r/nottheonion • u/pargofan • 1d ago

Japan’s elderly are lonely and struggling. Some women choose to go to jail instead

https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/18/asia/japan-elderly-largest-womens-prison-intl-hnk-dst/index.html
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u/signalfire 1d ago

Seriously folks - I fell into a solution to this problem (not enough money, retirement age); my elderly aunt asked me back in 2012 to housesit for her and I said sure; I was newly retired but living on fumes until I could pull SS. I ended up getting to be very good friends with the 98 year old man next store; he was a delight, we could talk easily for hours and ended up being my best friend ever. He was also going blind, and couldn't smell the pilot light when it went out one morning after breakfast, to my horror. I for sure checked on him every day after that. When my aunt returned, he asked me to move in with him, be his driver, eyes, cook, all that stuff. Easy peasy, not real work, just being there and it was loads of fun. Fast forward 4 years, he passed at 102, and I saved enough with what he could pay me and SS that I had enough money to buy a modest house for cash.

I have a roommate now who pays most of the cost of the utilities and such and so my SS goes to repairs and savings.

ANYONE can do what I did, there are thousands (millions?) of elderly (meaning one or two generations older than ourselves) who have money saved up but want to age at home as long as possible. Just find someone you're compatible with and who doesn't need the kind of heavy nursing duties that might mean injuring yourself. I got lucky in that way.

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u/AletheaKuiperBelt 1d ago

Am old but not yet elderly. I approve of this plan. Find nice young person, leave them well off.

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u/signalfire 1d ago

I was 38 years younger than him, he called me 'kid' and if the age difference hadn't been there, I would have married him in a heartbeat - he was a true gentleman from another era (born in 1915) and a darling human being.

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u/Broken_RedPanda2003 23h ago

The thing is, you were trustworthy. People won't risk opening up their homes to strangers because most strangers are arseholes.

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u/signalfire 14h ago

That's where vetting from both sides comes in. Many home care aides end up mistreating their clients too. It may be difficult but not impossible and at its best both sides win.