Am in my late 50's. We don't have longterm disability insurance. It's a real gamble. My dad died young, was cared for at home by my mom--no real expense there. My mother just died this past November at age 85--she was at Thanksgiving dinner with us one night, and gone the next. Long term disability? Nope--she was still living independently in her own apartment. Now, note that in her 40's she had a number of health issues--anyone guessing would probably have figured that she'd either have died early, or have been disabled for a long time, and needed a lot of care in later years. Fact is, other than her regular check ups, visits to the podiatrist to care for her feet, and having her cataracts operated on, Mom hadn't had any serious medical treatment for over 20 years when she died. My father-in-law went very quickly, too--at age 82. He was still working as a plumber in November, spent a couple of months in the hospital, then died the beg. of February. I'm not saying you should or shouldn't get the insurance--only you can decide if it's right for you. But to my way of thinking, I don't see all that many people in my life who actually need longterm care. Most seem to either go quickly, or be able to manage their needs anyway. And the insurance companies are banking on the fact that their scare tactics will get lots of people to sign up--many who will never make a claim. For example, I've got an aunt who has had earthquake insurance for many years--no matter to her that we live in an area of the country that has never had a major earthquake in anyone living's memory. But they were more than happy to sell her a policy. I think she also has flood insurance--but she lives on the 6th floor of an apartment building. We also don't get floods of any size around here. That would have to be some departure from the norm for her to collect! And what about the safety of investing in an insurance company? What if the company goes out of business in years to come? Or waht if the funds are mismanaged or depleted by embezzlement. There is a huge scandal in the country right now regarding pre-paid funerals. People paid ahead to make sure their wishes would be taken care of, and many of the funeral homes have stolen those funds and families are having to come up with money to pay the cost of a funeral twice--the second time at a much higher price. Personally (and I'm not telling you what to do)--I prefer to save and control my own money. I'm not a fan of allowing others to take my funds--as in prepaid funerals, extra insurance, IRA's, etc. I do have one small SEP account, but only because I had a year where I needed some serious deductions, and that one was a reasonable way of keeping a few more of my own dollars. It's important to me to have the freedom to invest as I choose, and to move my money from here to there, depending upon what the economy is doing. I've just known too many people who have relied on others to nurture their savings, and lost everything. My sister is a case in point--worked for over 30 years for one company, was up in corporate management when the company was sold and dessimated by a larger one. She had a GOOD pension plan--but the funds were stolen by the new management, and when the company folded, she got a measely, one-time payout of $16,000!

I thought that I was going to get a free ride to Arizona ... as daughter bought return flight ticket to AZ (total bill less than $300.) plus bus ticket to Detroit, so I thought that I was going to get free ride ... ... but it cost me $15.00 to check my bag! I said that I was going to kid her about it being a return ticket ... that it was apparent that she didn't want to put up with me, long-term ... and someone asked whether the return portion of the ticket was dated ... it was! She met me last night at the airport, I had a great sleep, fun-filled breakfast ... we visited an old coppermine (at Jerome), are overnighting in Flagstaff, and bound for the Grand Canyon tomorrow. We had a really great discussion in the car on the way up today. I'm having a ball: daughters are a great blessing! Wish me continued good fortune, please. And I wish the same for all of you! ole joyful

Our story goes back to 2002, when my husband was laid off in the last downturn. We were living in a house that was at the top of what we were comfortable paying (though the banks thought we could afford oh so much more!). Fortunately, my husband was able to replace his income within a year by starting his own business, but it was a wake up call and we changed some things. The big things: -we live in a house that is about half of what we can afford and now have no mortage (we sold our more expensive house when we were at the top of our earnings) -we buy gently used cars with cash and drive them forever -we have catastrophic heath insurance and try to keep ourselves as healthy as possible through diet and exercise -we never spent money on preschool or private schools - we homeschool (though not for financial reasons, that's just a bonus) -we enjoy eating out, but we have potlucks with close friends more often. You can have an awesome potluck for what six families would spend eating at a restaurant! -no cable tv, just Netflix. You can watch television shows over the internet or get the DVDs from Netflix. -I purposefully cook to create leftovers. For example, my pot roast on Friday night became pot roast pasta on Saturday, so that stretched our meal over two days and saved us money. -No Starbucks or anything like that. Though like many here, we do spend some of our budget on wine ;). -I make a menu plan and a grocery list and I stick to the list when I shop. No impulse shopping! That'll get you every time. Things we haven't cut back on: -the housekeeper. They come once a week, and that will be one of the last budget items to go. It is a huge help to me as a homeschooler with a toddler, and I also don't want to hurt their business if I don't have to. -quality groceries/ organic. There are somethings I buy that are important to me and I don't mind spending extra on it. For example I prefer to buy Organic Valley dairy products because I prefer their business model to other organic producers that are available to me. -home maintenance. It's more expensive to replace an AC prematurely than to maintain it regularly. -giving. The people who need charity need it even moreso now. We also keep money in the budget for my husband to go on international mission trips, and I'll be doing that again after the baby is a bit older. Good thread!

Hi Jannie, If one of your daughters, at age 15, invests One Whole Dollar ... ... and manages to have it earn 5% rate of return throughout ... ... through 50 years of time ... ... when she hits the ripe old age of 65 ... that dollar will have multiplied 2-1/2 times - it'll be worth $11.00 and change. If she can manage a 10% return, it'll grow to $117.00 and change. No allowance in either case for the erosion of annual income by income tax, and of the value of one's dollar-denominated assets due to inflation. And when she buys a pack of cigarettes - she pays a lot more than a Buck for each one of them. Most of which goes up in smoke - though some stays in her lungs. And the residue can cause a lot of trouble. Can she imagine what people would think of her were she to stand on a main street corner in town and set on fire as many dollars as she spent on smokes that week? And do that at that street corner - every week? People would say that she was nuts. But - that would do her a lot less harm than using those dollars to buy smokes. Trouble is, though - in the U.S., I think that she'd go to jail: it's a Federal offence to destroy money, as it is Federal property. I do hope that your daughters decide that it is a destructive habit - and one of the worst addictions. I don't want to be a slave to a person - much less to a white paper tube filled with dead leaves!! That sounds some stupid, to me. As Dad used to say, "Looks like that person drove their pigs to a darned poor market"!! Good wishes to you - and especially them - for a New Year filled with common sense. ole joyful