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See Your Folks

seeyourfolks.com

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Re: See Your Folks

#121

Post by mikestew »

usaphp wrote: post #83
spodek wrote: post #46

Effective site, but I hope the people who found it depressing reconsider their response. The site didn't tell you anything you didn't already know, it only clarified it. Instead of denying information to keep yourself happy, why not use the information? My 69-year-old mother remarked earlier this year that if she didn't get around to some of her life goals soon she wouldn't be able to. Did she say that out of depress…

I don't want to nitpick but 100 kilometers a day for a 70 year old, sounds pretty impossible...thats about 7 hours of non stop riding every day at a modest speed, even a fit college student won't be able to bike for 7 hours straight. Edit: I do agree that a fit student can do a 7 hour bike tour, but i still staand by my opinion that for 70 year old it seems to be impossible.

I've known people in a bicycle club in their 70s who ride 100 mile rides a time or two a year. This being an antique bicycle club, that's 100 miles on an antique high wheeled bicycle. Fixed gear, and quite heavy.

Outliers for sure, but those are just those who I personally know. My own parents, 71 for him and 68 (with an artificial knee) for her, will be touring Hungary next year. I don't think it'll be 100K per day, but it should be a healthy daily distance.

Re: See Your Folks

#122

Post by frogpelt »

bradleyjg wrote: post #115
bitwize wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's every reason not to follow your heart, if your heart doesn't know how to make money. You've gotta have something for retirement...

It's strange to me how some people seem to obsess so much over retirement. Is your intertemporal discount rate negative (i.e. do you value a dollar 50 years more than you value a dollar today)? That's awfully counterintuitive if you do. There is a risk that the utility will drop to zero if you die before then, and even if it doesn't there is every reason to believe that you will be able to wring more enjoyment out of…

It's not that much different than squirrels saving nuts for the winter. Saving for the future is wise.

More to your point though, I think retirement dreams have been born out of blue-collar type work. People physically cannot do most types of blue-collar work when they reach the "golden years". Consider how you can enjoy your life now and how you can position yourself to have an income when you are not as nimble and healthy as you are now.

Re: See Your Folks

#123

Post by sliverstorm »

_random_ wrote: post #84
chris_mahan wrote: post #59

I'm going to Japan in 2 months, for 2 weeks, to see my wife's parents in Japan. (I live in Los Angeles.) They are getting up in years and their health is declining so this will probably be the last time we see her dad, and maybe her mom too. The trip will cost $6,000 minimum for the 3 of us to go. My father lives in Texas, and we went this spring. That cost $2,000. Next summer, we may go to France for a couple of wee…

Wow, did not know that domestic US flights cost that much. I hope you earn well above 100k!

Only one of those flights is domestic- to Texas. Your parent is flying three people, so $660 per person round trip.

When you consider the sheer size of the USA... It's an 8 hour flight from Anchorage, and a 3hr 20min flight from San Fran.

Re: See Your Folks

#124

Post by 6d0debc071 »

cylinder wrote: post #33
pdeshpande wrote: post #3

It made me sad because it makes me realize I have no control over the fact that they are growing old. Instead, what would be nice is if provided information such as: ask your father to go for a prostrate exam, ask your mother to run these other tests, and so on - based on the country, age and perhaps race data (which is not collected right now). The website is nice and intuitive.

Makes me sad because I don't have much control over living in the same city as them. I have a theory that much of the high rates of depression and unhappiness in the US can be attributed to the large size of the country combined with our mobility within it. Childhood friends always move far away, families separate, your schoolmates drift away. You need 2-5 hour flights to see anyone. Take for example a Brit or a Germ…

> Take for example a Brit or a German. The people you grow up with and your families might move to another city, but they are always just a reasonable train ride or drive away.

UK - I don't know anyone with friends in a different city who frequently sees the people they grew up with, (or their parents for that matter.)

Re: See Your Folks

#125

Post by 6d0debc071 »

I love my parents, but the knowledge that I'll only see them another ninety times... there's only so much hearing them my mother talk about her life or watching my father sit in front of the TV that I can take.

I'd prefer to have 90 days of goodness than 300 days of meh, you know? There's only a certain amount of content you can share in a given relationship.

Re: See Your Folks

#126

Post by arikrak »

cecilpl wrote: post #20

This erroneously uses the life expectancy at birth rather than the life expectancy at - a common mistake. If my parents are 80, I don't expect them to die in 1 year just because life expectancy at birth is 81. I expect them to live about another 8 years. Use a table like http://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html

You could also use WolframAlpha, e.g.: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=life+expectancy+in+usa+...

Though that's really the current life expectancy, no one actually knows future life expectancy, which depends on future technology.

Re: See Your Folks

#127

Post by jusben1369 »

stevoski wrote: post #108
usaphp wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want to nitpick but 100 kilometers a day for a 70 year old, sounds pretty impossible...thats about 7 hours of non stop riding every day at a modest speed, even a fit college student won't be able to bike for 7 hours straight. Edit: I do agree that a fit student can do a 7 hour bike tour, but i still staand by my opinion that for 70 year old it seems to be impossible.

Get involved in cycling communities and you realise that this, while not particularly easy, is not particularly hard either. Especially for spryer-than-average 70-year-old. An average unfit person of almost any age, can, within a couple of weeks of regular riding, achieve 100 km in a day.

Woooh. An unfit 55 - 70 year old isn't going to do 100km's after a couple of weeks. They'll blister and cramp out at a minimum even if it's really flat terrain. However, they could get there in a couple of months with the right training/dedication.

Re: See Your Folks

#128

Post by shoo »

cecilpl wrote: post #20

This erroneously uses the life expectancy at birth rather than the life expectancy at - a common mistake. If my parents are 80, I don't expect them to die in 1 year just because life expectancy at birth is 81. I expect them to live about another 8 years. Use a table like http://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html

i wonder if life expectancy estimates change much when conditioned on the fact that you've had children.

or if you've had children who can read english and can access the internet

Re: See Your Folks

#129

Post by jusben1369 »

dangerboysteve wrote: post #113
spodek wrote: post #46

Effective site, but I hope the people who found it depressing reconsider their response. The site didn't tell you anything you didn't already know, it only clarified it. Instead of denying information to keep yourself happy, why not use the information? My 69-year-old mother remarked earlier this year that if she didn't get around to some of her life goals soon she wouldn't be able to. Did she say that out of depress…

I admit at first I thought it was depressing. But I quickly realized the opportunity to make the most of it. My parents are 80. Skype should sponsor this site.

I think the airline industry is the biggest winner.

Re: See Your Folks

#130

Post by jusben1369 »

GFischer wrote: post #96
nostromo wrote: post #23

If you are 25 this is how many weeks you have left to live: http://i.imgur.com/MA3YeuX.jpg

I was going to say.. the website says I'll see my parents close to 1300 times... however, I believe that unless I make drastic life changes, my father will outlive me - I'm overweight and have heart risk and have a relatively low salary and long working hours, while he's extremely fit and lean and very well off, and only 18 years older than me.

Soooo, what are you going to do about those facts?
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