"We're On the You Can't Take It With You Tour" (friend, husband)
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Just be careful how you spend your money down and with regard to how you have it invested. Unexpected expenses can crop up, and your portfolio may not have time to recover from a steep market downturn if you have a lot in equities. Honestly, I would consult with a financial advisor or two to talk about safe rates of drawdown. My father basically has exactly enough to last him to the end of his days in his lovely memorycare ALF assuming he makes it at least as long as his mother (he is in much better physical health than she was). However, I'm still nervous. I don't care about an inheritance, I just want to be able to keep him in a good facility.
Meh. Disagree. They're too busy posting instagram photos of their Michelin 3-star meals and $10,000 table service at nightclubs in Las Vegas.
Not everyone is Kim Kardashian.
Most "real people" are too busy juggling student loan debt, rent, and a salary that goes up maybe 1-2% per annum. Pity the property management company re-adjusted the rent to market...at a 7% increase.
Quote:
Originally Posted by StealthRabbit
well. ... it is all just 'inflation', but today's spenders need to be more discerning (cell phones and other wastes) Actually for starting wages / entry home prices I see it to be quite equivalent.
snip
Your perspective is earnest but divorced from reality.
Finding and holding a job now requires a mobile phone (usually a smart phone) and internet access. If you want to participate in the economy, you need to have these things, even to work the check-out at the grocery store.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TuborgP
Folks you need to consider that there is a lot of pent up animosity amongst the younger generation that feels we are inconsiderate and have consumed all the resources leaving them with nothing and that we are self centered. These are our children and grand children. When some say we owe them nothing and want to consume what we have ourselves we only reinforce that feeling. Oh yeah and by the way we are expecting them to work and then turn part of what they have earned over to agencies to provide us with Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, subsidized housing etc etc.
That to some might make us sound greedy and not needy of their tax dollars.
This is a political risk. The perfect storm would be a double whammy of "can't take it with you!" becoming the boomer zeitgeist combined with a predicted recession (read: dire equities market 'correction') between now and 2020. Don't expect mercy from the also-wiped out (+ mortage/rent + student loans) youngins.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JrzDefector
Just be careful how you spend your money down and with regard to how you have it invested. Unexpected expenses can crop up, and your portfolio may not have time to recover from a steep market downturn if you have a lot in equities. Honestly, I would consult with a financial advisor or two to talk about safe rates of drawdown. My father basically has exactly enough to last him to the end of his days in his lovely memorycare ALF assuming he makes it at least as long as his mother (he is in much better physical health than she was). However, I'm still nervous. I don't care about an inheritance, I just want to be able to keep him in a good facility.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Amelorn
...
Finding and holding a job now requires a mobile phone (usually a smart phone) and internet access. If you want to participate in the economy, you need to have these things, even to work the check-out at the grocery store. ....
Really?
Where in USA do you reside?
Of my 3 locations in USA, NONE have internet or cell coverage, and one is only 16 miles from 2 million people.
No cable, no DSL, No 4G, No 3G, no satellite allowed (Nationally protected scenic area) no internet coming.
When living in Thailand and other areas that are remote, I have GREAT coverage! Just not in USA.
There is over 15% of USA without internet, so a Smart Phone is of no value at my house or millions of others.
I hire a lot of people, and I have never required them to have a smart phone or internet.
Vapor economy?
Of course it would be nice to balance a checkbook or check-in for a flight without having to drive to town and find a hotspot, then jump through all the isp hoops of not having a single domain , but... not possible from my home.
Of my 3 locations in USA, NONE have internet or cell coverage, and one is only 16 miles from 2 million people.
No cable, no DSL, No 4G, No 3G, no satellite allowed (Nationally protected scenic area) no internet coming.
When living in Thailand and other areas that are remote, I have GREAT coverage! Just not in USA.
There is over 15% of USA without internet, so a Smart Phone is of no value at my house or millions of others.
I hire a lot of people, and I have never required them to have a smart phone or internet.
Vapor economy?
Of course it would be nice to balance a checkbook or check-in for a flight without having to drive to town and find a hotspot, then jump through all the isp hoops of not having a single domain , but... not possible from my home.
I am sitting in Ko Kaeo, Phuket, near the Royal Phuket Marina. I am a nomadic freelance writer - travel/frequent flier miles and foreign affairs. The former (my hobby, originally) now pays the bills. The latter, my academic training, keeps my brain sharp. The internet is a necessity at all stages from finding/negotiating with clients, to research during a project, to delivery.
Clients also highly value responsiveness. Returning an email in under 30 minutes (possible with a smartphone) markedly improves your hire rate and image in the client's eyes versus needing 3-24 hours. The mobile phone pays off. Given how my life has shaken out, well...
This was the case even when I was living more traditionally in the US. Before going 100% freelance, I tried to find a more conventional W-2 job vaguely in my field. This was quite difficult after I withdrew from my PhD program, but I won't bore you with the extraneous details. The job application process is virtually all online. I was looking at government, foreign policy, think tanks, corporate research, international business, or where a former expat student of international relations might fit.
For smaller boutique firms, I was often directed to send a resume and cover letter to an email (usually gmail) account. For middling-to-larger firms (+ government), they used talent management portal software such as Taleo. Navigating the modern web and filing those applications with anything less an a 1 mbps (high speed as of 2008) would have been painful. Even your local McDonalds or Subway would handle talent acquisition online in some form. The holdouts (i.e. you hand a resume into the manager) seem to be the smallest local shops/restaurants.
For the record: my US residences in the last couple of years: Boynton Beach FL (near West Palm), Alexandria VA, Honolulu HI, and Gainesville FL.
The US people & areas without high speed internet access in the US are increasingly representative of the poorest/most isolated/least opportunity communities.
Re: mobile phones. My time in FL and Honolulu demonstrated to me via friends and romantic interests how dependent the service industry is on smart phones. Shifts are seldom consistent week-to-week anymore, and you're basically on-call. Schedules are sent out as multimedia SMS (text) messages, handled via an app, or uploaded on a web page. These typically require a smart phone. From people who net $5.50-9 per hour after taxes. (I am not happy about these trends, btw. They represent costs offloaded onto the employee for their employer's benefit).
Out of curiosity, you say that you hire quite a few people. How do you disseminate that you're looking, and how do they find you?
You want to talk about paychecks and buying things in the old days? I bought a house in 1972, while I was making $300/month working full time.
My $300 paycheck covered the house payment, food, gas, and not much else, certainly not a fancy-pants phone. Signed, Old Geezer OldGardener
I remember those days. I made about the same as you, full time, and bought a house in 1974. Paid a whopping $17,500 for it and I think the payments were less than $150 month. That's 50% of gross pay so not all that good for the budget! But we did it!
lol, I recently had a sit down with Fisher investments (they're trying to get my to open an account) anyhoo, the analysis showed that I had a 99% chance of leaving the minions a wad of cash, the first thing I said was....
"I gotta start spending more"
I had my left knee replaced in 16. it's doing great but I know I'm going to need the right one done.
My wake up call.
1) wonderful hubby of 30 years loses his battle with cancer. 53
2) my baby brother loses his battle with cancer. 50
3) one of my best friends of 35 years and college roommate has a massive heart attack. dead at 54. She was a bridesmaid when I got married, met one of my husbands friends who was a groomsmen and they got married the following year. They were watching tv one night and he went to walk the dog and came back to find her slumped in the chair. it was horrible.
After that, I said "no more". I am not trying to be the "richest gal in a coffin". 15 more months and I'm quitting. I'm planning on a retirement trip to Greece next September.
I've seen so many grown children squabble horribly over their deceased parents' money that it turns my stomach. I'm not leaving a penny behind. It's mine, and I'm going to buy beads with it, so many beads, all the beads.
They can squabble over my bead collection when I'm dead.
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