I have a home, a good job, and am able to save enough that it’s possible I may be able to retire in my fifties.
The only responsible decision my parents made was to pay off their house. They had over a dozen kids and my dad literally roofed houses until he couldn’t anymore physically. They’re now in their 80’s and driving for DoorDash, in a car they’ve “borrowed” from me for almost a year, that I’m certain I’m never getting back.
And, somehow, despite having no mortgage or car payment, they still aren’t paying their bills on time. (But, to be fair, that’s also a referendum on the US economy and capitalism in general, and none of us can get actual progressives elected.)
Sounds like my parents. I am younger but my dad is a alcoholic and drug addict that pissed away his retirement. He’s 63 and just getting out of rehab for the 50th time.
Yeah, mine was an alcoholic for 25 years but inexplicably quit cold turkey one day when I was a teen.
I think it’s just a ton of undiagnosed, untreated mental illness. My mom’s mother was abusive and her loving father died when she was a teen. My dad’s dad died when he was eleven and he became the breadwinner for his mom and siblings, and didn’t stop working for another sixty-five years. (Well, he drives for DoorDash now, so I suppose he’s still working, but it’s a far cry from roofing.)
I actually feel a little bad for my dad. He worked his ass off his whole life and has almost nothing to show for it, but somehow, could never put his foot down when it came to my mom and adding more kids to the family. In most other countries his lifetime of work and owning a business would have meant a comfortable retirement, but not here. In America, no one gives a fuck.
Yes.
I have a home, a good job, and am able to save enough that it’s possible I may be able to retire in my fifties.
The only responsible decision my parents made was to pay off their house. They had over a dozen kids and my dad literally roofed houses until he couldn’t anymore physically. They’re now in their 80’s and driving for DoorDash, in a car they’ve “borrowed” from me for almost a year, that I’m certain I’m never getting back.
And, somehow, despite having no mortgage or car payment, they still aren’t paying their bills on time. (But, to be fair, that’s also a referendum on the US economy and capitalism in general, and none of us can get actual progressives elected.)
Sounds like my parents. I am younger but my dad is a alcoholic and drug addict that pissed away his retirement. He’s 63 and just getting out of rehab for the 50th time.
Yeah, mine was an alcoholic for 25 years but inexplicably quit cold turkey one day when I was a teen.
I think it’s just a ton of undiagnosed, untreated mental illness. My mom’s mother was abusive and her loving father died when she was a teen. My dad’s dad died when he was eleven and he became the breadwinner for his mom and siblings, and didn’t stop working for another sixty-five years. (Well, he drives for DoorDash now, so I suppose he’s still working, but it’s a far cry from roofing.)
I actually feel a little bad for my dad. He worked his ass off his whole life and has almost nothing to show for it, but somehow, could never put his foot down when it came to my mom and adding more kids to the family. In most other countries his lifetime of work and owning a business would have meant a comfortable retirement, but not here. In America, no one gives a fuck.