Retirement thoughts Past Present Future

[NoTrespassing]

Wow.

Is this the post in question?




Define "several years ago" to an exact timeframe.

Reveal the identity of "this guy".

I think we are on a cusp of sensitivity related not what is posted, but who is posting it.

There's been a lot of discussion lately about keep politics out of threads. I have never reported a post and I probably never will. When I typed "just can't resist can you..." I was just calling out California. I don't mind political banter at all but it has to be allowed from both sides and the owner of the site is trying to stop it all together as far as I can tell. This thread is already sidetracked now.

Comments about deleted posts

$70-80,000 for a good sized tractor plus cost of implements plus cost of the land that it will be used on plus the cost of a barn at 2023 prices. Compare today's prices relative to 2019 or before and no wonder these prices and the reasons for them are the topic for much discussion. So cough up...

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[ovrszd]

Wow.

Is this the post in question?




Define "several years ago" to an exact timeframe.

Reveal the identity of "this guy".

I think we are on a cusp of sensitivity related not what is posted, but who is posting it.

Where've you been? Headed this way for quite some time.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

When Popular Mechanics runs an article about retirement funding factors going forward concerns me.

As a poor dirt farmer's kid born in 1951 Popular Science, Farm Journal and Popular Mechanics were my dream sources as we never had TV and encyclopedias.

Yesterday for $10K we got a new 30 year Timberline roof. While we have doubled the size we gave $8K for this old 1000 square foot farm farm house and two acres of land in 1986.

Delaying signing up for SS until age 70 and still working is making for a better retirement but I am concerned about our kids that are 25. They should be ok but have friends with dead end jobs and no vehicle trying to pay rent.

I see a bright future but the path to that bright future becoming harder for many.

Earth Is Kinda Running Out of People

We need some more humans—or else.

www.popularmechanics.com

 

[Oaktree]

When Popular Mechanics runs an article about retirement funding factors going forward concerns me.
....
I see a bright future but the path to that bright future becoming harder for many.

It does seem odd to see an article like this in PM now that you mention it.
One of the reasons the economy is such a house of cards is that it (and this applies to much of the world) was built on an ever-increasing population building/buying more things to make more money to build/buy more things, which is not sustainable. Would you really want to live with the population densities of many Asian countries? I sure wouldn't. There will come a tipping point, I hope I'm not here to see it. A falling population will cause much disruption in the medium term, but long term will benefit civilization.

As far as a "bright future", I'm not so sure. I find so much of the new technology very intrusive. Maybe you're OK with some entity knowing exactly where you are at any given moment, but I'm not. It's like 1984, only (1) it's tech companies that are spying on you, not the government and (2) people are adopting this voluntarily ("connected" cars, smartphones, Alexa-type devices, etc).
I dread having to buy a new vehicle with all the telemetry, etc. incorporated in it with no way to defeat it. For my "safety" of course.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

It does seem odd to see an article like this in PM now that you mention it.
One of the reasons the economy is such a house of cards is that it (and this applies to much of the world) was built on an ever-increasing population building/buying more things to make more money to build/buy more things, which is not sustainable. Would you really want to live with the population densities of many Asian countries? I sure wouldn't. There will come a tipping point, I hope I'm not here to see it. A falling population will cause much disruption in the medium term, but long term will benefit civilization.

As far as a "bright future", I'm not so sure. I find so much of the new technology very intrusive. Maybe you're OK with some entity knowing exactly where you are at any given moment, but I'm not. It's like 1984, only (1) it's tech companies that are spying on you, not the government and (2) people are adopting this voluntarily ("connected" cars, smartphones, Alexa-type devices, etc).
I dread having to buy a new vehicle with all the telemetry, etc. incorporated in it with no way to defeat it. For my "safety" of course.

Oaktree you make a ton of factual observations.

 

[WinterDeere]

A high school diploma can be worthless if the education system, often funded by taxes, is poor. But it doesn't necessarily correlate with high-crime in rural areas.

But it does. Your anecdotal experience doesn't undo the statistics of millions.

That said, it's a complex subject, with lots of caveats wrapped around the generalities. If you want a very quick summary, this article seems to nail the high-level points pretty well: The Clear Correlation Between Education and Crime - Criminal Justice

 

[two_bit_score]

That said, it's a complex subject, with lots of caveats wrapped around the generalities.

I saw an article recently that said it’s really about 1% of the population that are recidivists in prisons. My anecdotal observations confirm that and that it’s also more likely those who graduate from high school stay out of trouble with the law than those who don’t. Therefore they are able to obtain and hold gainful employment for longer periods and pursue the dream of homeownership.

IOW, they have historically been more likely to be stable members of their communities.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Please be aware I am not saying veterans compensation and social security payments are remotely the same

What caught my attention was the billions that could be cut out of the USA budget by means testing VA compensation.

There is already SS means testing when it comes to taxing SS benefits. SS is lower hanging fruit and Saving the SS fund is a hot subject today..

While the declining working population is the root SS problem the current wage inflation should bring in more SS and Medicare tax receipts I expect cutting SS benefits to catch a lot of attention until the last baby boomer is dead.

I expect there is not much I can do to stop strong efforts to reduce SS and Medicare expenses at the Federal level.

My developing view is to expect less from SS and Medicare going forward due means testing. The assets of babyboomers are too large to escape attention.

No, the VA isn’t going to reduce your disability payments if you make too much money

Everyone remain calm.

taskandpurpose.com

 

[newbury]

No, the VA isn’t going to reduce your disability payments if you make too much money

Everyone remain calm.

taskandpurpose.com

Your link led me to click on an adjoining article:

The Russian military is so low on ammo that troops are reduced to fighting with e-tools

E-tools? My first thought was digital internet tools, then I found they meant entrenching tools.
Backhoes to the defense!

 

[Straightgrain3016]

There is at least one form of "testing"; regarding unemployabilty.