Monday, December 29, 2008

Benefits from a Recession


What do you think of economists now that we are in a serious recession?

Apparently these alien jerks took the wrong turn on the road to nowhere and wound up on this planet by mistake. They were trying to model a phoney economy on Mother Earth that only works in some other universe or dimension.

But a recession is not all bad: There are certain benefits:

Here is what a Squidoo Lens Maker Says about the benefits of a recession:

  • A recession forces change.
  • A recession makes you wiser.
  • A recession makes you think out of the box.
  • A recession makes you appreciate what you have.
  • A recession makes a decision maker out of you.

These come from the BENEFITS FROM A RECESSION Website by Ernie Zelinski who apparently is writing a book called 101 Reasons to Love a Recession.

  • Be grateful for your position in life regardless of how much equity you lost. Putting things in the best possible way, the bum you see by the junkyard still has it tougher than you.
  • Drivers in the US are on pace for fewest road deaths since Lyndon Johnson was in the White House. Due to the recession people are driving more slowly and less often resulting in fewer crashes according to academics.
  • Many North Americans will finally lose a bit of weight because they will be forced to quit being so piggish with their food. It's about time, given how sadly obese America has become.
  • At cocktail parties people used to brag about how much money they made. Now at some cocktail parties people brag about how much money they lost during the recession. Thus, you can be a big cheese if you squandered a big fortune in the stock market.

    Also Check Out Ernie Zelinski's:
    FUN AT WORK CAFE. This may also help you enjoy the recession

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Retire Early - Get Real


According to a survey from McKinsey and Co. of 3,000 retirees and pre-retirees, more than half of recent retirees decided to retire early. Surprisingly, the majority did not do this out of choice. Most did so due to adverse circumstances, such as job loss, caring for an ailing spouse, or their own health problems.

On average, these people are retiring in their mid-50s. With life expectancy for a healthy 65-year-old in the U.S. around 85 for men and 88 for women, that means some will need to fund their living expenses for 30 years or more.

And, unlike the generations that came before them, far fewer baby boomers will have traditional defined benefit pensions to help them. What’s more, research from professor Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, shows that Social Security will replace less than 30 percent of pre-retirement income by 2030. It’s clear that volatile markets are not the baby boomers’ only major challenge.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Retirement News Doesn't Get Any Better



It looks like retirement news won't get better for some time. Here are some of the latest headelines:


    1. Changing educators’ cost of living provision is a big step backward
    Atlanta Journal Constitution, USA
    By Greg Pilewicz Today, the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia will be considering a change to the cost of living provision of the teacher retirement ...

    2. Boomers Delay Retirement, but They Won't Wait Forever
    MarketWatch
    But then the economy faltered, housing values plummeted, retirement portfolios shrank, and boomers who thought they had planned for financial security ...

    3. You Don't Deserve Retirement
    Motley Fool
    By Robert Brokamp I have some news for you, folks: You are not entitled to a retirement. It's not in the Constitution. It's not in the Bill of Rights.