This one showed up in my feed a couple of days ago. The couple in the article are 69 (him) and 65 (her). Their home, with a market value of $791,000, accounts for
94% of their net worth. (I did the math using all of the numbers given - it's actually 98.75% of their net worth). They bought the home for $59,500 in 1983 and "they currently owe about $215,000 on the home after refinancing three times over the years to convert equity to cash – money that they spent on remodeling, repairs and other bills. They also owe $20,000 on a low-interest, secondary loan on the home."
Some other gems:
"He earns about $50,100 a year before taxes and withholding. He also participates in his employer’s 401(k) retirement savings plan, with a current account balance of about $3,000." - Wait, what? Dude is 69 years old and has three fucking grand in his 401k???
"The Weddells’ second-largest asset is a $50,000 savings account at a brick-and-mortar bank. The bank’s annual percentage yield on savings accounts ranges between 0.03 percent and 0.06 percent..." Seriously? No words...
And my favorite...
"The Weddells have already started reducing their spending, starting with their grocery bill. They also realized they were spending about
$400 a month (emphasis mine) on digital programming, such as Netflix and Redbox.
'We don’t live this luxurious lifestyle,' Kathryn said. 'We just live a normal life.'"
How the hell do you spend $400 a MONTH on Netflix and Redbox??? So much trainwreck...
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/house-rich-savings-poor-and-eyeing-retirement-bellevue-couple-ponders-options/