Taking a rather sobering glimpse into recent headlines across state does not truly give us the picture of the disaster that is pending in many households. As many Baby-Boomers slide into retirement, they are starting to see their retirement date drift further away, very possibly out of their grasp.
I maintain a list of things my mother never told me. Right there on top of the list, along with the truth about aches and pains, is the financial aspect of facing retirement. My Mom passed away quite a while back, my Dad too, but I have come to really respect what they faced putting me through college and trying plan for the years ahead. Now, I feel a parallel to their circumstances; I regret that they were so stoic and I was so blind.
Unfortunately, for our generation, technology helps us see what is coming down the track in a way that that my parents never envisioned. We are not just bombarded with bad news via the television, newspaper and radio like they were; we get it off websites, emails and even our telephones. How overwhelming is that?
Taking a fleeting glance of the state’s headlines drives home the seriousness of current financial situation for those hopeful of retiring. Where are our retirement nest eggs going to land? My hunch is not in the eagle’s nest that we expected.
For those of us burdened with educational expenses, housing costs and low paying jobs, life’s little emergencies tap into the safety net of our nest egg. More and more often, those little emergencies are becoming a way of life for us. The headlines shout out the facts. Jobs are being lost, people are losing their homes, college costs are rising, and taxes are up. We do not even have to consider our insurance issues to know that our finances need a magician these days, instead of a banker.
I cringe every time I read or hear about another business closing, foreclosures, and the rising cost of daily living. Headlines or not, the worst part is we did not see this train coming. The cost of living rose and we just put more of our disposable income into daily living not realizing that eventually, there would be a tipping point when our disposable income no longer covered the increases in food, medical care, housing, transportation, education, and insurances.
Where were our elected officials when there was opportunity to control the things that are dragging our community, state and nation into financial ruin? Now we are left pondering the damage and what is left to give up to balance our personal budgets.
What is in your headlines? I don’t know about you, but my headlines are less than promising.
3 comments:
You are so right in this post. People have a very unrealistic view on what they need for retirement. Once should sit down and do a budget. They can get an estimate of what their SS should be and see if their nest egg can generate the extra needed income. With interest rates at an all time low, peole are going to see: They can't retire. You need a million dollars of principle to generate even a modest income to supplement your SS. Everyone: Do your budget. You will at least stop giving your children idiotic things they don't need. You need the principle more than they need the need the new computer or the fancy phone. It will teach you that much-- to save save save. Thanks Gal for the reality check. And don't forget to figure in that long time care insurance: Nursing Homes are torture. You want to be able to stay in your home...and that will break the bank. You need the insurance. If we don't get universal health care out of this administration...we will all be in the poorhouse with one ailment.
However, if we die young and beautiful we wont need money to retire and can just keep buying the crap that gives our life meaning right? Plus the earlier we die the sooner we will go to heaven, besides now that Palin the endtimes are coming anyways so just keep SHOPPING!
I am thinking about $.06 scissors today. Believe it or not, I can tie this in to the message. A friend went to China and purchased $.06 scissors and is selling them to a Dollar Store. Why? Because we will buy them. We want $1 scissors. We don't care if they only last 1 year before breaking. We won't bother to sharpen them. We will just throw them into a land fill when they break or get dull. How does this relate, you ask...if we bought the made in America scissors for $20.00, kept them, sharpened them, left them for the estate sale when we died we would have had a part in preserving an American job. Somewhere out there the United Scissor Makers of America are raging because they lost their jobs to the $.06 scissor makers of China. This is an over simplification of one of the failures of our economy, of course, but it is an element. We don't make anything here any more except energy and war. Evidently we aren't making enough of the energy and we are making too much of the war. Say what you will about a constructionist view and free market, global economies, but when a city loses 20% of its jobs and has to resort to building a casino (this was on Good Morning America this morning) so that they can attract tourists to the midwest to what ... gamble?? ... somewhere, somehow we aren't getting the bigger picture. That is eroding jobs, the economy, our ability to have decent credit or maintain our houses just as much as anything and THAT also is affecting baby boomers who are sitting in front of the tv this week in horror as Wallstreet keeps diving. Consumer confidence? Yeah, right, consumer ... not worker ... confidence. There is no work.
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