Retirement In Jeopardy
Enron and United Airlines and so many more are specific examples
of the reasons your retirement is in jeopardy.
Lets throw in two more examples, Social Security and "Mother
Nature".
An upcoming worry is General Motors. Once said to have been the
world's third largest economy, now has rumors floating of
bankruptcy.
How are individuals like you and I going to be able to retire?
Where and who do we trust?
The "who" do you trust must be you! The "where", we will discuss
that later.
Lets discuss the "who do you trust" question right now. I told
you that the answer was "you"! You have within that round globe
sitting on top of your shoulders, all the computing power you
need. And, if you can add two and two together and get four, you
computing power is much greater than any of the corporations
mentioned above.
Think about that last statement for a bit. Reread the paragraph
above again. Now take a brief break from reading. Grab yourself
a drink, take a walk around the yard, or just listen to the
radio and think back over the last fifteen years and how many
time have you expressed the thought "those poor people" who have
been involved in any of the opening examples.
Welcome back.
How is it that so many people have lost everything they worked
so hard for over so many years?
Greed and a lack of faith are the reasons. Do you remember the
many times quoted golden rule, "Do unto others, as you would
have them do unto you"?
No, do not change that to the more common altered version! That
is a reflection of a total lack of faith and the ultimate
version of greed. If we, as a human race, are to survive we must
change the attitude of how we interact with other people.
We must also relearn the most very basics of mathematics. One
plus one equals two. There are only twelve months in a year
consisting of either 364 or 365 days, which are only 24 hours
long.
Lets pretend for a moment ok. You live in a large city earning
$6 per hour or less. It would be almost impossible to pay rent
even on a one-bedroom efficiency apartment (if you could find
one) and still eat.
Now add a family to that equation. Or say you live outside of
the city and must commute to work. The month starts getting
scary.
Oh no! The car quit on the way to work and your told you need an
engine replacement. Labor cost are $65-$120 per hour and they
tell you it will take about 18 hours to replace the engine. You
will be without your car all week.
You do the math. Your income has not allowed you to build any
savings. You most likely will need to visit a loan company for
the money to have your car fixed and in doing so, you increase
the demands on your very meager budget.
So you take an extra job to carry you through the rough time
ahead.
How are you, in this situation, even consider retirement? It
will never happen! If you cannot make it work now, Social
Security will not work either. You must continue to work.
I mentioned greed above. The most current example of this is the
report of medicine cost world wide compared to what we pay for
the same product, same manufacture, here in the US. The major
networks are reporting (June '05) we pay twice what others do
and in some cases, much more. Why?
Is it that as a US Citizen, we have more disposable income?
What causes inflation? Greed or Unions or is it a combination of
both? Why does it cost more today to make a car than it did just
15 years ago? What was it that happened in '71 to raise the cost
of a car by almost 33%? Was it greed or the Unions?
Anyone remember the strike Kroger Grocery Stores underwent in
2004? If I had owned Kroger Grocery Stores, I would have shut
them down, changed the name, and then reopened as a non-union
business. If I own a business, why must I accept dictation as to
how much I pay my employees? Is it not a free world?
In the past ten years, to many Unions have gone bust leaving
hundred of thousands of people without retirement funds.
There is too much "do unto others BEFORE they do unto you" in
the world today. If mankind cannot change this attitude, we are
all doomed to a very difficult time!
Take another break from reading for a while. Think about all
that has be presented so far. Think about how it has influenced
your income and expenses. Just maybe you will see why I chose
the topic title "Retirement In Jeopardy".
So far we have only discussed the human influenced factors as to
why your retirement is in jeopardy. My firm belief is that there
is a much larger threat to retirement income than any other. Can
you guess what that might be?
I am going to guess, "no".
What could possibly remove your income overnight? Gone, non
replaceable, and all the retirement funds earned and saved
through the company plan, gone! There is no longer employment in
your community and you do not have the funds to move to another
community. It happens every year here in the US.
Every year, "Mother Nature" has fits of rage that take all the
ability to earn an income from several thousands! Earth Quake,
Tornado, Hurricane, Flood, are all the cause of businesses
completely closing their doors for business. That is if they
still have the doors to close.
You say, "It won't happen to me". What do you think the people
above thought?
You think that the insurance will pay to rebuild. The employer
did (?) have insurance, right?
Do you remember the show "Oil Storm" shown on cable TV in June
'05? Do you honestly believe it will or cannot happen?
Those disaster shows on TV were not only meant for
entertainment! Someone had something they wanted to say and the
movies are the easiest way to get the word to the most people.
Unfortunately, most viewed the movies for the entertainment and
not for the message being delivered. They never thought about
the fact it could happen at any instant and what would they do
if