I can think of two tragedies, right off the top of my head...
1) Former coworker, who I worked with in the late 90's. He made a little more than me, but was also 13 years older. He was married, had two daughters. Lived in a townhouse. His parents lived in a single family home that was free and clear. Well, they decided to all move in together, in one big house with an inlaw suite. So, they had a big $400K house built in 1999, used the paid-off house as a down payment. Had no equity in the townhouse. Well, as home values went up, they kept cashing out equity, buying frivolous toys...antique cars, trading the new vehicle way too often, putting in a heated pool, etc. I found out later that they were getting a lot of their money from his father, who was a retired Chrysler exec, and pretty well-loaded. Well, the father passed away, and it turns out the mother wasn't as loose with the purse strings. He took on a second job that was practically full-time. Wife, who was collecting disability, was watching kids under the table (not literally
), yet despite all their efforts, they couldn't afford to keep up the payments.
They lucked out though, sold the house for about $660K. had just enough equity to get into a smaller, cheaper house for around $270K, and pretty much get out of most of their debt. They had learned their lesson. Or so it seemed. They bought a Dodge Ram Hemi, which he used for his ~80 mile round trip commute to work. Got tired of it, and bought a Chrysler 300C. Bought His & Hers Harleys, but hers didn't fit, so they traded them for something else. Then, he had a stroke, had to go out on disability. They sold the house, moved to Appalachia and are living in the boonies down there somewhere. Dunno what happened to the tightwad mother; she moved out and the family pretty much cut her off.
Now, I guess chances are, he would have had a stroke no matter what, but who knows? I'm sure the stress of pulling down two full-time jobs, and trying to manage all that debt will take its toll on you eventually. I pulled down around 80 hours per week for awhile after my divorce, but I started cutting back after about a year. And I was in my 20's when I did it. This guy was in his mid/upper 40's when he had to start it.
Ironically enough, my grandmother met this guy once, and he made a good first impression on her. She told me that I should do my damndest to learn everything I could from him...she had a feeling he'd be successful and would be going places. Well, in a way, I did learn a lot from him, and the mistakes he made. I learned NOT to be like him! Now that I think about it, at the age of 44, I'm now the same age he was, when his father took sick in 2001, which would ultimately set off the downward spiral. Even back then, I had a feeling something was up. We were supposed to go to a classic car show together, but he said he couldn't make it. But, he asked me to take his entry ticket, and drive his '66 Charger up to the show anyway. And, if anyone was interested in buying it, to get their number. This guy wanted a '66 Charger for as long as I'd known him, and only had this one about a year. So, I knew something was up, if he was thinking of selling it already.
2) There's a lady at work, who's finally retiring. I'm not sure how old she is, but I'd guess lower 60's. I used to work with her on another project, but haven't interacted with her regularly now in about 5 years. Well, even back then, we used to talk about retiring. Her husband was already retired. They bought a used motorhome, and had already taken a lot of trips together, but were looking forward to a life of leisure and travel, once she retired.
Well, about a year and a half ago, her husband up and died! So, there went their dreams of spending their golden years together.
I think case #2 here is the real wakeup call for me. With #1, I could see the trainwreck coming for a long time, and, if nothing else, he and his wife are still together. And, in a roundabout way, retired. Or, at least, not working. But with co-worker #2, it really drove home the point to me that, it's later than you think!