Financially Frustrated

I finally got my graphic design career to the point I can run my own business out of my home, make as good an income as when I used to work for someone else, and work fewer hours at the same time. This has been my goal for many years because finding time to write had always been a challenge. Now I can write and make a living wage with my design business without spending so many hours doing it.

Or I should say I could...

Damn this freaking failing economy! My husband and I have been building our savings so we could retire someday, but half of it's been lost in just the past few months to the crappy market. Half. No kidding. And that includes the money I inherited after my mother died two years ago. Now my husband is pressuring me to take on more work to get our income up so I can replenish the savings we lost. I have an agent now, I have a manuscript making the rounds to big publishers, I have a new novel more than a quarter of the way finished. There are only so many hours in the day to get it all done!

I'm furious right now. I'm mainly angry because the money we lost is lining someone else's pockets. The greed of this country knows no bounds.

Okay, just had to vent. Struggle and succeed only to fail through no fault of my own. I'm just sick about it...

Ugh, it's tough all over, isn't it? I certainly feel for you folks, too. I just feel so... vulnerable. It's tempting to just take what's left and bury it in the back yard. Ha! I know better. We're in our fifties and had hoped to quit working before we're 65, but so much for that pipe dream. Sigh. Thanks for chiming in. It helps to know I'm not alone.

You know, there's a thread of truth to what you say. Your kids may be called on to help you and your husband in the future. We helped my mom, and are now helping my husband's mother (though his older sister is pretty much responsibly for draining the poor woman dry). So kids can and do pay back in one way or the other, I think. They may not have money now, but who knows what the future holds?