So… This is Monday…

There are many people who, if they could, would start the week on the second day. Totally eliminating the first, Monday. As I sit here and look at all that needs to be accomplished in a short time, this train of thought becomes understandable. The week-end just finished; no matter it was kind of boring and not much was done other than writing a few entries for this blog. Still, there was some time off and I was able to lounge around a bit. Not so today; it is a cold reminder that the work week is hard upon us and, if this were not enough, it happens to be the first week of the month, and all bills are due… Gads!!!

And here I am writing… Actually, there are some 50 minutes before my next barrage of calls and follow ups, so this is a nice aside which allows me to think about something else… except I am not doing this.

Today, the country averted becoming just one more of “the guys”: a bankruptcy candidate. It is very terrifying to watch how a nation that a mere 50 years ago was considered to be the strongest nation in the world, is being brought down to its knees by mismanagement and politicking.  I am no presidential candidate or even have the wherewithal to play at being one. I am, like most who read this, a guy who goes through life hitting the target some times and others, entirely missing it. So much so that, at a moment in life that should be retirement time, I look forward to being able to work for several more years. And there are million others who find themselves in the same position. Some by their own mistakes (as I) and many others, sadly, because of the mistakes of others.

It has been a steady decline and the parameters of my work have actually served as indicators of this long decline.

Let’s look at a few of them:

• 30 years ago, a typical life insurance policy was $25-40,000 and this was considered to cover 3-5 years of an average base salary. For the same average today, we look at $120-150,000.
• The maximum Individual Retirement Account contribution was $1,500; today it is around $5,000
• Social Security contributions peaked at $45,000 earned income; today it peaks at almost three times this and the system is still on shaky grounds. In private, moderate investments, if I had put in an average of $3,000 a year for 35 years into a well managed long term account, I would have today somewhere around $500,000 or more. Where is all the money which has gone into the SS coffer?
• Early retirement planning was geared to ages 56-59. Today is geared to ages 62 – 65… and counting…
• An average weekly food basket for a family of 4 was about $90; today, try feeding four people for a week with less than $185. I have never understood where the government people get their official numbers.
• An average middle income salary in 1975 was $16,000 per year; today this is borderline poverty.
• An average mortgage would be around $65,000 with payments of $400-550 per month. Today, an average mortgage hovers around $150,000 and, depending on the interest, payments are from $950 to 1,400 per month.
• You could buy a new car for about $7,500. Today, this is the down payment for most any mid level car.
• Let’s not talk about gasoline and oil.
• A college education would set you back some $2,500 per year at a good school. Today, this could well be the cost of books and activities alone at the same schools.

The above are only some of the numbers that come across my desk and deal with what we use to develop the insurance needs coverage plan. There are many more indicators which are played with on a daily basis but, it has been many years since I have looked at them with any type of credulity. My real indicators are those which spell day to day living expenses, like those above.

This is not to play the part of the harbinger of bad news. But the reality is that we have allowed our –then-  strong economic structure to totally dissipate while boasting official “inflation rate measures” that should have seen, were they true, our worldly expenses go up by 50-75% over these years; definitely not by 300-400% . Fools us that have believed this all along. I strongly believe that only people who have successfully managed companies for a reasonable amount of time, should be managing the government’s day to day operations. Then have a secondary corps of trained, not simply favor appointed, specialists in international relations who should manage the international relations field. At least they would know how to pronounce the sometimes unpronounceable names of foreign dignitaries and of their cities of origin, and would be dedicated to study their cultures and those differences which are important to know in order to carry out any negotiations, with any degree of success. 

I also believe that Senate and House members should be limited to a maximum of 2 and 5 terms respectively. This will give them enough time to bring forward and promote decent ideas, but would allow fresh thinking minds to come on board once in a while.  Perhaps some of the totally irresponsible and self-serving laws which are passed by the “Senior” wing, can be put to their eternal rest. Also, only those who are reelected at least once would have rights to a pro-rated portion of the totally ridiculous retirement package that is now given to anyone who shows up in chambers for the first time. Full package only to whoever has earned the reelection(s) to serve the maximum time.

See… this is what happens on any given Monday, when we have to think about the work that needs to be done in order to pay our bills… and taxes. Now that I "fixed" the country's problems, i'll go and try to fix my own.

Nothing to it!!

Be Well!!   Be Back!!