A relative does not like eating out, even on important occasions. You can actually feel his displeasure when we insist (except when it is the Sofitel buffet, which he loves).  This is because he thinks eating out is a waste of money.  This view is okay (and maybe true), except that he strongly suggests to [...]

When is enough, enough?

We have medical insurance. Of course, we have medical insurance. But it was your run-of-the-mill type with a per person limit of up to $2,000 in one year. A lot of people do not even make a dent in that amount because they never get sick. Well, for the years that we have had it, we usually use up (if any) only $400 annually – some for check-ups, others for laboratory tests and procedures (blood tests, colonoscopy) and annual medical exams, for our daughter’s hospitalization (twice these five years) – an amount that is more or less equivalent to what we have paid for it. But this year was different. Hubby has about depleted all of it with all of the tests he had to undergo for his heart.

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You think, “I cannot do this anymore. It is crazy. There is no hope for this economy. I cannot hold on any longer. I am sinking. I need to foreclose now. I will do it.”
But wait! At the back of your mind, you are thinking – is there another option? Options? You are thinking – I think I may have heard of something.

There is one: through a short sale. But again, it is not that simple.

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It was one of the hardest decisions you had to make.
In your mind, okay, I will let go of the house. I cannot pay it anymore. It makes no sense to pay for a steep mortgage when the value of the house has gone down by half. No sense. Everybody is doing it anyway. I should be fine.

You do it, sign the papers, let the bank foreclose and rest on your laurels.

Then while sitting on the living room of your new rented apartment, you get a bill, a huge tax bill because – guess what – you have made money on the foreclosure of your home. Money? But where is it?

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Having a house is the ultimate dream. I have dreamed about it but never thought I would have it so soon, thanks to parents who have generously thought of providing for their children while they and the children are still young and the parents can see and feel the gratitude of the children for that wonderful (and needed) gesture (okay, dole-out).
Indeed why wait for death, or why imagine that your children are waiting for your death, before giving your children what you are thinking of giving them anyway? But this is for another story and for another time.

In the year 2009, the world was rocked by stories of foreclosures, foreclosures which have been instrumental in bringing down the single most powerful economy in the world – that of the United States.

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I have a confession to make. I have not written my will.

I do not know what is stopping me – not the thought of invincibility because slowly I am finding out the truth and fact of my humanity. Not for lack of knowledge – I have drafted wills for others and other more complicated – and more sober (sobering?) – documents. Not for lack of having given it thought – because I have.

Then what?

Because writing a will is an emotional exercise and I am not sure if I can handle the enormity of it. It is half love letter, half goodbye letter, transmitting all of your hopes and dreams to people you hope not to leave behind too soon. It is a practical letter, an inventory of your life and what you have accumulated in terms of the material and the familial and the emotional. It has a potential to be controversial, leaving in its wake disappointments and tensions and conflicts that you no longer can put under control. It is a testament to what your life has been, to what you valued and continue to value. It is a last heave before you and your life and your words says caput.

And how do you say goodbye?

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Something bothered me.

I was looking at my financial duties for 2010, staring as far out as December, when the imminence of what I have to pay struck me: huge life insurance premiums.

Do you have the thought that sometimes you may have bitten more than you can chew?

Years ago, when I bought those policies, business was good and was not yet bogged down by recession woes. I felt I could do anything – be anything, buy anything. My financial planner convinced me of the wisdom of obtaining life insurance (my second attempt at it). For peace of mind, she said. And I did have it. I remember thinking while driving one day that my family will be okay if… But now, that same thing that gave me peace of mind is shattering it.

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The twilight of the years – everyone is heading there. Thanks to medicine, people now have a lifespan of 80 years. Whether that is good news or not, the fact remains – we have to prepare for a long life. But how grand or how miserable your exit will be is up to you. Yes, [...]