Hi again dolcemia, I am pleased that your husband has a retirement plan ... and that you have one, as well. At what age can you begin to draw on them? Usually they are set up to begin at age 65 ... can you choose to begin drawing before that? For example, in Canada, the Federal pension, to which we all contribute, which began over 40 years ago, intends to have us retire at 65, with full pension (if we made full rate of contributions ... which you don't, if you earn anything near minimum wage, meaning that low income hurts, even into retirement). If I choose to retire earlier, they won't allow me to do it before age 60, and for each 2 months that I retire before age 65, they reduce my pension by 1% ... which means 6% per year, and if I chose to retire at age 60, there would be a 30% reduction. On the other hand, if I choose not to retire until after age 65, I get a bonus of 1% for each 2 months extra that I work and contribute, 6% per year. Is your pension set up so that as inflation continues over the years, does the amount of your pension increase, as well? If there is a provision for it to increase due to inflation, it's almost certain that it won't increase at the same rate as the rate of inflation, but less ... which means that it won't cover as many expenses as the years go by as it would earlier. They call that a pension being indexed for inflation. Is your husband's pension indexed to inflation? ______________________ Do you owe money on credit cards, that you don't pay in full each month when the bill arrives? Is it/are they mainline cards, or cards issued by stores? Do you know what rate of interest that you pay on those unpaid balances? Usually on mainline cards it's about 15 - 18% annual rate. Usually on store-issued cards it's up around 25 - 28% annual rate. If I loaned you $100. and said that you owed me $25. per year for the use of it, would you consider me some kind of rascal? May I ask you a question ... have you heard the saying, "A penny saved is a penny earned"? Do you believe it? If you say that you agree, I'd like to disagree, in terms of much of the stuff that, when you buy, you might be able to save a dollar on the purchase. When you consider most of the stuff that you buy ... when you prepare your income tax, can you deduct the price of it as you calculate the amount of tax that you owe? For much of the goods that most of us buy ... the cost is not deductible. Which means that we have to buy it using money that we've already paid income tax on, i.e., after-tax money. Let's suppose that you could save $1.00 on a purchase that you make. If you're in 25% marginal tax rate (i.e. the rate of tax that you pay on your top dollar of income), that means that you have to earn $1.33 before-tax, then pay 33 cents tax, leaving yu with $1.00 in hand to go out to buy that item. So .. if you save $1.00 on the cost of the purchse ... you've saved $1.333 of extra earnings, right? Plus... if you pay that 28% on a store-issued credit card, most of the things that you bought when using it were not tax-deductible, right? Which means that, if you're in 25% income tax rate, you have to earn $36.00 pre-tax income, then pay the 25%, or $9.00 income tax, leaving you with $27.00 ... oh,oh ... not quite enough to pay that $28.00 owing. Drat!! When you buy a car (or do you lease) do you pay cash for it, or do you finance it? If finance, do you shop around to find the best rate of interest and terms? Are you a member of a credit union, or are there some in your area? Sometimes they offer lower rates, or better terms, than the usual market offers. Do you try to pay the loan off as soon as possible? I recommend that. Be sure to pay off the loan quite a while before you need to replace the car. Then keep putting away that amount of money (or nearly as much) each month, building a fund to enable you to make a far larger down payment on the next car. It would be best if you can pay the full cost in cash ... that lets you put the amount of interest into your own pocket that you'd been paying earlier to a lender. I like keeping my money in my jeans over paying others to borrow theirs. Do you have an emergency fund? That is, if you had no family income for 3 months (or, even better, 6 months ... or, better yet, a year) would you have anough money available that you would still be able to live fairly comfortably? It's important to have such an emergency fund, in case unexpected expenses crop up ... including if we get laid off from work, especially if permanently, as your husbnad is dealing with at the moment. I recommend learning how money works - it's an interesting hobby. And, know what? It pays well ... very well. As I said earlier .. pay off your store-issued credit card balances fully when they come in each month ... save yourself 35%. And that saving is ... guaranteed. Where else can you earn 35% on your money ... guaranteed!?!? Good wishes for making your money work harder for you than for the other fellers! ole joyful

If you just want a bigger deduction, you can borrow against the existing equity in your home. Just make sure that you expect an after tax return on the money you take out that is greater than the after tax cost of the loan. As for the optimum house cost, there is no easy answer. It depends on a lot of things. If you are someone that spends a lot of time at home, it's probably worth more. If you and your family are rarely there, you should spend less. Once you are getting the core financial things taken care of - adequate retirement savings, college savings, emergency reserves, and savings for expected major future expenses, I think you should do whatever you want with the rest of your money. If having a more expensive house is worth more to you than having better cars, better vacations, better stuff, more money saved, or whatever else you'd do with the money, then get a more expensive house. Personally, I find that people that underspend on houses, cars, and stuff, tend to be happier because they are less stressed about money.

jkom51-"Again, people need to undersand the difference between the fiduciary standard for RIAs (Registered Investment Advisors) and the suitability standard for all other types of (uncertified) advisors." People also need to understand the following about RIA's. From AARP-SEC: "“Fiduciary” means that the person working for you owes you the highest possible duty of care and loyalty, so that a relationship of trust and confidence exists between you and the planner. While you may think that this sort of trust and confidence will naturally exist, a fiduciary relationship usually depends on the facts and circumstances of a particular situation. Many brokers will not accept fiduciary responsibility. They may already have a fiduciary relationship with their brokerage firm that can conflict with their duty to you. That usually means you would truly be in a “buyer beware” relationship should you do business with this person, because you are then assumed to be knowledgeable enough to watch out for yourself when it comes to investments. If that’s the case, you should know upfront. Or, you may wish to work only with professionals who are always fiduciaries to you." From EF Moody; PhD, LLB, MSFP, MBA, BSCE Life and Disability Insurance Analyst AND a Registered Investment Adviser: "RIA: This "designation" needs to be separated out and discussed individually. The letters stand for "Registered Investment Adviser". It is neither a true "designation" nor a degree. It indicates that the individual has registered with the Securities Exchange Commission or the California Department of Corporations (most other states require registration within their state) for anyone that charges a fee for securities advice or holds themselves out to be a financial planner/adviser. Such an individual MUST provide a prospective client with a document detailing their experience, education, fees, conflicts of interest and other information which a consumer would need to determine competency and objectivity. Unfortunately, only a few planners had filed with the SEC or the state and this left the consumer exposed to the continued problem of presenting themselves to unknowledgeable agents (simply because they do not ever ask for a summary of their adviser's experience, education, or modus operandi). In California in 1992, there were only 2716 advisers registered with the state and 2992 broker dealer firms. State and federal agencies have been trying to pass legislation to require registrations of all entities that give financial planning advice, but there has been intense lobbying by many banks, CPA's, attorneys and other special interest groups say they should be exempted from this filing under the assertion that they are already highly regulated. (True, but not in financial planning. Further, regulations under financial planning may be more restrictive.) Other planners who do not charge a fee say that the registration does not apply to them at all- and this used to include most of the larger brokerage firms (Shearson, Prudential, etc.)- since they did not offer any special advice. Yet they use monikers such as Financial Consultants that certainly imply added expertise and involvement with the consumer. That has changed with the use of wrap stock and mutual fund accounts and the requirement of a at least a series 65 securities license. With this background in mind, it is worthy to note that the California Department of Corporations has made some inroads in denying exemption for all but the most incidental of transactions. (Effective with new laws, anyone dealing with investments or calling themselves a financial planner will need to be registered with the Department of Corporations.) However, they neither have the money or manpower to review even the advisers who have registered (I have been audited twice in eight years) never mind police the vast numbers who refuse to register. But they are trying and deserve credit. Irrespective of the legal requirements and whether or not an advisor is required to register, consumers would be well advised to DEMAND a complete written document of a financial representatives education, qualifications and background regardless of the work undertaken. Should anyone decline to give this information, walk away. It is imperative to get the best advice from the most qualified advisers, and the written statement is the most all encompassing document. I repeat however: the RIA registration is not an indication of any true ability. The registration simply forces the individual to comply with documentary evidence of background, how they charge and so forth. While the consumer may still have difficulty in trying to decipher the information contained therein, it definitely is a step in the right direction. Will you act as my fiduciary? www.aarp.org/money/financial_planning/financial_advisers/ a2002-08-12-FinancialPlanningChoosingPlanner.html Who can you trust? www.efmoody.com/whouse.html

Thanks for posting the responses to my post about my mom. Lisa, I hadn't even thought about long term care insurance; I had pictured it being for someone younger. I will definitely look into it; I'm sure my own insurance agent will be happy to provide more data. If she's made to understand that it could provide for someone to come take care of her part time at her house, or at my sister's, she'd maybe even consider getting a RM to help pay for it. Thanks for the suggestions. Pam - I also hadn't realized that there were calculators for reverse mortgages. (I feel like I should say a big DUH! to myself for that!) I'll plug in her info and see if it seems to be a good possible option for her. cmarlin - thanks for the suggestion, but I have to admit that I made it sound like I was the only one who helped my mom at all. I am the only one sending her money on a monthly basis, but my 3 brothers have all helped out off and on. Not in the amounts that I have, but according to their ability. And my sister helps just by being there with mom - they're only two houses apart and Sis helps mom with major cleaning, yard work, etc. So it wouldn't be fair or right to try to re-coup the money I give from the estate. After re-reading my post, I'm ashamed for making it seem like my siblings did nothing. jkom and talley_sue, I agree with the sentiments, but it sure is hard to make my mom understand. She's sensitive about needing financial help now, but she also wants to assume that she will be able to live independently until one day she ups and dies. Thanks again for the feedback.