Very few of us are better off
06-24-2014, 01:39 PM
#1
Thread Starter
06-24-2014, 07:03 PM
#2
I've been saying this for years. 
Won't complain though, still more fortunate than many. Enjoying a few days in the Mid-Coast Maine area.
Won't complain though, still more fortunate than many. Enjoying a few days in the Mid-Coast Maine area.
06-25-2014, 12:54 PM
#4
Thread Starter
06-25-2014, 04:43 PM
#5
We got killed just after retiring thanks to the Great Recession. Our net worth took a big hit but we hung in and are getting back but will never recover what we lost. The bastards that caused the mess got no jail time and are raking in millions. It's a great country, if you are rich! 
06-25-2014, 04:57 PM
#6
Thread Starter
We made a big swing in our life as well.... went from putting in bids on a cottage up north to thanking God they didn't get accepted. Although we took a six-figure hit I know it could have been and was worse for others. But, who said life was fair! It would have nice to see lots of Wall Street guys hung out to dry...
06-26-2014, 05:10 AM
#7
Maybe it's not. I look at the circles I'm in, whether it's here, my friends, co-workers, etc.... Even those with a mortgage, but with a stable job over time likely have some kind of retirement account or savings. I guess if I look wider, there are many either buried in debt, or have no assets or savings.
Trending Topics
06-26-2014, 08:08 AM
#8
Thread Starter
It seems I heard the average retirement account is like 20k or such. I recently heard 50% of the kids in Michigan schools qualify for the gov't subsidized lunch program! It's a sad state of affairs for a very large portion of the people living in this great country. A large portion can't make ends meet.
06-26-2014, 09:30 AM
#9
A few points:
1. One of the lessons of the recession is simply not to panic. Those who sold their stocks in panic are much worse off but those who held on are now probably better off.
2. Buy stocks in only solid, well established companies. You might miss the once in a life time home run, but you won't really have too much to worry about in the long run. Generally, if you're of Vintage age, you don't have all that much time to make up for all of the losses on speculative stocks that should have gone through the roof, but instead fell into the subbasement.
3. Be very careful of debt. Sooner or later debt has to be repaid and oftentimes it has to be repaid just when you can least afford to repay it.
4. Everything that goes up must come down, or at the very least level off. All of those people who bought homes before the recession thinking that home prices could only go one way found out differently. Don't let the market euphoria sweep you away.
5. An old cliché but still true, any offer that sounds too good to be true, probably is. Keep that in mind the next time you hear an ad for reverse mortgages.
Are we better off today? Probably not, but many of us are probably not too much worse off either. It's our kids who will probably be much worse off if nothing is done.
1. One of the lessons of the recession is simply not to panic. Those who sold their stocks in panic are much worse off but those who held on are now probably better off.
2. Buy stocks in only solid, well established companies. You might miss the once in a life time home run, but you won't really have too much to worry about in the long run. Generally, if you're of Vintage age, you don't have all that much time to make up for all of the losses on speculative stocks that should have gone through the roof, but instead fell into the subbasement.
3. Be very careful of debt. Sooner or later debt has to be repaid and oftentimes it has to be repaid just when you can least afford to repay it.
4. Everything that goes up must come down, or at the very least level off. All of those people who bought homes before the recession thinking that home prices could only go one way found out differently. Don't let the market euphoria sweep you away.
5. An old cliché but still true, any offer that sounds too good to be true, probably is. Keep that in mind the next time you hear an ad for reverse mortgages.
Are we better off today? Probably not, but many of us are probably not too much worse off either. It's our kids who will probably be much worse off if nothing is done.
06-26-2014, 10:05 AM
#10
Registered User
Are we really worse off? It depends on how far back you want to go.
I suppose that I’m older than most in the vintage forum and my opinions are of a more positive slant. We are MUCH better off than in the sixties, seventies, eighties and possibly into the mid-nineties. Then, most families had smaller homes, fewer dining experiences, one or possibly a second car for the entire family, very few luxury amenities, only local vacations, smaller savings (if any), and were reliant upon Social Security, home equities, and a family’s life insurance payouts as a means of survival during their vintage years.
In the last twenty years our standards of living along with luxury and convenience amenities have risen significantly and it’s becoming more difficult to remain at that level due to their ever increasing costs. If we could scale back, eliminate much of our discretionary spending, and charge less all might be better.
There’s been a recent economic down tick, but it’s all age related, living in your life times and what you remember. but, yes I think we’re better off.
gary
I suppose that I’m older than most in the vintage forum and my opinions are of a more positive slant. We are MUCH better off than in the sixties, seventies, eighties and possibly into the mid-nineties. Then, most families had smaller homes, fewer dining experiences, one or possibly a second car for the entire family, very few luxury amenities, only local vacations, smaller savings (if any), and were reliant upon Social Security, home equities, and a family’s life insurance payouts as a means of survival during their vintage years.
In the last twenty years our standards of living along with luxury and convenience amenities have risen significantly and it’s becoming more difficult to remain at that level due to their ever increasing costs. If we could scale back, eliminate much of our discretionary spending, and charge less all might be better.
There’s been a recent economic down tick, but it’s all age related, living in your life times and what you remember. but, yes I think we’re better off.
gary
