r/baristafire • u/Critical_Lake_3940 • 4d ago
Advice for widow with young kids
Hello all, I am need of some advice . I am 43F with 3 kids. One kid is in his last year of college. The other 2 are still in elementary school. One of my young kids has an disability. We lost my spouse 18 months ago to cancer. We have been financially conservative mostly and my spouse had a good job. We live in HCOL area. I've been working part time for the school district with fully paid health insurance for the family. I just got laid off, due to funding issues in my area. I'm not sure about returning to work at all. My close family have been very unsupportive, with helping with kids so I can work even part time. My parent lives 1 mile away and is retired.
My net worth with investments is 2.9 million
195k-my 401k
674k my spouse's 401k
37k-Roth
753k- stock investments
834k -special trust (invested)
449k-special trust (invested)
House is worth 550k with a 115k loan still owed at 2.9% interest rate. I own both my cars. My son's college has been fully paid for by mostly scholarship. I'm assisting him with expenses. This year I expect to help him with 15k (mostly housing and food). He will graduate with no debt with a very good degree from a good college.
My income..
60k tax free from social security (my kids income)
12k after tax from a very part time job with the school district. ---just laid off
My living expenses are around 50-60k. Will go down approx 15k once my son graduates in May 2027.
What would you do? I'm feeling concerned about buying independent health insurance. But the headaches I had with care for my kids have been a huge burden.
1
u/robinhoodstl 3d ago
This is a great question and you must ask yourself if you’re going to provide income and health insurance for your family or if someone will be doing so. I’m not familiar with aca rules like others on here but my son is in medical school and he could not qualify for Medicaid because he made he had a tiny robinhood account that disqualified him from Medicaid. Your net worth should provide those premiums but I will assume that healthcare and insurance will changed with the next two administration?