In the case I recall, the DaveRamsey-inspired couple paid off debt. They also realized that it would make sense for them to hang onto their cars/trucks longer. For them, it was a game changer.
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@shawbridge I like your first paragraph.Totally agree with you , except I am pro union…
Problem is it’s not always feasible to live in a lower COLA place. I live where I do partly because D and SIL are nearby. They have jobs here that they love. I suppose it is possible for them ( and me) to move to a different city with a lower COLA but it wouldn’t be any rural area. The other cities would likely be in areas further from extended family and where the weather would not suit any of us. Lots of factors go into where people live.
I grew up in a rural area with a low COLA. There are some people who have managed to find good jobs and have family near. Win-win! Except…the schools aren’t good, healthcare isn’t good, no public transportation, 2hours from a major airport, etc. so downsides.
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I agree with you, but I thought you were going to go a different route with this statement. Some people can’t live in a lower COLA area because they’re already there. Where are they supposed to go? That’s what we are finding - well we’ve long known - that when we move, our options are going to be very limited even if we downsize to a shack.
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Good point @ClassicMom98
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I did it! I signed up for SS!
I’m such an optimizer that I never thought that I’d apply before at least FRA, but the numbers don’t lie, and it benefits us most to do it now. Yea!
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I agree that for some people, it is not possible to spend less. But for some people it is possible. We did it when our kids were little, using the inspirational book, “The Tightwadder’s Gazette”. We saved tons of money those years…basic tenets include borrow, postpone, buy used, make yourself. cook all from scratch, divest of subscription services, buy at yard sales, track food prices in notebook and stock up when prices are low. We cooked almost every meal at home, (lots of beans and rice, homemade bread, powdered milk) cut hair at home, enjoyed free activities, and worked together as a family.
It helped that our first house was bought at the bottom of the foreclosure market for just under 40K.
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To @ClassicMom98’s point, the longstanding “joke” in our family is downsizing for us or moving to a lower COLA might mean living in a cardboard shack down by the river. I notice very little difference in food prices between my town and NoVa, where D lives. Public transportation would save me money, as I wouldn’t need or want a vehicle. The cost of housing there is prohibitive; I wouldn’t want to live in the places I could easily afford.
I believe we have a responsibility to care for others who aren’t as fortunate. Should those with the least be isolated in the “cheapest” communities that undoubtedly lack the services that are needed? If everyone there is poor, who contributes to and supports the food bank and the free clinic? Our system seems to enable those with a lot of wealth and education to stay wealthy and pass those advantages to their children. Rinse and repeat.
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I agree with helping others when we can but also, some need to face reality. A high school band mom asked me if I’d pay her band fees because she didn’t have the money but had a brand new Lincoln SUV and wouldn’t fire her housekeeper because the housekeeper needed the money. She would not take a second job to keep her lifestyle, just hoped things would get better but she spent herself into that position trying to keep up with her neighbors. So now I look at people with a skeptical eye, which I really should not.
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These people are the outliers, few and far between.
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Limits on CEO compensation is not a free market concept, not a US concept with our form of government. Many of these situations (super highly compensated CEOs) are publicly traded companies, a board of directors - and I’m not sure how much that really affects the overall US population. Demoralizing for sure when you work in a company with some policies that are crushing and yet the CEO is super highly compensated.
Always good to have a very strong middle to upper middle class, with very small low-income group. IDK how many countries in the world have a better working economy and lifestyle based on the size of the US population and diversity of our 50 states.
More robust funding of social security - we have to look at what it was designed for, how life has changed since SS was implemented, what the current and future needs are, and if Congress will make fiscal changes. Younger workers often have started Roth IRAs or Roth 401ks with their employer or Roth IRAs on their own. “Roth IRAs were created by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 and became available for contributions in 1998. Roth 401(k) plans were authorized by legislation in 2001 but became available for employer implementation on January 1, 2006.”
Historically, 401k started with an accounting ‘loophole’ which was then seen as a good thing. Then post-tax Roth accounts. Pensions in many workplaces got phased out with more attention to 401k and Roth matching for retirement planning.
What’s fair? Who determines what’s fair?
In business, one looks at SWOT - strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats. None of us can ‘predict’ the future, but we try to understand the past, live in the present, and try to be prepared for the future.
Finally getting my mom’s documents together. I printed out a standard will for her, but I’m wondering if she actually needs it for us to avoid probate. She already did a transfer upon death form for her house, and me and my sister are beneficiaries on her accounts. When I look into who can be witnesses to the will, it looks like me and my sister shouldn’t be, since we’re the beneficiaries of her estate, and someone could complain. But who actually could complain? We’re her only kids, she has no siblings and my dad is deceased. So by law, without a will, everything would be left to her kids anyways.
This seems like unnecessary hassle to even do. On a good note, my mom is really healthy, so I don’t know that we’ll have to worry about this for a long time.
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My mom had a will but it never went to probate.
Why I recommend a will
She also had the medical and financial POA in that document. Those were important. Very much so with those last decisions.
The will gave clear directions who was the executor. I was able to do my job as the executor. We weren’t guessing who was supposed to do what. This was also important.
If there are any accounts that are not joint accounts or have clear beneficiaries, then the estate would have to go to probate for those accounts. When you start to unspool your parent’s estate, you may find something. You never know. That’s the thing
One thing I didn’t know what that having my mom putting me in her bank account was so key. I had to call the bank and figure some things out more than once. If you aren’t joint, the bank will be difficult to deal with and the account will have to go to probate.
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We are already retired. We saw our financial planner yesterday, and he says we still are OK to live to be 100 years old.
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I would have that confirmed by my doctor also!
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Thanks! Looking at our state laws, it appears not to be that much of a hassle to do a will. The will doesn’t have to be notarized, in fact, that doesn’t even help. Me and my sister can witness her signing, though we are interested parties and it’s not desirable, since we would be the beneficiaries by law anyways, it doesn’t actually change what would happen with the will. Since we are her beneficiaries on everything and have a TOD for the house, it’s likely the will would never go to probate anyways.
We already have medical and financial POA, but it sounds like it’s good to be on the will as executor in case there’s any question. In our simple situation, I don’t know why there would be a question. It would be nice to find a big pot of gold in my parents estate, but I wouldn’t bet two cents on that one! 
It could be helpful to be on my mom’s bank account to pay her bills, but since we are beneficiaries on her bank account, I’m not sure why it would have to go to probate?
We used affadvits of heirship for my parents rather than their wills.
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I don’t know why but that’s what I was told. It certainly made things much easier to deal with the bank. My only idea is that the bank has its own system and they make their own rules.
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I am just guessing here also.
I was a joint owner on my mother’s checking & savings accounts, but one of several beneficiaries on her brokerage accounts. I had POA on her brokerage, but as soon as she died, my access to that account ended, other than initiating the paperwork to have the account divided among the beneficiaries. (Each beneficiary was required to set up a taxable, Inherited IRA, and Inherited Roth account in order to have the funds transferred.)
However I was able to continue writing checks/making payments out of her checking account. My understanding is that the money in her checking and savings accounts belonged to me, but since I knew that it was not my mother’s intention to leave that money to me, I used it to pay her outstanding bills and ongoing cost associated with her house until we could sell it.
An advantage of keeping the account open was the ability to accept any random payments that came in (pension perhaps? I have forgotten the specifics of this point.), and I opened an estate account that ended up seeing very little use.
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obviously, every state is different wrt probate, but many/(most?) have small estate exemptions from probate. In CA ,for example, estates under ~$208k are exempt from probate. (PoD/ToD accounts, trust accounts, and any with named beneficiaries are not included in the $208k.)
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I’m not that familiar but know that it’s been a godsend that my mom put her kids on her bank accounts and that it’s been really easy.
The bank is asking security questions that I’m able to answer and get the information that I need. Such as when her independent living place charged her when she had passed away and no longer lived there. I was able to stop those charges and have them get back the money that they shouldn’t have charged me. Because she was dead and no longer lived there. The IL told me to stop the payments on their online system but they disabled it because she no longer lived there. It was a mess, but because I was joint on the account I was able to make things right
I hope to learn from my mom’s example and make things as easy as possible for my kids.
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