I appreciate this. I think it's similar to reality for many people. My parents also divorced when my sisters and I were in college & high school, and my mom negotiated to keep the house. I'm not sure that was the best financial move for her, and similar to this writer, she had very little savings and figured she could never retire...also…
I appreciate this. I think it's similar to reality for many people. My parents also divorced when my sisters and I were in college & high school, and my mom negotiated to keep the house. I'm not sure that was the best financial move for her, and similar to this writer, she had very little savings and figured she could never retire...also tricky because she had a chronic illness, so keeping health insurance was always a source of stress. I talked to her about selling the house several times, but she pointed out that after refinancing, her mortgage was less than rent would be. Home maintenance sure suffered, though. In the end, Mom died unexpectedly at 64, so her retirement nightmares never had a chance to come true. I still shudder to consider what could have happened.
I am also interested in tax information; I live in a state with no income tax, but very high property taxes and sales taxes. It makes for a different picture.
I appreciate this. I think it's similar to reality for many people. My parents also divorced when my sisters and I were in college & high school, and my mom negotiated to keep the house. I'm not sure that was the best financial move for her, and similar to this writer, she had very little savings and figured she could never retire...also tricky because she had a chronic illness, so keeping health insurance was always a source of stress. I talked to her about selling the house several times, but she pointed out that after refinancing, her mortgage was less than rent would be. Home maintenance sure suffered, though. In the end, Mom died unexpectedly at 64, so her retirement nightmares never had a chance to come true. I still shudder to consider what could have happened.
I am also interested in tax information; I live in a state with no income tax, but very high property taxes and sales taxes. It makes for a different picture.
I'm sorry about your mom, Andrea. Thank you so much for sharing this story.
I wrote about "Colorado" on Personal Finance Economics and you may have an interest, https://robertpuelz.substack.com/p/the-63-year-old-divorcee