“But our future scares me some. If something were to happen to our health when we get up there in age, and we couldn’t work, there won’t be anything for us - no Medicaid or Medicare, no social security, no nothing. “
I try to look at it from my grandfather’s perspective. He was a few years older than I am now when Social Security was first introduced. He figured he’d work as long as he could, and trust to God’s providence about the rest. I don’t expect much, and therefore, won’t be disappointed.
That was a more close-knit time with extended families, typically lots of siblings and lots of children, people could and did double up under one roof to make it through a rough time. More rural and hence more agricultural too, so feeding themselves was less of a problem than it could have been. Heard both sides of that from my parents who were children during the Great Depression.
My dad’s family owned a decent sized farm outright. Clothing often was hand-me-down and mended. Anything bought from a store was a rare treat. But, they ate well, never really experienced want. They didn’t know they were “poor” because everybody else was in the same boat or worse, felt blessed or even fortunate actually.
My mom’s family was in a city, fairly prosperous prior to the crash, touch and go afterwards, her father ended up working as a barber to support them after having been a business owner, lost most everything they had, had to rent, moved often. The dinner table was frequently sparse.
The lesson is, live beneath your means, avoid debt like the plague, secure a means of feeding yourself and your family independent of outside income, and everything else is gravy.