I just got back from a fishing trip with some relatives. One of the relatives had a vehicle issue and it required a new serpentine belt, as the old one broke. He is 55 years old, about 10 months younger than me.
We could not get the hood open as he had not used the truck in a year or so. The latch was rusted shut. We eventually did get it open and went to get the new belt. He had not used the truck much, but of course he needs it...
We went to the auto parts store and picked up the belt and a few other items. ~$65 total. His debit card was declined, so he used a different one. On the way back in my truck, he called the bank to see what happened. Evidently he only had ~$10 in the account…
This relative just got laid off due to the company trying to save money and reduce the higher paid ($120K) employees. He received ~$6300 for vacation balances and deposited the check in the ATM, so it was not immediately available. But I would NEVER let my account get that low. Especially if I got laid off. He had 2+ weeks official notice, and many more weeks unofficial writings on the wall. When my balance gets below $1,000 I get worried. (Meanwhile, I wish for a layoff and severance. He gets an additional 8 weeks)
How can you only have $10 in the main bank account
WTF? His wife also makes $100K+ a year. He is interviewing for a new position at a different mega-corp.
He is also going to tear down his lake home and build a larger lake home (in addition to his regular home). He showed me the plans. $600K for just the house. It has a sauna, steam room, 3-car garage, etc. He needs the three car garage as he ‘needs’ one car each for him and his wife, a convertible and a truck.
He said he should get some money from an inheritance in a few years to pay off about half of the mortgage.
He plans on retiring in 5 years or so, and maybe picking up a job at Home Depot or other place like that. Yeah, right… Plan on working until 90, or a large inheritance.