Eviction

[Flaco]

there is no confidence in our economy
each quarter I watch my retirment investments drop
last month I invested $5200 and lost $8000 in only one account!
I should have bought another bike with the money

You hit the nail right on the head!
Same here! I'm 55 yo and was looking at another '05 Bonnie in Albuquerque and a '83 R80...
I used to work 50-58 hrs a week and had a wad big enough to choke a horse, now the last two years 40 hr week w/ NO overtime!
Been losing my arse, I was planning on retiring at 59...
Now it looks like 62-65...
I want so bad to enjoy a healthy retirement and ride!
Oh, well!
Pay check to pay check...

 

[T-boy]

You hit the nail right on the head!
Same here! I'm 55 yo and was looking at another '05 Bonnie in Albuquerque and a '83 R80...
I used to work 50-58 hrs a week and had a wad big enough to choke a horse, now the last two years 40 hr week w/ NO overtime!
Been losing my arse, I was planning on retiring at 59...
Now it looks like 62-65...
I want so bad to enjoy a healthy retirement and ride!
Oh, well!
Pay check to pay check...

I'm right there with ya, bud. I worked for a company for 32 years and made very good money. Was let go when the company merged with another. Who are they going to keep, the old guy that's making good money? No. Who's going to hire the old guy that made good money? Not anyone that'll pay you what you're worth...and no one can tell me there's no such thing as age discrimination (but that's another story). After being off for almost a year and one-half, I finally landed a job for half of what I used to make. Like you, Flaco, through no fault of my own, I'm now scraping to get by...living from paycheck to paycheck. Funny...but the bigwigs that orchestrated the merger all retired with big bank accounts.

Better stop now...my blood is beginning to boil, again.

 

[geolpilot]

If you made very good money for a long time, why didn't you invest a bunch of it, so you would not be so dependent on the decisions of other people, namely employers.

 

[T-boy]

If you made very good money for a long time, why didn't you invest a bunch of it, so you would not be so dependent on the decisions of other people, namely employers.

I did invest some, but certainly not enough to retire and still lead the good life. Still hoping for 62, though. I also like men's toys and the latest greatest electronic stuff. A little bit of immaturity on my part, but I enjoyed being able to buy stuff and do what I wanted to when I wanted to.

 

[otherwise]

I did invest some, but certainly not enough to retire and still lead the good life. Still hoping for 62, though. I also like men's toys and the latest greatest electronic stuff. A little bit of immaturity on my part, but I enjoyed being able to buy stuff and do what I wanted to when I wanted to.

We are getting a bit off topic now but I retired over 3 years ago and not complaining about my situation, (actually I kept one step in front of the downturn and used it to my advantage) but when my wife suggests purchases that involve big money I just say that I have no intention of working ever again and go and get a job if you want it so much :lol2: You know, she did just that, good on her, out investments aren't shrinking and she still gets the things that she works for.

 

[normandy]

I wouldn't buy gold either cause I heard they have sold more than they have. Apparently if everyone who bought gold tried to turn their paper to gold they couldn't fill half of it. There was a guy awhile back who tried to leak the news of this potentially economic disaster and him and his wife were almost killed in an "accident" going for dinner.

 

[geolpilot]

If you consider the taxes that you have to pay on income, then double the price of something that you want to buy that isn't really needed. See if you still want it. Wait a week or two and see if you still want it. Don't ever go shopping. Only go into a store to buy something specific that you need before you go in the store. Buy it and get out.

 

[whyme]

I remember when society was personally accountable for their own well being and economic decisions. Now people make stupid decisions and blame other people. Make interest, don't pay it. Drive an old car, stop buying crap you don't need, don't over extend yourself....pay in cash!! Stop with all the motorcycles...oh wait...that's me!!

I'm in my 40's with no mortgage. I could be driving a ferrari to my yacht every weekend using my house for collateral but I'm not that dumb with my money. I have a goal of being totally debt free in 5 years. Now my wife...that's another spending story!!

 

[loxpump]

I wouldn't buy gold either cause I heard they have sold more than they have. Apparently if everyone who bought gold tried to turn their paper to gold they couldn't fill half of it. There was a guy awhile back who tried to leak the news of this potentially economic disaster and him and his wife were almost killed in an "accident" going for dinner.

Why would you ever buy paper gold when you can buy the real stuff and have it in your hand?

 

[rodburner]

Cuz it's easier to chew when it's all you have to eat.

 

[Littlejoe]

Granted, I don't overspend, I'm not a typical "consumer" and I live well with in my means. However, I don't work 40+ hours a week to just get by. What happened to the standard of living if all were going to do is slave away our whole lives to hopefully have enough when we get older? I work to enjoy my life while I'm young enough and able enough to enjoy doing what I like to do. Who is any one to say "you should have invested all that money instead of spending it on X?" That's ridiculous and its sad that we're going blame the guy next door for a system that allowed him to overspend. Granted, that was his personal decision, however, he has to pay the piper while the crooks that lended him the money for big commission walk away. This type of behavior is unsustainable. It works for the few for short period of time to get rich, and kills the long term wealth and well being on the whole.

 

[Oxblood]

its sad that we're going blame the guy next door for a system that allowed him to overspend. Granted, that was his personal decision, however, he has to pay the piper while the crooks that lended him the money for big commission walk away.

Good plan, blame others when you don't make good decisions. Thats like saying sorry officer I know I made the decision to ride a wheelie down main street at 100mph but I really don't think you should ticket me! You should ticket the maker of my bike for making money off of me by selling me a bike capable of popping wheelies at 100mph!

 

[strokerlmt]

whyme........I have to agree with one point. We have become a society of "no one wanting to take responsibility for anything anymore". My father and mother taught me that I was accountable for every breath I took in life. I'm not perfect and when I fuck up I try to "stand up" immediately and take ownership and at least try to make it "good". We have one credit card and it is paid off early. Other than my Bonneville it is all my wife and daughters and I feel great about that. I would like to check out personally dead broke with everything in their names. I loved that one TV commercial where the escalator stops and the three people start yelling for help.
Nuff said
LMT

 

[Gretsch]

Good plan, blame others when you don't make good decisions. Thats like saying sorry officer I know I made the decision to ride a wheelie down main street at 100mph but I really don't think you should ticket me! You should ticket the maker of my bike for making money off of me by selling me a bike capable of popping wheelies at 100mph!

This.

As for slaving your life away I don't see that as much as I see people working hard to attain their own goals. Driven to attain goods, status, or better their carriers. A fare exchange of labor or goods for money isn't slavery.

"I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."
-Ayn Rand

 

[KingBear]

Three things:

1. To those who lost their jobs, I'm right there with them. I was out of work six months starting last November, and it wasn't the first time in my life I've found myself without a job. But remember, many people who blame Wall Street and banks for the loss of their jobs never would have had their jobs to begin with if it hadn't been for those same entities. If you were in construction, you personally benefited from all those dangerous building loans. So let's try to keep a little perspective.
2. Regarding consumption, our economy is not measured by how much we save or invest, but on how much we spend. The government hates it when we save money, so they encourage us to spend, spend, spend. Think of the "cash for clunkers" program, all designed to persuade us to buy new cars (not to clean up the air, which is an incidental benefit). They encourage lenders to make money available for spending, then punish them for making too much available to too many people, resulting in extraordinarily high interest rates. Again, plenty of blame to go around.
3. Relax. Things will get better.

 

[grumpy_1944]

When I was 20 Y O, one job was enough for me and my family to live on and enjoy a few extras once in a while. When I reached 45 Y O, it took both me and the wife working to live on and enjoy an extra once in a while. When I reached 60 Y O, it took at least three jobs for a family to live on and enjoy an extra once in a great while. Now, it takes everything the Gov will let you keep after taxes just to keep a roof overhead and bread on the table.

Many don't even have a job now a days and stand on street corners hoping the generousity of others will keep them together.

Why? Because of gov overtaxing and spending. Want to see the economy explode, then get the gov tax burden lifted off our backs. Consumers would purchase more and Corps would invest in more manufacturing equipment to keep up with demand. I venture to say that corp execs wouldn't expect so much if the gov would let them keep more of their earnings also. GOMSBN

 

[Oxblood]

When I was 20 Y O, one job was enough for me and my family to live on and enjoy a few extras once in a while. When I reached 45 Y O, it took both me and the wife working to live on and enjoy an extra once in a while. When I reached 60 Y O, it took at least three jobs for a family to live on and enjoy an extra once in a great while. Now, it takes everything the Gov will let you keep after taxes just to keep a roof overhead and bread on the table.

I still think it comes down to the decisions we make. You have to look at where you live too, I choose not to live in expensive areas. One job here in NC supported my wife and I very well. Since we moved here my income enabled us to buy 3 motorcycles (Two new one used), a new car, a house, a boatload of electronics, everything we both needed in our respective expensive hobbies of ceramics & photography and sent my wife to college for her masters. I could have never done it in California , http://www.costoflivingbystate.org/ has this to say about the cost of living out there: Ranking almost dead last at 49th,living in California is not exactly a cost effective venture. Now I love California and think its an awesome place to visit but would never live there due to the costs. Even moving one state over to Nevada dramatically increases what a person can live on.

 

[KingBear]

I'm way behind the times. I am just now reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand for the first time. For years I've noticed it on the shelves but passed by it without too much thought. From what I understand this 50+ year old book is having quite a resurgence in popularity, mostly because people are seeing just how insightful it was/is. It is considered by many to be one of the most important novels of the 20th century.

Anyway, it's a big book and I'm not going to rush through it. It'll take me months to do it justice. Any thoughts from anyone who has read it?

 

[Oxblood]

I'm way behind the times. I am just now reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand for the first time. For years I've noticed it on the shelves but passed by it without too much thought. From what I understand this 50+ year old book is having quite a resurgence in popularity, mostly because people are seeing just how insightful it was/is. It is considered by many to be one of the most important novels of the 20th century.

Anyway, it's a big book and I'm not going to rush through it. It'll take me months to do it justice. Any thoughts from anyone who has read it?

I haven't read it in years, I like the Fountainhead more, but it has definitely helped shaped the way I lived my life. I don't agree with with everything Rand says but she has some good points. My buddy and I discuss objectivism quite a bit as he is more hardline Rand with the accumilation of personal wealth working countless hours a week to build his business where I believe in doing what I want to do and living comfortably with time to enjoy it is a better life path.

 

[Kirkus51]

As an aside. All the stuff that was put out on the street has been picked up and hauled away. It was interesting to see all the cars drive by and pick through the stuff left out the last few days. A couple of gals toted away a porch swing. All the bike frames etc. were gone right off. I'd say about a third of the stuff was picked by the time the guys came by to haul the rest away. Now there's just a vacant repo house for sale in a neighborhood that's covenant controlled.