dear raji,
please ensure this old guy has not written a will, giving off all his money to someone else. does the wife know his financial status? it is very important especially in the golden years, for the wife to know of ALL finances of the hubby.
case in point: i had a colleague here, chinese. two daughters both in their forties; father around 70+; mother same age, from hong kong, housewife all her life, and not much into the technicalities of finance. and deliberately kept ignorant by the husband.
anyway, the husband had a cancer surgery. there he fell in love with a nurse (also chinese in her forties); came back home discharged and kicked the wife out. since all the money he earned was his own; and many transactions the wife did not know, she is at the mercy of her two daughters, instead of a upper class retiree in terms of comfort and wealth.
no amount of talking to the old man helped. he said that he hated his wife all along, and now he found out the love of his love.
another case: though much younger. happened in bangalore a few years ago. tambram couple, son late teens died in a flying class air crash. the couple unconsolable; husband fell sick enough to be admitted in hospital; fell in love with a nurse (malayali); moved out of the house on return (leaving wife, daughter and mother). wife very smart, and being already a 50% partner, managed to get more money as support for herself daughter and mother in law (who now does not speak to the son).
moral of the story: get to know your spouse's finances.
