Personally, I prefer to use the term “comfortable” to describe my circumstances. Achieved mostly through winning the birth lottery. Born in the mid-1950’s to a middle-class white family.
My medigap (plan G) goes up double digits percent each tear. I do see a lot of Doctors. My wife’s medigap (also plan G) only goes up a few dollars every year. But then she is much healthier than I am.
I got this from a search of the IRS website… ”Beginning with tax year 2026, if you do not itemize, you may deduct up to $1,000 ($2,000 if filing jointly) of your cash contributions to certain qualified organizations.”
Richard, We have consistently given our children money to help them out. I like being around to see them happy until waiting until we’re in the ground to give them support. One of our grandchildren was 7 weeks early and needed the neo-natal ICU. Turns out not only did we help, so did a couple of aunts and uncles. We have made sure to remember their children in our wills. You did exactly the right thing!
As I have posted before, we took our Social Security as soon as we could. Our reasoning was that our children can inherit our other financial assets but NOT our SocSec.
The only advice I will is to try and NOT take it personally. My field was information technology and it happened often to me. Companies were poorly managed and went belly up. I was out of a job. Companies got sold and the buyer thought our IT department was redundant. I was out of a job. Companies decided to “change direction” and didn’t need so many IT workers. I was out of a job. Stay positive! Don’t burn your bridges to old coworkers. One of them might go somewhere that needs your skillset. Good luck! And thanks for sharing this difficult episode in your life.
We downsized from our “forever home” to a
“can do minimum” 3 years ago. We still in a high tax State because we want to be in close driving range to our grandchildren. Everything is a tradeoff.
Comments
Personally, I prefer to use the term “comfortable” to describe my circumstances. Achieved mostly through winning the birth lottery. Born in the mid-1950’s to a middle-class white family.
Post: Rich or Wealthy?
Link to comment from October 5, 2026
My medigap (plan G) goes up double digits percent each tear. I do see a lot of Doctors. My wife’s medigap (also plan G) only goes up a few dollars every year. But then she is much healthier than I am.
Post: Keep an eye on Medigap policies
Link to comment from September 28, 2026
Losing my wife of 47 years would be incredibly stressful. Only losing one of my grandchildren or children could possibly be worse.
Post: The Security Money Can’t Buy
Link to comment from September 25, 2026
You can use an open source app to review all your data if you want to do so. Check out OSCAR, the Open Source CPAP Analysis Reporter
Post: My Name is Dan, and I’m a CPAP User
Link to comment from September 24, 2026
I got this from a search of the IRS website… ”Beginning with tax year 2026, if you do not itemize, you may deduct up to $1,000 ($2,000 if filing jointly) of your cash contributions to certain qualified organizations.”
Post: Does the new-for-2026 $1000/$2000 charitable deduction for non-itemizers reduce AGI?
Link to comment from September 23, 2026
Richard, We have consistently given our children money to help them out. I like being around to see them happy until waiting until we’re in the ground to give them support. One of our grandchildren was 7 weeks early and needed the neo-natal ICU. Turns out not only did we help, so did a couple of aunts and uncles. We have made sure to remember their children in our wills. You did exactly the right thing!
Post: What would you do if you received this text from your child as I did this morning?
Link to comment from September 16, 2026
As I have posted before, we took our Social Security as soon as we could. Our reasoning was that our children can inherit our other financial assets but NOT our SocSec.
Post: Americans are rushing to collect Social Security. The reason is disturbing
Link to comment from September 13, 2026
The only advice I will is to try and NOT take it personally. My field was information technology and it happened often to me. Companies were poorly managed and went belly up. I was out of a job. Companies got sold and the buyer thought our IT department was redundant. I was out of a job. Companies decided to “change direction” and didn’t need so many IT workers. I was out of a job. Stay positive! Don’t burn your bridges to old coworkers. One of them might go somewhere that needs your skillset. Good luck! And thanks for sharing this difficult episode in your life.
Post: Being terminated…
Link to comment from September 12, 2026
Jeffrey, Thank you for your excellent, thought provoking post!
Post: Taking It With You
Link to comment from September 5, 2026
We downsized from our “forever home” to a “can do minimum” 3 years ago. We still in a high tax State because we want to be in close driving range to our grandchildren. Everything is a tradeoff.
Post: What’s your Domicile?
Link to comment from September 2, 2026