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Death isn’t a subject that many of us like to think about. But the fact of the matter is that we all must plan for that eventuality, including how we want our final days to play out.
According to Amanda Bennet, author of “The Cost of Hope,” “From the 1970s to the 1990s, one study suggests, the cost of adding a single year of life for an individual over age 65 more than tripled, to $145,000 from $46,800 — and health-care costs have been rising ever since. In 2008, researchers from Stanford and Wharton business schools studied dialysis patients and concluded that the average cost of one ‘quality’ extra year of life was about $129,000.”
These huge costs are often incurred in attempting to prolong a life when death is imminent, inevitable, and in some cases, even desired. After all, the terminally ill are often still suffering from the emotional and physical pain that comes with the underlying disease. And as modern medicine becomes better at sustaining the terminally ill, it may be unnecessarily prolonging the inevitable.
Plus, the majority of Americans state that they’d prefer to die at home, yet about 75% pass away in a hospital or a nursing home. So for those who want to have a comfortable time living the tail end of his/her life in relatively peace, it means that end-of-life care should not be put off.
Here’s what you need to know about end-of-life care, so that you can be prepared to make decisions for yourself and your family members when the time comes. [ continue reading… ]
Are you hoping to change your financial habits but just don’t know where to begin?
There isn’t any one-size-fits-all magic approach,. There are, however, different strategies you can try out until you hit on something that works well for you.
Here are three such strategies that can help you change your financial habits. Figure out which is likely to work best for you:
1. Try a Spending Detox
If spending is one of your big problems, you can try breaking the habit by going on a spending detox. Try to go a month without spending on anything that isn’t absolutely necessary. You can retrain yourself to dislike spending and keep your money as a byproduct.
I know because the strategy works with other preferences too. After quite some time eating dark chocolate, I have a hard time with sugary milk chocolate. I can’t even drink hot chocolate anymore. I retrained my taste buds so that I didn’t care as much for sugar. It’s the same with spending.
This approach can even work with your long-term and short-term savings goals. Make sure you automatically contribute to retirement savings or to your travel fund during this time, but avoid spending money on unnecessary household goods, gadgets, or other items that do little more than clutter things up.
You might be surprised at how quickly you adjust to the new normal and develop new habits that are less about spending money. [ continue reading… ]
Consumers go out in full force every summer. Barbecues, vacations, beach trips – you name it. After all, the season of summer is an exciting time reconnecting with family, getting outside, and creating memories.
Many people end up busting the budget during these few months, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Here are five items to avoid splurging on this summer season:
As tuition costs continue to rise, you as a parent will need to make tough decisions about whether or not you’re willing or able to pay for your child’s college education.
While paying for their college tuition may be a dream of yours – and one that can definitely benefit their future and set them on the right foot to being debt free – you want to make sure you’re not compromising your own financial life in order to fund their education.
If you’re thinking of funding your child’s college education, here are three important questions to ask. [ continue reading… ]
I’ve been staring at the dirt circle in my backyard where our trampoline used to be for a couple of years now. I’ve been diligently killing anything that grew in the circle the entire time as the plan was to build a circular fire pit in that location.
Finally, my wife and I decided this spring to put our plan into action, so we went to a local big box hardware store to get some information on our DIY fire pit project. We thought it would be a great project to work on together, with a finished product that we could enjoy for years to come.
During the process we learned five important tips everyone should know before taking on a complicated DIY project. Let me share those with you. [ continue reading… ]
I’ve always been out of the loop on townhouses because, until now, I haven’t lived in an area where they were common. Now that I’ve moved to the greater Seattle area, I see them everywhere. To me, townhouses have always seemed like the ‘glorified apartments’ of urban areas. Along with condos, they represent limited home ownership within the realm of community living. So what exactly are the differences between apartments, condos, townhouses, and homes? Are townhouses worth your consideration? [ continue reading… ]
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