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I am one. I had no idea how to manage money. I was raised the same way. College was something other people did. When we graduated from high school, we were expected to get a job and pay board if we lived at home. I remember being in high school and hearing people talking about the SATS and wondering what that meant.
My mother, who was a high-school dropout, managed the household money very frugally as a child of the Depression, but she didn't teach any of that to us kids.
Because I was one of seven kids and grew up wearing hand-me-downs and only getting the very basic necessities bought for me by my parents, I was thrilled when I started babysitting as a pre-teen and then had jobs in high school because that meant I could go shopping and have some of the more fashionable clothes, shoes, jewelry, etc., that the other kids in school had.
I wasn't worried about saving because I was going to get married and have kids like my mother did and wouldn't be working for long anyway.
Well, that didn't go as planned...
The one thing that I DID do right, financially, without intending to do so, was go to secretarial school about a year and a half after graduating from high school and then getting a public sector secretarial job at a transportation agency that was in a state pension system. I didn't care one bit about the pension when I got the job at 20. Or the health insurance. I took the job because it paid about $25 a week more than any of the others I was offered and I got two weeks vacation right off the bat.
Thirty-seven years later, after a bad marriage and years of single motherhood without child support, I retired from a management position with that pension, as well as health insurance I don't have to pay for. I can't take the credit. It was accidental.
I still have little savings, but post-retirement, I've had several job offers and currently work part-time. It's easy work based on knowledge and contacts I made over the years, and the pay is good. I mostly stash that money.
Going to college is no guarantee for younger people either. For many, it doesn't meaningfully move the needle.
I graduated during the Great Recession. I was stuck in low wage, low skill work. It took four years and two major moves to get a "professional track" entry level job where the college degree was required. When I got that, I ran with it. Most people, at least from my neck of the woods, aren't going to do those types of moves. They'd rather earn $10-$12/hr and just complain about everything.
I'll be 34 in April. I'm a homeowner with some disposable income. Single. If someone had asked me "where do you see yourself in five to ten years?" when I was 20, I'd basically have said where I am now. I'm about five years behind where I should be professionally, from a retirement contribution perspective, probably from a "normal relationship" track perspective, everything.
Life doesn't always neatly track a prefabricated plan.
I think a major medical situation would add to the problem. But today's lifestyle is so much grander than it used to be. When I think of how we grew up, solid middle class, and what we didn't have that is considered a necessity these days... I just shake my head.
We still don't have smart phones. You wouldn't believe the push back from just about everybody we get for that. We kept our lifestyle simple while we paid off a mortgage and got completely out of debt. Recently we had big dental bills and appliance failures but were able to fund these things. And we don't have pensions either. For one thing, I wouldn't give up my medigap policy and drug policy and regular medicare for one of those advantage plans for anything. We are pretty much covered for disasters, at least a whole lot better than we could be if we went for the cheap plan. I've seen what a person with a chronic illness can need, and no it's not smart to not be prepared for that.
You can get an older iPhone for $200-$300 on an unlimited everything plan from Straight Talk for about $45-$50/month service charge. It won't light the woods on fire, but it will be acceptable.
People talk about consumer spending on things like iPhones, but it's not often those little things that sink you.
With my Jeep giving trouble, I've been looking at new cars casually. You can easily spend $10,000 on options. Those are the big problems, not $50/month for an iPhone.
I think a major medical situation would add to the problem. But today's lifestyle is so much grander than it used to be. When I think of how we grew up, solid middle class, and what we didn't have that is considered a necessity these days... I just shake my head.
We still don't have smart phones. You wouldn't believe the push back from just about everybody we get for that. We kept our lifestyle simple while we paid off a mortgage and got completely out of debt. Recently we had big dental bills and appliance failures but were able to fund these things. And we don't have pensions either. For one thing, I wouldn't give up my medigap policy and drug policy and regular medicare for one of those advantage plans for anything. We are pretty much covered for disasters, at least a whole lot better than we could be if we went for the cheap plan. I've seen what a person with a chronic illness can need, and no it's not smart to not be prepared for that.
I agree with this ^^^. When growing up, we lived in the “nicest†neighborhood in our small suburb of a city with a population under 80,000. The local doctors, dentists, lawyers, etc. were our neighbors. Our houses averaged 3 bedrooms, one full bath with a powder room, and averaged around 1300-1700 sq. feet. There were 2-4 kids in most houses. Nothing like the McMansions today. It was a point of pride to get the mortgage paid off ASAP.
I still have my trusty flip phone as the smart phones don’t fit in my pocket when out walking. I prefer my iPad Mini when at home anyway.
I agree with this ^^^. When growing up, we lived in the “nicest†neighborhood in our small suburb of a city with a population under 80,000. The local doctors, dentists, lawyers, etc. were our neighbors. Our houses averaged 3 bedrooms, one full bath with a powder room, and averaged around 1300-1700 sq. feet. There were 2-4 kids in most houses. Nothing like the McMansions today. It was a point of pride to get the mortgage paid off ASAP.
I still have my trusty flip phone as the smart phones don’t fit in my pocket when out walking. I prefer my iPad Mini when at home anyway.
Sure, houses are "bigger" today, but they're also generally built better, and it's not cost-effective in many locations to build small homes.
When I was in Indiana, I lived in an apartment complex built in 1972. The insulation was terrible. Walls were thin. Power bills were high. My townhome was built in 2002. It's built much better. Power bill is about 1/3 of what it was in September in Indiana.
Why the increases after age 65 when everyone has Medicare?
Why are so many people over 55 going bankrupt?
From the time I was married I never went one second without health insurance for the entire family and I will admit that at times paying the premium took a good bite of my wallet.
But with Medicare, and assuming some supplements, how does someone over 65 go bankrupt over medical bills?
I have had stage 3 cancer for 5 full years -- and am still working full time with employer coverage.
My recent 18 months on immunotherapy oral meds cost me $0 a month -- no co-pay & FedEx delivery for $0. This all is because of what is called "commercial coverage".
I am 65. If I were on Medicare today, my cost for same meds would be $3,000 per month. That is 80% of the drugs cost of $15,000 per month. Now that's how you get bankrupt ... easily.
Sure, houses are "bigger" today, but they're also generally built better, and it's not cost-effective in many locations to build small homes.
When I was in Indiana, I lived in an apartment complex built in 1972. The insulation was terrible. Walls were thin. Power bills were high. My townhome was built in 2002. It's built much better. Power bill is about 1/3 of what it was in September in Indiana.
I don't get why it is not cost effective to build a smaller home. I could easily live in an efficient 1300-1500 square feet home.
Medicare covers many strictly medical bills. But . . .
It does't cover so well newer, non-generic drugs which can run as high as thousand(s) per month. Nor does it pay for in-home aftercare or any sort of nursing home or assisted living, which many older people need after they have some medical emergency.
Exactly - also realize that Medicare part B and a good Medigap or Advantage plan can easily be $800 - $1000 a month for a couple.
I have a friend in her late 50's. She is single and lives in Oregon. She is just a regular person who has always worked low paying jobs in health care. She has never made a significant salary. She was laid off from several jobs and had her hours cut frequently in the decade after the 2008 crash. Then she had some medical problems and racked up a lot of debt. Jobs that pay poorly seldom have good insurance.
So here she is trying to work 60 or 80 hours a week to pay off this debt. And she has NOTHING saved for retirement. All her savings were eaten up by the job losses and medical debt. She has put in all her years to claim SS but it is not a lot of money because it was all work for low pay. Recently she asked my advice about dealing with her financial problems. I told her to quit paying her debts and file Chapter 7. Get out from under all the debt and start saving for retirement. Work as long as possible. I also told her to see a Social Worker and start applying for every program she can qualify for. She needs to learn how to work the system because she will be really low income when she retires.
I went on to explain that by qualifying for Medicaid, she will be able to get them to pay her medicare premiums and function as her Medigap. Have access to food stamps/food banks, and subsidized housing. It is grim but not impossible.
She is very sad and somewhat angry but I honestly think she has very few other choices that make sense.
There are too many people here in this same position. She worked for enough years at a hard job. She just didn't make enough money to stay solvent.
The size of the house has nothing to do with the quality of the workmanship or building materials used.
That, as well as certain costs. Running plumbing from the house to the road, land developments, permits, etc., labor, are a lot of times flat fees or don't scale linearly with the cost of the home. These "overhead expenses" will be a higher percentage of costs for a small home than a big home, and a higher profit can be realized on a bigger, more expensive home.
Quote:
Originally Posted by yellowsnow
I have a friend in her late 50's. She is single and lives in Oregon. She is just a regular person who has always worked low paying jobs in health care. She has never made a significant salary. She was laid off from several jobs and had her hours cut frequently in the decade after the 2008 crash. Then she had some medical problems and racked up a lot of debt. Jobs that pay poorly seldom have good insurance.
So here she is trying to work 60 or 80 hours a week to pay off this debt. And she has NOTHING saved for retirement. All her savings were eaten up by the job losses and medical debt. She has put in all her years to claim SS but it is not a lot of money because it was all work for low pay. Recently she asked my advice about dealing with her financial problems. I told her to quit paying her debts and file Chapter 7. Get out from under all the debt and start saving for retirement. Work as long as possible. I also told her to see a Social Worker and start applying for every program she can qualify for. She needs to learn how to work the system because she will be really low income when she retires.
I went on to explain that by qualifying for Medicaid, she will be able to get them to pay her medicare premiums and function as her Medigap. Have access to food stamps/food banks, and subsidized housing. It is grim but not impossible.
She is very sad and somewhat angry but I honestly think she has very few other choices that make sense.
There are too many people here in this same position. She worked for enough years at a hard job. She just didn't make enough money to stay solvent.
Agreed.
I have fairly good health insurance. I had an upper respiratory infection a couple of months ago and went to an urgent care. I paid $45 at the door. I got a bill for $32 yesterday. The medicine was maybe $30. It was about $100 total.
I went to an urgent care back in 2013 with bronchitis when I didn't have insurance. The total cost was about $1,200 for a test, visit, and medicine. I made $12/hr then. That damn near wiped me out.
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