[LizardQueen]

And I guarantee you, when you're 80 years old and alone, your niece won't darken your door too often, especially if she's one of those "selfish" modern women.

Unfortunately, having kids isn't a guarantee that they will be there for you in your dotage, either. I think it ups your odds, but by no means assures there will be someone to visit.

My parent's neighbor was a lovely old lady whose was like a grandmother to me while I was growing up. One of her kids (the good one) was a military wife whose husband was stationed in Spain, and the bad one lived about an hour east.

When she got senile the Spain woman refused to come home and the hour-away man put her in a nursing home and pretty much threw away the key. My parents were devastated - they had looked after her while she got frailer and had treated her better than her kids ever did.

As for myself, I'm planning on cash set aside, good friends, and a Smith & Wesson for when it gets really bad ;)

LQ

[Antoninus]

Unfortunately, having kids isn't a guarantee that they will be there for you in your dotage, either. I think it ups your odds, but by no means assures there will be someone to visit.

Having two kids is no guarantee. Having 6 is practically a guarantee, particularly if you instill in them a deep sense of familial piety.

As for myself, I'm planning on cash set aside, good friends, and a Smith & Wesson for when it gets really bad ;)

You're joking about the S&W, but you've accidentally put your finger on the nihilism that underlies a lot of the "modern" attitude. There are plenty of people I know who would say what you just did and NOT joke about it.

Find a good, decent, loving man (not a selfish bozo), settle down, raise some kids. You'll never regret it for a second. Save the S&W to go shooting with your husband after the kids have all flown the coop.