That's interesting, Frank. Out West in the Land of the Giant Olympic
Slug, the scales tip a bit toward the older folks footing the bill for
their retirement apartments. Most of the older folk have a home they
bought back when a house cost less than 30 or 40 thousand dollars, and
now sell for 250 thousand and up. With half way decent pensions and a
small draw against their savings, most can hang on until well into
their 90's. We have one client who recently moved to her own
apartment near Portland, Oregon. She has ten children, all of them in
good paying jobs, but she and her husband did well enough that at 104,
she is still paying her own bills.
Boy, am I lucky to have lived in Washington State and worked for the
State Services for the Blind. I have my state retirement, my social
security and the income...such as it is...from our Independent Living
Program. Cathy has her own Seattle City retirement and Social
security.
It strikes me as a sad commentary the fact that so many older folks
have more money in the bank than their adult children. Part of it is
due to the higher cost of owning a home, a car or two, and the rising
expenses of child rearing.
When I was a wee bit of a budding bean pole, my dad worked and
supported our family of five. But rent was only $15 per month on our
little shack of a house. A decent second hand car was well under
$250. No internet, no cell phones or smart phones, no television,
just the old Philco radio sitting on the shelf in the kitchen. Mother
went to secretarial school and earned the down payment on our first
house. It cost $7,850 in 1949. A big old two story house with four
bed rooms and two bath rooms...well no tub in the bath room off the
folks bed room. And the house payment was a whopping $65 per month.
That was because you needed around one third down. Mother had saved
almost $3,000.
Even my generation, which had been raised during the Great Depression,
were more frugal than younger generations. I bought my first car in
1976, eleven years after I'd become blind. It was a Subaru, and cost
just above $5,000. That same year we moved from the home we'd bought
in Ballard, to one in the South end of Seattle, and paid $26,500.
That was the fourth house I'd bought, and the most expensive. In 1981
Cathy and I bought our first home for $79,000. It took both of our
incomes to support a family of four. We earned just over $18,000
each. But this last year we bought the Toyota Tacoma at a "bargain
price" of around $40,000, cash.
And that house in Renton, the $79,000 place that we bought in 1981 and
sold for $156,000 in 1995, recently sold for a few dollars shy of
$500,000. Even with higher incomes, it takes both parents working
full time, to pay the overhead. Now I know that there is also a
remnant of our old Middle Class whose children have moved into well
paid professional positions that enable them to assist their parents,
but even so, most of our clients are carrying their own financial
load. A few short years ago we thought it was outrageous when we
learned that some of the retirement apartments, the ones that had
housekeeping and a central dining room, were asking $1,500 a month.
Today that's what a "low income" two bedroom apartment costs...and the
rooms are very small. But those retirement apartments have risen over
$3,000 to $4,000 for a one bed room unit. And the "special Care"
facilities are going for $6,000 to 10,000 per month.
My guess is that in 20 to 30 years all of these fancy retirement
apartments will be sitting vacant, or be sub divided into smaller
studio and one bedroom apartments, with minimal amenities. But if the
old folks have a few dollars in savings, and their children can pony
up some of the costs, a smooth talking sales person will remind the
adult children as to how hard it was for their folks to raise them,
and how much they denied themselves for their children, and how much
better we all would sleep knowing that mom and dad are secure in their
apartment, among other happy moms and Dads . And somehow the children
will juggle the family books and make it work. We all agree, nothing
is too good for dear old mom and dad...nothing...which, if they live
long enough is exactly what they will get. Of course no one mentions
that next year those apartments will be raised $50 per month, and $50
more the next year and $50 the year after that. ...
Ah yes! Capitalism at its finest!
Carl Jarvis
On 1/24/18, Frank Ventura <frank.ventura@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Carl & Miriam, I visit many clients in assistive living and for the most
part they are being paid for by adult children. A scenario common to me as
I had to pay for my late parents care as well. What will happen when the
adult children get old I don't know. Hopefully the adult children will have
some children of their own with resources of their own. Nina and I have
already done the math, she will have to work until she is 72 and I will have
to work until I am 78 to take home even the base pension. I don't expect
that to go far and since we work for the State of Massachusetts we can never
collect social security, BTW MA is only one of six states that require state
employees to give up their SS. We have both read up extensively on
euthanasia as there will be time when we cannot work and won't have medical
coverage or Medicare.
Frank
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2018 12:10 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Moving
Miriam,
Cathy and I visit folks in some very fine retirement and assisted living
apartments. Both Cathy and I have decent government pensions, along with
our social security checks. We could afford to live in some of the less
expensive buildings...as long as we still worked!
Probably by selling our house and ten acres, as well as our large lot at
Kala Point, we could supplement our income enough to spend *My last years,
but Cathy is a mere 65, and when I died and my income were dropped, she
would need to look at low income living. Of course I plan to live to be at
least 100, which means Cathy will be a mere 83, and probably our reserve
money would have run out. Of course if I don't feel any better than I feel
today, 100 looks to be a far too ambitious goal. I think we have picked up
a Flu Bug. Last Friday we visited a couple of clients in one of those Up
Scale Retirement Apartments, and as soon as we entered two young ladies came
rushing out from behind the counter, telling us we might not want to see
anyone, since the building was riddled with Flu Bugs. The other lady
sprayed our hands with some bug killer, but seemed confused when I asked if
they provided masks. But we've seen in past years during Flu Season that
when the residents dine together, all it takes is one person hacking away
as they touch everything around them, and Lo and Behold, the entire place
becomes an infirmary.
And it seems that no matter which strains of Flu the vaccination protects
against, it's not the one that erupts among the elderly residents.
Actually, while being blind does have an impact on social activities in such
residents, the real curse is Aging. Blind or sighted, folks creep slower
and slower about the building. They get worn out just walking to the dining
room. And social activities interfere with their nap time.
We began several support groups over the past 23 years, but only one still
functions. We began book clubs, where anyone who wanted to be read to could
join once or twice a week and listen to a few chapters of a Talking Book.
The list goes on, but vision loss was not the final clincher. It was age,
every time. The first time a 90 year old client said, "Entertainment? What
do I do? Well, I like to sit here and remember!" I used to chuckle about
that. I remember saying, "Yes, but don't you want some new stuff to be able
to remember?" She didn't respond. We decided that she could meet new
residents with a gift basket that the building presented folks, and chat
with them and make them feel welcome. She liked the idea, and I understand
that she actually did it...twice. After the second new resident had been
royally welcomed, she told the activity director that she was just too worn
out to do it anymore.
Well, it's 9:00 A.M. and I think I need to reschedule a couple of
clients...and then go back to bed.
Carl Jarvis
On 1/24/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Carl, Thanks. I'm still here. I may not be disconnected until early
Friday morning but don't know when or if the computer will ever be the
same again.
Nothing about my life will be the same again, however. This is, shall
we say, the financially disadvantaged old blind woman's version of
assisted living. Had I been a government employee for 30 or more years
with an old fashioned pension and social security, maybe I'd be living
at the lovely life care community out east or at a plushy assisted
living facility. Of course, being blind, I'm not sure I'd ever have
been easily socially integrated into that social milieu. The older
folks in my apartment building have never been able to integrate me
into their social interaction. At 80 years of age, I'm here to tell
all those NFB types that blindness is more than an inconvenience. It
has profound affects on every part of life at every age.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2018 10:12 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Moving
Good morning Miriam. I'm tucking my best thoughts inside your
suitcase just to make certain your transition is a smooth one. I
don't know about you, but I get really grumpy when my normal routine
is disrupted. But it sounded from some of your past posts that change was
necessary.
Still, any time you are away from the list, you will be missed. But
don't rush to get back on, since the world will still be going to Hell
in a Hand basket with or without you being on Blind Democracy.
Anyway, see you on the other side...the other side of your move, that is.
Carl Jarvis
On 1/24/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I'm moving to a new address on Friday. I'm not sure when I'm going
off list and when I'll be back on again, but I thought I'd let all of
you know this, before I forget to do so in the rush of last minute
details and anxiety.
Miriam
