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Walmart operates in 28 countries of which the US is but one.
Walmart has already cut to the bone whatever they can.
Their latest was to start charging vendors to stock inventory in Walmart warehouses.
Many vendors said no and that's why you see empty shelves at Walmart because their JIT depends on them having their own warehouses stocked.
Walmart just can't cut costs any more than they already have.
Yup it is not a pretty picture and sounds like as you noted another Canary in the coal mind for brick and mortar. Circuit City, K Mart etc etc etc oh yeah Sears and Pennys trying to hold on.
You have a valid point. One of the bottom line guidelines some subscribe to ( I do ) is that you need to plan how to grow your income in retirement to exceed inflation etc. That in some ways is old school. We are good and having been running numbers thru FireCalc we are still good. In fact almost 8 years into retirement we are ahead of projections. However absent planning and having the resources my OP thought still remains that folks not yet retired ought to start thinking about how they are going to sustain a satisfactory growth in income during retirement. Not those already retired but those still with time and options as your point is right on target. Many with retiring with non COLA pensions are going to face a deteriorating road unless they have also invested and can use that money to grow their income. Not sure about others but even in high school and during college I was always trying to grow my/our income/wealth even if the only way was multiple part time jobs. Now it is investments to supplement pensions/ss and to plan for possible reductions in each. At one time years ago this forum was much more about information and planning then it is now. I guess I still have that nostalgia in my bloodstream
And it's excellent advice, as always. We have done the same, although I'm extremely leery about any stock market investments these days.
Regardless of what income level one anticipates in retirement, assuming it's not somewhere in the ranges of the often referenced "1%", IMO that money goes a lot farther if one is as debt free as possible in retirement. So if I were planning, I would plan for that. Actually, we did do that.
And it's excellent advice, as always. We have done the same, although I'm extremely leery about any stock market investments these days.
Regardless of what income level one anticipates in retirement, assuming it's not somewhere in the ranges of the often referenced "1%", IMO that money goes a lot farther if one is as debt free as possible in retirement. So if I were planning, I would plan for that. Actually, we did do that.
Accepting limited or no debt I would add that analysis of cash flow is very important. How quickly and easily can you wind spending down to a new normal. One measurement is your ability to still save. As long as you can continue to save invest, I feel you are ahead of the curve.
Yup it is not a pretty picture and sounds like as you noted another Canary in the coal mind for brick and mortar. Circuit City, K Mart etc etc etc oh yeah Sears and Pennys trying to hold on.
Not everyone can shop e-commerce.
What's the next lowest rung after Walmart for low income shoppers ?
The dollar stores. I've been looking into them from an investment perspective.
I read some threads and decide they aren't of interest and move on. Sometimes I follow and even participate for a while first. They nearly all drop down the stack in a few days.
Some people post details; we are sort of anonymous here so I guess there is probably no harm in that. I tend to keep it a little more vague. I think I am doing okay partly from good fortune, partly from aptitude and partly from sticking to the retirement savings plan, but not posting too many details. I won't really know until the time comes when I step away from work, of course. I do like to read some success stories. I am not sure how someone can explain that their plan worked out really well without it sounding a little like bragging. If it is the same story repeated with a lot of frequency without prompting (replying in a thread where it's relevant is sort of replying to a prompt) it does begin to feel like bragging.
And it might well be that others planning for retirement read details of success in posts by retirees, and it gets them to thinking, "hey, I could do that" for something that had not occurred to them as a plan. That happened to me after I had posted about our
retirement plans to live in a new mortgage free house in an area we loved, and how we accomplished that by paying off the mortgage well before retirement on our old house, and financing the build using a large equity line of credit, and paying that off when we sold that house. I know not everyone is in a position to do this, and it does require long term planning, but it's a thought to pass on. I got a DM from a youngish fellow who told me what a great idea this was, and be felt as though he and his wife could do the same thing. He asked me a little about how we went about doing this, and the last I heard he and his wife were planning to go talk to their banker about it. You never know.
It is the flat growth caused by the raises that is chasing INVESTORS away. Will they return? Will more leave? Will Walmart start a massive buy back program to prop share prices up? Will seniors be impacted by local layoffs in a multiple number of ways?
Yes...$20 billion in share buybacks coming.
Walmart is going to buy their own stock to bring the share price back up.
And it might well be that others planning for retirement read details of success in posts by retirees, and it gets them to thinking, "hey, I could do that" for something that had not occurred to them as a plan. That happened to me after I had posted about our
retirement plans to live in a new mortgage free house in an area we loved, and how we accomplished that by paying off the mortgage well before retirement on our old house, and financing the build using a large equity line of credit, and paying that off when we sold that house. I know not everyone is in a position to do this, and it does require long term planning, but it's a thought to pass on. I got a DM from a youngish fellow who told me what a great idea this was, and be felt as though he and his wife could do the same thing. He asked me a little about how we went about doing this, and the last I heard he and his wife were planning to go talk to their banker about it. You never know.
That has happened to me as well in reading posts. That "hey I can do that" lightbulb goes off and gets you thinking and researching and making some changes in my plans for the better.
I don't consider it all bragging. It's more like "We were able to do it and here's how we did it" type of statement.
I personally think the Walmart news says more about the way people (especially millennials) shop than whether they shop. I have never been a Walmart shopper (depressing place IMO) - but I know that I now buy a lot of stuff on line (especially at Amazon) that I used to buy in bricks and mortar places. All kinds of silly little things. Order this week was for floss threaders (who wants to drive 5-10 miles to buy those?) and 1 teaspoon sugar packets (those in our local stores all have < 1 teaspoon of sugar in them). I do enjoy going out and shopping - but not for things like this.
BTW - when it comes to Walmart - remember that a fair amount of the expected earnings hit is due to its decision to increase salaries for a lot of its "associates". I have no idea what this might mean in terms of possibly enhancing the Walmart "shopping experience".
I don't think we're on the verge of a recession. But I don't think the economy is going to surge in the near future either. My hunch is that we'll continue to keep plodding along. Robyn
Let's hope we can at least keep plodding along.
Off topic-Robyn, it's great to see you posting again! You were missed, but I hope your hiatus was for good things and all is ok in your world.
That has happened to me as well in reading posts. That "hey I can do that" lightbulb goes off and gets you thinking and researching and making some changes in my plans for the better.
I don't consider it all bragging. It's more like "We were able to do it and here's how we did it" type of statement.
Completely agree with this and the post you commented on. I wish they taught economics in school. Yeah you get a taste but real economics. No not everyone will be an accountant but it does help to understand the real world issues.
What's the next lowest rung after Walmart for low income shoppers ?
The dollar stores. I've been looking into them from an investment perspective.
Bada Bing, small and more local and last I remember expanding and doing well. Low cost also and under the protesters radar for now.
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