Monday, August 22, 2011

Think first?! (reaction to a negative comment)

(begin rant)
I've been writing this blog for a LONG time, and I know I often talk about things that might make people feel uncomfortable--that's the road I've chosen to travel.   I have other blogs, on other subjects, and I often get negative comments on those.  But on this blog, NEVER have I had anyone say anything bad...until now.
(I'm not talking about spam--I'm talking about rude.)
I recently did a post about what Alzheimer's cost my family in terms of Social Security income.
This is what someone commented:   
"Some people don't think about their retirement thoroughly. And they take important steps before thinking about it twice or asking an expert."
WHAT?!  My dad retired because he had ALZHEIMER'S.  Did you miss that, jerk?  And my mom retired to be a CARETAKER for my dad, who had ALZHEIMER'S.   
There is nothing to "think about thoroughly" when you are sick with a fatal illness, or your spouse is. 
And if you are implying they should have had investments, I didn't even get into that in the other post.  But I will now.  My mom had a nice 401(k) and some other savings.  But there is a thing called a SPEND DOWN where the government makes you spend ALL your money before you or your spouse can go on Medicare.  So the retirement she did plan for instead went to $10k a MONTH on a nursing home until she ran out of money.  How do you plan for that, huh?  You got an extra $120K a year just lying around waiting to be spent on nursing care?  Good for you, I hope you live a LONG TIME and suck up all that money and someone comes along and tells you that you should have planned better and died quicker.
(end rant)

6 comments:

karen said...

You tell them Bert. We did and are doing the same thing with mom and I got a bad comment on one of my post awhile back. What do people think when your love one gets an awful disease it is all taken care of. Money is there. I hate some people.

Mona Johnson said...

Bert, I don't think people realize how expensive it is to care for someone with any chronic disease. I suppose we should all consult an elder law attorney before we suspect a family member needs care, and we should all buy long term care insurance. In my experience, most people don't have the time or money to do either.

I worry that the poor economy and cuts to government funding will mean that even if families spend down all their assets and deplete all their retirement funds (sometimes running through the savings of multiple generations), they won't be able to get the help they need through Medicaid.

Sheri said...

You tell um'!

GBP })i({ said...

Thanks, guys. It's just so frustrating to talk to people who have NO IDEA what dementia and Alzheimer's does to families.
-Bert

Patsy said...

Chances are, that person will find out the hard way (eventually). Don't worry about it, you are doing great work. Thanks, Patsy

Dayswithgramps said...

Most people don't realize how much it costs to care for someone with Alzheimer's. Even after all I have seen with my grandfather, I don't know how I will plan for my own old age. It is a very frustrating and complicated subject!