living on fixed income yet daily expenses keep mushrooming.
2006-08-16 08:02:33 · 9 answers · asked by Janis G 5 in Business & Finance ➔ Personal Finance
Not enough people are scared...
consider this, my doom and gloom scenario...
an 18 year old today... goes through life, gets married, has kids, buys a house, gets the kids through college, weathers a few of life’s calamities and now at 67 has a million dollar nest egg to retire on....
pretty good so far right????
That million dollar nest egg can safely generate $60K/year... BUT when they retire at 67, inflation has cut the buying power of $60K/year down to $13,488/year in todays dollars. That's about MINIMUM WAGE... but wait, there's more.... at 67, a couple still has a good 30 years to live. that will cut the $13K in half again...
a Million dollars isn't what is used to be... and it's going to be a lot less still.
How many people out there have a realistic chance of creating a million dollar nest egg????
But here's the crazy thing about all this. Those same people who don't stand a chance of building a multi million dollar nest egg are the ones who are demanding all the spending cuts and will receive only meager tax cuts.
we are demanding that corporations cash out pensions and offer a 401k so they can cut costs(cutting costs means we pick up the difference). we are demanding they we take on more of the cost of medical care via larger premiums, deductibles and copays. We are demanding the end to social security and want to privatize it (just check your yearly SSI statement to see that only those who currently make around 90K/year are going to be able to break even on that... but again inflation will shred that to pieces over the years).
We are demanding to defund schools, thereby forcing the worst ones to be the value of the voucher, while the better ones will cost 100's or 1000's more per child per year. And we are cutting funding on college making that more expensive.
We want to eliminate any form of welfare which the elderly disproportionately need, while medical care is skyrocketing.
a recent survey found that most people who are not retired expected to work into and past their retirement date... but when current retiree's were polled it found that most were unable to work past 62 due to layoffs or medical reasons..
SURPRISE everyone... the lower 80% of income people will be getting all the price hikes and none of the benefits.
2006-08-16 10:19:18 · answer #1 · answered by yeeooow 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If I were living on a fixed income, yes, I'd be concerned. Especially if there were not Cost of Living Adjustment features in my income stream. Inflation, particularly core inflation always hurts individuals on fixed incomes the hardest.
2006-08-16 10:00:07 · answer #2 · answered by Adios 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes I am constantly stressing out about money. My wife doesn't at all. The one thing I have noticed is I'm a miserable person and she is not. So you need to find a way to not let it bother you, or you will end up as unhappy as I am.
I know they say money can't buy happiness .... but I disagree. Being happy can't feed you.
2006-08-16 08:10:33 · answer #3 · answered by black.plastik 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just make sure your education (personal and financial) continues mushrooming and you'll be less scared.
2006-08-16 08:44:59 · answer #4 · answered by kcincon 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah, I've got more $ going out then coming in by $600 a month.
2006-08-16 08:08:39 · answer #5 · answered by meb2fine 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The truth is many people live from day to day in our society. I am sure many are scared just like you. If you'd like, I will email you my book, "Financial Serenity". It's free.
2006-08-16 08:11:19 · answer #6 · answered by Jessica M 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
welfare
food stamps
donations from church
wic
social security
playing your guitar on the street for money
:)
2006-08-16 08:38:04 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
nope just deal with it the best you can !!!!!!
2006-08-16 09:05:51 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
no
2006-08-16 08:07:40 · answer #9 · answered by Moses_Santos_ii 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋