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Why 'The Golden Girls' Offers a Perfect Blueprint for Modern Retirement
Fast Company ^ | September 27, 2025 | Emily Birkin

Posted on 09/28/2025 10:35:48 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin

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To: Diana in Wisconsin
I'm trying to get some decent roomies here, because I have what must be the world's best place for such an arrangement. Low cost, very safe small rural town, 2 master bedrooms downstairs, 3 stories, 8 beds, perfect front porch for just sitting, Large dining area, and a nice little gym in the basement. This place even offers what I consider to be excellent medical care options.

I'm about to retire and, unless I get a couple of roomies, will be scratching to make ends meet if I don't open up other income sources (which I'm also working on). I'm only going to take top-tier roommates, because I'm allergic to drama.

Having some good roommates would also make it more feasible to travel cross country to visit family occasionally.

41 posted on 09/28/2025 6:03:27 PM PDT by The Duke (Not without incident.)
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To: Celerity

Blanche was a widow who inherited her husband’s money. Sophia was living in the retirement community when it burnt down.


42 posted on 09/28/2025 6:13:44 PM PDT by philippa
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To: humblegunner

Sweet.


43 posted on 09/28/2025 6:20:01 PM PDT by Whatever Works
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To: humblegunner

Sweet.


44 posted on 09/28/2025 6:20:06 PM PDT by Whatever Works
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To: philippa

Ah! Thanks for the correction!


45 posted on 09/28/2025 6:33:01 PM PDT by Celerity
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To: JeanLM

She is lucky to have you as her Guardian Angel on Earth. :)


46 posted on 09/28/2025 6:33:46 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: The Duke

Talk to a local Realtor - they pre-screen for rental properties and might be able to do some roommate pre-screening for you.


47 posted on 09/28/2025 6:43:20 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: Rockingham

The problem behind attempting this in real life is that the top hen pecks the hell out of her roommates creating the financial problems that would come with turnover until a house full of miserable controlled individuals wind up under the roof. Well, right up until the suicides or poisonings started.

Were it men they would be highly unlikely to be willing to get a group together and if they did they wouldnt want to live under “someone elses roof”. Unless one of them had a neat quirk then the place would get shut down by the health department.

I am aware of a situation where 3 unrelated old guys “lived together” successfully. They all lived in a shed in the woods with no running water and a wood stove to heat and cook. One really only came home at night because all day he was out fishing/hunting/trapping. The second was on the property buy spent almost all day tending the garden/chopping wood or in his fix it/invention shed. The third just sat in the shed reading or puttering around. They knew each other and were close friends for 60+ years. Unless a guy is born into a little rural village and spends his whole life there these kinds of relationships arent possible for most.


48 posted on 09/28/2025 7:01:16 PM PDT by gnarledmaw (Hivemind liberals worship leaders, sovereign conservatives select servants.)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

I guess I'm one of the few Gen-Xers who never watched this show...

49 posted on 09/28/2025 7:04:49 PM PDT by chud
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To: Diana in Wisconsin
Now you just need to perfect your St. Olaf stories.
______________________________

I go to St. Olaf Catholic Church in Minneapolis. One Holy Thursday (one of the holiest nights) I still had my “I gotta be the first one out of the church, itis”. So I sneaked out the side door. I set off the alarms. I was horrified. I went back into the church. It was pandemonium: gray haired ladies with walkers screaming, men pacing back and forth, people politely shoving. Then the outside doors burst open and the police come charging in with guns pointed. It was horrible.
I wrote a letter to the good Father, confessing what I had done. My mom said that he should send me back to a horrible church. Father agreed that I did cause “quite a commotion”, but he let me stay. I no longer need to be the first person out the door.

50 posted on 09/28/2025 7:11:50 PM PDT by BarbM (Men who look at porn are impotent for God.)
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To: gnarledmaw

Given the choice, I would likely prefer the shed in the woods with friends option — if electricity and indoor plumbing can be added. And a PC with internet, of course.


51 posted on 09/28/2025 7:27:18 PM PDT by Rockingham
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To: gnarledmaw

Given the choice, I would likely prefer the shed in the woods with friends option — if electricity and indoor plumbing can be added. And a PC with internet, of course.


52 posted on 09/28/2025 7:27:23 PM PDT by Rockingham
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To: humblegunner

Good to see you again, HG!


53 posted on 09/28/2025 7:30:58 PM PDT by TomServo
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To: Celerity

The characters were flawed, and caricatures of a mature age group back in that decade.

But the basic concept of sharing living quarters with women you care about and get along with doesn’t seem terrible. Seems smart on a few levels.

Share finances in housing. Support in medical emergencies and situations. Possibly transportation.


54 posted on 09/28/2025 7:41:39 PM PDT by MayflowerMadam (It's hard not to celebrate the fall of bad people. - Bongino)
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To: BarbM

Good thing this happened back when it did; Gray Haired Grannies are packing these days, LOL! ;)


55 posted on 09/29/2025 5:05:01 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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