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My Dad had the same job for 44 years. When he retired, he had a nice pension as well as SS. His wife also had a pension from working for the same bank for 40 years. My husband and I have savings, but no pensions, so we are less well off than my parents were.
My father was a mailman for many years.
He retired at age 63.
Not much in savings and what he did have, he would give some to me and my brother.
When he died in the nursing home, all he really had was a 3 year old TV set and the clothes on his back.
As long as I can recall, he only ever had 1 brand new car and that was an econo box with crank down windows and no power seats.
Always food on our table, clothing and shelter.
Even with his low salary, I never thought we would end up on the street.
I didn't even know what a homeless person was back then.
One credit card, not much debt and never extravagant.
To me, he was a big success and made it through life the hard way.
I have a lot these days, more than I am probably entitled to and would hope that he would be proud of my accomplishments......but not of some of the debt I am trying to pay down.
It's said that it's easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to get into heaven.
These days, it seems that people have lost respect for the average working man or woman, preferring instead to put wealthy workers on pedestals as being icons we should aspire to be like. If someone doesn't have certain things (like an iPhone), they are considered behind the times, old school, unworthy, less than others.
I heard Joe Scarborough on the Morning Joe say once (about a year ago) that most people strive to be rich as a goal in life. (This was a comment made in passing in a conversation about something else.) I was shocked because at no time in my life had I made being rich a goal in life, and that is beyond the reach of most Americans, anyway. No..most people, it seems to me, strive to have a comfortable life: a decent house and car, a good job, enough income not to worry about paying the bills, enough to retire on, and the like. But that's the view of the wealthy, I suppose. To them, it's all about money and little else.
These days, it seems that people have lost respect for the average working man or woman, preferring instead to put wealthy workers on pedestals as being icons we should aspire to be like. If someone doesn't have certain things (like an iPhone), they are considered behind the times, old school, unworthy, less than others.
I heard Joe Scarborough on the Morning Joe say once (about a year ago) that most people strive to be rich as a goal in life. (This was a comment made in passing in a conversation about something else.) I was shocked because at no time in my life had I made being rich a goal in life, and that is beyond the reach of most Americans, anyway. No..most people, it seems to me, strive to have a comfortable life: a decent house and car, a good job, enough income not to worry about paying the bills, enough to retire on, and the like. But that's the view of the wealthy, I suppose. To them, it's all about money and little else.
I think Joe and others who think like him are still embracing the once common and prominent American quality of aspiration! Marketers realize that many still embrace aspiration in many parts of their lives. Unfortunately for some it is limited to Iphones.
Generational theory has progressed a lot since the days when demographers only looked at birth rates and assigned arbitrary delimiters.
A person born in 1943 has way more in common with someone born in 1953, than a person born in 1953 has with someone born in 1963. You know this, yes?
For example, someone born in 1963:
- Cannot remember JFK's assassination
- Cannot remember when the US ramped up involvement in the SE Asian conflict of the 1960s and early 70s.
- Was a toddler when the hippies first started showing up
- Would not find Woodstock relevant
- Was in elementary school when Disco started to become a thing
- Could not vote in the 1980 election
- Could have been listening to punk, new wave or hair metal during college
- Might have had an early PC in the family home during late high school and college
- Became a computer user at work, in many cases, very early in his or her career (e.g. as a new grad / young adult)
- And so on.
1974 - 2005: My parents drew 4 - 6% interest on CD's, and a fancy hamburger went from $2.19 to $2.89 in 30 years; SS maintained its COLA increases religiously, Medicare covered essentially everything.
Today? 1% interest on a CD, $7 "fancy" hamburgers, SS not budging (despite inflationary pricing like a can of Campbells soup going from $1.29 to $1.79 in just 5 years), and Medicare to soon cost as much as a whole "bronze plan" just to cover what was once free.
People who were retired between the mid 1960's and 2008 had it made. Today you require a union and/or government pension - and that's just for starters. Socking away 2 million ain't easy for most breadwinners - nearly impossible in fact for all but the top 10% payscale..
Generational theory has progressed a lot since the days when demographers only looked at birth rates and assigned arbitrary delimiters.
A person born in 1943 has way more in common with someone born in 1953, than a person born in 1953 has with someone born in 1963. You know this, yes?
What is your evidence for saying this? If all you have is anecdotes, I am sure I can match you. And I think there are huge differences among individuals with the same birth year.
For example, someone born in 1963:
- Cannot remember JFK's assassination
- Cannot remember when the US ramped up involvement in the SE Asian conflict of the 1960s and early 70s.
- Was a toddler when the hippies first started showing up
- Would not find Woodstock relevant
- Was in elementary school when Disco started to become a thing
- Could not vote in the 1980 election
- Could have been listening to punk, new wave or hair metal during college
- Might have had an early PC in the family home during late high school and college
- Became a computer user at work, in many cases, very early in his or her career (e.g. as a new grad / young adult)
- And so on.
I was born in 1944 and I did not find Woodstock relevant at all.
Disco was hot in 1978-79, so they would have been 15-16, not elementary school, minor point. But plenty of other points can be made similar for any age group.
My parents WERE at one time better off than me, but ignorance and pi$$ poor decisions (gambling, smoking, fear, stupid purchases, divorce in their mid 60s, etc) wasted most of what they had saved and accomplished, which was earned more on lucky timing, location and some risk and hard labor by my father, so I am much better off, and will be in retirement. My dad should be fine the rest of his life, but more because he inherited from his very frugal parents, than any smart decisions he's made. My mother died at 68 from COPD, and pissed away a small fortune. She told me, in not so many words, she was disappointed in how her life turned out, because of how she had married young and had so many kids, and this was her way of living for herself. She would have been penniless in another year or two, tops, and I think she knew it.
Last edited by Perryinva; 10-01-2015 at 01:12 AM..
My mom worked at CDC and retired with a nice pension and savings. Until she went into a nursing home and hospice care, she was able to travel pretty much at will and she and her SO had 2 houses that were paid off.
My dad remarried and they have a paid off house, her pension and his savings (which were fairly substantial at first; he was an only child and his father did fairly well for himself) and has also been able to travel at will until health slowed him down.
So neither would envy me, though I should be fine.
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