January 22, 2008
-
TUESDAY POLITICS
This economy thing is making me nervous. For one thing, I haven’t spent much of my life studying things like interest rates and sub-prime mortgages and the stock market and such. There are lots of folks out there with more money (and some with less) than I have who do though, and they must be nervous too. Just got my year-end statements from my two tiny investments (a 403B and a tax-deferred annuity). This year they only earned about 2% each and lost money this last quarter (they’d been doing much better in previous years). That’s worse than having the money in a simple savings account at the bank. I thank my lucky stars that when I bought the one and only house of my life in 1994 I picked fixed interest rate, not variable, because that’s apparently where lots of home-owners screwed up. So I keep hearing now that Bush has some fancy big stimulus package he’s proposing, but if you think that means that in April or May you’ll get $800 in tax rebates, think again. Workload issues at the IRS would prevent the mailing of rebate checks until after the peak tax filing in late May or early June. And then it could take 8 to 10 weeks to distribute the checks so we’re talking late summer. And even then, I’m totally suspicious that this incentive plan is really about making more bucks for his rich corporate friends. Not that I won’t love to have any amount of $ he wants to send me. Maybe it will help me pay my oil bill that month (which just increased from $70/month to $129/month). Or maybe my health insurance which just increased by 37.5%. Meanwhile my pension and social security income cost-of-living increases this year amounted to a whopping $56/month between them. So I’m scrutinizing my miniature budget more than ever before and hoping this is all a bad dream I’ll wake up from. Voluntary simplicity is a grand idea, I just didn’t want to be rushed.
Deep Thought: “Frank knew that no man had ever crossed the desert on foot and lived to tell about it. So, he decided to get back in his car and keep driving.”
Today I am grateful for: A roof over my head
Guess the Movie: “And that’s the hardest part. Today everything is different; there’s no action… have to wait around like everyone else. Can’t even get decent food – right after I got here, I ordered some spaghetti with marinara sauce, and I got egg noodles and ketchup. I’m an average nobody… get to live the rest of my life like a schnook.” Answer: Goodfellas, 1990. Winner: buddhacat.
Richonomics 101 in Post-Bush America
by Beth Quinn
I used to feel like a fool for not being rich. I’d see friends taking great vacations, hiring nannies, buying fabulous cars and wearing expensive jewelry. And I’d wonder, what’s wrong with me that I’m not rich? During the dot.com bubble in the ’90s, especially, it seemed like everyone else knew a money secret. But not now. (Rest of article here.)
Comments (34)
Love your comment–Voluntary simplicity–DON’T PUSH!!!!!
Belt tightening seems to be in store for MANY of us. Sometimes I am very glad that I am no longer young. (whatever that means)
Peace and patient perseverance be with you, dear heart!
I want to see it done differently but they are eager to please and who turns down money?.It will be a nice shot inthe arm for China’s economy though.
man, you put that so well. it’s been going through my mind also.
The government did this about 6 or 7 years ago and it seems to me when the next year’s taxes came due the money was deducted from our tax refund. I wonder if it will be handled the same way.
I’ve read that the people who most need it most won’t qualify under the republican’s plan.
There has been some major belt tightening in my household. I keep as many lights off as I can and turn down the heat as much as I can stand. I bargain shop and I’m trying to cook at home much more, instead of eating out.
I’d have to say I can’t believe people are surprised about what is happening to the economy – I’d say I’m dumb when it comes to financial stuff but even I saw it coming.
I was much better off after 8 years of Clinton.
I hope all else is well with you!
Goodfellas. I also thought it was “schmook!”
i like the “grateful” part of your blog. a much better focus than the things we’re unhappy with… we give those things too much of our mental space already. we’re feeling the financial crunch though, too… going to school puts me more and more in debt every semester, and no matter how much time i spend at work it feels like i don’t make any cash.
Whoops. I didn’t mean to submit so soon (and so willingly). And I meant to say I always thought, rather than also…
I hear you and am with you on this economy thing. I was pretty much wiped out after 2001, when a couple of investments died from bankruptcies, and now I’m on disability, with no “extra” means for recovering. Bush has proposed tax based incentives, which leave out everybody who doesn’t earn enough to pay taxes. And they don’t need relief? The Republicans will push hard for an extension of the fat-cat tax cut, saying it stimulated the economy before, and… I say Bull Snot! The only reason we weren’t crushed in 2002, was that the Fed, curtesy of Mr Greenspan, cut interest rates to the extent that the bank rate was 0%. This allowed people to buy homes and refinance loans at lower rates, and they spent. And they flooded the market with $$$. That’s the irony of the situation today. This mess is starts with bad loans, so when interest rates come down (75 points today was huge), people won’t get cash through loan breaks. You say you’re sispicious that the incentives will amount to breaks for Bush’s rich corporarate friends. I agree, but I’m also suspicious that this mess was caused by that crowd. There was a lot of easy money making its way to Wall Street pockets until the loans started breaking peoples’ backs and bank accounts. These guys do NOT lose money. They’re probably raking in profits with their hedge funds. And when you make a policy that drives the dollar into extinction, when you know it’s coming, you stand a good chance of raking in even more money.
Sorry to rant, but I’m just really pissed as hell at these people. Then I see replays of last night’s debate, and I see Democrat candidates tearing at each other’s throats, and I just lose hope. Please let us get through this one more year and then elect a compassionate government. We can do it, can’t we?
The money spent on war would help a lot of people here in America.
it does seem there is no reward for saving. We will be in a deep collapse for awhile I believe…
it’s really horrible to witness family members going through the economic crisis on a personal level.
and the truth is i hear it through the grapevine because it angers me so much that i wont face them
for the knowledge that yes many people are in the same boat but did ya really need all that bigger and better now now now…
i really love the common dreams article.
relevant and honest post-thank you.
media in here talk serious that everyday…people get worry about..I honesty few nervus what’s going on…
ryc…thanx, I’m glad you like him music…
Good morning and Goodfellas is right!
Thanks for taking the time to slog through that long post. I’m going to take a wait and see approach.
i approached home buying as you did. simplicity has many benefits. peace of mind is one of them. as for the poor performance of investments for retirement, just remember this: they are only to be used at retirement time so being too concerned about one year is to be focused on the short-term when these investments are to be evaluated meaningfully in the long-term. good luck!
The “tax break” is a boo-boo bandaid. And a morale booster. People hear the “r” word (recession) from people like The Donald and they start to panic – the cheques will help with morale (and if we spend them, yay for the economy, right?). My spouse and I bought our house in 2003 and opted for the slightly-higher fixed rate because WE KNEW the recession was coming. We had a feeling. And we were right. Sean is right – don’t worry right now about your investments. They will be fine in the long run.
Good food for thought.
Good grief! I can’t believe how much your health insurance and heating went up! I really worry about people on fixed incomes because voluntary simplicity can only cover so much. After that, what are people supposed to cut back on? Meals?
Call it what you like, decline in spending, recession, depression…we’re stuck with it for a bit and it’s going to take ever so much more than a “stimulus package” to get us out of the hole. We’re just gonna have to hang in there and weather the lean times!
Giving us money to spend will probably not help our national debt much. As you recall this happened after Viet Nam too because this is what wars do to our economy. Hang in there.
*cough* canada *cough*
or…any of the other countries that give a shit about its citizens
It’s so hard to see the value of our investments drop lower and lower the closer we get to retirement…not that I think we will ever be able to actually “retire”!
I could sure use the money, too, but I do worry about where it is coming from. How about a tax amnesty year? : D
There was a period in my life when I was doing very well in the stock market, thanks to a prodigious amount of research and time spent analyzing balance sheets and such. Then I got distracted and took up golf, then Scrabble, and lost my mojo.
What might have been.
But ‘s okay. Life’s good. Even if I’m not rich.
Given that the mortgage loan crises has a great deal more to give, the current times may soon be known as “the good ol’ days.”
Ronald Reagan’s deregulation phrenzy is proving itself to be the quintessential “Guft that keeps om giving.”
Free Market Republicans…God’s goft to Wall Street and its noble Mortgage Bankers…
Thanks for coming by and leaving your nice comments on my site.
I hear you and feel your pain. Thankfully I’ve never had to worry about money issues up until this past year, but when it hit, it hit hard. My new obsession is about how to make ends meet. Pretty sad.
Good Evening, I also am waiting eagerly to see what happens next with my innards. Someone I work with also had cysts there. He has to get ultrasounds every year to watch them. I think it sounds painful.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. Many of us are with you on the economy. We’ve taken a very hard hit with our retirement, plus my dh lost his job (twice) due to outsourcing after 26 years with the same company. We’re better off than many, but boy oh boy, the other day I counted 6 Hummers between my house and the store – 1.5 miles. I won’t get started. We’ve always been frugal especially since we became a one income family so I could stay home with my kiddos. If we tried to live ‘the dream’ we’d be in a huge mess. I read a book titled Voluntary Simplicity by Duane Elgin, I think.
Oh, I loved your Things That Refresh My Soul A-Z. That might be a very good exercise for me when I get in a funk.
How have you been faring through all these storms? I’m never exactly certain of where these things land, but I have friends in Washington that have had snow, one who lives near Snoqualmie Pass, and I see radar images that look like all of Oregon is getting clobbered. It looks like we’ve got at least several days of respite, and I’m pleased for that.
Thanks for stopping by my blog! My older son laid out the garden and organized it all.
Thanks for the compliment. I think it is natural to wonder and worry if one is doing the right thing for their kid.
It is unfortunate that when we are parents that we don’t think of how much our parents have to offer. Egos and family dynamics get in the way of making it possible for the kids/grandkids to benefit from many points of view.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
I hope you have a lovely day!
Goodfellas. Ray Liola, if I’m spelling his name correctly.
Wasn’t this an awesome weekend? I LOVED IT!!
thanks for stopping by..
i too am a little concerned about the economy.. the WORLD economy, really. possibly even more so now that i’m in the process of becoming a home owner. capitalism run riot is BAD i think..
i am a practioneer of voluntary simplicity by circumstance but Lionne you know the wheel is always turning bessings beck