Looking for suggestions on financial planning/management

[Warpy]

1. You're still a working stiff

You are just not going to get paid for caring for your mother.

Two things I noticed were lack of company and lack of structure once my parents were gone. In a normal economy, I could have gotten a volunteer or paid job, but this isn't normal. The former are often needed to go on resumes and the latter for survival.

My dad survived retirement in Florida by finding a bunch of fellow geezers who met every Wednesday morning at a McDonalds for breakfast and interminable coffee. My mother called them the Liars Club and it was quite a fraternity. If you luck into one of those, you're golden, it's structure and somebody to talk to.

In 2 1/2 years, you'll be able to get early Social Security, and that will help your finances considerably. It's often the difference between eating and not eating. Unfortunately, there's another 3 year gap before Medicare kicks in, that's the tough one.

My best advice is to find something you love and do it. It can save your sanity long term and it's a hell of a lot better than doing nothing and sinking into Pox News because you're mad at the world and enjoy watching airheaded bottle blondes.