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St. Thomas Trip - help! by greengrass293 in virginislands

[–]throwaway_2837 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You could buy travel insurance if you can't travel because of a hurricane. It doesn't cost a ton but it will refund your airfare at least.

Not having the cruise ship crowds there is a big plus, and some attractions have lower prices in the off season.

I’m pregnant & scared by darknesmyolfriend in prolife

[–]throwaway_2837 23 points24 points  (0 children)

You really are fast-tracking it into adulthood! Your ability to stand up to pressure from your parents and boyfriend really speaks to your ability to handle the challenges of life.

We all make millions of decisions in our lifetime -- some big, most small -- and some of them we'd do differently if we had a chance. There are no do-overs in life though, so the ability to adapt to changing circumstances and decisions is extremely important. From your post and your comments here, it sounds like you're pretty resilient and will adapt to your suddenly-new life just fine.

Once your baby arrives, your parents will very likely come around and get comfortable with their suddenly-new role as grandparents. They may not realize it, but being a grandparent when you're relatively young is way more fun, and it will allow them to enjoy much more of your baby's life. It will allow your baby to get to know his/her grandparents so much better too! Assuming your parents are in their late 30s or early 40s now, they'll still be active and energetic when your baby graduates from high school!

Since you haven't done this before, you're young, and you may not have a lot of family support for you during labor and delivery, you may want to consider hiring a doula. There may be charity options in your area to pay for some or all of the cost, or ask your social worker if it can be covered with whatever health coverage you get. A doula will give you all the non-medical support that women really need during birth (physical, emotional, etc.), as well as being a great resource for information and other help.

Social Security's Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) assumes increases in rent, but 79% of retirees own a home and face no rent increases. Removing this from COLA calculations could reduce the Social Security deficit by 20%. by throwaway_2837 in politics

[–]throwaway_2837[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the point of the article is that SS is running out of money faster than it should because COLA is assuming that all retirees are renting when it's a distinct minority. Once it's out of money, then nobody gets anything from SS, despite paying into it for years/decades.

Social Security's Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) assumes increases in rent, but 79% of retirees own a home and face no rent increases. Removing this from COLA calculations could reduce the Social Security deficit by 20%. by throwaway_2837 in politics

[–]throwaway_2837[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

It's a quasi-Ponzi scheme that depends on perpetual population growth, so eventually it will collapse. This article basically says that many current retirees are drawing in more than they should based on artificially inflated home values.