No COLA for SS in 2011!

[VolAgent]

Methinks you have no concept of how the stock market works. BTW... It doesn't just affect retirees/seniors.

I'm very familiar with how the stock market works. What killed most seniors is that they didn't save. It had nothing to do with returns. Every time they changed jobs, they cashed out 401ks, and had no emergency fund.

It was posted awhile back that the average person has 20,000 in retirement savings. There are plenty here that wish they had that much. The stock market didn't do a darn thing to their 401k, it never existed.

 

[retread]

I'm very familiar with how the stock market works. What killed most seniors is that they didn't save. It had nothing to do with returns. Every time they changed jobs, they cashed out 401ks, and had no emergency fund.

It was posted awhile back that the average person has 20,000 in retirement savings. There are plenty here that wish they had that much. The stock market didn't do a darn thing to their 401k, it never existed.

Xrac posted a good link... I am repeating it here.
Boomers Find 401(k) Plans Come Up Short - WSJ.com

 

[VolAgent]

Xrac posted a good link... I am repeating it here.
Boomers Find 401(k) Plans Come Up Short - WSJ.com

Yes, I read it and commented on it. Again, the big flaw was people not contributing, and raiding it every time they switched jobs. Yes, bad years in the market did not help, I don't dispute that. But the biggest singlest problem was not putting enough in, and spending the old 401k whenever they changed jobs.

You know what the difference is between Congress and Social Security and an employee and a 401k? Social Security had more money to raid!

 

[Frank Stastny]

I have been both on the top and on the bottom.

I too have "been there, done that and have the T-shirt" but that doesn't mean that I expect or deserve to receive special consideration and no one has ever offered it to me.

I also empathize with them but I'm not willing to give of the money I have busted my ass to earn to make them more "comfortable". They had the option to pursue the same opportunities I had,.

Is that a "cold" approach to take, yep, but I'm not willing to have Jacqueline and me suffer because of it.

Does that make me a "bad guy" in some people's eyes, sure does, but I have never professed to "play well with others". I have worked damn hard for everything we have and I'm proud of it.

 

[retread]

I too have "been there, done that and have the T-shirt" but that doesn't mean that I expect or deserve to receive special consideration and no one has ever offered it to me.

I also empathize with them but I'm not willing to give of the money I have busted my ass to earn to make them more "comfortable". They had the option to pursue the same opportunities I had,.

Is that a "cold" approach to take, yep, but I'm not willing to have Jacqueline and me suffer because of it.

Does that make me a "bad guy" in some people's eyes, sure does, but I have never professed to "play well with others". I have worked damn hard for everything we have and I'm proud of it.

Frank, nothing was said about expecting special consideration for seniors.... the point I was trying to make is that if SS is going to give a COLA, it should be enough to offset actual inflationary costs... that is what is supposed to be the idea of COLA in the first place. Are you suggesting that COLA should be eliminated? In what way is COLA "special treatment"? Those still able to earn an income get pay raises from time to time... is that "special treatment"?

I, too, worked hard all my life. I grew up on a farm. I slopped hogs, fed cattle, gathered wood before school in the morning, and mended fences, bailed hay, and tended livestock after school.

After high school, spent 5 1/2 years in military service, at times being launched from an aircraft carrier at sea in a storm, at night.... then return for landing on a pitching deck. Some of my squadron mates did not come home.

I worked for an airline for the next 33. Most of my day's work required 16 or more hours on duty, especially when on international trips. I got up at 4:30 a.m. to catch a 6:30 flight from KC to STL, because the flights after 7:00 in the morning were always full. If I didn't make the 6:30 flight, I had to drive the 4 hours to STL. If I flew, I had the luxury of a short nap, had lunch, and began paperwork in preparation of my afternoon flight to Europe... Took off just before dusk and landed at dawn. All night over water, monitoring instruments, keeping position logs and reports, navigating around storms, and landing in the morning mist. Next was turning in paperwork, going through customs and immigration before getting on a cramped bus for a 2 hour ride to the Hotel, get some sleep and do the same thing in the opposite direction, this time chasing the sun.

Some of my fellow crewmembers never came home.

Sure, I made a good salary, but I earned it. In no way did I ask for a handout or expect one.

I also missed a lot of family time being gone for anywhere from 4 to 7 days at a stretch. I did enjoy my time off... when I didn't have to rebuild my home from a fire that burned it partially down, and other catastrophes, ad nauseum. Such is life. I found out homeowner's insurance doesn't cover everything... (this may come as a surprise to some). Try covering those expenses and a big family, too!

But that big check was also reduced by a lot of taxes. Those taxes were supposed to include money set aside for my SS retirement, but surely paid a lot of SS retirement income to those who retired before me. I paid in the max year after year, and I am not bashful about asking for a fair return. I also contributed a lot of my hard-earned money for the benefit of others... but that's what we do in our civilized society.

SS retirement came in handy because my airline went belly up and took most all of my private investments with it (ESOP, pension, etc. ... BTW the ESOP was salary deferred supposedly to help keep the company from BK) the first year into my retirement. Also at that time, the dot com bubble burst on Wall Street, some big company crooks got caught in scandals that further depressed the market, and on top of that, terrorists took down the twin towers. My 401 took a huge hit, as it did for many others. A lot on this board more than likely suffered, too, but most of them at a much younger age and had a longer recovery window. Not me... I was retired and on a "fixed income" (I know you like that term )... And the size of my 401 was substantial... consequently the losses were, too.

I said all this because one forum member thinks that seniors piddle away their 401s and should be more "responsible".

This is not a just a sob story... others have gone through it, too. I just want those who have been quick to throw stones at retirees to think twice before expressing their ignorance.

Thank God that in America I could start over. I continue to work hard... retirement is in my rear view mirror. I am not sure if I will stay healthy long enough to restore my savings before I can no longer work. Only God knows. But I did a little research about that: Nothing in the Bible describes retirement. Apparently God thinks there should be no such thing!

FWIW... I don't autograph, so forget asking.

 

[arnguy]

Spot on, retread! IMHO seniors should be given special consideration just for surviving.

 

[retread]

Spot on, retread! IMHO seniors should be given special consideration just for surviving.

Thanks, Arnguy... for a moment there I thought someone was going to complain that my book was longer than one of Rob Liano's.........

 

[torrid]

FYI the Social Security COLA has been 0% for 2010 and 2011... for two years in a row. Note that the 20 year average for the COLA is 2.57%. Back in 2009 they issued a very high 4%+ COLA due to high gas prices but then gas prices came down by the time it kicked in.

 

[atam gits]

Yeah and Hussein Obama froze federal worker's pay too.

 

[Sales71]

Well 0 increase is better than negative decrease.