What economic options are there for people who will not have spouses

[elmwood]

@Wesley Clark

If someone gets laid off or wants to go back to school if they have a spouse with an income they can do that more easily, but if you don’t have a spouse there really aren’t any support mechanisms I can think of other than maybe intermediate family (and many people would only take this as a last resort)

I fully expect that I’ll grow old alone.

Financially, it’s proving to be a challenge. My cost of living is essentially twice that of someone who is married; I’m paying for a mortgage and all utilities by myself, living in a house that a married couple with two children previously occupied. Even if I lived in a small condo, my cost of living would still be much higher than that of my married peers. It leaves me with very little disposable income. I’m looking for a second job, and saving what little cash I can to buy a rental property, so I can have another income stream and take advantage of the equity I may earn.

Economic crises? There’s my savings account. Once that’s drained, there’s moving abck home as a last resort. When I was laid off from my previous job, I had no income, but still had to pay rent and utilities, along with expenses in finding a new job – airline tickets, lodging, rental cars, and so on. Six months of unemployment set me back about $14,000.

Retirement? I have a higher percentage of my salary put into IRAs, pension funds and deferred comp than most people; again limiting my disposable income. There’s the retirement funds, pensions, and any inheritance I’ll be getting (which would be invested for that purpose). I’ll definitely be relocating to the Southwest; not to be around old people, but rather to take advantage of lower utility costs and taxes. I should have a comfortable retirement, provided there are no catastrophies along the way.

[yBeayf]

Wesley, how do you know that you will never have a spouse?

Trust me, some of us just know.

[msmith537]

@Wesley Clark

I was talking to a guy today and he mentioned how he and his spouse make around 6500/month combined income and it made me think about how spouses are the only real way to pool economic resources that this society values (other societies value family pooling of resources from birth to death, but its really frowned upon here and not likely to happen as a result).

a) Get a business partner
b) Find a job that pays more than $39000 a year
c) Win the lottery

[Dangerosa]

A LOT of my married friends have children and one income. Sometimes they have no children and one income. Being married doesn’t equal having two incomes. Often instead of pooling resources, you are sharing yours.

And while certain things (like cable) can be shared, not everything can be. And once you add kids, the whole income/outgo equation changes.