Am I Going to be OK?; Are you Going to be OK?

[misfish]

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Edited February 24, 2011 by Misfish

[Fishnwire]

..Anybody know how to grow the stuff?....I need a mentor..lol

 

 

PM me.

 

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I wish I could find it, but I just read an article online a week or so ago that basically claims the idea that "everything keeps getting more expensive" is a myth. It points out that while the price of things has gone up...people's income has too. When adjusted for inflation the price of most consumer goods in relation to average income has remained relatively unchanged for the last half century or so. Like I say, I wish I could find it because the author provided all kinds of examples that showed the inflation-adjusted price of all lot of things is almost exactly the same today as it's been in each previous decade going back to the 50s and 60s.

 

I can even think of a few things that have gotten cheaper. Look at your computer. The first one I bought was a used Pentium II and I paid $1700 for it in the mid 90's.

[tnt]

What makes me laugh is when I do my best to conserve, the utilities follow suit claiming they aren't making enough to maintain there facilities.....guess what that means....rates go up. I have cut back so much on water usage I'm afraid I can't reduce it anymore. I never wash my vehicle, I don't water my lawn, I don't flush every time I do a #1...my sewage fee's are somehow more than my water used....not sure how that works. And now I pay the same as I did 2 years ago when I wasn't in conservation mode.

 

I actually heard something about the hydro company being charged for levying interested charges against customers that were too high. I forget how much the fine was but they have said rates will be going up to assist in paying the fines??????? How is that right.

 

I am 35 yrs old, there are many out there in my age range that have jobs with no pensions. CPP yeah what is that gonna do if it's still around when I turn 65. How will I ever be able to put my son through post secondary school when rates jump up so frequently. I got a raise this year....40 cents and hour.....doesn't compare with the increases in utilities, groceries, insurance rates and everything else mentioned.

 

And I am in a good situation, have no mortgage, no credit card debt, only a line of credit for my vehicle. Something needs to change.

[lew]

Good hearing from you Todd, it's been a long time.

[misfish]

CPP yeah what is that gonna do if it's still around when I turn 65.

 

Just like it,s doing for those that have not planned for the future Todd. Will I be ok,time will tell.

Edited February 25, 2011 by Misfish

[tnt]

Yeah it's been a while Lew, had kinda a rough go this summer, didn't do much fishing or anything else for that matter. But fortunately things are looking up, gonna have some big news any day now. You coming down for the muskie show this year?

 

I hear yeah Misfish, unfortunately I know many people that can't afford to plan for the future. Can't afford luxuries some of us take for granted. I busted my ass to put myself in a good situation and still worry sometimes. As you said will I be ok, time will tell....that can be said by many I'm sure.

[Big Cliff]

Just like it,s doing for those that have not planned for the future Todd. Will I be ok,time will tell.

 

How do you plan for things like taxes more than doubling in the last 10 years when I am getting older and can't work two jobs anymore? My wages sure haven't doubled. I guess I could have lived in a shoe box and just put every cent I earned working two jobs into the bank so that when I can't work anymore I could afford to live in a shoe box. It has taken everything I have in me to pay my bills and support my family. i have never lived on welfair but from what I have seen, I might as well have, I know others that have and I'm not much better off than some of them.

 

It would be easy if I could plan a budget where if I need more I just take it but today our fearless leaders just give themselves raises and pat themselves on the back and tell us they need more money to give us the services we want.

[irishfield]

Be proud you took the high road Cliff.. the ones you mention that couldn't or wouldn't are one of the many reasons our taxes are so high. Municipality of Temagami... population 1000.. "social benefits" portion of the tax expenditure pie chart.. over 20% of all expendatures.

 

$1,334,525 out of a total expenditure of 5.8 million!

 

I hear ya on the rest of it.. I pay $1200 a MONTH for property taxes in this little town they call Penetang.. and it's time to pack up, sell and move.. but to where? A similarly valued property in Mississauga would pay $2100 a YEAR. We're about 7 times the mill rate of Mississauga here.

[bigugli]

Just like it,s doing for those that have not planned for the future Todd. Will I be ok,time will tell.

Guess what. You can plan all you want and still have nothing. I have 2 pension plans that became worthless when the employers went bankrupt Seems government put a few loopholes in place to allow employers to borrow against their pension funds. The third one I pulled and put into a "secure" pension plan. The insurance company has locked down the fund and made no payouts in 2 years as the recession almost wiped it out. So I planned and saved and still don't have squat. Or you can put all your savings in the bank and get no return either.

[danbouck]

Not sure if I'll be OK, I'll just take it day by day, try to enjoy myself and deal with whatever comes up.

[Entropy]

Well, I guess I'm glad I'm not the only one.

 

Every bulb in my house is a 9w or 13w CFL (has been for 4 years), I turn off my hot water during peak times (10c /Kwh), just got sold my truck that used 18L / 100km for a van [the wife/family vehicle] that uses 11.5 L / 100km, have a small garden in summer, thinking of egg producing chickens (can't see that being worth it, but might be fun?), going to get more insulation in attic this April, when my compact fuel eff. SUV [my daily comuter] dies in the next year and a half (almost at 400 000kms) I will buy a little 4.7L /100km 5 door car.

 

At some point I can't do anything more, and will continue to fall behind compared to where I was 2 years ago.

 

I will see that I and my family are ok, that I promise. But what is really worries me is wheather my children (very young right now) will have a similar lifestyle to me, or even a reasonable one at that.

 

Education, Housing, Transportation, Energy, Insurance, etc. 20 years from now ?? I hope they stand a chance.

 

? Entropy ?

[knightfisher]

Excellent post/s Cliff

I'm close to the same situation, less the water front property.

 

For the most part, our kids and grandkids will only have what we leave them.

But will they make enough to maintain them.

The jobs are not there.

The economic climate is very dismal at best. With corporations outsourcing as

much as they can, moving entire operations to third world countries, we are in bad, very bad.

 

With a few exceptions, only the public sector is doing well. And very well protected. For now.

The middle class, which is weaning away at an alarming rate are the ones paying for these public workers.

An economy can not sustain itself in the service industry. It has to produce something of value.

Well, so very much of this production is being done in other countries. Look at how much our steel and

car industry has shrunk and moved out, over the last 25 years.

 

It can't go on much longer. Looks what happened in Greece, what's going on in Wisconnsin in the States.

The public are being taxed to death and every single state is borrowing money to make ends meet.

Happening here in Canada as well. How many billions are we in debt here in Ontario.

The middle class is being erroded away. Very high cost of living, food, gas, heat, hydro etc.

 

The jobs are not there, and there not coming back !!!!

 

I remember growing up in Hamilton in the 60s and 70s. The jobs were a plenty. You chose where you wanted

to work. It was great. There were soooo many factory jobs, I would be hired basically the same day I quit from

a previous job. It was great. I had opportunities to take government jobs but decided against that. humm

 

I left that field, and started my home improvement business. I wanted more of a challenge.

Great move. I really enjoyed, and still do leaving a mark, whether it's a house I bricked, or a bell tower on a church I rebuilt,

It will be there for a hundred years. It's a personal reward being in the line of work I'm in. And it's always a pleasure meeting

the public I worked for and bumping into them later and having a quick chat.

 

However I don't have the great pensions and drug plans that my friends have who stayed put in the factories, and or government jobs.

And sometimes I wonder if I should of continued to work in factories, because these guys are further ahead financially than I.

Note--I am not demeaning factory work, I just wanted to try something else.

My retirement will be tight, and if worse come worse, I sell my house.

Got to do, what you got to do.

 

I really fear for the up coming generations, they will be working like our parents did, saving every cent they can.

On a plus side, hopefully it will bring families back closer together, like back in the 60s, but that's another story.

 

Dan

[danc]

I think that the lesson to be learnd here is to choose your career wisely and to plan for your retirement. The two go hand in hand. Don't just go out and get a job. Get a career. Earn a piece of paper that says that you are qualified to do something. My peice of paper has kept me working full time for 34 years. I'll never be out of a good paying job. I might have to travel and make sacrifices, but I'll never starve and I'll retire before 60. I didn't catch a Brook Trout last year for the first time in decades, but I made a very good living sacrificing that. I think that my priorieties are in order.

[mercman]

You are a lucky man Dan. For most of us its too late to get that piece of paper though. We have struggled and changed jobs hoping to make enough to support our famillies. And for every young person today, who has gone to school and college to get that pieces of paper, there are 1000 already in line, holding that piece of paper, hoping beyond hope to get that job.

I know it looks grim, but we are all gonna make it.The rise and fall of our economy comes and goes in cycles driven by politics, and banks.When our economy gets too strong on the international markets, the Gov, and the Central bank raise or lower intrest rates to increase or decrease spending trends.

Things will get better, you can count on it

[Billy Bob]

I hear ya on the rest of it.. I pay $1200 a MONTH for property taxes in this little town they call Penetang.. and it's time to pack up, sell and move.. but to where? A similarly valued property in Mississauga would pay $2100 a YEAR. We're about 7 times the mill rate of Mississauga here.

 

I believe I may have figured this out several years ago....if you own a house on property here taxes are WAY too much......so I plan to get another couple acres in the country and put in a septic system, well and a poured LARGE concrete pad plus a electric pole with a meter.....pull up my motor home on the pad and with the three utilities I have already described and only have to pay for electric. I can stay year round but plan to disconnect after deer season head to Florida or other parts south until mid April.....since there is no structure you can only be taxed on the land.

[mercman]

I believe I may have figured this out several years ago....if you own a house on property here taxes are WAY too much......so I plan to get another couple acres in the country and put in a septic system, well and a poured LARGE concrete pad plus a electric pole with a meter.....pull up my motor home on the pad and with the three utilities I have already described and only have to pay for electric. I can stay year round but plan to disconnect after deer season head to Florida or other parts south until mid April.....since there is no structure you can only be taxed on the land.

 

Bob............ I gotta hand it to ya.If there is way way to NOT pay taxes, YOU DA MAN !!!!!!!!!!

[Billy Bob]

I do the Best I Can With What Little I Have.....

[Cookslav]

Cost of living increases vr. the cost of living is the issue not the ability to remain working.

I have several peices of paper that keep me working and I'm not worried about me....

Perhaps my abilty to retire comfortably comes into the equasion on occassion but I definatly fear for the future of my kids, and my parents.

 

I can work, and the more I work, the more income I can earn...thats a no brainer.

But for retiree's that not a feasable or fair situation to perceive as a solution to rising costs.

Their cost of living increases with the rest of us and their hard earned savings get depleted faster.

 

Lets face it....wage increases are no were near the cost of living increases we see year to year for us working folk.

Imagine how the retiree's feel about this.

All I know is by the time my 6 year old Daughter is in the work force she'll have to be a doctor to make ends meet.

 

Its a frustrating situation and if I had an easy solution I'd lay it on the table but I don't.

 

I know I put 15% of my income away for retirement every week,

And I bought my first house at the ripe age of 23 for $115,000...I fixed it up my self replacing all the windows, floors, Roof, A/C furnace, and added a fireplace, and counteless cosmetics like french doors, and kitchen cabinets etc...

I flipped that house 5 years later for $220,000. I put that money back into a 2 year old 3000 squarefoot home, and finished the basment, paved a drive way added a deck, fence, Shed, water softener, Wet bar and Fireplace increasing the equity an additional $65,000 over the last 3 years....this house will be sold as part of my retirement when the kids are out of the house.

I did did this all myself while working a demanding job that requires me to work on average 50 hours/ week and sometime over 60 hours a week. I'm doing ALL I can to be prepared for retirement....but one thing I have to ask...

 

Should it be this hard to earn a comforatble retirement?

Should I have to work 50-60 hours a week, and then have a second job renovating and flipping homes to simply be able to enjoy the golden years? Do we need to sacrafice quality time with our familys to afford 10-15 years of comfort while we're young enough to enjoy it?

My Grand father worked a factory job with Labatts....40 hours a week, with 5 kids and retired comfortabley with a lake front cottage in sauble beach and nice home in kitchener. All done on an "average joe's" factory salary and no post secondary eductation.

 

I on the other hand did a 4 year apprenticship followed by 2 years of school. then went back for another 2 years for another certification, and still work 50-60 hours a week, and spend my off time trying to get futher ahead Striving to keep that same level of living....I have a home, and travel trailer for now and only three kids.

I make 5 times the money my Grandfather did, and a cottage is still Years and years away if even possible.

And last year my Grandmother sold the family cottage because she couldn't afford it any longer....

 

We're sliding...plain and simple

Its not our abilty to work persay, its the cost of living thats out of whack.

One could even argue that the lack of available work is directly effected by the cost of living....

How bad is it when some people make MORE or similar money sitting on their butts though welfare, and EI then

the jobs available are able to pay?

 

Time for some serious reforms if you ask me.

Time for Government to make some changes on the taxation structures, and instead of standardizing minimum wage increases....how about some Energy, gas & Water price standardizations?

How about addressing the farmers concerns about the financial impacts of importing foods as opposed to home grown.

 

bah...I'm just a dreamer I guess.

[jimmer]

The future is very uncertain. My wife and I always scrimped due to low wages and going to college at a later age. We did however, find a way to pay off our mortgage in our early 50's, then thinking that we could retire or semi-retire early, before we reached 60. That has probably all changed now and we're not even sure if we will be able to retire at 65. Unless of course we decide to sell our home and use that to subsidize our retirement and go live in a trailer.

Go figure, worked hard all these years to be debt free, but then not be able to keep up with the normal monthly bills.

Something has to give. We're sure not getting raises to keep up with the cost of living. So, who ever mentioned in a previous post to make sure to choose the right career, was bang on. You would need a good paying job that will be guaranteed for years to come and includes benefits and a good pension. Funny, sounds like a politician's job!

[Harrison]

I work with folks as they get ready to retire. 98% of them wish they had done more to prepare for it when they were younger. Sounds like a broken record, but I assure you it is 100% true. And these are folks with very good pensions.

 

I still have 20 yrs to go, but I have started to listen to their advice.

[tonyb]

I seriously don't know how people do it. My wife and I earn a decent income combined and we are so far away from our retirement goal it's rediculous. We save ~30% of our income, no cable TV or home phone to try to keep monthly costs in check. We also installed a very high efficiency furnace and a/c unit and completed the Eco-Energy retrofit program on our 900 sq ft bungalow upgrading windows, toilets, faucets & showers with low-flo heads, insulated front steel entrance door, attic insulation, etc and it still seems that our utility bills are sky high!

 

I think Cliff hit the nail on the head when he said that with all the energy efficient appliances and light bulbs, etc the demand has dropped off huge. When demand drops the cost of supply must be increased to maintain profits.

 

Good luck to everyone, we're gonna need it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mercman]

Here are some little tips to help some of you save a few bucks.Dont wash your clothes in cold water, like most companies suggest.

A) it is extremely hard on the washer.The cold water causes the plastic in the machine to become hard and wear out faster. The soap will not disolve properly(even liquid soap) and will ruin hoses and pumps and seals

 

When you put the ice cold clothing in your dryer, it will take up to 4 times more energy to dry those clothes, than if you washed in warm or hot water.

 

C) In winter, buy yourself an Indoor dryer vent kit, and where possible, evacuate the air from your dryer inside.It will provide humidity and a pleasant smell from the fabric softener.Also, it will not pull the air from your warm house and send it out side.

 

Paul

 

 

[lookinforwalleye]

I hope all you guys bustin your hump squeezing every penny till the Queen screams live long enough to enjoy a long retirement.

 

Not saying it`s the wrong thing to do and good on ya for making the sacrifices but I have seen too many people friends and family bust their hump getting ready for retirement only to be dealt a crap hand and end up dying or getting sick and can`t do anything.

My retirement plan includes enjoying life while I am young and healthy and doing what I want,hell I don`t know what the future has instore for me so I am having fun now.

[mercman]

I hope all you guys bustin your hump squeezing every penny till the Queen screams live long enough to enjoy a long retirement.

 

Not saying it`s the wrong thing to do and good on ya for making the sacrifices but I have seen too many people friends and family bust their hump getting ready for retirement only to be dealt a crap hand and end up dying or getting sick and can`t do anything.

My retirement plan includes enjoying life while I am young and healthy and doing what I want,hell I don`t know what the future has instore for me so I am having fun now.

 

 

This is the answer!!!!

[Cookslav]

I hope all you guys bustin your hump squeezing every penny till the Queen screams live long enough to enjoy a long retirement.

 

That sir is my internal conflict....

I'm 35 years old, and come hell or high water at 55 I'm done.

No offence to the old boys here but I don't know a single person over the age of 65 that is healthy and happy.

 

I've been busting my hump since I was 18 with a VERY clear path, and plan in mind, that not once have I deviated from.

Now that the kids are in the picture I am not willing to sacrafice anymore family time, and I'm slowing down to smell the roses.

The issue is the cost of living increases demand that I continue my current pace if I plan to retire.

 

Not fair....not cool