Financial Answers "IN SIMPLE LANGUAGE"

 

Hello and thank you for being patient with me while I went on my trip.  This was not a vacation in the truest sense but rather a visit to my brother in North Carolina for what may be the last time.

 

My brother is dying from Lou Gehrig’s disease better known as ALS.  The doctors have given him a year or two.  So this trip was my way of saying goodbye.  I don’t know if I will see him alive next year, but there is always hope.

 

In Simple Language – A Financial Education Blog

 

You may be wondering why I started a financial education blog with my situation with my brother.  I was researching some information for this post and it was about women fearing retirement more than men and the reasons why.  I feel like I have just experienced part of this fear with helping and watching my sister-in-law deal with the issue of my brother.

 

If you are not familiar with Lou Gehrig’s disease, once you are afflicted, it is usually fatal in a relatively short period of time.  What this disease does is turn you into an infant.  Basically, you become a three month old baby that can’t do anything for yourself.  And I do mean anything.  You have to be feed, bathed, lifted, moved around and everything and anything that has to do with any quality of life.  That is truly the mark of ALS.  It robs you of all quality of life.

 

Quality of Life

 

Losing quality of life in your later years is one of the fears of women when they are in retirement.  Men retire and usually die in a relatively short period of time. Lucky us!  Women, on the other hand, live longer. Lucky you! Women are the vast majority of residents in nursing homes and assisted living facilities and certainly want to maintain their quality of life in retirement.  Statistically one out of two women will need some kind of physical assistance.

 

Sometimes you can’t maintain your quality of life so you’ll need help.  Women usually become the caretakers of their husband or parents or children.  When the care giving is over, then women move into the next stage, possibly needing care themselves. 

 

What you need to ask yourself is:

• Will you be able to afford to get the care you need to maintain your quality of life?
•  Are your financial affairs structured in such a way that you can focus on being able to take care of yourself by hiring someone to come to your home? 
• Or will you need to leave your home and live somewhere else? 

 

Even if you do not have serious health issues:

·         Will you be able to afford health insurance premiums?

·         Or the ever increasing costs of the Medicare supplemental insurance? 

·         Will Medicare even be around with all the health care insurance costs facing our government today?

 

Other Fears

 

Health care by itself is scary enough.  What about inflation and running out of money.  These are the other fears that women have.  Remember women live longer than men so running out of money is a very real concern for women.  Part of the problem lies in the fact that women are paid less. Also they work less because of raising a family or being a caregiver.  That leads to a smaller retirement account.  Which means less money to draw against and to live on. Which also means the total amount of money is smaller and one major event could wipe the entire retirement account.  This could lead to a diminished quality of life and welfare in later years. 

 

And then there is everyone’s foe, inflation.  When was the last time that something has gone down in price?  We are all living with the price of gasoline, food, and a myriad of other items whose costs have gone off the charts.  This is where we are at today.  Who knows what tomorrow holds.  Plan for your financial well-being today.

 

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Thank you for taking the time to visit In Simple Language.  J  Copyright 2008

 

Looking for a financial speaker or financial writer?  Contact Rich today at rsowa@insimplelanguage.com or call Sowa Financial Media now at (502) 569-1714.