I've seldom had it, Don, because living in the South as long as I did, the most common reaction to any offense in conversation was to just quietly plot ways to get back at you, although a white Southern academic once said to me (in Lewis Grizzard's words) "Delta is ready when you are." and then immediately apologized when his inner historian kicked in. Even then, it had been about me being frustrated with Georgia, not the US! Brits can do the same thing, btw: It's more about people who stay put versus nomads. But I do tell people the truth: Apart from personal ties, what keeps me here, although I love my native country, is that I love the American people, and I'm a missionary by nature. 😀
It's a con, along with the personal responsibility mantra, which encourages overworked , underpaid people to feel guilty about spending on themselves (despite the economy's reliance on consumer spending), and instead save their money to be pickpocketed by greedy landlords and corporate healthcare, including the university and Catholic hospitals that have been hijacked by overpaid execs. Obscene medical bills are only a thing in America, and are the leading cause of bankruptcy, even for the insured.
Everyone should read up about social security, why it came about, and tell everyone they can. Btw, I mentioned to a hospital staffer that my expensive surgery costs nothing at the point of treatment in my native UK. She asked why I didn't go back there. 😂 I managed to calmly point out that I've lived here for a long time-- and to point out American uniqueness in not having a functioning healthcare system.
Great article, Don! I live on a small pension (earned before the company I worked for converted to an IRA system, from which I was able to save $100,000, despite the 2008 national financial meltdown) and Social Security. That IRA money is long gone, spent on healthcare because I retired early. I am now in the low-income tier of homeowners, struggling mightily just to live. I have friends and family in worse straits than I am. But we're hanging in there--by our fingernails--but we're hanging in there.
I might have a contrarian's view on this, likely influenced by my mother. She saw her family almost lose everything in the Great Depression.
When few of my friends in San Diego could afford a house, I bought a house. But not because I made more money than they did. I was still a print journalist, for petesake.
It was because while they were all going out to eat and to bars on a regular basis, I might join them for an appetizer or a glass of water. :-)
While they felt contractually obligated to go skiing every winter and take fancy trips every summer, I was staying home, saving my money, and hey, already living in a top tourist destination.
That decision made early on has "floated" my mission as an unpaid advocate for many years. And it's waiting for me to retire to now.
Could everyone do this? Absolutely not. But plenty of people around me that could, did not. They spent a lot on items I considered luxuries, not necessities. To me, a house was a necessity.
The part I get stuck on is the part about maintaining your previous standard of living. The whole thing makes me want to see a wholesale re-evaluation of what we really need. Maybe living a simpler life isn't such a bad idea. But that has to be a life-long way of being. I get it that it would feel like deprivation if a person had lived lavishly for decades and suddenly had to give it all up. I get it, Don. None of it makes much sense.
“Urging people to work longer, the most popular policy proposal, is a “fake solution,” she says. Her book argues that the nation needs a “Gray New Deal,” a bold initiative that will guarantee that older adults can maintain their living standards in retirement”
Encouraging extreme inequality promotes this miserable situation for invaluable contributors!
Thank you Don for speaking this truth! Those Fidelity and kind “ideals” are awfully self-serving. Don’t you think?! And what happens to the hard working, trying to be fiscally responsible Baby Boomers whose savings were impacted negatively by scammers and ponsie schemers, tech boom crashes, 9/11, 2008, a multitude of other nest egg robbers? Throw in a divorce or two, perhaps a big medical bill, a bankrupt employer, extended shutdowns during Covid, or maybe kids that need money to get started on their lives and wonder - did the financial fantasy writers consider any real world conditions?
I’m very fortunate to have saved some and haven’t needed to touch it yet in retirement. I earned a pension from my employer. Interestingly, in many states the WEP and GPO ( windfall elimination provision and government pension offset) impacts retirees ability to collect the social security they may have contributed too. In addition to my municipal job I also worked jobs where I earned my 40 social security quarters. Because of the GPO any (and as you noted it is not enough to live on) social security to which I em entitled to is offset or minimized by my pension.
I’m doing fine but there is so much about finances we don’t know ( at least I didn’t) when we are early in our working careers. My dad passed onto me a lot of good financial information when I was younger….SAVE was at the top of the list. Every little bit helps…even if it is for the emergency car repair….etc.
I think about this and worry about it all the time. Whatever I have saved, and it isn't much, I'll also need for my son. I worry we'll end up living beneath a bridge. And it probably won't even be a nice bridge!
Two edits/amendments to suggest under "constructive activities"....
For #1 change Pray to Fight: "Fight for the continued solvency of Social Security, which will require an act of Congress." Most of the fix is actually quite simple, policy-wise. Eliminating the cap on taxable income takes care of most of the problem, so that the substantial share of all income (nearly a fifth is the last estimate I've seen) that is earned above the current cap of $168,600 gets taxed too. But to win it will take a major political fight, on the scale of the campaign that won the Affordable Care Act. And the longer we wait and the closer we get to the 2034 cliff, the more we'll need other fixes in the mix.
And add a #6: Hope for a big inheritance from the Greatest Generation!
Thank you for this article! It’s already true that what I previously considered to be necessities are now luxuries. I do indeed pray for the continued solvency of Social Security but it seems that will disappear if Trump is elected.
Such a common American reaction: "Then why don't go back to where you came from, if you like it so much?"
I've seldom had it, Don, because living in the South as long as I did, the most common reaction to any offense in conversation was to just quietly plot ways to get back at you, although a white Southern academic once said to me (in Lewis Grizzard's words) "Delta is ready when you are." and then immediately apologized when his inner historian kicked in. Even then, it had been about me being frustrated with Georgia, not the US! Brits can do the same thing, btw: It's more about people who stay put versus nomads. But I do tell people the truth: Apart from personal ties, what keeps me here, although I love my native country, is that I love the American people, and I'm a missionary by nature. 😀
And most of us are just darned glad to have you!
It's a con, along with the personal responsibility mantra, which encourages overworked , underpaid people to feel guilty about spending on themselves (despite the economy's reliance on consumer spending), and instead save their money to be pickpocketed by greedy landlords and corporate healthcare, including the university and Catholic hospitals that have been hijacked by overpaid execs. Obscene medical bills are only a thing in America, and are the leading cause of bankruptcy, even for the insured.
Everyone should read up about social security, why it came about, and tell everyone they can. Btw, I mentioned to a hospital staffer that my expensive surgery costs nothing at the point of treatment in my native UK. She asked why I didn't go back there. 😂 I managed to calmly point out that I've lived here for a long time-- and to point out American uniqueness in not having a functioning healthcare system.
The end of pension systems, and the obscene salaries of CEO's have also exacerbated this problem.
Great article, Don! I live on a small pension (earned before the company I worked for converted to an IRA system, from which I was able to save $100,000, despite the 2008 national financial meltdown) and Social Security. That IRA money is long gone, spent on healthcare because I retired early. I am now in the low-income tier of homeowners, struggling mightily just to live. I have friends and family in worse straits than I am. But we're hanging in there--by our fingernails--but we're hanging in there.
It doesn't take much to knock a person off course. I sincerely hope you can keep hanging for years to come.
"Akchin's Law of Household Necessity". lol
I might have a contrarian's view on this, likely influenced by my mother. She saw her family almost lose everything in the Great Depression.
When few of my friends in San Diego could afford a house, I bought a house. But not because I made more money than they did. I was still a print journalist, for petesake.
It was because while they were all going out to eat and to bars on a regular basis, I might join them for an appetizer or a glass of water. :-)
While they felt contractually obligated to go skiing every winter and take fancy trips every summer, I was staying home, saving my money, and hey, already living in a top tourist destination.
That decision made early on has "floated" my mission as an unpaid advocate for many years. And it's waiting for me to retire to now.
Could everyone do this? Absolutely not. But plenty of people around me that could, did not. They spent a lot on items I considered luxuries, not necessities. To me, a house was a necessity.
A lifetime of common sense has stood you well. You are the exception to what I see around me.
heh. Probably an abundance of delayed gratification. In some things. lol
The part I get stuck on is the part about maintaining your previous standard of living. The whole thing makes me want to see a wholesale re-evaluation of what we really need. Maybe living a simpler life isn't such a bad idea. But that has to be a life-long way of being. I get it that it would feel like deprivation if a person had lived lavishly for decades and suddenly had to give it all up. I get it, Don. None of it makes much sense.
There are such powerful forces constantly urging us to consume more and newer and better baubles. Simplicity is hard.
I guess it's like any addiction. It's not easy to turn off the consumption path, but you can travel so much lighter if you do.
Realistic article!
“Urging people to work longer, the most popular policy proposal, is a “fake solution,” she says. Her book argues that the nation needs a “Gray New Deal,” a bold initiative that will guarantee that older adults can maintain their living standards in retirement”
Encouraging extreme inequality promotes this miserable situation for invaluable contributors!
Do not vote for anyone who has been tried!
Thank you Don for speaking this truth! Those Fidelity and kind “ideals” are awfully self-serving. Don’t you think?! And what happens to the hard working, trying to be fiscally responsible Baby Boomers whose savings were impacted negatively by scammers and ponsie schemers, tech boom crashes, 9/11, 2008, a multitude of other nest egg robbers? Throw in a divorce or two, perhaps a big medical bill, a bankrupt employer, extended shutdowns during Covid, or maybe kids that need money to get started on their lives and wonder - did the financial fantasy writers consider any real world conditions?
As if there weren't enough dividing us, the top 10% seem to live in a different reality than the bottom 90%.
I’m very fortunate to have saved some and haven’t needed to touch it yet in retirement. I earned a pension from my employer. Interestingly, in many states the WEP and GPO ( windfall elimination provision and government pension offset) impacts retirees ability to collect the social security they may have contributed too. In addition to my municipal job I also worked jobs where I earned my 40 social security quarters. Because of the GPO any (and as you noted it is not enough to live on) social security to which I em entitled to is offset or minimized by my pension.
I’m doing fine but there is so much about finances we don’t know ( at least I didn’t) when we are early in our working careers. My dad passed onto me a lot of good financial information when I was younger….SAVE was at the top of the list. Every little bit helps…even if it is for the emergency car repair….etc.
Count yourself lucky. Not all of us received (or acted on) such good advice.
I think about this and worry about it all the time. Whatever I have saved, and it isn't much, I'll also need for my son. I worry we'll end up living beneath a bridge. And it probably won't even be a nice bridge!
You are not alone with that worry, unfortunately.
Two edits/amendments to suggest under "constructive activities"....
For #1 change Pray to Fight: "Fight for the continued solvency of Social Security, which will require an act of Congress." Most of the fix is actually quite simple, policy-wise. Eliminating the cap on taxable income takes care of most of the problem, so that the substantial share of all income (nearly a fifth is the last estimate I've seen) that is earned above the current cap of $168,600 gets taxed too. But to win it will take a major political fight, on the scale of the campaign that won the Affordable Care Act. And the longer we wait and the closer we get to the 2034 cliff, the more we'll need other fixes in the mix.
And add a #6: Hope for a big inheritance from the Greatest Generation!
Both excellent points! Thanks.
Brutally honest. Where’s my kill pill?❤️
Thank you for this article! It’s already true that what I previously considered to be necessities are now luxuries. I do indeed pray for the continued solvency of Social Security but it seems that will disappear if Trump is elected.
The paralysis in Congress forces both parties to kick the can down the road - and there's not much road left to do.
Indeed. What planet are these guys living on?
Thank you for saying this out loud.