interests and their track records (back when that meant something) and some mutual funds. I put up the money for him to buy some shares so that he would stay interested in the market. He would discuss the market with his friends at school and he once told me that he was the only 14 year old in his class that was saving for his retirement.
The literature they send with things now is very generic. They don't want to print something up for every version.
Try YouTube or ask the question on Google.
What kind of phone is it?
I have an iPhone - to listen to the voice mail - you just go to the phone icon, on that page, hit the voicemail icon, see the number it came from, hit it and play it - either listen to it via speaker or the regular old way -put phone to ear.
Thanks! It is a TracFone smart phone. Bought through HSN. I "accidentally" found how to listen to V.Mail but not sure I can find it again. It's pathetic. I used to be a smart woman. Don't use my brain enough. But I think I burned myself out over the years and recently it just felt so good to be like Scarlet O'Hara..... "I'll think about that tomorrow."
Discovered a very smart guy at Walmart. Joseph is my new hero.
People are living longer, more expensive lives, often without much of a safety net. As a result, record numbers of Americans older than 65 are working — now nearly 1 in 5. That proportion has risen steadily over the past decade, and at a far faster rate than any other age group. Today, 9 million senior citizens work, compared with 4 million in 2000.
While some work by choice rather than need, millions of others are entering their golden years with alarmingly fragile finances. Fundamental changes in the U.S. retirement system have shifted responsibility for saving from the employer to the worker, exacerbating the nation’s rich-poor divide. Two recent recessions devastated personal savings. And at a time when 10,000 baby boomers are turning 65 every day, Social Security benefits have lost about a third of their purchasing power since 2000.
I think it may be a choice in certain fields/jobs, like I can see teaching until 70 if you really love it and it gives you purpose. However I had a cashier in Walgreens last week who looked very elderly and could only move slowly. I didn't care how slow she moved, it broke my heart for her because I do not think it was a choice for her.
It's hard for a lot of people now, and for myriad reasons. One that I think gets overlooked is the breakup of families. Making it on 2 incomes or 2 SS checks or 2 pensions or a pension and 2 SS checks, is much easier than trying to make it alone. My brother was an auto mechanic his entire life, and once his wife left, he was broke all the time because he had to pay for 2 households. He lost years and years of saving time. Now he's broke, his ex is broke, everyone's broke, lol. He is working in a chain store now as a clerk at age 62.
The other really big things are the criminal cost of health care in this country, and the lack of jobs now that offer retirement plans, IMO. People tend to think of pensions as part and parcel of mainly government jobs, but in the ALFs I worked in I met a lot of people who had good pensions AND health care for life from companies they worked for like Bell Telephone (yes going in the wayback machine). back then you could be a telephone operator for decades, get yearly raises, get a pension and be able to save. Those days are gone when private companies do this for all but the most senior type positions. For those in unskilled jobs, loyalty is no longer rewarded like that.
I agree. My MIL is 100. She started getting lonely at age 90. All of her friends and family of her generation were gone or senile. She was sharp, living on her own and driving until 97. She got her first speeding ticket at 97! She's been ready to die since she was 96.
Anyhow, she's in a nursing home now with dementia, though otherwise healthy. She cries everyday and wants to go "home" to be with her husband. She claims she's in an airport but she keeps missing her plane. Dear merciful God....please take her!
No way would I want to live that long. It's too painful.
Prayers that she passes peacefully and quickly, been there, done that with relatives and realize how difficult a cross that is to bear.....no quality of life at all for them, and endless suffering for those relatives trying to help/cope with the situation.....
Well. I wanted to read this article, but when I go to the link, the Washington Post wants to charge me $1.00 to read the article. Went to their website and got the same thing. Maybe it is because it is the end of the month and I have already read my allocated # of articles.
I cannot bring myself to pay Jeff Bezos $1.00 to read this article, so I will have to skip it. Maybe, in a few years, when I am in my Golden Girls situation, we can pool our funds and get a subscription. Or maybe I am being overly optimistic.
WaPo subscription: $1 for 4 weeks ($6 per 4 weeks thereafter):
Well don't forget, some old people (myself included) get bored easily. When you see those people at the checkout, or those grocery stockers, don't always assume they HAVE to work. For some people, it is a very big choice and a privilege so they can keep using their brain.
I ,for one, have nearly completed renovating my house. So I am signing up with three different places to volunteer this winter. As soon as it's too cold to be in the garden, I will need more to do.
Well. I wanted to read this article, but when I go to the link, the Washington Post wants to charge me $1.00 to read the article. Went to their website and got the same thing. Maybe it is because it is the end of the month and I have already read my allocated # of articles.
I cannot bring myself to pay Jeff Bezos $1.00 to read this article, so I will have to skip it. Maybe, in a few years, when I am in my Golden Girls situation, we can pool our funds and get a subscription. Or maybe I am being overly optimistic.
If you have Prime you can get 6 months free if you subscribe through Amazon. $3.99 per month after that. At least that was the deal when I got it.
Those of us who are already poor knew this. And it makes the wealthy oldsters feel validated and pleased with themselves.
Most of those in the poor camp were always of limited means. When your income is modest there isn't much to be saved or invested. I am one who has lived on both sides of the fence and it is better on the green side.
How much money does it cost to gas up an RV and drive 1400 miles?
I expect theirs get about 8mpg (friend has similar) so 175 gallons at say $2.75 a gallon so about $480. So let us us say they drove it with a car that gets 25mpg so about $155 and maybe two nights in a motel so another say $150 so about $305 thus it cost them about $180 to bring along a place to live. Typically they might need $250 a month to rent a camping spot (with facilities) at the height of the season. Maybe the camp ground is throwing the spot in. Say a month from now at say $800 a month rent, they are$620 a month to the good.
They are not living like that as a necessity.
Last edited by johngolf; 09-30-2017 at 02:36 PM..
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