Quote: @pumpf said:
@ Skodin said:
he should work with Joe on policies that Bernie voters want. Same for Romney. Same for Warren. Same for Yang.
its a time for ideas and a coalition. bring Americans together. focus on the things we can do collectively. there are battles to win united. not fighting over the scraps as the ship sinks
Prior to this pandemic... when was "the ship" sinking?
Depends on what metrics you want to use.
And we get into subjectivity as well:
US World Influence and relations with key allies
A leader that represents my own personal moral code
Develops and communicates a vision that unites the country
Etc...
My kid is a big Bernie supporter. Told him to vote blue, unless he wants 4 more years of Trump.
I dont agree with a lot of what Bernie was proposing, but I didnt reject all he was touting either. I sure respected his conviction and caring for many who dont have strong support in DC.
Quote: @purplefaithful said:
@ pumpf said:
@ Skodin said:
he should work with Joe on policies that Bernie voters want. Same for Romney. Same for Warren. Same for Yang.
its a time for ideas and a coalition. bring Americans together. focus on the things we can do collectively. there are battles to win united. not fighting over the scraps as the ship sinks
Prior to this pandemic... when was "the ship" sinking?
Depends on what metrics you want to use.
And we get into subjectivity as well:
US World Influence and relations with key allies
A leader that represents my own personal moral code
Develops and communicates a vision that unites the country
Etc...
My kid is a big Bernie supporter. Told him to vote blue, unless he wants 4 more years of Trump.
I dont agree with a lot of what Bernie was proposing, but I didnt reject all he was touting either. I sure respected his conviction and caring for many who dont have strong support in DC.
Does Biden represent your "moral code"? Are you aware of his child hair sniffing? The Ukraine corruption accusations? If Biden can't speak coherently, can he maintain our world influence or communciate a vision? I just don't see people can play the "Well he's not as bad" card. He's like the mirror image of Trump except Trump can speak coherently, and he plays the minority card instead of Trump placating to the majority.
Quote: @pumpf said:
@ Skodin said:
he should work with Joe on policies that Bernie voters want. Same for Romney. Same for Warren. Same for Yang.
its a time for ideas and a coalition. bring Americans together. focus on the things we can do collectively. there are battles to win united. not fighting over the scraps as the ship sinks
Prior to this pandemic... when was "the ship" sinking?
political divide
partisan grandstanding unlike ever before
corporate wealth with buy backs and increased valuations on nothing
global alliances broken (bad alliances created)
religion inserted into policy
failing industries propped up by taxpayer subsidies
suicide rates
mental health rates
opoid addiction
unelected technocrats consolidating power
and dont give me this “economy doing well shit”. yes we are working. yes we are all making money but costs are up for everyone, 40% of americans do not have any savings
GDP is a horrible metric for valuing how a country, how a society is doing
this is not a trump bashing post, its a post about America and this mess we have created. We are far from the greatness of the founding fathers, lincoln, teddy, fdr, ike, JFK
Quote: @Skodin said:
@ pumpf said:
@ Skodin said:
he should work with Joe on policies that Bernie voters want. Same for Romney. Same for Warren. Same for Yang.
its a time for ideas and a coalition. bring Americans together. focus on the things we can do collectively. there are battles to win united. not fighting over the scraps as the ship sinks
Prior to this pandemic... when was "the ship" sinking?
political divide
partisan grandstanding unlike ever before
corporate wealth with buy backs and increased valuations on nothing
global alliances broken (bad alliances created)
religion inserted into policy
failing industries propped up by taxpayer subsidies
suicide rates
mental health rates
opoid addiction
unelected technocrats consolidating power
and dont give me this “economy doing well shit”. yes we are working. yes we are all making money but costs are up for everyone, 40% of americans do not have any savings
GDP is a horrible metric for valuing how a country, how a society is doing
this is not a trump bashing post, its a post about America and this mess we have created. We are far from the greatness of the founding fathers, lincoln, teddy, fdr, ike, JFK
just touching on one of your items... 40% of Americans dont have savings.. why is that? I will say that there is a large part of our country that has it tougher than I do, or many others, but I also see a large and growing segment of our country that isnt/wasnt willing to put in the work to get to where I am at. I see a large segment that thinks that so many of what I would consider luxuries are priorities for them. They feel that because I have something that they should have it as well and if they dont that its some sort of system failure when the failure isnt really the system, its individual choices in many instances. IMO that is one of the hardest parts of parenting these days is to keep our kids focused on the path to success not just the rewards because its getting to be more and more people taking short cuts to those rewards, or people that go so far in debt to give themselves rewards they havent earned and then cry when their debt tower collapses on them.
I am not saying that this is everybody that is in that 40%, but I know a lot of people that are living way way beyond their means and have no concerns about how they will pay for it eventually. and the scary part is a lot of them are my age ( mid 40s ) and dont have a concern for retirement yet.
According to this survey by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, the median retirement savings by age in the U.S. is: - Americans in their 20s: $16,000
- Americans in their 30s: $45,000
- Americans in their 40s: $63,000
- Americans in their 50s: $117,000
- Americans in their 60s: $172,000
That is woefully unprepared - especially those #'s for 40-60. Too many will be relying on SS to live on vs as a supplement - and we know that was never the intended plan for that $$$.
Quote: @purplefaithful said:
According to this survey by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, the median retirement savings by age in the U.S. is:- Americans in their 20s: $16,000
- Americans in their 30s: $45,000
- Americans in their 40s: $63,000
- Americans in their 50s: $117,000
- Americans in their 60s: $172,000
That is woefully unprepared - especially those #'s for 40-60. Too many will be relying on SS to live on vs as a supplement - and we know that was never the intended plan for that $$$.
whether it was the intended plan or not, there are no excuses for people to still be expecting it to sustain them as I am nearing 50 and have heard it my whole life to not expect SS to even be there when I retire. I am sure that those only 10 to 20 years older were hearing the same thing most of their adult lives and should have been making better preparations as well.
its this asinine notion that we have in this country that we need to measure and be measured by our house, car, clothes, and toys. I may not be making all the right decisions in my financial moves, but I can certainly see those that arent and feel pretty confident in saying so in some cases... of course in my area its often the farmers that make some of the worst business decisions and they seem to be able to get away with them so I can see around here why some are so confused on how to actually save for a future when debt is what gets rewarded.
I wonder how much more I'd have if I didn't pay 3% every payday. Been paying into this thing that I was constantly being reminded won't be there starting the late 1970's. Full time nonstop since 1980. It was never intended to be a income for retirement. Ok...Well where is it then? That is alot of money if it was gaining interest for 40 years.
Quote: @suncoastvike said:
I wonder how much more I'd have if I didn't pay 3% every payday. Been paying into this thing that I was constantly being reminded won't be there starting the late 1970's. Full time nonstop since 1980. It was never intended to be a income for retirement. Ok...Well where is it then? That is alot of money if it was gaining interest for 40 years.
its just another tax on the working American.... I came to terms with it a long time ago, dont like it much, but it is what it is at this point.... of course in 20 year or so, if I live that long, I will likely be pissed as hell when I am not getting what I think I should be getting.... but I am just an angry person like that.
Quote: @JimmyinSD said:
@ Skodin said:
@ pumpf said:
@ Skodin said:
he should work with Joe on policies that Bernie voters want. Same for Romney. Same for Warren. Same for Yang.
its a time for ideas and a coalition. bring Americans together. focus on the things we can do collectively. there are battles to win united. not fighting over the scraps as the ship sinks
Prior to this pandemic... when was "the ship" sinking?
political divide
partisan grandstanding unlike ever before
corporate wealth with buy backs and increased valuations on nothing
global alliances broken (bad alliances created)
religion inserted into policy
failing industries propped up by taxpayer subsidies
suicide rates
mental health rates
opoid addiction
unelected technocrats consolidating power
and dont give me this “economy doing well shit”. yes we are working. yes we are all making money but costs are up for everyone, 40% of americans do not have any savings
GDP is a horrible metric for valuing how a country, how a society is doing
this is not a trump bashing post, its a post about America and this mess we have created. We are far from the greatness of the founding fathers, lincoln, teddy, fdr, ike, JFK
just touching on one of your items... 40% of Americans dont have savings.. why is that? I will say that there is a large part of our country that has it tougher than I do, or many others, but I also see a large and growing segment of our country that isnt/wasnt willing to put in the work to get to where I am at. I see a large segment that thinks that so many of what I would consider luxuries are priorities for them. They feel that because I have something that they should have it as well and if they dont that its some sort of system failure when the failure isnt really the system, its individual choices in many instances. IMO that is one of the hardest parts of parenting these days is to keep our kids focused on the path to success not just the rewards because its getting to be more and more people taking short cuts to those rewards, or people that go so far in debt to give themselves rewards they havent earned and then cry when their debt tower collapses on them.
I am not saying that this is everybody that is in that 40%, but I know a lot of people that are living way way beyond their means and have no concerns about how they will pay for it eventually. and the scary part is a lot of them are my age ( mid 40s ) and dont have a concern for retirement yet.
I don’t disagree with this at all but housing costs, food costs, can eat up a significant portion of people’s paychecks today compared to years ago. Most metropolitan cities do offer more in regards to salary but also have ridiculous housing/living costs. I have lived in 4 major cities, with about of decade in Manhattan. It’s where I made the most money but it’s also spent the most just to live.
Throw in the cost of a vehicle and insurance, there isn’t much to save. Not even including healthcare.
$1200 a month rental (below national average)
$600 a month in food (sure you can spend less on food, but you will spend more in health care as all will)
$200 car payment (used vehicle worth $12,000 at point of purchase)
$500 a month for health care (if you are young, you are paying in regardless how healthy you are)
$100 for car insurance (clean record, maybe better)
That’s $2,600 in costs, if you make $50,000 ($4,000 a month gross) a year (which is above the national average), you are clearing $200-400 a month with ZERO calculated in college loans
Yeah, all those splurges on the basics.
NOW IF YOU GAVE EVERYONE UNDER $100,000 or $250,000 per year, an $1,000 a month via a tax on tech companies, VAT, cut bureaucracy, you could see how people would have savings or a nest egg for a home purchase
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