What will go first, you or your money?
THE GUARDIAN well into his own retirement years has been contemplating this question for quite some time.
Retirement at one point in the road of life was a relatively short number of years a few short decades ago. Not very many people made it to 80 years of age. Now, with medicare and modern medicine, they can keep us alive (reads not much quality of life) indefinitely. A lot of us can expect to live well into our late 80's and 90's and longer.
A sobering thought on this subject is what happens when you run out of money? THE GUARDIAN is experiencing this first hand with a father that is headed toward his 92nd birthday and running out of money and health too fragile to travel very far from his current home.
The bottom line is that I will get the task of traveling to where he now lives, remove him from his home, get rid of a lifetime accumulation of "stuff", and sell off his one remaining asset, his home. Any remainder from the sale of his home will go for medical bills and a room in an assisted living environment. These changes will not go down well for him or me. His personal belongings will be pared down to the bare essentials and that assisted living place is where he will remain until it is time for medical science to offer no more options but to depart this life.
People in elected office at virtually all levels of government give this very little thought when they spend tax dollars in less than prudent ways. People on fixed incomes have very few options to cope with inflation, ever increasing taxes, food, medical bills, and other issues of daily life, much less the ever increasing irresponsible behavior by government at all levels. They get to suck it up and pay more and more as they head for the "finish line" of their collective lives. Somehow all of this just does not seem quite right.
Retirement at one point in the road of life was a relatively short number of years a few short decades ago. Not very many people made it to 80 years of age. Now, with medicare and modern medicine, they can keep us alive (reads not much quality of life) indefinitely. A lot of us can expect to live well into our late 80's and 90's and longer.
A sobering thought on this subject is what happens when you run out of money? THE GUARDIAN is experiencing this first hand with a father that is headed toward his 92nd birthday and running out of money and health too fragile to travel very far from his current home.
The bottom line is that I will get the task of traveling to where he now lives, remove him from his home, get rid of a lifetime accumulation of "stuff", and sell off his one remaining asset, his home. Any remainder from the sale of his home will go for medical bills and a room in an assisted living environment. These changes will not go down well for him or me. His personal belongings will be pared down to the bare essentials and that assisted living place is where he will remain until it is time for medical science to offer no more options but to depart this life.
People in elected office at virtually all levels of government give this very little thought when they spend tax dollars in less than prudent ways. People on fixed incomes have very few options to cope with inflation, ever increasing taxes, food, medical bills, and other issues of daily life, much less the ever increasing irresponsible behavior by government at all levels. They get to suck it up and pay more and more as they head for the "finish line" of their collective lives. Somehow all of this just does not seem quite right.
All the available statistics say that the boomer generation, for the most part, will not have the money and resources to make it to the finish line.
You're right on track. That's why I was so ticked off about the sales tax increase in 2006...it's like they didn't even consider Senior Citizens and their fixed income.
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