A familiar scenerio on the forum: Elder parents have saved all there lives. Have a nice nest egg but haven't spent a cent on themselves or the house since Shep was a pup. My folks are mid 80s, have tens of thousands sitting in checking accounts but the house, kitchen, furniture is all nasty 40 year old stuff. Mom is nursing her last drop of prescription cream that she needs badly cause there's a 20 dollar co pay.
So after watching this for years I've decided to spend it all. Well not all, but my wife and I are looking around the joint and making some improvements that we probably will never do when we're old and stubborn. My wife loves my Dad, he's a sweet old guy, but she knows d@mn well I will be a carbon copy in about 20 years: Stubborn, tight, don't need a new sofa......
We are not wealthy by any measure but we can afford to improve our home for the years to come. I see so many old folks, with money, sitting around in horrible conditions. Hell with the kids. I want an RV! And a boat!
I've known people who bought RVs and boats. After a time or two using them, they just set there. Seeing how things go, I think I would just rent or lease. Then you don't have this big albatross sitting in the yard or requiring a storage dock at a local yard. And you don't have to advertise to sell on down the road.
Maybe I'll spend my savings on Godiva chocolate instead - much more delightful than a rototiller.
Seriously, I am seeing things that need to be changed, areas in which to simplify, that I want to do when I'm still able. Getting a one story house with attached garage is a big change, for a starter.
I think there's another issue to older people's resistance to improving the house - they're battling with so many identity issues, loss of confidence, loss of mobility, medical issues, etc. that the condition of the house just isn't that important. Their hierarchy of needs has changed, just as it has changed for their caregivers.
I grew up having very little, I worked and still had little of my own, although I was able to live a lifestyle beyond my means by living with my sis and family. If I win a million dollars tomorrow I will still worry that I won't have enough to carry me through. I think there are spenders, and there are savers, and never the twain shall meet!
It's a long weekend here in Canada and I just may clean house (don't hold your breath) but first I'm going outside to plant a climbing rose, water everything, deal with some straw and haul feed off the truck for the chickens. Puttering around the property is what makes me happy.
The idea of leaving the kids something financial is nice but most of us will be lucky to get out of this life without being reduced to poverty. Letting our children know this so they aren't expecting anything from Mom and Dad is a kindness we can do them.
Plan for tomorrow but live for today!
I am still frugal and will continue to be that way as I am scared silly I won't have enough to get me through my remaining years. I have no children, thus no one to help me as I age.... no siblings, either.
After seeing the hefty costs of just hiring qualified caregivers was enough to make my head spin. One time with my Dad when he had 24-hour care at home [fall risk with stairs] it was $20k a month. And Mom's long-term-care facility was $15k a month. Yikes.
Now with Independent Living Dad is paying $4k a month, plus another $3k a month for his caregivers who help out 5 mornings per week, plus extra cost for the facility to do pill management.... over $84,000 per year. Wow, what a deal compared to living at home. Glad my folks had saved for these rainy days as it is storming out there.
I am in the process of trying to sell my parents house. They did replace 5 windows with brand new ones, but didn't bother to replace the rest of the house. Carpets are 35 years old and look it. Newer washer and dryer... guess I am lucky Mom opted for a dryer as the house still had clothes lines strung all around the basement that Mom used up until she was 98 years old. Dad jerry-rigged a laundry sink in the basement that drains into the floor drain, just don't run more than a cup or two of water or it would flood the basement. Looked like a bottle of shellac tipped over in a large wooden storage cabinet, I can't remove the glass or anything else stuck in the shellac.
I need one of those really huge Hershey bars right now :)
Year 3. house pretty much fixed up, wood stove and generator installed, raised veg beds, a greenhouse made out of old windows I found on the side of the road and a chicken coop and run. It's been a hard road, lots of $, blood, sweat and tears, but so worth it. We're home. Mommie Dearest passed last fall thank goodness so for once in my life I'm free and happy.
i envision taking my cash and having that extended German vacation that i wish for . id stay till i ran out of money or they escorted me to a big catapult and tossed my @%s back over the sea ..