Hello, and welcome to April! Did anyone get fooled yesterday? (I did enjoy Claire Zulkey’s newsletter because I am also a “fandom tax1 Ohio mom with rizz.” Did I say that right?)
As a former editor, I mostly dread April Fool’s Day because it’s just plain mean for brands to play tricks on journalists. But wayyyy back in my Refinery29 days, we would play our own April Fool’s pranks. Before my time, they announced they were getting their own Refinery29 reality TV show. (I’m very sad the video is now gone!) And in 2014, we announced a fake Y2K music festival that had the ultimate dream lineup: Spice Girls and *NSYNC. Yes please!
(Also, in googling these stories, I stumbled across a roundup of the best 2013 April Fool’s jokes from Racked (RIP). It included a link to a Glamour story about Rebecca Minkoff tweeting she was joining the cast of Real Housewives of New York!2 LOL! Anyway, now I’m feeling wildly nostalgic from the 2010s era of the internet!)
There are no jokes in today’s Home Economics, but it has gotten me thinking a lot about retirement and financial security. On paper, it would seem that our writer—should we call her “Eco in Oakland”—is financially set. She and her husband own a million-dollar home with a low mortgage, and together they have around $2 million in retirement savings. But they’re in their 60s, and their peak earning days are long behind them, as Eco shares below. And it’s likely their savings will need to last them a long time—her father lived to be 93, and her mother is still alive at 90. Even with significant retirement savings, she worries about money.
Of course, most people don’t have nearly that much saved, and these days it’s nerve-wracking to think about what will happen to millions of Americans if there are big changes to Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. And let’s not even talk about the stock market. (Sticks head in sand.) It’s hard not to feel financially anxious right now, even if your life looks good on paper.
As usual, I have no tidy conclusion to this, and I’m sorry for causing more hand-wringing. But perhaps we can take some inspiration from Eco, who may feel financially insecure but has still managed to build a beautiful life for herself, prioritizing eco-conscious upgrades to her home and leaning into a career that makes a difference.
Alright, enough analysis from me! I’ll let Eco in Oakland take it from here! And if you want to share your own Home Economics, fill out this form!
Age: 63
Location: Oakland, CA
Relationship status: Married
Age of partner: 66
About me: I’m a writer and clean-energy communications consultant trying to get by in the San Francisco Bay Area. My husband had been doing some tech consulting, but he was laid off recently from his last gig (the company laid off 7,000 employees, including some consultants). He’s now working on his own startup and not making any money. He’s 66 so that’s okay, but we do feel like we have to be careful about money.
All expenses are monthly unless otherwise noted.
Income:
- Your job title/salary: Communications consultant, $60,000
- Partner’s job title/salary: Business analyst. Last year he earned $115,000. This year, his income is coming from his IRA, an annuity, and possibly Social Security. He will be withdrawing about $50,000. We’re aiming to only earn a total of $110,000 so that I can qualify for the ACA subsidy this year and keep my healthcare costs lower.
- Your monthly take-home pay: $5,000 before taxes. Since we’re self-employed, we file quarterly.
- Partner’s monthly take-home pay (paycheck amount after taxes and other deductions): Last year, he brought home $9,500 before taxes. This year, we expect it to be $4,167.
- Total monthly income: $9,167
