Remember when there was a Middle Class that discussed "plans?" It is getting to be a distant memory, isn't it? There was a time when a mortgage required a 20% down payment and people actually intended to enjoy life after the mortgage was Paid in Full. "Burn the mortgage" was actually a recognized term for the end of payments and celebration for many. All of that began to change, though in the late 70's and early 80's. Even though there was great fan-fare raised against the establishment for a time, ultimately most of the babies born in the materialism of the 50's joined the establishment and greatly upped the ante.
Then just when it seemed perpetually ridiculous, we inadvertently raised our kids to live for the moment and not even be concerned with no light at the end of the tunnel. I know of many in my generation, and I'm fairly late in it, that don't even plan to have a mortgage paid off. There are many boomers who do not plan to be debt free in their life, or if they do, it will be by economic default. I've read and heard those comments, but somehow many of us have allowed ourselves to be defined by props that we aren't taking with us.
Before entering the ministry, I was a funeral director. There are 3 things I can confirm. There is no "special place for money or extras" in a casket and cemetery plots are the same size. Even under the huge monuments, the grave is the same size as the unmarked grave. And last, many in the "living large" lifestyle haven't made their "final arrangements" and don't have enough money to cover the cost.
For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away . . . in a Psalm of Holy Scripture
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