So this trucking company goes out of business.....

[fdcg27]

Exactly!
Those who enjoy a measure of earned financial security thought for themselves, and opted out of the herd.
Gary, you are also right in citing the role of unearned good fortune.
What if I were not a decently paid "overseer", with the right temperement and skills to enjoy the job?
What if my wife had never had a well compensated job?
What if I did not enjoy good health?
While we have always lived well below our means (check my sig for what we drive, for example), a round of bad fortune, well beyond our control, could have left us in a far less favored position.
I think we have been wise in our choices and our expenditures over the years.
We are now pretty bullet-proof.
However, had things not gone well due to factors beyond our control, we would not find ourselves in our current position.
As some would say, we are blessed, while we all know people who seem to be cursed.
We also all know people who could pee away any sum, and have nothing to show for it.
I guess you have to be both smart and lucky.
These drivers may have been smart, for example, but they are now unlucky in a way that is beyond their control.

 

[Johnny]

Well put, now I will give you an example of exactly what you said.

Both my wife and I worked, her teacher, me Pennzoil. Together we were in the upper 6 figure income bracket. Lived well, had nice things, had plenty of debt, could afford it.

BOOM!!

I'm forced in to early retirement, medical problems arise, medical problems also arise for my wife in a big way. She is forced to take early retirement due to health problems. She is forced to take a reduced pension as am I. I sign up for early social security at a reduced rate. Per a personal friend and financial advisor I move my 401K to reinvest it so it can pay money every month so the life style does not have to change much.

BOOM!! BOOM!!

Friend and financial advisor made the wrong turn for me and many others and the entire life savings is lost in the Bernie Madoff scandal.

Now all we have is reduced social security and reduced pensions and the same darn bills we had before it all started going south. Got the credit union and the mortgage company to make some adjustments but all of the credit card companies and small charge accounts did not care about our situation. So, about one year ago we shredded all of the credit cards, I personally called each one of the to tell them what had happened, and their basic reply was, tough, to bad, give us our money or else. I told them it was tough and goodbye. Everything has been quite for the past 12 months until Christmas Eve when I got a notice from the courts that one of the creditors was suing us. So, Monday I will be meeting with our attorney to file bankruptcy so all of those so called creditors will leave us alone.

Not the way I planned it, but that's the way it is. Oh, before anyone ask, there are no jobs available over here. I have over 100 applications in at different places and my wife cannot work.

But life is good.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Sorry to hear that Johnny but my point that Gary STATED is ANYONE is xx of days away from Bankruptcy is just false.

Talk about being 100% blind.

I will not acknowledge Gary anymore as its obvious he has a problem with me and so now I will have with him.

Bottom line is way too many Americans have lived way too high on the hog. This mindset of "it's only $$ more" or "it's $$ per month" and having to have the big homes is coming back to haunt them if they lived this way.

Your situation is not one of those but of a serious health issue (which will not be solved by what the idiots are shoving down our throats)

Again Johnny I'm sorry to hear of your situation. But I think you'll agree that EVERYONE is not in the same boat.

Take care, Bill

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
The problem is that Americans feel that they work hard for their money. OK , fair enough. So they feel it is OK to buy stuff that is out of their budget and not really necessary cause with a 'payment plan' it is affordable over a few years.


It even works on the other end of it. My wife had some goal to achieve that cost money from time to time. She would start working like crazy. The money would appear and start to finance the intended goal. After a decent bout of success at this, the toll came due on ..not fatigue in a physical sense, but a mental one. Next it was "I'm don't feel like cooking" (I was cooking when she was working and have no problem doing it anytime

) and now we have new "riders" attached to the original goal in terms of $$$ required to keep the train moving.

Eventually, during this protracted goal seeking, the money income and outgo was like a locomotive at full speed with you shoveling cash into the fire box to keep up with demands. She would than collapse with only 75% of the goal achieved and residuals in "legacy costs". The train was already at full speed. It doesn't stop on a dime when you stop shoveling money into the fire box.

So, you spin your squirrel cage at double speed ..still go nowhere ..and lose a little in the process. Now just replace credit as the mainstay for such goals instead of the fall back.

If you're a typical consumer, supply side economics doesn't do squat for you. It sure never equated to much in my household. That's why I always approached stuff from a "managed demand" view. It took a while for the wife to understand the folly of spinning up the squirrel cage to go nowhere. Without a finish line, there's no end to it. You can't ever reach the finish line if you keep moving it back.

I just tried to keep moving closer to it ..or at least keep it in sight.

 

[fdcg27]

This works well if you define the finish line early in your life, and if you don't allow yourself to be distracted by false goals.
Financial security is a real goal, that most of us can achieve if we reach for it.
The new toy of the week is a false goal, and pursuing it will ensure that we never achieve financial security.
Barring the kind of bad fortune Johnny has had, most of us can gain considerable financial security.
Money not spent today can be made to grow, and any money you don't spend today you can always spend tomorrow. It isn't as though it will spoil like milk.
This is not a hard country in which to earn a decent living, and the cost of living is quite low here by developed world standards.

 

[Mr Nice]

I too know how if feels to spin my squirrel cage at double speeds working 60 hours every week but back then I was single, no kids and I didn't mind living out of a suitcase and hotel.

Johnny,
are you looking for part time or full time work ?

 

[Gary Allan]

Originally Posted By: Bill in Utah
Gary STATED is ANYONE is xx of days away from Bankruptcy is just false.

Talk about being 100% blind.

I will not acknowledge Gary anymore as its obvious he has a problem with me and so now I will have with him.




Bill ..gosh almighty. I have NO PROBLEM with you. Are you of the opinion that your world view is the ULTIMATE one? That you are all knowing and all seeing? That you've not only prevailed under your own challenges, but can offer the BEST advice to ALL PEOPLE in ALL CIRCUMSTANCES? That your path would assure everyone of being YOUR contemporary?

Why you take offense to things that aren't offensive (at least intended to be) is beyond me.

Do you consider yourself "common"... dirt low average COMMON? I don't think you do. If you take an HONEST evaluation of your life ..the random and planned events that got you EXACTLY where you are, are EXCEPTIONAL. Not common at all.

That automatically conditions your world view a GREAT DEAL.

It's that simple. You can flay and wail as though I'm attacking you ..but it's patently false and only in your imagination. I'm sure you're a great guy ..do great work ..and manage the "compound" like a sound elder (that part was a joke).

 

[Johnny]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
I too know how if feels to spin my squirrel cage at double speeds working 60 hours every week but back then I was single, no kids and I didn't mind living out of a suitcase and hotel.

Johnny,
are you looking for part time or full time work ?


Either.