Hope this is the correct subreddit. Long post, my apologies in advance. I am not sure where else to ask for advice.
My mom (61) currently works for what is equal to approx. 370 dollars per month, willingly, even though she has 4 degrees and more than 20 years of work experience. She was married to my dad for 35 years until approx. 2012 after which she left him. She was to some extent 'trapped' in a bad marriage and it took lots of courage for her to leave. My dad never wanted to work and she always had to work 2 jobs to keep the household going. I grew up in poverty as a result. I (31) am determined to live financially smart and I started waitressing already when I was 14 and have since paid my own expenses. I studied on bursaries (I had good grades) and I have a Masters degree now and a well paying job. I am working on paying off all my debt first and want to have a different approach to money than what my parents had.
My mom doesn't earn enough money to cover all her expenses, and uses her credit card when she runs out of money. She has a lot of debt (I am not sure how much, I have asked her to make a list, after a lot of fighting), no assets, her car is a piece of crap and is falling apart, no insurance for her car and she currently rents a flat. She also has no retirement annuities or anything related to retirement. She is also struggling with her health (her current employer really exploits her and she works very hard and doesn't sleep a lot as a result) and has been hospitalised with pneumonia. She furthermore has problems with her eyesight and has recently been diagnosed with cataracts that has started to develop.
I am far away from her and can only reach her via phone (she doesn't have a laptop and isn't familiar with things like Skype or even email). I am trying to help her get a new job, but she is very stubborn and does not want to leave her job. She argues that she is 'free' now and I think it stresses her out to look for a job again and have uncertainty around income, because she lived in uncertain financial situations for so long. I also think because she doesn't know better, she thinks searching for jobs means printing out CV's and walking around handing them in by hand. My explanations of LinkedIn/the internet doesn't seem to reach her. I don't know what to do. I am very frustrated and worried about her, her health and her financial prospects. I want to help but I don't know where to begin or what to do.
Thanks very much in advance.
Submitted May 12, 2017 at 10:12AM by sweetlifeofawiseman http://ift.tt/2r8i1hD
