MONDAY, 28 MARCH 2022
When I die, the minimum I want to leave behind is no debt; enough money so that my next of kin or spouse doesn’t have to cover the expenses to bury or cremate me; at least NT$2 million/$70,000/€60,000/R1 million to assist my spouse financially in the first year or so after my passing.
After reaching 65 or 70, there are a few ways you can stay alive:
1. Keep working until you die.
2. Hope someone takes care of you until you die.
3. Hope your pension fund keeps paying out until you die.
4. Hope the money the state gives you every month is enough so you don’t starve to death.
5. Hope your savings last until you die.
It makes one think: It’s not necessarily a good thing to grow old.
And even if you have enough money that keeps you going until you die in your eighties or nineties, there are always greedy kids or grandchildren who can cheat you out of your money, or so-called legal guardians who can convince a judge that you are senile and can no longer handle your own finances, and that they have to take over your finances for your own benefit.
Again it hits: Unless you’ve raised really good children, or have a particularly kind and generous family, it might just be a nightmare growing old.
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