My husband, basically, started from nothing. Couldn’t finish college. We didn’t have money for books. I was four months pregnant when we married. His priorities changed to – what can I do to make money for my family? From that point on, it was never about him. It was always about what me and our three kids needed/wanted. He was a wonderful husband and father. He was a hard working man. Rarely spent money on himself. Didn’t play cards or gamble. Drank a little beer on weekends. He was a family man. Loved me and those kids. Always wanted to spend his time with us. He provided for us. Always.
The thing that he didn’t provide for, was the future. Didn’t believe in it? Didn’t think it was coming? In denial, or just too cheap? I think it was a combination of several things. Especially with money, you have to be taught. You have to have a good teacher/influence and you have to be willing to learn and cooperate. Neither he or I had those kind of people in our lives. He came from a very broken, dysfunctional home. Although my parents remained church going, married people, it was a facade. Doug and I had to learn, on our own, how to “wing it.” And that applied to every area of our lives. Especially money. Both of us worked, everyday, but without education, college, you (I) was very limited in my job search. So for most of our lives, I took entry level positions in various jobs. Doug, quite by accident, took a sales job and found his calling! He was awesome, and I think, he enjoyed the job for several years. He certainly enjoyed the money. Without a lot of effort on his part (he was a charmer and natural nice guy), he could make 4-5 times what others his age were making. Again, I stress this is for someone who doesn’t have a college degree. Anyway, the years went by. We didn’t concern ourselves much with money. If we needed something more, Doug just sold more that week/month. We didn’t live above our means. We have been married for 49 years. In all that time, we only had one new car and only lived in two different houses. We built our current home 39 years ago. Yes, 39.
Along the way, we started our own business and as a nod to the future, Doug started buying rental properties. So what I will say about that is that Doug got the very, very minimum anything that he had to get, by law. The least amount of insurance for the rental properties, business, and our home. Since we had used cars, that we bought in cash, we did not have to carry liability insurance. He refused to buy life insurance. He and I did not have a “salary” from the business, so we did not have payroll taxes. He refused to make a will. Living or otherwise. We had no retirement savings. No 401k, nothing. We would live off the rental income. Doug did our income taxes each year.
Fast forward to fall of 2015, when Doug, at age 66, was diagnosed with early on set Alzheimer’s disease. To say that was devastating, is such an understatement. Financially, it has taken me three years to try and dig us out of the hole we were in. Because for the 26 years we owned our own business, but did not pay taxes, our combined Social Security checks are laughable. We now have wills, life insurance. I had to sell some of the rental properties to generate cash. Of course, that has generated huge capital gains taxes. Oh well. That is not even my rant. Point is I had to quit my full time job last year to stay home with him, full time.
Since 2013, my roof has been leaking. The insurance company denied my claim. To repair the roof would not cost more than my $1,000 deductible. I did not have $1,000. The roof did not get fixed. Fast forward to 2017. At this point, my roof has been leaking for so long and in so many different places, my ceilings have been wet for so long, I have black mold in my house! Called my insurance company. File another claim. Adjuster came, went up on the roof. Came in the house, took pictures of the inside damage. Claim – Denied. The damage is too much! What? In the meantime, I have had, no less, than 5 different roofing companies knock on my door and tell me I need a new roof. DUH! Called my insurance agent. Sorry. Nothing can be done. Now, it’s 2018. Six houses on my street have gotten new roofs. Called agent again. She says third time is the last time. She sends different adjuster. He walks the roof. Comes inside. Takes pictures. Says that mine is the worse roof he has seen in years! He said he would recommend that the insurance company replace my roof! YAY! Finally! That was over a week ago. Okay Thanksgiving holiday, delays. I waited by the phone. No one called. I called my agent. Yes, she said. They mailed you a check on Friday or Saturday. What? I’m getting a New Roof? YAY!! As a matter of fact, the check came that afternoon. I couldn’t wait to rip open the envelope! Would it be for $10,000 or $8,000? I had quotes for both. I pulled the check out and glanced at the amount. Then I looked Really closely. That couldn’t be right! $1,616.30. WHAT??? They started with $10,465.00 Deducted $7,845.00 for Depreciation, deducted $1,000 for my deductible = $1,616.30!!!! I called my agent, screamed in her ear, What the Hell?? She referred me to the claims department, to a man named Scott. After he managed to calm me down, somewhat, he was able to explain to me that this policy had been in place since 2011. Because of the condition of our roof at the time, the agent and Doug came up with a policy that was similar to a “Renter’s” policy. The roof would Never be covered! So, now, not only would I not get a new roof from the company that I had paid loyally for seven years, no other insurance company would take me, unless I had a new roof! My anger, at my husband, was unbelievable! The urge to slap him, full in the face was very, very strong. Of course, I couldn’t ask him about it. It was too many years ago, so he has no memory!
So, here we sit. Every time it rains, I cross my fingers. Sitting, waiting for the chickens to come home to roost.
Welcome to My World 