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bearishgurl
Participant[quote=FlyerInHi]I agree with BG. Maybe the kids are lazy bums.
If one is well-to-do and has connections, and provided one’s kids with all the advantages; and one’s kids are still not able to make it, then that means the kids are “inferior”, not hard working enough, or one is enabling the kids. One just needs to look in the mirror and accept the facts.
BG, we don’t agree on all issues, but I admire your can-do attitude. Take the cards you’ve been dealt and do what needs to be done. You’re a strong woman, a real feminist, and self-sufficient. And it seems like you’ve imparted excellent values onto your kids.[/quote]
Well, thanks, FIH.
I’ve just seen this kid-with-every-advantage thing play out multiple times in multiple states and it’s not a pretty picture. In the worst cases, these kids had multiple kids out of wedlock while living at mom and/or dad’s “manse” from age 18-30ish and could never figure out a way to move out on their own. “Family money” really has nothing to do with it. Being “spoiled” by parents (and grandparents) to the point the kid feels utterly entitled to a certain lifestyle has everything to do with it. JMHO.
As to my “toolbelt diva” confidence, it is increasing every month as I learn more tasks to add to my “can-do” repertoire. As a lifetime “desk jockey,” I’ve been in the back room trying to solve everyone else’s problems for so long that I didn’t have a clue on how to do every-day things every homeowner needs to learn and depended on other people to do them for me. And I no longer wish to pay a “professional” an exorbitant amount to do these tasks. For example, in the last month I have learned how to: install a wifi thermostat, use grab-its to remove stripped screws and properly install self-closing cabinet hinges (trickier than they look). All seemingly small things but my list (and my confidence as well as my tool collection) is slowly growing, mainly thanks to you-tube. Next on my list is heavy carpet removal which I realize is more “grunt work” than anything. We’ll see how that goes. Heavy furniture moving will be the hardest and I’m going to have to get help for that. I’ve got people with pickups who can take me to the dump.
There are more than nine ways to skin a cat :>-)
Participant[quote=poorgradstudent][quote=bearishgurl]
I think part of the problem of the college-educated Gen Y set’s “failure to launch” is that they are “too picky” about what job/housing they will accept … straight out of the gate. This mindset keeps them from moving on with their lives into adulthood. In some cases, their parents may be part of the problem by enabling them to live rent-free in their homes into oblivion.[/quote]
Well, speaking specifically of San Diego county, I think it’s stupid to make your adult child pay $1000 a month to rent an okay room if you have a room in your home unused (and everyone gets along).
Most of the Gen Y’s I personally know that don’t live with their romantic partners live with roommates in kinda crummy apartments geared towards young people.[/quote]
No, $1000 is too high. $350 to $450 is more in order, depending on house and amenities (own bath, pool, and jacuzzi, etc which run up the cost of utilities with more people inviting guests over and using them). At the very least, they should reimburse their parents for the extra utilties their presence causes (this could be substantial, depending). Also, they should be required to remain employed. If they have a job they don’t like, they should find another before quitting. They also shouldn’t be allowed to come in at all hours into the main home, disturbing other family member(s) who are sleeping and also do their fair share of chores, including taking trash out and cans in and mowing the lawn and weeding (if the parent(s) don’t have gardeners).
IMO, there also needs to be something in writing as to the “rental” provisions and when this will all end (student loan paid off, car paid off, etc).
It was totally unheard of in my day to buy a new or newer car and expect to move back in with parents to pay for it. I’ve seen a lot of this in recent years, especially among CC students (full and PT) who attempt to take 8-10 years to finish CC, while living with parents and driving better vehicles than their parents are.
Participant[quote=flyer]Beyond the hype, I also think there is some just cause for concern among many when they see things like their kids not being able to get the jobs they want, or buy homes, and wondering if their retirement funds will last for the duration, etc., etc.
Guess we’ll all just have to wait and see how all of this plays out.[/quote]
Although I only had two years of college out of HS, I didn’t get the “job of my dreams” right away after college. It took me a few years to land my first FT job with benefits.
Fortunately, the PT jobs I had DID have benefits and I was able to live off my wages from them. I did buy my first home fairly young but it wasn’t located in an area of SD that I (or anyone else here) would likely consider even remotely desirable to live in today.
I think part of the problem of the college-educated Gen Y set’s “failure to launch” is that they are “too picky” about what job/housing they will accept … straight out of the gate. This mindset keeps them from moving on with their lives into adulthood. In some cases, their parents may be part of the problem by enabling them to live rent-free in their homes into oblivion.
Participant[quote=spdrun]Agreed. Toss the ACA into the sewer. Replace with a base level of public insurance. Done.[/quote]
Between October and December 2015, three out of eight of my “renowned” longtime SD providers have elected to “retire” and close up shop. Two of them cited in letters that their decisions were not based upon their age but the fact that they were unable to keep their offices open due to the low reimbursements from Covered CA plans as well as Medi-Cal (from the one provider who accepted it).
I guess I’ll be out on the hunt sometime this year to replace two of them. They’ve all offered referrals to their patients.
It’s going to get ugly out there, folks. Put yourself in a medical provider’s place (who has fairly high overhead and often has to pay their own malpractice ins premiums). Especially one with 40+ years of experience who has made a name for themselves.
Participant[quote=flyer]The point of my post was just to share information (one item for which I don’t have the source, as it was passed on to me) and to explore the possibilities of why so many in this country are unhappy about the “State of the Union.”
Things definitely seem to point to economic dissatisfaction for a large percentage of Americans, so it’s definitely a possibility.
I realize most of us Piggs are not dealing with these issues for many different reasons, but when a huge number of the populace are, and will be going forward, it’s definitely a concern for our society as a whole.[/quote]
Understand, flyer. I think the right-wing-oriented MSM plays a big part in inciting “rage” in Joe and Jane 6p over the status quo. I think its hard for a lot of people to think for themselves over all that noise … especially those who have never been taught to think critically. In my experience, the people who fall for this crap are the ones who have little or no education beyond HS and also those who are prone to blindly following the teachings of religious “cults.” Yes, they may have a fairly good job (or may have retired from one) but their main source of “entertainment” outside work and chores is TV (especially those who live in areas where winters are long).
I haven’t watched more than 4 hours of TV per month over 20 years. When my last kid left, I downgraded to “Economy Service” (for $38.50 mo) but this last week, I turned in my box to the cable company for good. I’m so over it and I didn’t nearly get my money’s worth all those years.
Participant[quote=FlyerInHi][quote=bearishgurl]FIH, if you are referring to my “flyover-country” brethren, no,
[/quote]Things are hunky dory then.
[quote=bearishgurl]
the only anger I have witnessed was from a cousin and her spouse (who are small biz owners) who signed up for BCBS PPOs on the healthcare.gov exchange. After getting their ID cards in the mail, they discovered the nearest in-network primary care provider to them was 34 miles away and the nearest specialist of any kind was 81 miles away.They complained vociferously about lack of providers participating in the exchange.
And they live about 22 miles from a large city![/quote]
And what kind of health care did the cousin have before? Was the anger justified?[/quote]
They had COBRA before from the small manufacturing co she retired from (he ran the small biz while she was still working) and when that ran out, they went without for 2-3 years, until they were “required” to sign up on the exchange or pay a penalty (fall 2014).
Yes, I checked into their lack-of-provider story after I returned home in mid-November and found it was true. And that’s THE major PPO in that region which offers plans on the exchange. As is BSoC in CA. My cousin’s area was on my “retirement short list” but I took it off after finding out this information.
I will only sign up for a PPO. I’ve never had any other kind of plan (1st in line to pay my bills, that is) and won’t accept any other kind of plan. If Covered CA in my region no longer offers a PPO, I will leave the exchange and obtain my coverage elsewhere … or even leave the county or state, if necessary. My “tax subsidy” isn’t so much that it’s making the decision for me.
I now feel the ACA was a big lie perpetrated on US citizens. My BSoC policy purchased on the exchange only reimburses my providers 1/4 to 3/4 of what Aetna did for the same procedures/tests. Hence, I received a one-page radiological report last month instead of the 12-page detailed report I received for the same procedure back in 2013. It’s the old adage at play here, “you pay for what you get.”
My 2016 renewal premium (back in early November) for my exchange-purchased BSoC plan was going to be 3x what my Aetna premium was in fall of 2013, before they dumped my “grandfathered” policy and told me to sign up on the exchange. Hence, I ended up downgrading one metal level for 2016. But I resent being told what I need in the way of depth and breadth of coverage. I was perfectly happy with the way things were, my selection of providers and the competition of healthplan carriers within CA prior to the ACA. I feel healthcare reform should have been focused primarily to assist with the monthly cost for a policy obtained on the states’ high-risk pools (purchased by those who couldn’t qualify to purchase a healthplan directly from carriers due to a pre-existing condition). They didn’t need to fvck the rest of us up … especially those who went to great lengths to qualify medically for a policy (which we thought we’d have until we turned 65).
As it stands, my healthplan premiums have gone up 300% in 2 years and are in no way based upon my own usage anymore.
I feel the passing of the ACA into law is what could very well ruin the 55-64 year-old set financially (and cause all of the best providers not to accept health insurance at all) if the ACA isn’t scrapped in its entirety.
And no, I’m not a registered Republican.
ParticipantFIH, if you are referring to my “flyover-country” brethren, no, the only anger I have witnessed was from a cousin and her spouse (who are small biz owners) who signed up for BCBS PPOs on the healthcare.gov exchange. After getting their ID cards in the mail, they discovered the nearest in-network primary care provider to them was 34 miles away and the nearest specialist of any kind was 81 miles away.
They complained vociferously about lack of providers participating in the exchange.
And they live about 22 miles from a large city!
Participant[quote=FlyerInHi][quote=bearishgurl]My corner of SD County is but a microcosm of the entire nation. I don’t see any poverty among boomers and beyond in the “flyover country” cities and towns I frequent either. I see folks who own their own residence outright (very often upscale homes they built themselves), often owning multiple rental properties, leased land for agricultural uses, leased land for oil extraction, multiple vehicles, including farm equipment, etc.
It doesn’t matter WHAT these folks did for a living during their “working years.” I can tell you that most of them never set foot inside a college (except to see their kids check in or graduate).
They have what they have because of the value systems they were raised with (they were able to live with less while they raised their families and built their “empire”).
The worker-bee groups today never adopted that value system. Hence, they are mortgaging their futures to satisfy their current wants.[/quote]
Do you see any anger that reflects what is reported by the press?[/quote]
I too have a local friend who constantly complains to me about “wealth inequality” in the US and stating we should all be wary of “Sharia law” taking over the US. I told them they should not be spending their precious off-hours watching Fox News talking heads on the big screen spout their uncontrollable anger.
Honestly, I think some of these journalists are unwittingly subjecting themselves to having a stroke before the age of 40, even!
Participant[quote=FlyerInHi]BG, foreign travel is cheaper than skiing at Lake Tahoe.
I recommended you buy a 1 week tour to China with a friend (cheaper with double occupancy). You can then extend and travel independently however long you want for no extra cost.[/quote]
SLT (Heavenly) is now much cheaper than it used to be (both lodging and lift tix). I would say about 35% cheaper. I know there isn’t more lodging there on the CA side (due to bldg moratoriums enacted long ago) and the NV side (Stateline, NV) has little to no room available to build more lodging. But I think this area is trying mightily to be more competitive, due to the nature of their unreliable weather.
It’s a banner season this year and I wish I could go skiing. I have absolutely no interest in visiting China (with multiple packs of disposable face masks from Home Depot in my carry-on bag) :=0
No, thanks.
ParticipantMy corner of SD County is but a microcosm of the entire nation. I don’t see any poverty among boomers and beyond in the “flyover country” cities and towns I frequent either. I see folks who own their own residence outright (very often upscale homes they built themselves), often owning multiple rental properties, leased land for agricultural uses, leased land for oil extraction, multiple vehicles, including farm equipment, etc.
It doesn’t matter WHAT these folks did for a living during their “working years.” I can tell you that most of them never set foot inside a college (except to see their kids check in or graduate).
They have what they have because of the value systems they were raised with (they were able to live with less while they raised their families and built their “empire”).
The worker-bee groups today never adopted that value system. Hence, they are mortgaging their futures to satisfy their current wants.
Participant[quote=flyer]Can’t speak to the historical side of this question, and, perhaps more are better off in some ways, but when it comes to long-term financial survival going forward (which is essential, whether we want to admit it or not) that aspect does seem questionable for many Americans, as this excerpt from an article on retirement reveals:
“More than 38 million working-age households (45 percent) do not own any retirement account assets, whether in an employer-sponsored 401(k) type plan or an IRA.
The average working household has virtually no retirement savings. When all households are included— not just households with retirement accounts—the median retirement account balance is $3,000 for all working-age households and $12,000 for near-retirement households. Two-thirds of working households age 55-64 with at least one earner have retirement savings less than one times their annual income, which is far below what they will need to maintain their standard of living in retirement.
The collective retirement savings gap among working households age 25-64 ranges from $6.8 to $14 trillion, depending on the financial measure. A large majority of households fall short of conservative retirement savings targets for their age and income based on working until age 67. Based on retirement account assets, 92 percent of working households do not meet targets. 84 percent fall short based on total financial assets, and 65 percent fall short based on net worth.”
and this:
http://www.businessinsider.com/inequality-in-the-us-is-much-more-extreme-than-you-think-2015-6
Perhaps the realization of these facts is what is fueling fear and anger among so many in our country.[/quote]
flyer, you didn’t list the source of your first quoted material and I looked at the “gloom and doom” video from the Business Insider link you provided.
I think there has always been wealth inequality in the US which is/was largely caused from being born into a particular family …. or not. Perhaps yes, it is more pronounced now, because those people who were born with a “silver spoon,” so to speak, have had more to invest throughout their lifetimes, especially during eras where investing in (safer) passive investments was more lucrative. They have also had more capital with which to invest in the stock market and ride its ups and downs without feeling any pain (due to not needing any funds from their investments while the market was down).
That said, all these retirement “gloom and doomers” are not taking into account that a large portion of 60+ year-old Joe and Jane 6ps all over the nation have lifetime monthly income from defined benefit plans. The average monthly pension is likely +/- $2K month. A large portion of these pensioners are/were also eligible for full SS benefits (OASDI) at the age of 65 or 66. This doesn’t even take into account that their spouses (Jane 6p?) have ALSO earned SS benefits in their own right (esp the boomer-generation women) and/or a defined benefit pension of their own.
If a current retiree’s primary residence and vehicle(s) are paid off and they have one or more defined benefit pensions coming into the household every month, there really is no “dire situation” here as your doom-and-gloomer talking heads would have us believe. Especially if they are longtime Cali residents with ultra-low property-tax bill(s).
flyer, you have to admit here that if you yourself didn’t have a defined benefit pension for life coming in and Prop 13 protection on assessments for your CA properties, your own financial situation today might look very different. You might be going thru your assets in order to live, while constantly trying to scare up one side-gig after another. Or you would have chosen not to retire when you did.
Honestly, it doesn’t really matter how many hundreds of thousands (or millions, as the case may be) Joe and/or Suzy (boomer and beyond) 6p have in their “nest egg.” They may not be able to be world travelers but they will survive just fine and their estates will not be indebted, as long as they manage to stay off Medicaid/Medi-Cal and keep themselves well-insured with Medigap policies, Medicare Advantage Plans or Tricare for Life.
As far as Gen X and Y (who are likely still working or looking for work), these groups may not have had as much opportunity to vest themselves into defined benefit plans and most of the plans they were offered were likely not as robust as those of their predecessors but their wages are MUCH higher, on average than their predecessors. That said, there is far more at play here which could explain why they aren’t saving as much as they should for their retirement. The vast majority of members of these groups (ESP Gen Y) are very heavily into “instant gratification” and won’t settle for the more mundane type of lives their parents had (moving up in every facet of life, one step at a time). They want everything (new possessions) and want to experience everything (foreign travel, etc) NOW! This is not a generalization … it is a fact. Perhaps this is mainly the group those doom and gloom MSM media articles you keep posting here are referring to.
I have lived in areas primarily populated by the over-55 set for over 25 years and I just don’t see where the problem is. Please enlighten me as to what I’m missing here.
Participant[quote=dumbrenter][quote=flyer]From what I’ve read, although many of us late boomers do plan to leave substantial wealth to our kids, the highly discussed “wealth transfer” when broken down, will be concentrated at the top, and will only amount to a few thousand for most as it filters down. Here’s one interesting article on that topic:
http://www.barrons.com/articles/boomers-spend-their-kids-inheritance-on-supporting-them-1435313494
[/quote]With more money flowing out of 401Ks than coming in, what do you think it will do to the funds & the fund managers? More importantly, what will it do for folks who are still putting money in hoping to get tax free gain in say, 30 years from now?
I think the fund fees will go higher since we have smaller number people contributing lower amounts to support the lifestyle of the fund managers.[/quote]I saw this article as well. I don’t understand why the article insinuates that there isn’t enough active worker-bees today who are putting away $$ for retirement to offset the boomers and beyond who are now removing money from their retirement funds.
Of course, many boomers are helping their Gen Y kids. Especially if they have a straggling kid or two (whom they had later in life) who is still in college. IIRC, flyer’s kids (who don’t reside in SD County) already had paid-off homes in SD which they could sell for a downpayment to buy elsewhere and also had an older family benefactor who provided their college funds. However, the vast majority of families do not have this set-up in place.
I don’t mind helping my kid thru college (essentially just room and board for 4 years). But I myself would be reluctant to financially help my kid if they foolishly trashed their own credit, were addicted to drugs, alcohol or gambling or kept having children without any means to support them. That is, helping them beyond getting them into rehab or directing them to the proper social service agencies and possibly helping them set up appts. And I wouldn’t help them to live above my own means if they couldn’t otherwise afford it.
A lot of us boomers sacrificed our own wants and needs for our children for at least two decades (while they were age 0-22 or so (thru K-12 and often college as well) and we have needs, too. Maybe some of us are willing to take care of grandchildren FT for years for free but I don’t feel like I owe the rest of my life to my kids. And I certainly wouldn’t give them money which would cause ME to go under at a later date, when I am older and more vulnerable to living in poverty.
I feels those boomers who were interviewed for the Barrons article who are giving to their kids to such as extent that it is jeopardizing their own retirement are fools. Their kids (whom they gave a gift of a downpayment on a house, for example), aren’t likely going to have the time, money or inclination to help their parent-benefactor out financially or take them in if they should fall on hard times (or ill health) as a senior citizen.
No one gifted ME any downpayments for a house or even offered to help with my college expenses when I was young and I managed to go thru life paying all my own bills. I expect the same of my kids. If that means living within their means, so be it. That’s life.
Participant[quote=dumbrenter][quote=harvey]How are they not equivalent? They are both religions and protected equally by the constitution.
Can you explain what is not equal?[/quote]
I am surprised you don’t see that (or suspect you don’t seem to want to see that, but will try anyway).
One historically used the religion for control of state but essentially retreated after a long bloody cycle of violence. The other still openly advocates violence as a tool to expand politically. It is an even more deadly variant of a memetic disease that has not been ‘dealt with’ yet.
But again, the OP expressed a much more local & mundane fear about buying next to islamic center. I provided example of a community dealing with just such a thing in Michigan. And some of you wanted to shout the OP down and attempted to draw a false equivalence between churches and moslem centers.
If expressing such a fear makes OP a troll, what does that say about who you are?[/quote]dumbrenter, OP is/was a “troll,” IMO. He had absolutely no interest in buying even a doghouse in Del Sur, which is the subject area of this thread. He put this one-sentence gem of a thread out there for ONE reason only …. that is, to incite hatred for yet another group (whom he doesn’t want to live with) which has settled into every corner of the US in recent decades. Yeah, I just said “every corner.”
Submitted by bearishgurl on December 5, 2015 – 6:14pm.
Just saw this thread. I don’t understand why OP even started this thread (except for possible trolling purposes). Why is he gravitating back to Del $ur when the monthly HOA/MR there is “eye-watering.” And the current new development there is selling homes which have “particle board cabinets with metal drawers … for $1.5M” (quoted from his own words in the OP from the “Best Family Areas” thread).
I am surprised you don’t see that and are apparently still trying to defend him at this late date!
January 11, 2016 at 12:45 PM in reply to: How will unfunded “pensions” affect the local economy? #793138Participant[quote=harvey][quote=bearishgurl]So, in reading between the lines, here, harvey, if YOU’RE actually collecting a gubment pension yourself, do you feel it’s “bad policy” to pay YOU every month if the Federal Gubment is trillions of dollars in debt??
What you DIDN’T answer here is very telling.[/quote]
I don’t have a government pension. Go ahead and speculate otherwise. Fabricate my entire life story if it makes you happy. I really don’t care what you choose to “read between the lines.”
Your fixation on other poster’s personal situations is pretty creepy.[/quote]
I don’t have to “fabricate” anything about you, harvey. You’ve laid it out here for us, yourself. You just posted that you accepted a gubment position with a defined benefit plan and now you’re essentially saying that you either didn’t vest in the plan or are not yet eligible to collect the pension you will be due.
If you didn’t vest in that DB plan for which you took a position which required your highly specialized skillset, I’m sorry to hear this, harvey.
There is a reason for everything. I’ll just leave it at that.
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