Mary Lou Retton Fighting for Her Life in ICU

[disneychrista]

Could be.
On the other hand, there are daughters that are devastated at the thought of losing their mother.
Just in general-many of the various posters on this thread are likely well beyond young adult age and may not recall those feelings.

I totally get being devastated and maybe they just wanted to do something to help. I understand that they are probably feeling helpless. And maybe they felt this was the only thing they could do at the time.

I have kids those ages, they started the go fund me at the beginning, I’m sure they were terrified, and felt helpless. Just because they are influencers doesn’t mean they are selfish and heartless.

Never said they were selfish or heartless. Mostly curious about what Mary Lou would think about it. And maybe as other have said it is a generational thing because crowd sourcing would NOT be something I would think to do. On the other hand if they weren't influencers and their mother wasn't famous they wouldn't be raising much money through crowd sourcing. So both these things play a HUGE factor into the success of it.

 

[mjkacmom]

I totally get being devastated and maybe they just wanted to do something to help. I understand that they are probably feeling helpless. And maybe they felt this was the only thing they could do at the time.



Never said they were selfish or heartless. Mostly curious about what Mary Lou would think about it. And maybe as other have said it is a generational thing because crowd sourcing would NOT be something I would think to do. On the other hand if they weren't influencers and their mother wasn't famous they wouldn't be raising much money through crowd sourcing. So both these things play a HUGE factor into the success of it.

Crowd sourcing is the new pass the hat, I’m contributed to several for people I don’t know personally (a student who graduated HS with my daughter passed junior year of college from an aggressive cancer, setting up a scholarship, a student at another kid’s college gi killed in a car accident, stuff like that). $50 isn’t going to break my bank, I’m happy to contribute. Complete stranger with no connections? To many scams.

 

[barkley]

Are you sure the $5200/month is the employee portion, and not the combined employee/employer portion? I mean, according to the other numbers you posted, that would mean someone is only clearing $3000/month (and that's the top of the pay scale) BEFORE taxes. That just seems insane that anyone would be willing to work there.

positive. i suspect they have very low enrollment for this particular plan. it was considerably lower in cost when i was an active employee but still a significant cost above the other two plans so i had many co-workers who either lied about their residency to qualify for the lowest cost plan or travelled insane distances to access the providers for the next least expensive. since the high cost plan is the ONLY option to retirees that live out of region/out of state there are a significant number that also lie about their residency and travel back to the region for routine healthcare (and claim to be vacationing when emergent care is needed).

Yeah -- it would make zero sense to enroll in that plan. I don't know if you can decline employer health plans and enroll in the ACA, but I believe the ACA is MAX'd out at 8.5% of your income?

when i was an active employee you could not decline without proof of other coverage. we were lucky that dh worked for a different government agency that permitted employees to have the employer share kicked back to them if they provided proof and opted out-it helped offset the costs.

 

[barkley]

I have kids those ages, they started the go fund me at the beginning, I’m sure they were terrified, and felt helpless. Just because they are influencers doesn’t mean they are selfish and heartless. My 96 year old FIL is in and out of the hospital, my children are so sad, even though he’s a lot older than 55, afraid he’s not going to make it each time.

sometimes just being able to control one thing during an out of control situation can be so beneficial to someone. in this situation the dd's are social media saavy so perhaps it's beneficial to their mental health and wellbeing to focus their energies in this pursuit. it has to be terribly frightening.

 

[gmi3804]

Why would these daughters even consider that their mother, likely a multi-millionaire, couldn’t pay her own bills, and feel they had to do something “to help” by begging strangers, sorry, “followers” for money? It all smells really fishy to me.

 

[Marrila]

Why would these daughters even consider that their mother, likely a multi-millionaire, couldn’t pay her own bills, and feel they had to do something “to help” by begging strangers, sorry, “followers” for money? It all smells really fishy to me.

Sometimes young people dearly love their mother and are trying their best to help. Love is a powerful emotion.
The good news is folks can opt to assist or decline to donate and move on with their busy lives.

 

[Chili327]

Mary Lou Retton's net worth in 2023 is estimated to be $2 million, but those figures haven't been substantiated by any solid or reliable reporting, so take it with a grain of salt. It's also important to remember that someone's net worth isn't just their earnings, but the value of any and all property they own, as well as whatever investments they may have, in relation to whatever debt or liabilities they may have. As such, Retton may have a net worth of $2 million, but that doesn't mean she necessarily has a ton of liquid assets to pay a massive medical bill.

Medical bills are ridiculous even if you have insurance. So it’s no wonder it’s the #1 cause of bankruptcy in the US.

 

[mjkacmom]

Why would these daughters even consider that their mother, likely a multi-millionaire, couldn’t pay her own bills, and feel they had to do something “to help” by begging strangers, sorry, “followers” for money? It all smells really fishy to me.

Someone posted her net worth is 2 million, we figure we need over a million to retire with a simple life, 2 million with extensive medical bills is an issue.

 

[leeniewdw]

Someone posted her net worth is 2 million, we figure we need over a million to retire with a simple life, 2 million with extensive medical bills is an issue.

Yes, I agree with this. And honestly, most of those net worth things are guesses. Who knows what kind of debt or bad investments she and her ex may have made. She wouldn't be the first professional athlete to end up in a tricky financial situation.

But the no insurance...that's just terribly sad. I hope she is brave enough to speak to that decision at some point when she's recovered. I hope her daughters are covered or are making plans to be covered asap. Young and healthy doesn't protect your from accidents.

 

[leeniewdw]

Saw that one of her daughters posted that she’s at home. Sounds like she either rebounded very quickly or they skipped a few updates between her inability to breath on her own and being able to be home.

I said this before but she should consider doing a paid interview with media to raise some funds.

 

[tvguy]

Someone posted her net worth is 2 million, we figure we need over a million to retire with a simple life, 2 million with extensive medical bills is an issue.

Puts her pretty much near the minimum every middle class American should have in the bank when they retire.

 

[mjkacmom]

Puts her pretty much near the minimum every middle class American should have in the bank when they retire.

But most aren’t retired at 55.

 

[tvguy]

But most aren’t retired at 55.

But should be pretty close to that million dollar goal by then. Although most public sector workers have their 30 years in and are retired by then, or so it seems.

 

[leeniewdw]

Her earning years are not behind her. I’m sure she could easily earn decent money doing appearances/endorsements. I believe she and one of her daughters were headlining some sort of gymnastics competition tour for young gymnasts.

If people are willing to pay her for her story, she should absolutely take advantage of those opportunities.

Edit to add here: and her/her family knowing that any “regular” American who made the same choice as MLR would not have half a million in donations arrive, it’ll be extremely disappointing if they don’t (at some point) talk about the healthcare system and their own privilege. So hopefully she makes some money and can be honest about the absurdity of all this.

But the net worth stuff is just BS anyway, she’s not big enough a star any longer where endorsements would be predictable or leaked like tv/film stars. And who knows, short of bankruptcy (which would be known) what sort of financial shape she was in post divorce.

She SHOULD be set financially. Whether or not she is, who knows.

 

[tvguy]

But the net worth stuff is just BS anyway, she’s not big enough a star any longer where endorsements would be predictable or leaked like tv/film stars. And who knows, short of bankruptcy (which would be known) what sort of financial shape she was in post divorce.

She SHOULD be set financially. Whether or not she is, who knows.

Then there is this. The average American IS a millionaire. A million just isn't a lot of money these days.
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/standard-american-household-now-millionaire-104639340.html

 

[luvnwdwgal]

Then there is this. The average American IS a millionaire. A million just isn't a lot of money these days.
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/standard-american-household-now-millionaire-104639340.html

Wow. We are definitely WAY below average.

 

[Moliphino]

Then there is this. The average American IS a millionaire. A million just isn't a lot of money these days.
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/standard-american-household-now-millionaire-104639340.html

That's the mean average, including billionaires net worths. The median in the article is much lower, $192,900.

 

[gmi3804]

Then there is this. The average American IS a millionaire. A million just isn't a lot of money these days.
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/standard-american-household-now-millionaire-104639340.html

There's a great line in Citizen Kane:

Well, it's no trick to make a lot of money if all you want is to make a lot of money.

Many people don't make saving for retirement enough of a priority, or even know the time value of money. The Big Expensive Wedding is a great example, a thing you think you "need," even if you can't pay for it. I've always maintained that basic finance should be taught in primary/high school. That knowledge goes much further to establishing financial security than almost anything else you'd learn at school.

 

[tvguy]

There's a great line in Citizen Kane:

Well, it's no trick to make a lot of money if all you want is to make a lot of money.

Many people don't make saving for retirement enough of a priority, or even know the time value of money. The Big Expensive Wedding is a great example, a thing you think you "need," even if you can't pay for it. I've always maintained that basic finance should be taught in primary/high school. That knowledge goes much further to establishing financial security than almost anything else you'd learn at school.

I agree, but I suspect teaching it in school would never work. Too many parents would object because it seems they don't believe in a need to be financially responsible. And those debt forgiveness companies that advertise all the time on TV make too much money on getting people's debt forgiven.
I was shocked when I retired and found out that only 34% of the employees at the corporation I worked for take part in the 401k plan. That despite corporate automatically enrolling every employee in the plan, you have to go through a process to not take part, and corporate brining in Financial Experts showing that it likely would have almost no impact on your take home pay because of how taxes are calculated. One guy in particular said he couldn't afford the $60 every two weeks taken out of his paycheck to get the 4% company match. This would be the same guy who admitted, he spend $200 every weekend in bars.

 

[tvguy]

That's the mean average, including billionaires net worths. The median in the article is much lower, $192,900.

LOL. Playing with statistics I see.