| lenona321@yahoo.com: Mar 26 02:43PM -0700 Interestingly, there's no mention of the Dacyczyns. (Creators of "The Complete Tightwad Gazette," for you youngsters.) https://theoutline.com/post/3840/frugalwoods-frugality-millennials?zd=1&zi=ju6a2dha First paragraphs: Miles Howard Mar—23—2018 11:15AM EST What if buying a country house with its own apple orchard were as easy as giving up artisanal cheese and pre-sliced carrots for a while? What if you were able to retire in your thirties by simply living more "intentionally" and investing in low-fee index funds? If all that sounds peachy, then you've got to meet the Frugalwoods. You might have read their story in The Guardian, but in any event, here's the spiel. The Frugalwoods — real names Liz Willard Thames and Nate Thames — are a Millennial couple who did the nine-to-five non-profit thing in Cambridge, Massachusetts for several years before realizing they were trying to "buy their way into happiness" and deciding they had to break free. How? By retiring early, of course! So they squirreled away the majority of their income — in 2014, they saved an impressive 71 percent — cut back on things like eating out at restaurants and taking public transportation to work, and started a blog about their lives. The Frugalwoods soon had enough money saved to escape their "frenzied" city grind. They bought a four-bedroom house in Vermont and began a leisurely new life on 66 acres of woods, streams, and apple trees. Within a few years, the Frugalwoods garnered a vocal audience of aspiring frugalists, a book deal with HarperCollins, and enough guest spots on money podcasts to catch the attention of NPR and The New York Times... (snip) |
| lenona321@yahoo.com: Mar 26 02:17PM -0700 Useful, I hope! It's a bit long. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/business/elder-orphans-care.html First quarter: By SUSAN B. GARLAND MARCH 23, 2018 Sarah Peveler lacks a support system that many older people count on: their adult children. But Ms. Peveler, 71, who is divorced and childless, said she was determined not to let fear of an uncertain future get the best of her. To help avoid the potential perils of a solitary old age, Ms. Peveler is carrying out a multipronged, go-it-alone plan. A key part of it was to find a small community where she could make friends and walk nearly everywhere, without worrying about the hazards of ice and snow. A friend from North Carolina suggested that she look at Tarboro, in the eastern part of the state, about 75 miles from Raleigh. The city of 11,400 filled the bill, and she moved there several years before retiring in 2012 from her job as an executive at a Philadelphia-based nonprofit. "At some point, I am not going to be able to drive," she said. From her downtown home, "I can walk to Main Street, the library, the church, the drugstore and the Piggly Wiggly." Ms. Peveler paid $135,000 cash for a one-story house with longevity in mind. One of the three bedrooms, she said, can be converted into an apartment if she needs a caretaker to move in. She is thinking of checking out assisted-living facilities in case she ever needs more than home care. (There is a family history of dementia, she said.) Several mini-strokes caused some cognitive impairment, so her doctor monitors her regularly. With a brother on the West Coast and no nieces or nephews to step in, Ms. Peveler has, through her church and several civic activities, developed a surrogate family of friends and neighbors, many of them several decades younger, who keep tabs on her. For added protection, she signed up for a service, EyeOn App, that signals three friends if she does not reply within a half-hour to scheduled alerts on her cellphone. "Once, I didn't respond, and everyone called me," she said. "My next-door neighbor sent her daughter over." Although no plan is foolproof, Ms. Peveler said she was as confident as she could be. "I know people would have my back," she said. Ms. Peveler is among a growing number of older Americans who are unmarried and childless. By 2030, about 16 percent of women 80 to 84 will be childless, compared with about 12 percent in 2010, according to a 2013 report by AARP... (snip) Lenona. |
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