Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Terrific Tuesday - First Day of Spring



It is the first day of Spring. It was a sunny blustery day here. Snow is forecast for this coming weekend! 

Today we received new estimates on closing costs for both the home we are selling and the home we are buying. It was a day of tying up loose ends on both homes.

We are down to ten days on the closing in Woodland and then our house will belong to the new buyer. We will be meeting a notary tomorrow to sign the seller’s paperwork.

This afternoon we drove over to Hidden Gem Spa to pick up a body butter. I wanted Joe to see the property. With eight rescue horses on the property (three are ponies) it is quite impressive. That was our outing for the day. Joe spent most of his day watching educational YouTube videos. I was taking care of paperwork, budgeting, and copying blog posts from the Blogspot site into a word document.

Today was also the annual virtual meeting with our financial advisor. She brought up photos of our new home here and oohed and aahed along with us over all the features. As soon as she saw the kitchen she remarked, “Joe can bake a lot of cheesecakes!” Of course, we also covered our portfolio and discussed the impact of world events and the election on investment earnings. She is planning to send an article she likes about how the presidential election does not have as much impact on the market as one might expect.

After thirty years, Joe and I are still miles apart on some aspects of financial philosophy. I am thankful for every penny we have saved over the years, and I feel confident (a confidence shared by our financial advisor) that we are in excellent shape. Joe, on the other hand fears one major catastrophe could wipe out everything. Over dinner this evening he asked what would happen if he had to live in assisted living. I reminded him that he would have to be in bad shape and even then, he would not be on the street. He told me he did not want to live in a rundown place. I assured him he would not be in a rundown place. We finally had to end the conversation with our standard agreement: I will continue to be optimistic, and he will continue to worry.

Only time will tell which of us is right. Could be we both are. I just cannot wrap my head around Joe being in long-term assisted living. His dad lived in assisted living for about three years. That was because he was not able to take care of himself and his wife did not want someone living in their home to take care of him. It would have been too much for her given her lifestyle, which is not a criticism of her. She absolutely did the right thing for her and for him. Joe and I do not share the same lifestyle. We also will have room for a live-in caretaker should either (or both) of us need it. We can also sell the house and use the equity for nice accommodations. After all we cannot take any of our money with us when we die.

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