My wife just passed her 65th birthday, an occasion that was marked by a three fold increase in the volume of those ads for supplemental medicare insurance. I'm seeing a similar increase e in the number of offers for both funeral and long-term care insurance. Just for the heck of it I collected the mailers for a two week period. 23 pieces of mail.
Now, it's nice to think these companies have my best interests at heart. Unfortunately, I think it's their bank accounts that they are concerned about. How so you might ask? Well, once I'm gone they won't be able to get any more of my money so they have to try for that last grab.
These companies, while trying to make a buck, do present a picture of what we can look forward to. Our generation (the Boomers) have taken care of our parents as they aged. Advances in medicine gave way to longer lives although the quality of life wasn't always the best. We stepped in and took care of mom and dad. Many of us still provide for our children. Caught in the economy a large number of them moved back in or, in some cases, never flew the nest.
I'm not sure what my future will be when I hit 70; that's 11 years off. I have told my kids that I'll hang around long enough to live off them for a while, sort of returning the favor. My daughter tells me that I'll be in a high chair, wearing diapers, and she'll be feeding me strained peas and carrots. (what a horrible concoction - did we really feed that to our kids?).
That's enough whining for now. Time to bundle those ads up with the newspapers and drop them off at the recycle center.
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