I'm finally my Dad's conservator. Dad's favorite hike at Colorado's National Monument Park For first-time readers, let's back up a bit on why this was necessary. Dad's Alzheimer's has progressed to mid-stage and we didn't have power of attorney. He lived independently as long as he could, ...
After those last two blog posts, it's time to lighten things up a little. Let's talk about figuring out the "new rules" when your fledgling leaves the nest. Our daughter has given me permission to blog about an e-mail that we sent her a few weeks after she started college. Until she turned 18, her ...
Dad's doing fine in the care facility. He's happy and he's safe. His Alzheimer's symptoms have stabilized with their care. He's coping with his myeloma symptoms and waiting for chemotherapy to start. He's sleeping more than he should (Vicodin for the pain), and he's weak (anemia), and he's losing weight, and these ...
Many of us Boomers are caring for aging parents, but nobody seems to talk about it. Maybe we don't like to contemplate the foreshadowing of our own mortality, or maybe society deems it to be selfish complaining. Yet if the subject happens to come up in a Boomer conversation, then everyone has their story. Some of them ...
Thanks for all your feedback since my first post on my financial lessons learned from caring for an elderly parent. Frankly, writing about it helps me make sense of the situation. I also appreciate your backup! My Alzheimer's research led me to a number of websites covering all aspects of the syndrome. Unfortunately ...
It's been nearly two years since my father wrote a letter to us two sons that his "slipping memory" made him stop using e-mail. Since then I've learned way more than I really wanted to know about managing his affairs, and I've included the four most important lessons at the end of this post. Dad's a retired engineer ...
Introduction Jan put up a great comment a few weeks back: "I’m curious. The stat on how many dual military couples ACTUALLY retire is amazing to me. Your case is even more unique. How many couples have dual military retirement?" I'm afraid the short answers are "We don't know" and "Probably not very many". A more ...
Our college daughter (just survived freshman year!) spent the last couple weeks at home. As she was reviewing the packing list for next month's NROTC training, she noticed that it included traveler's checks. "Traveler's checks"?!? If you're at least in your 40s then you may have dim memories of using them in your ...
Short post today, but it's building the foundation of raising a financially smart kid. An earlier post talked about the challenges of retiring early when you're still raising your kids. That raises another question: How do you raise kids to value the early-retirement lifestyle? What kind of example does that make on ...
Let me start by saying that kids are totally worth it. (There, now my daughter can relax.) If you're the kind of person who wants to have kids someday, then feel free to start a family when you're able to support that. Off-topic for a second, if you just can't see yourself having kids then don't worry about it. ...
We're military veterans, not financial advisors. We're trying to share what we've learned and to pay it forward – but you have to make your own decisions.
What worked for us will probably work for you, but unfortunately, we can’t guarantee it. Let us know if something’s not working for you, and we’ll try to figure out a better way... Continue Reading...
Doug Nordman