More about money

I will likely be writing a lot more about money and finance. That may sound like a big turn off, but I encourage you to read and think about it and I'll give you my reasons why: 1) My mom is a widow and at age 58 she lost her job. Even though she has a masters degree and has been director of several different organizations, she was out of work for over a year and a half. Because she didn't have substantial savings, she could not afford to simply retire. In fact, I had to loan her money during the time she was out of work. 2) I believe the primary reason she is in such bad financial shape is that my parents (through no real fault of their own) never learned how to handle money in a way that provides for the future. 3) Since my dad passed away about ten years ago I've done and continue to do a lot of research about money and finance to make sure I don't end up in the same boat. 4) I want to share what I have learned in hopes that as many people as possible can avoid being in the same circumstance as my mom. The good news is that if you earn at least a decent wage the financial mechanics of ensuring you have enough money to take care of yourself and your family are relatively easy. The earlier you start the better, but it's never to late. I'm working with my mom now to help her get on a better track. The biggest rub comes in having the personal (or family) discipline to carry through with changing the way you think about, use and save money. If you are like me, a good strong motivational factor helps to maintain discipline. In my case, this motivation comes from my mom's situation on two levels. First of all, I don't want to end up in her shoes when I'm 60. Secondly, since I am an only child, there is a very real possibility that I'm going to have to provide for her at some point in the future. I don't normally post very personal entries, but my hope is that her circumstances provide motivation to anyone else who might need it.