Happy face! The Today show just did a segment on the benefits of moving in with your kids!

[Pholus]

I guess we all know which way the money guys think social security is going next year.

All upsides in this segment

- CHEAP CHILD CARE
- Pooled resources
- Giving you purpose late in life.

Downsides?

- Well, they mentioned personality conflicts.

GLARINGLY ABSENT:

- Liability of the household for crushing medical bills.

[Raven]

1. How about "loss of independence" as a downside...n/t

[davidinalameda]

2. just because you live with others

doesn't mean that they are responsible for your bills

[Pholus]

5. Right now. But Medicare "reform" might have that as a negotiating point.

[davidinalameda]

25. and you "might" have to make payments with chickens

why don't you worry what is happening rather than what MIGHT happen

[Pholus]

27. We're waiting right now. Next year, you'll be calling me a "15%er" again when we see proposed cuts.

Till then, I was just enjoying a bit of the little media campaign starting the discussion.

Happy holidays! :)

[SoCalDem]

3. Sure.,. after a lifetime of work, that's just what older people want

being your grown up child's nanny, housekeeper, cook, launderer, gardener..

What's happening a LOT, is the flip-side.. KIDS moving back to Grandma & Grandpa's house (with spouse (or not) kids pets & loads of stuff in boxes) because they "overdid" it & a job loss has ruined them financially.

[HopeHoops]

4. My mom and I would kill each other. Pistols at 10 paces in the backyard, perhaps.

It would be considered "mercy killing" on both of our behalves.

My dad? Yeah, I could deal with him living here. He likes ramen noodles with frozen peas tossed in - good guy.

[Pholus]

6. Sounds like Dad is pretty cool. I interpret this as a bit in the MSM preparing us for next year.

Just putting a bug in your ear and all that.

[HopeHoops]

9. Perhaps, but my parents are both doing okay (with their second spouses).

But yeah, I can see the setup there. "Get ready, your parents are moving in..."

[Pacifist Patriot]

19. My mom and I love each other dearly and will both happily admit...

we've got a 72 hour time limit on togetherness. If we had to live together I'd have to borrow your pistols.

[madrchsod]

7. "brother can you spare a dime?"...it`s the 30`s all over again..

[Pholus]

8. Just more "take the country back" -- you got kin, the gubmint shouldn't have to pay you back

For all your contributions to the social safety net.

That money is needed for tax breaks.

[TBF]

10. After watching the experiences of my FIL in an expensive nursing home the past few months,

I wish we lived closer so we could take him in ... those places are not at all like the fancy marketing brochure. Of course not so much my batty MIL or stepmother. But I would take them in if I had too, even them.

It shouldn't have to be that way though, and it definitely shouldn't be happen with the "younger" elderly - people who have finished their working life and by all means should be enjoying a few years of retirement and maybe travel if they want to. Also why should they be uprooted? These days families are often split around the country when kids take jobs in other states. Why should someone in their 80's suddenly have to sell their house (if they own one still) and move across the country to live with a child?

This is going to get worse and worse ... and the right-wing media will of course be along every step of the way.

[Pholus]

12. I would (and probably will) too. That's life! But the slickness and oiliness in the segment...

Sometimes they overdo it and the mask falls off the "fluff" piece. You kind of shudder and realize that this wasn't filler, it was somebody asking for a segment like that to be created.

[TBF]

16. Yeah, agreed on the intent -

and it's going to be the younger "elderly" too who can't afford to keep their homes without social security - not just the ill who need constant care.

[KurtNYC]

11. the Today Show is like a different version of the HSN

The whole 4 hours is advertising. Everyone who comes on has a book or an idea to sell, then they show a bunch of products on the table and tell you how much they costs and where to buy them. Then they pimp a movie that is coming out. They sold and cheerleaded the Iraq War nonstop.

Now they are selling the death of Social Security as a kind of opportunity to live like "The Waltons" (eg. John Boy; not the WalMart Waltons).

[WinkyDink]

14. Ever watch Leno, Conan, etc.? NOBODY appears on TV without shilling some product. NOBODY.

[KurtNYC]

18. yep. TV: One big bubble of bullshit. n/t

[WestSeattle2]

13. Workable - if the extended family gets along like the

Waltons. Unfortunately, for millions of American families, the Hatfield-McCoy relationship better describes the familial atmosphere.

If you can barely stand your relatives for the two hours per year it takes to consume a holiday dinner; sharing living space is probably not the best option!

[HockeyMom]

15. Divorced Mom and Unmarried Daughter

I have seen this arrangement many times. It comes down to sharing the bills. Mom doesn't have the money to live alone or can't find a 50/60 year old roommate. Her 40 year old daughter might be the same boat so they move in together.

[TBF]

17. My mom took her inheritance and bought a duplex -

she is still relatively healthy so she took the upstairs (which is smaller) - and my sister helps with the mortgage/bills and lives downstairs with her 2 daughters. In their case it has worked out pretty well.

[lumberjack_jeff]

20. I've tried to talk my father in law into moving in with us.

I think that intergenerational households are a good goal.

... but few americans have the ability to contemplate the suppression of their egos long enough to allow that to happen.

[Pholus]

22. Agree and disagree. It isn't a matter of ego, it's a signpost showing how far we've slid.

Intergenerational households may a good ideal, but that it is becoming a new "normal" is purely an indicator of just how far the standard of living has shrunk. It will shrink even more after the safety net is dismantled over the next two years.

It used to be working couples were abnormal. Now they are nearly a necessity if you are trying to raise kids to go to college. Heck it's a necessity just to try to lay away enough money so the first health crisis doesn't ruin you (insurance or no).

[DCKit]

21. Group houses... with high speed internet.

Still trying to figure out the bedrooms.... even at 8x8, the space adds up to huge building costs.

[GoCubsGo]

23. Multigenerational households used to be fairly normal at one time.

They still are in many parts of the world. It wasn't all that long ago that I was hearing people bemoaning the fact that Grandma and Grandpa didn't live with the family any longer. I don't know why people are wringing their hands over this.

[Pholus]

24. You're right -- nothing to see here -- It's just the Great Society's death rattle.

Predicted title of a random Today segment from 2025:

"Putting your children to work in the new Chinese factories -- how to make the best negotiation."

And while I sound snarky, I don't mean to. I guess I'm seeing the teabaggers "Getting their country back."

[spanone]

26. the today show is living the 'people' magazine reality of life

superficial bullshit