I'm like @KingstonsMom in that I don't have any debt.
I own my house, my car and I don't have any credit cards. I use debit cards for everything.
Every month my financial advisor/company puts money into my account. It's the interest from the money that's been invested. The company is called Morgan Stanley. They've done an amazing job.
Periodically, my advicor calls me and tells me how it's going and if I'm doing good, etc. He was my ex-son-in-llaw's fraternity brother and a friend of the family so I totally trust him and the company.
Also, my oldest daughter has her money invested with them. She keeps an eye on my investments and connects with the same guy at Morgan Stanley.
I've been lucky thanks to the stock market being up so much this year because I've been able to live off of the interest accrued. The original amount invested is continually growing. Yea!
If I need money for something big (like when I bought my car) I call and they move it to me.
I have accountants who handle the taxes and what I need to do there. They interact with my daughter too.
My late husband was very intelligent. Way back when most people had no idea about starting their own retirement plan when self-employed (which he was).
After he died, I consolidated everything, sold back to business partners various projects so I don't have to deal with it anymore.
My husband liked to invest in the stock market. It was fun. We had a dish in our back yard and we'd buy stock and watch (in real time) the changes.
Eventually, he couldn't spend the time on it he needed to keep an eye on it, so he turned it over to people he trusted.
OK, so here's a little something people maybe wonder how some of these cities go bankrupt.
I know this isn't the only way but it contributes to the problem.
My late husband had a business partner in one of his companies where he bought up blocks of mortgages and loans. They were sometimes for houses.
It's been over 15 years since my husband died and I'm STILL getting letters from places in Illinois telling our company we owe bla bla in taxes.
I used to call our old business partner and tell him about it because if he wanted to he could pay the back taxes and have the property.
Now, you're probably wondering why I made that statement. Well...all of the properties have been bought and sold several times but some of them weren't recorded either at all or wrong, etc.
In other words that was tax money that the city could have collected from owners. My husband and his partner kept meticulous records, but obviously some cities don't.
It used to happen a lot. Now it just happens maybe once or twice a year. It's on my mind because I just recently received one. Not unusual since it's the end of the year.
In the beginning, I'd call the city comptroller and explain the situation to him/her. I'd never get a call back so.....(kinda says something, doesn't it).
Anyway, I always tell people they think they don't have much but if they thought about it they have a lot more than they think they do.
Everything has SOME value.
Right now I'm helping my middle daughter get through a divorce. It's very, very expensive (i.e. lawyers, you name it). But in the end it will be worth it for her.
If you don't have an executor, you need one. You also need to have some kind of will.
You can download wills from the internet. Mine is more complicated so I just had my will revised. I had to do that since my daughter got divorced. I wanted to make sure the ex-son-in-law would never be able to 'handle' my granddaughter's inheritance.
The money, should something happen to my daughter, will all be put in a trust managed by someone OTHER than my other daughter (who's the executor).
I didn't want my daughter (the executor) to have to deal with any drama from the middle daughter's divorce.
I did all of that because my husband worked his fanny off to make the money we have.
I don't feel like he made it for me. I feel like he made it for our 3 girls. One day they will inherit it.
In the meantime I give them money when they need it.
My advisor told me I could 'gift' them money each year. That's what I've been doing.
I have a friend who's pretty well off. Yet she has no children, she's a widow and has one sister who has adult children with grandchildren.
She is close to one daughter (teenager) of the sister's grandchildren. I keep telling her she'd better make up a will and make allowances for at least this teenager so she'll have money to go to college if something happens to my friend.
I've never understood why people are so hung up talking about money. I think it's really good that @Mominohio brought this subject up.
I learned some things by sitting next to my husband and running his businesses after he died.
However, I'm forever saying the education I provided for my oldest daughter has really paid off because all of this stuff makes my head spin.
Like I said, everyone needs to have some kind of will. Go on the internet and print one out. Fill it out and get it notarized. Many banks will do it for free or for a small fee.
If you sat down right now you could probably think of a few people you'd like to see get something (doesn't have to be money) special to you. Put that in the will.
When people you care about died (like my husband, my brother's girlfriend..she died driving him in the car), my husband died in my arms...58 years old, never sick, took no medicine..very healthy...you realize it can happen anytime, anyplace.
If the subect of money bothers you, you need to talk to someone who will educate you. If you've ever worked in your life, you need to make sure the government gets as little as possible when you die.
Phew! I'm exhausted. Ha! My head hurts. I'm sorry I didn't advise very well, that's because I don't know a lot, but I do know you have more than you think and you need to protect what you do have.
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