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!