Over 21% of homeowners in SD County have paid off houses

[earlyretirement]

BG,

I’d LOVE LOVE LOVE a pension like that. It sounds like you’re one of the lucky ones.

[bearishgurl]

It’s just not all as “gloom and doom” as some of you are saying here. If I even had 1/10th of the “financial savvy” that some of you here display, I would be much better off in my retirement years.

You need to keep in mind that most boomers and beyond didn’t have nearly the expense of raising a family as Gen X and Y do/did.

It didn’t cost them as much because they didn’t raise their kids in the same or similar “style” that younger-generation parents have become “accustomed to.”

Part of the reason for this is that the choices just weren’t there for most young boomer-parents. Vast choices in baby/child accessories, housing, cable/internet, private schools, pre-k/kinder/ Montessori, *new* public schools (with accompanying MR tax), cell phones, laptops, tablets, etc, etc.

Another reason is I think more boomer women stayed in the workforce for decades at 1-2 jobs. They weren’t allowed (before 1993) to take off more than ten weeks (usually just six weeks) for maternity leave or they would lose their jobs. New dads weren’t allowed to take off for maternity leave. Boomer women worked because they had to (because fewer of their spouses were college graduates and thus, “professionals”).

I see FAR MORE Gen X/Y SAHM’s in their 20’s thru 40’s than I EVER saw of us boomers. It seems most of the younger posters on this forum state they have a one-income family, even if the SAH parent has a college degree or an advanced degree. And the job market has been poor in recent years.

Besides many boomers having access to defined benefit pensions, combine that with the vast majority of boomer parents in dual-income households who worked longer in years, worked more hours (got more overtime) and worked steadier and more consistently than generations following (this is NOT gender-specific). Most lived within their means their entire lives (save medical emergencies, etc).

IMHO, even after the effects of the stock market crash of 2000 and 2008 on boomers’ retirement funds. the above are just a few reasons why we are/will be able to retire on much less than younger generations think they will need.

[UCGal]

AN – I understand where you are coming from, now. Thanks for sharing.

I am hoping to match what my parents gave me (debt free public education, small, not life changing, inheritance.). Given the change in the economy – it’s harder I’ve been saving for the college funds since the kids were born… and do not count it in my net worth. (Heck, I don’t count my primary home’s equity since I don’t plan to move,sell, or borrow against…. ever. So in my mind it’s kind of like a car… an expense that provides shelter.)

[Coronita]

[quote=bearishgurl]I am surrounded by boomers and beyond who are living simple lives and are seemingly not in danger of going under, EVER. The vast majority own paid-off residences. Many own 15-30 year-old vehicles but have longtime friends and/or family members who own service garages. They have military and ALL KINDS of other public and private pensions and thus have money to travel to see grandkids and for pleasure (within the US).

Re: MY pension is not in danger of being cut because I do not have an “enhanced” pension (which was offered to existing employees after my tenure). The formulas are such in the enhanced program as to give these employees 2-3 times my monthly pension for the same highest-year salary and same years of service as I have. Much more is/was withdrawn out of these employees’ paychecks for their pension contribution than was mine but their monthly pension amounts are/will be MUCH greater, out of proportion to their contributions.

This was a grave mistake which was made by your elected officials at the time.

The pensioners in these later tiers will be the ones to suffer cuts, if any have to be made and/or their healthcare allowances (currently added to monthly pension checks, but NOT guaranteed) will be revoked …. The earlier tiers with much lower-paid pensioners will NOT be affected, nor will their healthcare allowances.

There are much fewer pensioners in my retirement tier who even use the health plans offered by the retirement assn as their primary carrier as most are eligible for Medicare. Many use the (much cheaper) plans offered by the Assn for Medicare Parts B and D.[/quote]

BG, I don’t understand your pension details well enough. But just to say this…It wasn’t clear to me what employee contributions mattered or not. My understanding of what the issue is is that an employer is suppose to put pension contributions (whether it is from the employee’s contribution or the employer’s contribution) into a pension fund and set it aside. The problem is that a lot of times that didn’t/doesn’t happen…The company/government raided the fund and spent it, thinking it would contribute what was supposedly owed to the pension fund later…..That is what the pension shortfall is about…Money that was suppose to go to the employee (regardless of the source of where it came from) but otherwise diverted and/or borrowed against. Now that there is a budget problem, there’s an IOU to the pension fund, and unresolved that hole is going to affect everyone who is expecting a payment.

[cvmom]

[quote=earlyretirement]BG,

I’d LOVE LOVE LOVE a pension like that. It sounds like you’re one of the lucky ones.[/quote]

+1

[bearishgurl]

[quote=cvmom][quote=earlyretirement]BG,

I’d LOVE LOVE LOVE a pension like that. It sounds like you’re one of the lucky ones.[/quote]

+1[/quote]

cvmom, you would have had to have been me (in the era I earned it) in order to be eligible for it.

I had to return to work after maternity leaves within ten weeks of initially starting it (and this is only because I had leave saved to pay for the additional four weeks over the six wks that SDI covered at 62%). Many didn’t.

Working conditions:

Until 1990, walk several blocks to/from car thru a solid two blocks of tatoo parlors, liquor stores, bars and a “peep show” among numerous homeless persons and Hell’s Angels, etc, etc. Got off work at 5:00 pm and the last quarter of the year it got dark at ~4:30 pm.

Why? Those were the closest and only commercial pay pkg lots available. We rec’d $50 month on our checks to pay for them and they cost $85 to $130 mo.

Until 1990, wore skirts, dresses, dress shoes and hose nearly every day.

Why? A strict dress code was required for women in my classification. (we changed into sneakers to walk to/from our cars).

Be docked in increments of 1/10 of an hour (6 min) if arrived late in the morning or late from lunch reporting to supervisor. (It was up to discretion of supervisor whether they would accept annual leave min/hrs in lieu of docking, but if they did, an employees leave could be siphoned off such that they would never have enough hours to get a vacation.)

PC at one’s desk? What’s that?? Only after 1990 (amber/blk screens until 2000). Internet access? After 1999, had access to “intranet” only, which was proprietary and limited to gov biz departmental websites only.

After 2000, we rec’d limited internet with a far-reaching filter locking most sites. Each PC came with a keylogger installed in its hard drives, with another installed keylogger on the dept’s network.

After 2000, there were at least two persons employed at each dept who had no other duties but to keep track of employees’ keystrokes and what they were doing on the intranet/internet.

Employees were sent home for a hem down, torn clothing, too-tight clothing, appearing too sick (they had run out of sick leave), barefoot sandals, clothing with writing on it, poor hygiene, failure to wear hose/socks, etc.

You better give the impression of liking and respecting your supervisor or your life could be made hell really fast . . .

Employees were routinely written up for “disrespect” and “insubordination.”

Until 1990, no cubicles. Desks were out in the open or pushed into another employee’s desk. Must check in with supervisor to take break/lunch.

Routinely handled 20-50 lb boxes and files lifting many of them off high shelves (with ladders) and moving in/out of baskets. When some older files were pulled off top shelves, this disturbed ceiling tiles containing asbestos, which caused white dust to fall on you.

Got bleary eyed routinely going thru years and years of microfilm to find and print old documents needed by tomorrow.

After 1990, had cubicle with cardboard clock on the outside with signs “break” and “lunch.” The employee put up a “break” or “lunch” sign and moved the hands of the clock indicating when they would be back. And they better not be overstaying their breaks/lunch as someone else was waiting to go when they came back.

Sat at long tables seating 12 eating brown-bag lunches for at least a decade. Frig provided. Snacks came from machine two floors down. Coffee was provided but was regular coffee with sugar/powdered creamer (no latte, Starbucks, etc).

B/W TV was available in lunchroom to watch soaps. It only got three channels.

I could go on but you get the drift.

I have to laugh at the Piggs’ (primarly Gen Y on this forum who have worked less than a decade and already want to “retire,” lol) opinions on why I don’t deserve my small pension. These “workers” are obviously either “working from home” or sitting in the office with their feet up on the desk in private offices with jeans, a t-shirt and flip flops on with a laptop/tablet on their lap, music playing in headphones and Piggington on their taskbar. 🙂 They no doubt have access to free parking, company coffee carts, company gyms, company jogging trails and wide-screens in their company cafeteria serving healthy food, etc. These workers really have no idea what most boomers did all day to earn their pay. Not a clue.

I would compare my “career” (which earned me a small pension) to serving in the military (except for no deployments and 8-5 pm only) :=0

Basically, it was all about proper “face time” and getting ALL your work done before 5:00 pm.

Oh, and cvmom, my kids were in FT daycare since infancy. They were picked up every day between 5:35 and 6:00 pm.

[all]

BG, you said nothing about the actual work you performed. Are you being compensated for working with psychotic bosses in poorly managed organization?

[an]

BG, do you have to clean up $hit? Do you have to deal with people with AIDS, TB, TDAP, etc? Do yo have your customer throw stuff at you, call you name, hit on you, etc? Do you have to lift 300lb+ people? Do you have to help those 300lb+ to the bathroom and wipe their butt? I can go on, but that’s what nurses have to deal with today. Not to mention that they have clock in and out just like you. But they also get written up if they work too late or take lunch too late or come in late, etc.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=AN]BG, do you have to clean up $hit? Do you have to deal with people with AIDS, TB, TDAP, etc? Do yo have your customer throw stuff at you, call you name, hit on you, etc? Do you have to lift 300lb+ people? Do you have to help those 300lb+ to the bathroom and wipe their butt? I can go on, but that’s what nurses have to deal with today. Not to mention that they have clock in and out just like you. But they also get written up if they work too late or take lunch too late or come in late, etc.[/quote]

Yes, AN. I am WELL AWARE of what nurses do. HOWEVER, the FT ones got paid and get paid more than twice as much as I did/do.

People who major in nursing want to do this kind of work, no?

From your prior posts, I understand your spouse is a nurse and that she only worked one day a week (or something like that). A part, part-time nurse gig can’t possibly be as stressful as having to show up at a hospital 4-5 days per week on time for an 8-12 hr shift on your feet.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=craptcha]BG, you said nothing about the actual work you performed. Are you being compensated for working with psychotic bosses in poorly managed organization?[/quote]

This is how the court and justice system worked at that time. The clerks for the court and for both the “People” and the “Defendants” worked one day ahead of the court schedule. Everything had to be proved to the judge – on paper and on time.

Those papers had to be found and produced, no matter WHERE they were located.

Without working “in the system” for 2-3 years and having excellent training, one would have no idea how to find them, let alone be able to properly “produce them.”

The “computers” we had were CRTs on a crude Burroughs mainframe which did not give us all the info we needed but was a start.

In one of the duties we had, we were on your own to produce up to 400 files per day (avg 365) beginning at 8:00 am (with pt-time, intermittent help). If you couldn’t finish the job by 3:30, you had to tell your entire floor thru a megaphone which ones were missing and enlist aid from anyone available to give it.

If you sat in a felony courtroom in a large CA county and watched the proceedings for a few hours, it all looks perfunctory and smooth.

You have NO IDEA how much work from how many people goes into that ONE calendar.

Not really psychotic … or “poorly managed.” We just did the very best we could with what we had to work with. I think we did a “bang up” job!

The difference between craptcha (a Gen Y?) and a boomer is that the Gen Y thinks a supervisor is “psychotic” when they want face time and want to know what their subordinates are constantly doing. Perhaps this isn’t so important when this stuff can now be done in a cubicle with intranet and and pdf files. But it was VERY important when humans had to physically and properly produce everything and hand-carry it into a courtroom.

[an]

[quote=bearishgurl]Yes, AN. I am WELL AWARE of what nurses do. HOWEVER, the FT ones got paid and get paid more than twice as much as I did/do.

People who major in nursing want to do this kind of work, no?

From your prior posts, I understand your spouse is a nurse and that she only worked one day a week (or something like that). A part, part-time nurse gig can’t possibly be as stressful as having to show up at a hospital 4-5 days per week on time for an 8-12 hr shift on your feet.[/quote]So, because you want to be a RN, somehow, all of that $hit is OK? So, are you saying you don’t want to do your kind of work?

It has nothing to do with me or my wife. I’m talking about general here. Your diatribe some like whining about things that’s hardly difficult when compare to other professions. I bet 1 day as a nurse is harder on your body than a week at your job. I have much respect for all nurses out there and the kind of $hit they have to deal with, literally.

[zzz]

Here’s an interesting read on being single and the cost: http://t.co/2XyYcpFQ

I’m a GenX/Y cusp as Im 36. Some observations for people in my age group who live in high cost cities – IE SF, NY, LA, SD.

I know many couples who met in college and have lived together ever since or have had serial relationships of cohabitation. Both are professionals and lived in high rent cities. For them, they saved over 300k over 10 years simply by living together in the form of rent, utilities, internet/cable, etc.

Then there are those savings on health insurance, car insurance ( combining onto 1 household policy), groceries, etc

For those of us who waited till our 30s to shack up…well that is a lot of money that could have been invested, used to purchase a home, etc. that 300k savings ended up being a lot more after it was invested and gains were captured. Those friends who co-habited were able to start buying homes sooner. They were able to take advantage of rise in the housing in the early 2000s ( their early 20s), and take the gains to roll them into the next house. They are now on their 2nd or 3rd homes, or also own investment rentals ( they bought condos that they held onto that are now rentals) Many of them have 15 year mortgages because they borrowed very little by the time they took gains from 1-2 home sales and rolled into next purchase. Most 30 something single friends in these expensive housing markets either still rent ( haven’t been able to afford to buy or chose not to with the runup), or have bought crappy small condos that they really hate living in (crappy HOAs, no yard, etc) but are now stuck with them and can’t afford to buy a home in the neighborhoods they want to live in.

I agree with FLU and the frustration about the learned helplessness. I’m really tired by how many people are so damn entitled but don’t want to work for it or spend the time to figure it out for themselves yet want to complain when things don’t work out.

However, having had several friends pass away in recent years, in their 30s and 40s, or their lives altered by horrible accidents, I also take the live life while you’re young approach so do the things you in enjoy, in moderation. Because you 50 or 60s may never arrive. Or when they do, you’re not in the physical condition to enjoy what you thought you’d be enjoying. For us, we love to travel, golf, and enjoy wine. But we also still save between 30-40% of net income in cash, outside of maxing out our retirement accounts.

We also have no kids and don’t really desire to have them. That makes a huge difference in our disposable income.

And I’m with FLU on how scary it is when medical issues arise. I’ve personally spent thousands of dollars even though I had great insurance to deal with chronic problems from a car accident. I’ve had to help my parents out financially, cancer can really wipe your savings out. I’ve spent much of my adult life being a constant worrier/planner/saver, but then I realized that I don’t want to live my life always preparing for the worst. Because thats made me very risk adverse but also tied me down to things I became slave to, like a high paying job I hated or ideals of what success looks like.

[zzz]

[quote=bearishgurl].
I have to laugh at the Piggs’ (primarly Gen Y on this forum who have worked less than a decade and already want to “retire,” lol) opinions on why I don’t deserve my small pension. These “workers” are obviously either “working from home” or sitting in the office with their feet up on the desk in private offices with jeans, a t-shirt and flip flops on with a laptop/tablet on their lap, music playing in headphones and Piggington on their taskbar. 🙂 They no doubt have access to free parking, company coffee carts, company gyms, company jogging trails and wide-screens in their company cafeteria serving healthy food, etc. These workers really have no idea what most boomers did all day to earn their pay. Not a clue.

I would compare my “career” (which earned me a small pension) to serving in the military (except for no deployments and 8-5 pm only) :=0

Basically, it was all about proper “face time” and getting ALL your work done before 5:00 pm.[/quote]

BG, I’m sorry, but your list of why you’re entitled to a pension is laughable. The work you did, the expectations at work, um this is life and no it hasn’t changed that much. There are people my age or younger who have to deal with far worse, work much longer hours, in shitty neighborhoods and with little to no perks to speak of. Hardly anyone I know outside of silicon valley or NYC has free gym, free lunch, free anything at work. And if they do, its because they work 15hrs days. No they don’t put in “face time” as you said, they are actually productive.

You really need to get in touch with what’s going on in the world. And stop being so entitled.

[Coronita]

Oh boy..The moment we start talking about what is fair compensation, it’s gonna go downhill from here…. 🙁

[zzz]

FLU, i agree, i actually dont thnk its my place or anyones to judge what “fair” compensation is, but i’m really tired of listening to entitlement defenses. people arent entitled to pensions. they aren’t entitled to anything. if you are lucky and have a pension, great, i’m happy for them, but don’t argue its because they are “entitled” or worked harder. there are no guarantees in life.

[Author]

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