Gold for the golden years

[cjsmith]

Having spent a week with my parents, and now spending a week with Rob's parents, I am reminded of the need for long-range financial planning. My parents don't have a solid plan for retirement; my mom lives in fear. Rob's folks and most of the people they discuss are also elderly. I don't know who "Bill" is, but this week I learned that his assisted living facility costs thousands of dollars a month. "Catherine" is in a nursing home costing even more. Rob's aunt is very fortunate that she sold the family farm and moved in with her daughter a year or so before she had her stroke. Heck, if anything happens to Rob's mom, Rob's dad will need to hire a full-time bodyservant.

All of this sure makes me think twice about this whole veterinarian thing. Not that I had a good path to a secure old age as it was; don't get me wrong. But this is the single most financially devastating thing I've ever done in my life. It surpasses even holding on to BRCM stock during 2001.

People say having children doesn't necessarily guarantee good elder care. They're right, of course. But NOT having children is definitely a LESS reassuring situation. Basically, unless you have a few people who are younger and healthier than you are and who are also massively indebted to you, you'd best have a truckload of money. And I don't.

Comments

[sharya.livejournal.com]

Hmm, how to explain without making me sound like a total spacecadet...

Basically, I find that anytime I make decisions that involve improvement to my emotional/spiritual health, everything else just seems to improve as well.

Between 10-15 years ago, I was having this huge breakdown, and my friend got me this book that really helped her (don't ask what it's called, I lent it out and haven't gotten it back yet). Anyway, it had this concept that if you take care of your bio/psycho/social self, then the financial aspect would just follow. People who had money problems, if they just focused on taking care of the money stuff at the detriment of their bio/psycho/social growth and development, never seemed to be able to take care of their money stuff. On the other hand, the people who took care of themselves, money just seemed to fall into their lap.

It sounds really hokey, I know, but life really does seem to work out that way. It's been that way for just about everyone I know...

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I can certainly see where someone who is happier will not only manage money matters better but also have more opportunities arise. Maybe this is what my family members were talking about as well. Someone who's happy has more energy, and that's almost like getting free extra time in the day.