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I'm an only child, and my mother is an only child. Luckily, my grandmother is 68 and I suppose her benefits will stay the same, although she's had to rely on my mother's income to supplement her paltry SS payments for the last few years, even to the point of my mother having to live with her for 8 years or so.
Luckily (??) My mom was able to move out and get her own place but still give granny some $$ every month to help keep her head above water.
But it's frightening for me---I'm an only child. Therefore, if mom needs a place to live, *I* am the only place she can go to (aside from assisted living, etc). If Granny needs a place to live, Mom is the only place SHE can go. If granny AND mom need a place to live ***I*** will be the only place for them to go.
It's a strain. I'm only 29, I'm still in school (as is my husband) but it's stressful to know that whether I like it or not, not only do we have to plan for OUR future as a husband and wife with maybe or maybe not a child in the future, but we really do have to plan for the possibility of my mother being dependent upon us at some point in her life. THAT is a major strain.
Luckily (??) for my husband, he has 2 older sisters, so they can 'spread out' the responsibility of aging parents. Me, I have no one that can help me with the burden.
Not that I resent having to take care of my mother in her old age, or even my grandmother as well---but I just think it's unfair that the government looks at ME as being more reliable source of support than the government itself. What if mom had no kids? Hell---what if *I* have no kids? Not that I think that kids should be born just so they can support their parents later in life, but the way things are going now, you'll end up in the poor house if GOd Forbid you don't have a kid (not only a kid, but a kid that makes enough money to support THEIR life and yours).
Sick sick sick. It worries me to the point of nausea sometimes just THINKING about the possible ineveitablity of the situation.
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