This is one subject that I love to discuss. There are a bazillion areas of it that I find fasinating, and others where my eyes glaze over when someone starts elaborating on them. I'm wondering if you ladies feel the same way that I do about discussing finances...

What got me started on this was reading an old post by Stacy. (Thank you Stacy! I hope you found your backing!)

She had started a new biz online and was trying to find backing or a loan but was meeting with opposition because of a less than stellar credit rating. I feel for her, and can relate somewhat.

Things I like to discuss is

1. How to save money (new ways)
2. How to get out of debt (a favorite of mine)
3. How to STAY out of debt (another favorite)

Things I HATE to discuss are

1. Investing (mutual funds, stocks, bonds)
2. Investing (mutual funds, stocks, bonds)
3. Need I repeat it?

How do you and yours handle discussing these issues? Does one handle all? Do you share it? How about your children? Do they know the pitfalls of Credit Cards?

Who should declare bankruptcy? What happens when you do?
Who should get credit counseling?
What are the latest scams for these things?

Please jump in...discuss any or ALL with me. I love it.

JJ

Is this subject so scary that nobody wants to tackle it? Maybe I wrote too much? How bout this? How do you save dollars in your budgets? Or make extra moola?

JJ

Just missed it JJ - so...what the heck do you want, my checkbook balance? Does this forum use red ink?

Actually, I'm one of those anal folks that balances my checkbook to the penny every month. I handle all the money, cash flow, etc, and my hubby handles the investments - like where to put the 401k money. This has worked well for us for 30 years.

I have one credit card I use all the time, and then pay it off every month. I get frequent flyer miles for it, and that's one reason I can afford to go on vacation this year.

We think we're on track for retirement, but you never know what health surprises are in store. That alone could throw everything off track.

So...JJ... is this a good start? More another day...
Kathy

JJ, do I have a reply for you - later though, grandbabe is waking up!

Kathy,
Your situation sounds so finanically healthy. I'm so glad for that. To what do you attribute the sound money management practices of your family? Were you raised with the same good practices around you? Did you have a "money mentor?" I would love to know.

Flipperjo...can't wait to hear your story as well!

JJ

Okey, I got two good quotes for this subject:

The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.
-- John F. Kennedy

The best way to realize the pleasure of feeling rich is to live in a smaller house than your means would entitle you to have.
-- Edward Clarke

Very good quotes...I just loved JFK!

It amazes me that the CC companies have been allowed to run amuck. They can send young people these enticing offers and then hear this! If they are late making a payment to ANYONE....not necessarily the CC company....ANYONE they owe money to, the CC company is allowed to raise their interest rate! That is unjustified and criminal! I have a very large dislike for CC companies and their tactics.

I'm also amazed that the rate of savings for US vs. other countries, say like Japan. I wish I could put my finger on my research I did on this, but I can't at the moment. But trust me when I say it was embarassing!

JJ

All I can say is "I'm scared". We did the best we could when the kids were young to stay afloat. Now, we are looking toward retirement and I worry about paying these high property taxes while on fixed income. I'm not sure what we think is enough, is really enough. As far as the credit card companies, I agree with you JJ. They are on college campuses and offer a ton of money to these kids who don't even have a job. I know of kids who come out with thousands of dollars in debt before their 1st job. They will never dig themselves out. Don't we all get those credit applications on a daily basis in the mail? They can afford to spend a fortune in these mass mailings daily. As far as investments, I take the advice of the broker that comes into my office only since I am dumb when it comes to all that jargon. My husband is better than me and handles his while making sure he agrees with my statements as well. I say it's all a crap shoot! Of course, if you are lucky enough to be left old family money.....that can ease the fear. We are not, so it is all up to us. That's okay, we just need good health to get us by and keep on working.

I've had a difficult time "getting" the whole finance thing. As a young girl, whatever allowance or babysitting money I earned just slipped right through my fingers. I had no sense of the true cost of things, or the true value of money. As I ventured out into the working world after high school, I somehow managed my money well enough to pay the rent, but other than that, I was clueless. I literally drifted my way across the country, and eventually landed myself into dire financial straits where bankruptcy was the only choice left. It ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me. For one thing, it forced me to get rid of all my credit cards (I had a bad credit rating anyway so they were no good to me). And a side benefit of bankruptcy was that I lost all of my furniture, but then ended up with an apartment full of borrowed stuff - which taught me a living lesson about the true generosity and kindness of my friends, and it also taught me how to ask for help (which I'd always had trouble doing before).

For seven years following my declaration of bankruptcy, I had to pay everything by cash. The bankruptcy counsellors taught me how to budget. But the reality was that I was not able to make enough money to make ends meet - even though I was living in a mouse-infested dive of an apartment and probably paying the lowest possible rent, I still wasn't bringing in enough to house, feed, clothe and transport myself. So it remained a struggle for many years. I'd like to say that I figured it out on my own, but the truth is that it wasn't until my hubby came into my life that I was finally able to manage my finances satisfactorily - and that's because I finally had enough money to manage!

He's taught me all about managing my money, to the point where I have been able to invest almost all of my parent's inheritance money, which brings me in dividends, which give me enough spending money each month to enjoy retirement at 50. I'm not rich by any means, and have had to scale down the budget considerably, but we're comfortable enough. Twenty years ago, it would have been so far beyond my wildest dreams to think that I would ever be able to retire, much less at 50!! (Mind you, the premature retirement was forced by my breakdown in 2002.) Still, I'm delighted with my new ability to manage money now!

If anyone's interested, I'll share how I also broke my shopping addiction. I inherited that from my Mom and it took me close to 40 years to get it under control. It's still one of my favourite pasttimes, but now I control it, it doesn't control me or my bank account.

JJ, I don't know if I should post or not - financial issues have become HUGE here in the last 2 years and this is a big can of worms!

We have always handled our finances as one - no mine or yours. It is not a power issue with us. That is not to say we never argue about money - we do, but only because we sometimes have different ideas about how to handle things that come up, not because one has a need to be right.

We have always been ok financially - not rich, not poor – and we are not extravagant spenders. I drove my 1993 Honda to 175,000 miles and my 2002 model will go just as long or longer. We built a modest home in 1989.

Two years ago when we sold our dairy herd (we continue to raise cash crops and beef), the credit union where we had been doing business loans for 25 years, tried to destroy us.

The head loan officer destroyed us on paper (devalued assets to the tune of $400,000) and proceeded to do everything in his power to put us out of business. Even though we had never defaulted on a loan, he started handling our accounts as though we were the worst risk that ever walked through the doors. He put all our business loans on our credit reports with bad information, and without notifying us of these reports as the law requires.

This was in the spring, at planting time, and we were unable to get financed at another bank in time to put the crop in so were forced to stay there that year. We hired a consultant who turned out to do more damage than good because he went to the banks for us and discussed the "B" word (bankruptcy) regards our operation, rather than correcting the false information on the credit union's balance sheet. We didn't know this until later.

Rather than a conventional operating loan for the farm season, we had to give him a list of expenses every two weeks. Each time, he would short us by thousands of dollars making sure all of our payments were late creating more bad information on the credit report. Also each time, all four of us had to go in and sign a whole new set of loan papers.

We prepared new balance sheets every few weeks. Between the numbers he misrepresented and continuous inventory changes, even WE didn’t know what we had by summer’s end.

The credit union made us a whole month late getting into the field, and that did major damage to the final yields of our crops that year. I tried to get the cr. union president to mediate with the loan dept. but he was too lazy or too stupid to look into it. He told me they took the actions they did to "protect our members"! Apparently our 25 years there weren't enough to rate "member status".

Our son farms with us so he and his wife have experienced it all right along with us. We are now financed with Farm Credit Services and that hasn't been much better. The ND banks are way behind the rest of the world in ag. financing issues. At this time, dairy farmers are selling their operations in other states, and moving here where their dollar goes farther. They are getting financing from their home state banks, NOT North Dakota banks! Our banks are doing more to put us out of business than keep us solvent.

As to investing and stocks, we have now spent all but a few thousand dollars that we'd saved for retirement. We are fighting for survival, which is where "Farming by the Yard" comes in. It is my way of trying to make us independent of the banks. I want so badly to walk in there and say, "Here's your money - GOOD BYE!" The only decent banker I have met in the last 2 years is the one who believes in Farming by the Yard and gave me an unsecured startup loan.

Credit cards are another nightmare. Through all of this we have not been able to pay off the two cards we have been forced to use for misc. expenses. Credit card banks thrive on fees and high interest rates charged to people like us.

Ag. businesses (seed, fertilizer etc. sales) can make mistakes that destroy hundreds of acres of crops, and we still have to pay them. If we don’t, they will file liens on our crops, further complicating things. One ag supplier sold us bad seed and then destroyed other growing crops by not spraying properly. We held back money for damages and he filed a lien filled with misinformation and beyond the time limit provided by state law. It cost us $1200 in legal fees to apply to the courts for a release of lien. He withdrew the lien the day before the judge was to look at our brief. By the time the lien was off the county list, the damage had been done with other local businesses and our financing was delayed, making us late to the field for yet another spring. He is still sending us bills and we will be spending more on legal fees before we are through with him.

We have NEVER defaulted on a loan. My husband has more integrity in his little finger than all of these bankers put together. We honor our commitments and are getting slammed from every direction. We are now wondering why we bothered to pay everything. Our credit reflects the same damage as if we had simply not paid our bills.

Our daughter died in 1994 so on the personal side we’ve been dealing with that loss. In 1997 a load of bad feed made all our dairy cows sick and we pretty much lost the herd and gradually built it back up. We sued the feed company and after 3 years of litigation, settled out of court and ended up with about 20% of our losses. Also in 1997, a railroad crew welding on the tracks started a grass fire that destroyed 2 of our pastures, cracked the block on our tractor that our son used cultivating around the fire to try to keep it from our home and barns and burned across the cemetery where our daughter is buried, killing all of the trees there. It took a year of negotiating before the railroad paid us and they never did pay the $15,000 damage to the tractor.

We have never been negative people but are finding it more and more difficult to find a reason to keep trying. We try to concentrate on the joys provided by our sons, their wife/fiancé and beautiful granddaughter.

I look around and see other people with much bigger problems than mine. I remember my dad who lived with the devastation of polio all of his life and never became a “victim” by living with a positive, smiling spirit. What right do I have to give up when he endured so much to provide for me?

So, JJ, are you sorry you asked? Thanks for providing me with a vent!

jo

Flipperjo, your story is both eye-opening and really, really scary. Is everyone in North Dakota so corrupt? Isn't there any redress which won't cost you an arm and a leg to pursue? What happened to you is absolutely boggling and awful.

Back to Jawjaw's question: El Hubbo spends all day watching the stock market inch up and down. That's his new "job" (going on 10 years now) and he inhales the whole investment spectrum. He counts pennies. Plans his grocery shopping around this week's coupons. Never spends money on anything if he can help it. The good news is -- his financial machinations are adding a small income gain, as he's pretty conservative in his investment strategies. He also wants me to take a larger role in choosing stocks and investments zzzzz..... Thanks, but I already have a full-time job or two.

I've never been in debt. Never spent money that I didn't have. Never wrote a bad check. House and cars are paid for. Got insurance (health, car and homeowners.) Because of the nature of my business, I invest a fair amount of money on an ongoing basis for supplies.

We have an unreal number of credit cards, depending on who's offering us what at any given moment. Pay off the entire amount every month, on time.

Hardly ever buy non-business-related "stuff" although I have a nice computer. No cell phone, no cable TV, no electronic gadgets. Rent movies. Cook from scratch -- but good foods only, not junk. Most clothing bought on sale. When I travel, it's youth hostels or the back of my van for sleeping.

I've never had a lot of money, but I've always had what I think are necessities. Nice furniture, some of which I've had for 20+ years. Art work. I buy quality things to keep.

My one extravagance? A housecleaner twice a month.

Wow...am I sorry I asked? Not on your life. These stories by comparison are ALL eye-openers. Jo I'd like to come up there and give those bankers a piece of my mind. Back a hundred years ago when I had a small business (outlet store) I had a leave of absence from my "other" job, and had banked with a credit union for 25 years. When I approached them one time for a loan it was like I had a disease. I was flabbergasted since I had always paid my bills, never late, yada...yada. And they said, "no can do, you're a high risk." Huh? And the reason was? Female, if you ask me...but I couldn't get them to admit that out loud.

I was forced to use CC to make inventory. This was devastating to a small biz...as I'm sure you already know...
And that was in my hometown. I've had plenty of loans with them since that time, all paid off ahead of schedule, but that one time when I really needed them to be there, they weren't. I've never gone inside THAT particular branch since then, and never will. (Like that hurts them? ha!)...

To me and with my experience in debt, CC are evil. Are the cards themselves evil? Of course not. But they become a evil presence when someone is desperate to make ends meet for whatever reason, and feel they are forced to use them to survive, like Jo ... and me.

I just cannot believe they are not regulated any more than they are. But hey, they are big business. If you think about our parent's lives compared to our lives, and whats available to us now, it seems we have it better, much better, in some sense, but in other CENTS, we do not. I'm thinking that most people paid cash for everything they owned/bought back then.

JJ

Hi, Jo: Just wondering, have you sought legal advice against the CU? There must be some form of legal remedy available to you in tort i.e where a CU representative undertakes a duty and is then negligent in performing that duty.

House paid for, casr paid for, no credit cards to speak of...Now if major items would stop breaking down, air conditioning, $4000.00, water heater, $850.00, TV repaqir $400.00, need entire house replumbed $2100.00, and a new car battery just last Monday $89.00. If it isn't one thing its something else again....the house and I are both growing older and needing repairs.

I think each state should initiate a program for the schools and teach kids about CC AND about how to invest, how to save, and how to PAY CASH for things.

Maybe I should try to get a grant and write something for that, eh?

JJ

I agree one hundred percent. No child should graduate from school not knowing how to budget money, knowing how to handle a checking/savings account and being made aware of the evils of credit cards when not handled properly. It is disgraceful that none of this is taught. To me its the most important lessons we can teach our kids to be ready for the real world..

Post deleted by jawjaw

Eagle we won't tell your Mama. Filing for bankruptcy happens to the best of us. My parents had a friend that filed bankruptcy every 10 years or so. Each time he recovered, earned millions, and then went broke again. That was awesome.
I so agree with you ladies. One of THE most important things in life is budgeting, and they didn't teach that to me in school either. The first time I moved out and had my own apartment, I was dead broke within three months. I was so proud being on my own, that I borrowed money from friends instead of my parents,… just to avoid the "I told you so's." Now when I think back, my parents should have sat down with me and showed me a budget plan. I was like a cat thrown into a barrel of water. I've learned from that, though, and have always put money aside, that I don't touch, just in case I shouldn't sell anything for half a year or so. That's my security zone.

Have any of you ever heard of Junior Acheivement? I was involved in High School. It was a program where we met in the evenings and made a business - a real one. Our business ended up manufacturing emergency car flashlights out of toilet plungers, believe it or not!

We learned about cost of goods, marketing, manufacturing, budgeting, selling, etc. In fact, maybe that's where I got some of my business smarts.

Since I enjoyed it so much when I was a teen, I checked into it again when I was director at an elementary charter school. The have an awesome program for all ages, so I signed up and taught grades K-6 the program at our school.

The packages for the kids are fun yet educational - they all loved coming to class. And it's amazing how much most of them really absorb and understand economics once they are exposed to the principles.

In fact, I think if I ever retire, I would love to volunteer to teach this program again.

http://www.ja.org/

Kathy

Yes, we had that even during my years in school, believe it or not. The problem as I see it is that only a certain small percentage of students actually get into programs like this (by choice) and so the "word" or education doesn't filter down to the ones who would rather have PE than JA....you know? Especially in larger schools where identies are lost.

I guess my thoughts boil down to my fear of whats happening to our younger generation with their attitude of "give it to me now." I want them to get educated about the facts and how the CC are taking advantage of their naiviety by standing there with the golden apple and saying, "here, use this credit card to get what you want, there's more where that came from! Ahhh...go on. You know you want it!" You know?

Here is how we save money and stay out of debt.
In our house, I have always taken care of the home finances and my husband takes care of our investments...401K & Stocks. I have set up a budget years ago that we follow pretty close. I save for EVERYTHING. I keep a ledger and have created many columns in the ledger & have calculated for every known expense we have through out the year such as; home/auto insurance, property taxes, license plates, etc., that must come out of each paycheck to meet these bills annually. Then I have extra columns for all misc. items that I must save for future purchases or repairs like appliances, furniture, riding lawn mower,auto maintained & spending money to name a few. These particular columns might only get 10 or 20 dollars in them every pay period, but they do add up in 3 or 4 years......patience. There is not always allot of pay check left after budgeting everything, but it sure as heck takes the worry out of how I am going to pay my major bills when the bill comes due. This is what has worked for us. It does take some discipline and patience. We only get paid twice a month so we have to be disciplined in out spending. I hate credit cards too. I do have one, but I make sure I can pay it off the next month, if I have to use it. I look at the kids now days. They want EVERYTHING right now. They don't think about how they will pay for it, or if they can! They can't seem to distinguish between their needs and wants.

There's a site at Garden and Hearth called Debt Free Living that has some good ideas.
www.gardenandhearth/debtfreeliving.htm

Anne, a very good point for boomers to hear. Because any of us could be thrust (even willing as I'm sure you are) into the role of caregiver (I've been there twice) and if you don't work for a company who believes in helping/supporting their biggest assest, the employee, then you're up the stream without a paddle. How do you generate income, take care of a love one, and keep stress at bay...Great topic in it's own right. I would LOVE to give a workshop on that one topic right there! Gosh I could write tons on it, unfortunately.

Cookie, you are one of those rare individuals who has found the "secret" to staying out of debt. I hate the B word, most of us do. No, not that one...the B---as in Budget. But it is a necessary evil. I stumbled onto a site one time called "Cheapskate Monthly." Some of you have read post where I go on and on about Mary Hunt and what she proposes. Well, it is exactly what Cookie is doing, or should I say, HAS been doing all these years. How did you get so dang smart, Cookie?

This is one great method for STAYING out of debt but there's another thing that needs to be explained to the public (IMHO) and that is WHY people get in debt in the first place. There are lots of reasons already listed here and Ladies, you have my upmost respect for sharing your personal life experiences here, but there are as many reasons as there are people, just about.

I want to thank everybody for jumping in here and sharing. Maybe we are reaching someone out there that needs to hear/read/learn from this topic....yes?

I know I have, and let's face it, I thought I knew EVERYTHING! hahah..ahem...

oops!
gave the wrong address...sorry!
www.gardenandhearth.com/debtfreeliving.htm

I'm sorry I lost track of this thread after writing my gripes - life is barrelling on...my father-in-law had a stroke and we had to admit MIL for respite care until we find out more about his condition and can decide what to do with them both.

as to my earlier post...

No, not everyone here is so corrupt. The guy at the credit union is extreme, although all of the banks here are very down on ag. financing. You can go get a new boat or camper without a second look but try to get the same amount for your farm and they want 10 times the collateral as the loan amount.

As for redress for our damages, we are looking into that. I did consult and out of state attorney (keeping out of ND because in the legal sense, ND is one big small town) and was told that the cu didn't do anything illegal, but highly unethical and that doesn't help in court. We have hired the best ag. lawyer in the state to make the little punk ag. supplier who has caused so many problems go away. We have some damning evidence against him involving other people so we're hoping he will see the light when our lawyer meets his.

Also, there is a federal agency that regulates CU's and we will be filing a complaint and asking for an investigation with them but must wait till we are firmly on our feet financially again. We can't take any chances on retribution anywhere else.

You are all so right about cc's! We paid ours off every month, too, until the cr. union did their work on us. We are striving to get back to the monthly payoff routine. We've never had more the 2 cards, and that helps. Just last month I was able to get the 2 card banks to bring our interest rates back down to 8% from the 28% they had been charging us. It took two years to get them to back down.

I am also scrutinizing our credit reports and disputing the CU accounts. The CU response was to add more bad information and we haven't even done business with them in over a year! This is NOT fun!

Anyway, just wanted to let you all know I appreciate your input and encouragement.
Thank you!

I went to your Farming by the Yard website. Really innovative idea! Have you had many takers?

I could have sworn I posted this already but guess not...If you have a $5000.00 balance on a credit card that charges 22% annually and you make the minimum payment monthly of $100.00...(are you sitting down?) of that $100.00, $87.00 dollars of it goes to the INTEREST.... It will take 30 years to pay it off. My Lord!!! Teach that to our children...

yes, Meredith, I've had a lot of takers but not enough to get into the black for this year. I am, however, using this year's journal to springboard into educational products, a line of note/greeting cards with my photographs, and as a promotional tool for the 2007 season. I have lots of work to do on that. And thanks for looking!!!

Chatty, it is a shocker when you work the numbers on credit cards - they are one of the biggest scams ever pulled on the American public.

Jo,

Your site is awesome! The pictures are breath taking. Definitely do something with them!

Would you believe I got an email this morning from a company who is selling products to educate your child on how to earn, save, and take care of their future. For grade schools. I was so elated to see that someone took the bull by the horns and ran with it. Great idea for $39.99. Wish it had been around for ME!

JJ

I just keep trying to impress on my kids that they want to stay away from credit cards. My oldest daughter and her husband ran up some debts when he was out of work for a while; they've now been able to work that back down and their regular payment history has allowed them to still have a good credit rating. They just bought their first house last month.

My second daughter and her husband won't even use a credit card at all.

My youngest daughter and my son both have a credit card (my account) to carry in case they get caught without cash in their pocket and need gas for their car or something, but they have to get permission to use it for anything else. (One is in college, one is in high school). Plus they have to pay me back for the gas. However, they both have student checking accounts (no service charge) and debit cards, and I worry a little about my daughter. She often spends her whole paycheck within the week after she's received it, whereas my son has built up a pretty good savings. My daughter feels that as long as she hasn't overspent, she's good, but I would really want her to develop a savings habit. So far, no beans.

As for myself, I'm VERY conservative about money. I'm far more likely to put any extra money into a 6-month CD than I am to invest it. Considering the state of the stock market lately, I think the CD's are a much better deal. You don't make much, but you can't lose it.

Just thinking about why money is so scary...for me it is what stands between me doing what I want--writing, etc.--and returning to work as a nurse.

What would I do if money weren't an issue? I'd write, plain and simple.

Money...or the lack of it...scares me because it controls whether or not I get to keep doing my dream.

I think it's the same for most of us. Unfortunately we can live longer without love than we can money in the long run...

And I've always had love as the priority...oooooops!

If you earn money, then why would managing your finances be scary? It's your money, you sweated over it.

Anyway, my financial reality crashed in..was when I bought my own condo solo without asking family or friends to help me out. No one else had the money to give anyway. Then 14 yrs. later I sold it..to relocate elsewhere.
It took alot of effort, but paid off mortgage in 6 years.

But yea, investing in mutual funds, stocks, etc....it becomes a chore to monitor and be abit alert about the markets. But it is money that I rightfully earned...

I was raised in a family where parents very rarely used credit cards. Yes, we were thrifty and poor.Got my first credit card...after I graduated from university...just so that I could build a credit line. And thank goodness for that, because honest, have not racked up credit card debt...except once. I was only $12.00 in debt...I forgot the transaction at the time

I met my partner later in life, so perhaps it helps to have lead, learning time in advance...to be forced to manage one's own income, especially when one has mortgage.

Finances scary? Only because everything costs so much and it's harder to save something. Only because meds, health & dental insurance, and car insurance keeps going up. Only because the cost of living keeps increasing and my income doesn't. I work on commission so every month is different. Here in Florida homeowners are losing homes because home insurance and taxes have tripled. No, I don't own but keep the dream alive. My rent increases by leaps and bounds because taxes increased so much.

I count every penny, nickel and dime. Like Kathy, I balance my checkbook to the penny monthly. I have no debt. Since committing to self-publishing my book I am spending, spending, spending, for a risk I am willing to take and I'm doing it the right way or it won't be worth the risk. I was taught that if you can't afford it you can't have it. Sometimes you have to go for it regardless of the outcome. This might be a once in a lifetime occassion and I would hate to think I didn't take the chance.

I am an accountant by trade and yes finances are scary. Now that I am getting older I realize that I do not have enough invested for my retirement years. So last year I put as much as I could into our plans and started looking into how I could make some extra money along with working full time. Which introduced me to the home based businesses and the online world. Hopefully nothing major comes along to knock me on my butt.

www.denisesgifts.com

Denise, I like your site and have it bookmarked to see more, later. I think the finances are scary because as someone stated, everything is going up, up, up, and salaries are not rising to meet even the cost of living. So preparing for retirement has become a major priority where our parents relied on the company they worked for to "handle" that part.

It just isn't true anymore because of down-sizing, layoffs and streamlining that more and more companies are doing. This happens to people without their having prior knowledge a lot of the time and can destory some, financially. And emotionally!

Also, will Social Security be around when you retire? Who knows? One certainly can't live off SS, but every little bit helps. What if it isn't there though?

So becoming prepared financially for the unknown has become part of the equation for everyone nowadays and the worries are there that we might not be doing enough, or have enough. I'm not talking about luxuries either, I'm talking about surviving!

I'm worried about Social Security, having just myself to support, I know I'll rely upon having that income. Just not certain how much I'll be able to rely upon!

Health problems are what scare me. My DH and I have watched members of his family and mine being hit hard with health problems - money suckers!!! One member was financially wiped out, which I think sped up her death.
I hate dealing with the issue so badly, I keep stacking stuff away, thinking "later, maybe later." It sometimes makes my stomach hurt, thinking about it. DH has nothing to do with it. It's not his cup of tea. Aren't we a fine pair?