We have certainly had the luxury of travel often in our retirement, and my son, on this recent trip with him and his future wife, pointed out that, if my retirement income was rated globally, I am among the 1%. I am retired but get to travel when I want and pretty much where I want. You may very well be among that group also. All you need to be a part of the global 1% is an income of $34,000! No, you cannot travel when or wherever on that income, but the perspective of this figure pretty much makes you sit up and realize how lucky you are to be in this strata. It also makes you wonder how much of your life is producing waste and could be better budgeted and more generous.
I only have one home, do not keep money offshore to avoid paying my fair share of taxes, nor send my business manager to a Caribbean island for 6 months so that the IRS cannot reach her, as an acquaintance of my son's did! I have this status, not because I am brilliant or sneaky, but because I lived and worked overseas for the first 7 years of my married life and did not have to pay for my housing or the cost of an automobile during that time. Since both my husband and I had a combined income during this time we invested every dime that we could and that gave us the head-start that we needed to have the retirement we are now enjoying. It was luck and the willingness to live outside my country in a country that had water and electricity just often enough to keep me comfortable.
I will not have this luxurious life-style I now enjoy if the stock market crashes once again. I have no respect for Wall Street folks as the money they make has nothing to do with improving the United States or the lives of its citizens or creating jobs. How much money does a billionaire have to have before he invests in a small business or two? Their supercilious lobbying forces will destroy this country again thanks to the "non-activist" Supreme Court Judges that were appointed under conservative Presidents and passed the Citizen United ruling. This country has been bought and if you want a voice you had better demand the repeal of Citizens United from your representatives. I mean this in all seriousness. Both parties are beholden and only if we take back our country (perhaps with a third party), will we return to a true democracy.
I say this because I have done my research carefully and read the data. You can scream the dangers of class warfare all you want, but the rich are not suffering in anyway in this. WalMart family has more wealth than the combined 40% of the lowest income of our society. It is no where near a class war until they have reached the wealth of the combined lowest 4%!! It is up to you.
Ah, 1% here too. If I am very careful.
ReplyDeleteI can't find fault with anything you say. Citizen's United has got to go!
ReplyDeletegood for you speaking truth and sharing the Facts.. I'm sure the fact checkers wont approve:)but who wants their approval anyway. I sure dont.
ReplyDeleteCitizens United Must Go and We the People are the only ones who can make sure it does.
Yes, it is always time to stand up for what you believe.
ReplyDeleteYep, you’re back. Welcome home.
ReplyDeleteOooo. I love a good rant! I agree with you completely, of course. Under your definition, I am a 1%er too, because of those socialist policies, Social Security and government (teacher) pensions. I guess I am one of those "entitled" people Romney was caught talking about today. Does it matter and my husband and I paid into both systems all of our working lives?
ReplyDeleteYou express your feeling and beliefs very well.
ReplyDeleteYes, we were the lucky generation, I think. I do worry, though, about my children, and even more about the grandchildren when they retire. So many imponderables!
ReplyDeleteYes, we were the lucky generation, I think. I do worry, though, about my children, and even more about the grandchildren when they retire. So many imponderables!
ReplyDeleteAs one of the 99% who also paid into SS and Medicare all my working life, who's worried about the absence of the trickle in trickle-down economics, who's never whined and clung to government coattails as Romney suggests but worked doggedly for 50 years, I agree that one of the first things we have to do as citizens is strike down that Citizens United ruling. It has nothing to do with patriotism and everything to do with economic survival of the majority. Thanks for pointing that out so eloquently, Tabor.
ReplyDeleteWelcome home...
ReplyDeleteYes, I could be in the 1%, but I am also in the 47% being a victim of having worked all my life, contributing to Social Security, a pension plan, and personal retirement savings (now hanging precariously in the stock market). Next year I will start sponging off the poor rich people of the 53% by sucking up my share of Medicare.
ReplyDeleteI just started collecting my SS but it is a rather small amount. Luckily Joe is still earning. I have never had the head or stamina for investing. During the period when we were making good money (about 7 years) I tended to put it in things, new furniture, truck etc.
ReplyDeleteI think Romeny's recent off the cuff quote about 47% of us not paying taxes and depending on the government for "entitlements" really says a lot and I hope people wake up to it.
Apparently I am one of the "entitled" as well if that is what paying into Social Security for nearly 50 years makes me. Romney's prattle really makes me angry. I try to focus that anger and use it for something positive. Thank you for your words.
ReplyDeleteNot a 1%er but I'm married to one, so I think I can count myself in.
ReplyDeleteI've been shocked by the way the Supreme Court has shaped things for the past decade. Your opinions are right on.
i am not in the 1%...trickle down economics does not work...and its only going to get worse...it will interesting to see what happens after this election surely...
ReplyDeleteWow! This is an impressive first-person perspective!
ReplyDelete