General Discussion

It’s way out in Springfield, so a 30-40 minute drive from his house. But he does load up when he goes. When I’m there, I load up on stuff that is either WAY more expensive here, or else fully unobtainable. Finding roasted pecan halves is nearly impossible, and things like Neosporin just don’t exist. At Costco, you can buy a package of four tubes for barely more than one costs at CVS. Our neighbors here in Düsseldorf are VERY grateful!

My brother wisely bought his house several decades ago, and paid it off around the time he retired. He still has property taxes, but has Social Security, his pension, and his wife bought 2000 or so shares of Apple for almost nothing decades ago that, after several splits, are now 20,000 shares worth about $4 million (!!). They haven’t sold any of it, but even after capital gains taxes they’d have over $3 million left over. She is not in the best of health, so she might yet need it, and their house always needs something done. But he is very frugal, and shops as if he were on welfare, so they get by on what income they get, and keep the Apple shares as an emergency reserve just in case, or as something to pass on to their two sons if they never need it. Though politically we are virtual clones (our sister definitely is not, though that will soon change), he is far more conservative than I am when it comes to money. I’m hardly in a position to say he’s overdoing it. He’s retired and draws no salary, so I’d probably be the same way in his shoes. The local food sellers at our farmers market are usually more expensive than the grocery chains (except Aldi!), but they work their asses off to bring fresh food to market every day with punishing hours. We support them when we can. It’s a 900 year old tradition here, and it would be a sin to see it disappear.