All the Older Single Ladies in Poverty

[hfojvt]

74. to me, part of that is the unfair way they price utilities

and it seems to me it is getting worse. Because they have a base charge - the amount they charge you for nothing, then cutting your electic use or your water use in half does not cut your bill in half - because the base charge is still there, forcing small users to subsidize big users.

But both of my grandmothers seemed to do all right. My mom's dad died in 1973 and her mom did not die until 1986. Dad's dad died in 1978 and mom not until 1994. One advantage dad's family had though was that his mom's dad bought them a house when they got married in 1928. He gave a farm to each of his two sons and a house to his daughter. Not super rich, but a fairly prosperous farmer.

But even with a 30 year mortgage the house would have been paid for in 1958, giving them twenty years of having no house payment or rent expense. Although 1958 would be the year grandpa turned 60 and perhaps retired, perhaps with a pension. I sorta feel that people should not still be paying rent when they are in their 60s. Many are not, of course, but not everybody can afford a house. And property taxes and insurance are not free either.