Author Topic: Helping a friend  (Read 3613 times)

A mom

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Helping a friend
« on: June 05, 2013, 10:53:39 AM »
I'm looking for advice about how to help a friend. She is in her mid 50s and very ready to retire. She feels that physically she can't do her job much longer and the stress is bad too. She has no savings and rents. She will be eligible for a pension in 5-6 years, but doesn't think she can wait that long. She can't find an easier job that wouldn't cut her take home pay to about $3000/month. She says she couldn't possibly live on that. We do not live in a high cost of living area.  Some of you must be happily living on that amount. What are your expenses like? This is for one person living alone.

jfer_rose

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Re: Helping a friend
« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2013, 10:59:46 AM »
Wow. I'm someone who lives alone and my take-home pay is a little over $3,000 per month. Even before I discovered MMM I was saving more than 30% of that. I'm working toward doing better. And I live in a high cost-of-living area.

That said, I read enough advice columns to know that you cannot force a friend to change, as much as she would benefit.

A mom

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Re: Helping a friend
« Reply #2 on: June 05, 2013, 11:18:26 AM »
I know I can't force her to change. It's just that I'm hearing about her worries all the time. It's hard to just keep saying, "That's too bad!" all the time.

Jfer_rose, would you be willing to tell me how much you spend on rent or mortgage?

matchewed

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Re: Helping a friend
« Reply #3 on: June 05, 2013, 11:26:23 AM »
There is actually a very large portion (14%) of this forum who live on sub 40k income. With the spirit of this forum in mind you can bet that the vast majority of those in that 14% save >20% of their income.

If your friend has no savings she should not quit. She should either keep working and start saving more or keep working and figure out if her pension will cover her living expenses.

jfer_rose

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Re: Helping a friend
« Reply #4 on: June 05, 2013, 01:09:01 PM »

Jfer_rose, would you be willing to tell me how much you spend on rent or mortgage?

I recently refinanced to a 15 year mortgage, and my housing costs are about $1,000 per month. I could have chosen a 30 year mortgage with lower monthly payment but I decided not to.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!