Early retirees face Jays season ticket dilemma

Dear Jeanne & Leonard:

When my wife and I were offered early retirement recently by the company we both worked for, we happily accepted the deal. But now, of course, our income is lower, and we have to be careful about our spending. That’s led to a problem. For years we’ve been part of a group of six couples that buys a pair of season tickets to Blue Jays baseball games, then divides the tickets so that each couple gets to go to about 14 games. We have great seats, but the tickets for the upcoming season cost more than our new budget permits. So we told our friends that we’d like to get less-expensive seats and explained why. To our astonishment, they refused, saying they’d find another couple if we wanted to drop out. Am I crazy, or are our friends being incredibly selfish? - Alan

Dear Alan:

Your friends aren’t being selfish, you are. Why should people who love baseball enough to go to 14 games a season have to give up their good seats just because you and your wife decided to retire early? Sorry, but you can’t expect the entire baseball gang to sacrifice simply because you two prefer not to work.

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Dear Jeanne & Leonard:

My husband and his brother “Sam” own and operate a successful jewelry store, a business they inherited from their father, and they’ve always split the profits 50-50. But recently Sam asked my husband how he’d feel about Sam taking a larger salary so that he and his wife could send their three children to private school. To me, this isn’t fair. Just because we have only one child, why should my husband be paid less than his brother? It’s not like Sam suggested that my husband take a larger salary when we began sending our child to private school a few years back. But my husband sees things differently. He says that his father started the business to provide for the family, and that his father certainly would want all of the grandchildren to get the best education possible. Who’s right here? - G.S.

Dear G.S.:

You both are—assuming, that is, that Sam plans to make some significant budget cuts at home and not just pass on the cost of his children’s education to your husband.

Of course there’s something unfair about two owners who work equally hard receiving unequal shares of the fruits of their labor. And there’s also something unfair in penalizing you and your husband for having fewer children than Sam chose to have. But if your husband feels that his father would have approved of Sam’s request, it’s tough to criticize him for wishing to honor it.

If he does, we hope Sam will be equally honorable and insist that your husband take a few extra weeks of vacation—at the very least.

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Dear Jeanne & Leonard:

Ten years ago my friend “Al” and I bought a condo as an investment. I deal with the tenants, and Al always paid the bills and kept the books. Sadly, Al died last year, leaving his half of the condo to his wife, “Beverly.” When she said she wanted to take over his job, I felt I had to let her. But here’s the problem: Every quarter, Al sent me a statement with the expenses detailed. But all Beverly sends is a piece of paper with two numbers on it: “Rent” and “Expenses.” Lately, the expenses have become suspiciously high, and—since they’re not detailed—I can’t tell whether it’s because Beverly is dishonest or incompetent. What can I do? I don’t want to hurt her feelings. - Ted

Dear Ted:

Lucky for you, tax season is approaching. Have your accountant contact Beverly and tell her he needs the detailed information that Al customarily provided. And tell him to be nice, but not to take “no” for answer.

Please e-mail your questions about money and relationships to Questions@MoneyManners.net. © 2012 by Jeanne Fleming and Leonard Schwarz Distributed by King Features Syndicate