Koolau
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I wasn't sure where to post this. It contains "Life After Fire" aspects as well as "Fire and Money aspects."
My BFF passed a few days ago. He died very suddenly of a brain bleed. I've been vacillating between feelings of relief that he is in a better place and is finally out of pain that was constant due to degenerative effects of arthritis. (I'm coming to know that feeling.) On the other hand, I already miss him so much. This is a sad time for me and his family and extensive netw*rk of friends.
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Probably most of you will recall that I often refer to my BFF who I've known from Megacorp for 53 years. We have been in and out of good times and bad. He always makes me laugh with his stories and the various stuff we've pulled together over the years. Heh, heh, I hope the statute of limitations has expired.
I always mention that he's (age has varied to 79 now) and half a million in debt. How does such a thing happen. Well, he is that guy who could never delay gratification. If he had to take out a loan (even at ridiculous interest) he would do it rather than wait until he could scrape the cash together.
He w*rked at the same megascorp as I did and though we were totally different in our c@reer paths, we made about the same money. He was a bit older and JUST qualified for an early-out package which meant he no longer got a salary. He did some odds and ends (driving clunkers to the auction, etc.) but his "good" j*b was driving school bus. I think he got about $65/day for an early morning trip and an early afternoon trip. Little responsibility other than impeccable driving and never touching a kid. What a pain as all he could do is call in if a kid got out of hand - which was not uncommon.
One problem - his DW wanted a new house as the old one was one that BFF had cobbled together (pretty well, actually) 20 miles from town. So, they somehow qualified for a major mortgage, moved into the new house and then tried to sell the old place. Nothing w*rked and he finally let a guy live there on a rent to own basis - I needn't even mention how that turned out. SO, essentially, he let the old house go back to the bank as he owed more on it than he could sell it for. Every time he got equity on the old house, he borrowed it out! I've forgotten the details, but the bank insisted that he pay what they couldn't get from the sale of his old house.
BFF loved racing and built several race cars over the years. He'd spend $10K to as much as $25K to win $200 to $500 first prizes. He even got in one of the "magazines" after a 1st place win in his class (think he won $200.)
Now, back when BFF retired early, he was so proud of himself because he had actually saved money in his 401(k). He had $20K! Since he wasn't yet old enough, he not only paid the taxes but also the 10% penalty to get enough money to upgrade his OLD house!
SO, if you're still with me, I'm worried about BFF's DW. They were very close, (eventually) committed church goers (kind and generous to strangers, jail prisoners, etc.) BUT... I spoke with DW and casually enquired about her finances (which I knew in shambles.) Her response: BFF took care of all that. I was disheartened but hardly surprised.
I don't know if I will be "invited" to help her figure stuff out, but if so, I'm asking the community here for advice.
The "good" news is that DW will get BFFs reasonably good SS and 1/4 of his truly meager pension. The bad news - I think that's it. She had collected pretty good SS before so they must have been knocking down around $70K to $80K per year. Hard to believe they were in such debt. (By the way, it sounds like BFF spent all the money - he did not. DW was a BIG spender (buying piles of clothes, knick knacks etc. for the kids who were adults with children, insisting on driving a new car at all times (his and hers) and buying baskets and artificial arrangements for the house. Best guess: Her total income will drop to about $40K/year. Not sure how big a problem it will be, but now her taxes will be as "single."
I'm thinking - try to get rid of the race car - but where do you start?
A few years back, they were able to do the "credit card relief" thing so I doubt they can do it again.
Of course, in theory, there is bankruptcy relief. I forget if she would keep the house and car(s).
I worried about this for DW for a long time. I talked to BFF many times and he would duck it.
Insurance: Maybe he has some, but I only know of $5K plus SS. I HOPE that he had to carry mortgage insurance since I'm sure he never paid over 20% of his total. I don't even know if the death of a spouse kicks in the mortgage insurance since DW is still living.
Does anyone know of some kind of "hacks" DW can use since, at this point, I don't think she even knows what shape she's in?
This has been a tough few days for me. Will attend funeral next week. Yeah, it's tough. Sorry this is so long.
My BFF passed a few days ago. He died very suddenly of a brain bleed. I've been vacillating between feelings of relief that he is in a better place and is finally out of pain that was constant due to degenerative effects of arthritis. (I'm coming to know that feeling.) On the other hand, I already miss him so much. This is a sad time for me and his family and extensive netw*rk of friends.
-----------
Probably most of you will recall that I often refer to my BFF who I've known from Megacorp for 53 years. We have been in and out of good times and bad. He always makes me laugh with his stories and the various stuff we've pulled together over the years. Heh, heh, I hope the statute of limitations has expired.
I always mention that he's (age has varied to 79 now) and half a million in debt. How does such a thing happen. Well, he is that guy who could never delay gratification. If he had to take out a loan (even at ridiculous interest) he would do it rather than wait until he could scrape the cash together.
He w*rked at the same megascorp as I did and though we were totally different in our c@reer paths, we made about the same money. He was a bit older and JUST qualified for an early-out package which meant he no longer got a salary. He did some odds and ends (driving clunkers to the auction, etc.) but his "good" j*b was driving school bus. I think he got about $65/day for an early morning trip and an early afternoon trip. Little responsibility other than impeccable driving and never touching a kid. What a pain as all he could do is call in if a kid got out of hand - which was not uncommon.
One problem - his DW wanted a new house as the old one was one that BFF had cobbled together (pretty well, actually) 20 miles from town. So, they somehow qualified for a major mortgage, moved into the new house and then tried to sell the old place. Nothing w*rked and he finally let a guy live there on a rent to own basis - I needn't even mention how that turned out. SO, essentially, he let the old house go back to the bank as he owed more on it than he could sell it for. Every time he got equity on the old house, he borrowed it out! I've forgotten the details, but the bank insisted that he pay what they couldn't get from the sale of his old house.
BFF loved racing and built several race cars over the years. He'd spend $10K to as much as $25K to win $200 to $500 first prizes. He even got in one of the "magazines" after a 1st place win in his class (think he won $200.)
Now, back when BFF retired early, he was so proud of himself because he had actually saved money in his 401(k). He had $20K! Since he wasn't yet old enough, he not only paid the taxes but also the 10% penalty to get enough money to upgrade his OLD house!
SO, if you're still with me, I'm worried about BFF's DW. They were very close, (eventually) committed church goers (kind and generous to strangers, jail prisoners, etc.) BUT... I spoke with DW and casually enquired about her finances (which I knew in shambles.) Her response: BFF took care of all that. I was disheartened but hardly surprised.
I don't know if I will be "invited" to help her figure stuff out, but if so, I'm asking the community here for advice.
The "good" news is that DW will get BFFs reasonably good SS and 1/4 of his truly meager pension. The bad news - I think that's it. She had collected pretty good SS before so they must have been knocking down around $70K to $80K per year. Hard to believe they were in such debt. (By the way, it sounds like BFF spent all the money - he did not. DW was a BIG spender (buying piles of clothes, knick knacks etc. for the kids who were adults with children, insisting on driving a new car at all times (his and hers) and buying baskets and artificial arrangements for the house. Best guess: Her total income will drop to about $40K/year. Not sure how big a problem it will be, but now her taxes will be as "single."
I'm thinking - try to get rid of the race car - but where do you start?
A few years back, they were able to do the "credit card relief" thing so I doubt they can do it again.
Of course, in theory, there is bankruptcy relief. I forget if she would keep the house and car(s).
I worried about this for DW for a long time. I talked to BFF many times and he would duck it.
Insurance: Maybe he has some, but I only know of $5K plus SS. I HOPE that he had to carry mortgage insurance since I'm sure he never paid over 20% of his total. I don't even know if the death of a spouse kicks in the mortgage insurance since DW is still living.
Does anyone know of some kind of "hacks" DW can use since, at this point, I don't think she even knows what shape she's in?
This has been a tough few days for me. Will attend funeral next week. Yeah, it's tough. Sorry this is so long.
