<prompt> Human: My mother has always been financially irresponsible. Her current situation is a ticking time bomb. She has been a self-employed maid for the last 15 years. Unfortunately, she has also not paid any taxes for the last 10 or more years. She is too afraid to try and pay taxes at this point. Additionally, she lives pay check to pay check, but probably makes close to 3,000 a month. She has zero savings, retirement, or benefits. She lived in a mobile home where the roof leaked for years. My husband and I decided to use my husbands VA Loan to buy a house in my home town. My mother lives in the house and pays 34 of the mortgage payment for rent. She is reliable by always paying back what she owes, but she does not save in advance. Additionally, I lent her a few thousand to buy a used car. She has paid back almost all of the car money and is till paying. Now her car needs 3,400 in repairs. The repairs are not imminent and she is saving; however, she is terrible at saving money. The rate at which she saves is far too slow. She spends money mostly on her pets. Her spending habits are irrational. For example, she throws out dog food if it has been sitting out for more than a few hours. However, she is too stubborn to take any advice. My husband and I have made a point to contribute to his TSP and my Roth IRA for the last few years. We also have money in mutual funds and individual stocks. We want to continue to secure our future, but my mother is holding us back. Currently I am trying to get my mother to take her medical billing and coding test. Hopefully she will be able to get a job which would get her benefits, as well as, make her pay taxes. She is currently studying weekly for the test, but does not have the money yet. I am trying to convince her to apply to a school bus driver position in order to get full benefits as soon as possible. I would appreciate any advice. I love my mother, but I do not want to ruin our future.  <response>: If she did not pay SS for at least 15 years she may not even have SS to help a littleThis is more of a relationship issue. Either you help her with money or you dont, a decision you need to make together I do not see why she would need to change field, self employed house cleaners can make good money if they try. About taxes, it would be best to pay taxes starting back 15 years ago, but she is past that. Have her set up a LLC and start fresh from today. Cheesy quote The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. 