Boo! Did I startle you, money nerds? It’s Thursday. It’s also All Hallow’s Eve! Today at Apex Money, we’re celebrating the event by sharing spooky stories from the world of personal finance. Prepare for the scare!
“When you die, I’ll be there to take your stuff.” [Narratively] — “You learn a lot about a dead man rifling through his house – lifting his furniture, clearing his walls, going through his closets, finding out which psalms are dog-eared in his Bible – searching for anything that might be worth selling at auction. It feels like trespassing.”
A financial checklist for the death of a parent. [Fatherly] —”No one thinks dealing with the death of a parent will be pleasant. We expect a morass of unfamiliar and uncomfortable emotions. We anticipate unprecedented grief. But no one warns us about how much math and paperwork it entails. Sorting out a parent’s estate after their death is a slow, sometimes grueling process that starts while you’re grieving and then drags on for months. Even if your parents left behind a clear estate plan and instructions about their wishes, you still may be tasked with a daunting list of responsibilities.”
Suddenly single: Why women need to focus on financial planning. [CFA Institute] — “My calculation is that 90% of married women will end up needing to manage their own finances at some point due to divorce or widowhood.” This is an article written by a financial advisor for financial advisors, but its lessons are important to everyone — especially women.
My family wants to spend our retirement money to keep Mom alive just one more day. [/r/financialindependence on Reddit] — “My mother is very sick, dying in the hospital…Now it is her families responsibility to pay the bills. My sisters want to keep her alive another day (and anther day after that.) with very expensive medical procedures. I say let her go. They call me a killer.” This is a fascinating ethical and moral dilemma.
This last piece isn’t about money but it is about death, a perfect topic for Halloween, right?
Remembering Action Park, American’s most dangerous and daring water park. [Sports Illustrated] — “Six [people died] between 1978, when the park was born, and ’96, when it went out of business. And there is simply no way of calculating how many injuries, ranging from minor to major, were sustained at the sprawling 250-acre playground that came to be known, variously, as Class Action Park, Traction Park, Friction Park and Accident Park.”
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