71–80 of 154 posts
Article begins with spending $20 on a prime-rib lunch, then complains about not being able to eat....
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nothing will be done to improve it. That requires decent people. Our civilization is on a hyperbolic trajectory out of decency, disregarding all accumulated wisdom of civilization builders, exchanging it for short-term profit.
Could you be more specific about what "decent wisdom of civilization builders" we've disregarded...?
The situation for her does suck, but seeing profiles like this makes me want to tear my hair out.
If you're trying to service $50,000 in unsecured debt (likely at a 24.99999% interest rate) with less than $2000 in gross income, just declare bankruptcy. You've lost the game of financial planning; continuing to play it just makes sure you remain a loser for the final few years you spend on this mortal coil.
Clear the slate and start over while you still have time. She has nothing to lose (she won't be able to finance a new car, RV or house in her current circumstances either) and a few hundred dollars a month in disposable income to gain. That's around a 25% increase overnight, just by waking up and doing what every corporate citizen in this country does when its own debts get too onerous.
The woman profiled in this article is 79 years old. She gets $1200/month from social security and a $190/month pension. If we as a society think that $1390/month isn't enough to live on and that 79 years ought not to have to work to survive then we should have some program that gives her more than $1200/month.
Maybe that should be a means tested program, though that comes with side effects, or maybe an elderly UBI. Or perhaps you disagree with one or both of the premises -- like that you think that $1390/month is plenty. That's okay too.
My point is that social security with its strange formulas and conceptual inconsistencies isn't some fact of the universe like that the sun will burn out. It is something that we Americans picked and we Americans can change if we decide to.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
She is already getting social security.
Ok. So society has already done a little. And? Obviously, this isn't the solution that has solved the problem without some real changes to social security and/or support systems for the poor. It doesn't change the fact that society still needs to do something.
Five paragraphs in, the root of many of her problems: "Her savings long gone, and having never done much long-term financial planning" Six paragraphs in, the root of elderly problems nation-wide: "Nearly one-third of U.S. heads of households ages 55 and older have no pension or retirement savings and a median annual income of about $19,000" Is it possible that the lack of long term financial planning, aka saving mone…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or if, you know, we had social values where it’s OK to have your children take care of you.
And when your children can't really afford to take care of themselves ? The problem runs way deeper than Oh But The Degeneracy Of The Family can address it.
Maybe we should start a foster-care system for homeless like we do orphans.
I'd bet that Elder-care is a whole different story. Especially in later stages of life.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Mind if I expound on this? My mother died in July at 59 from a brain hemorrhage. I took her in 2 years ago, and I paid ~$1000/month for her prescriptions before the ACA kicked in. After it kicked in, her prescription costs dropped (thankfully, as I was going to Canada to get non-controlled prescriptions) but her provider costs increased. Only because I’m a tech professional in a top earning tier was I able to do this…
So your solution was to shaft the hospitals $48k? Sounds like an applicable solution for the rest of America. This is why healthcare costs are so high.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
And those, like the woman in the story, who don't have children?
It depends. Sometimes people can't, and that's about it. But lately, I have more and more friends that don't want to have children. The girls are in their 35s and guys in 40s, add or take five. They share and attempt to behave as if they are in their twenties. They enjoy the easy Toronto life, spend everything they earn, cluster together with others of similar lifestyle, and reinforce each own egos that they are doin…