The $1000/month I earn here is allowing me to live quite comfortably also… but I’m debt free also.

I spent the big plunge day(s) figuring out how I’m going to live after I get laid off. The Big Announcement is supposed to be delivered to at least one committee today; remains to be seen whether us peons will hear about it immediately, but I have a couple of companeros on that committee, at least one of whom is likely to leak.

Social Security will pay about a third of what I need to live on (and no, I’m not in debt); try to earn enough to cover the rest, and the SS will be taken away. COBRA will cost NINE TIMES what I’m paying for health insurance now. If I start drawing down my retirement savings in this volatile market, I will lock in losses with every drawdown.

LOL! Maybe I’ll enrich the American taxpayers by going to India and working in a call center. A friend’s son went back to India after finishing his master’s degree here–the thousand bucks a month he’s earning there is allowing him to live quite comfortably, in Indian terms. Why not?

Companies reduced cost and 20,000 Mexicans came over to work…The result…The market just dropped 7.5 trillion dollars

I would rather companies grow and hire more people and have the ability to drop 7.5 trillion dollars then have no growth .

This just in, no matter what you think of food prices, they are cheaper now than ever adjusted for inflation. Thank the Mexicans.

IT call centers go to India, companies make more money. The American tax payer gets rich because people who own stocks pay more taxes and they got rich.
People don’t want to talk to people with accents. IT centers are moving back..Thats the free market.

The result? Its prosperity for the majority of Americans. Middle class is feeling pinched because they try and act like the upper class…they have never had it so good.

By not voting. Neither party has the Amerian interest at heart. Otherwise one or the other idiot would have called the spade a spade.

We got into this mess because guys with smart lawyers knew how to usurp the system.

Reduce costs, import 20,000 Mexicans.
Reduce IT costs, replace Americans with Indians and then push all the “Cost center jobs” over seas.

The result. This crap.

The usual rebuttal. Well if you don’t like America, leave it.

Bye.

I don’t feel like I’ve lost anything yet, as I haven’t pulled anything out yet. It will come back sooner or later. I can retire in 6 months or in 6 years – no hurry on my part as long as I am getting this free company health insurance with a 33 hr week

It’s only money. The worst that could happen is that I lose it all. I’ll still be ok. My house is paid for, I am debt free, and I need under $400/month to survive on a bare bones budget, if I stay healthy.

With that kind of debt free peace of mind, I don’t worry and I don’t stress. I am more concerned with spending quality time with my grandkids and enjoying whatever time I have teaching them the skills they will need to survive financially in this world.

I have a question for you or anyone else who wants to address this: I know of several folks who have decided to stop contributing to their 401k’s and other retirement accounts and start putting that money towards paying down their mortgage. Right now I put $250/paycheck into my retirement fund, and yet my balance is less than it was six months ago. Is it smarter to just keep with the traditional wisdom of investing the same amount no matter how the market is going, or is a diversion into debt reduction a smart move? FYI I’m about 15 miles out from retirement.

What are you talking about?

If your so concern with house prices then start your own bank and require a mandatory 20% down payment and mortgage payments less than 28% of their income. That will ensure people only buy houses they can afford and it will cut many people out of the housing market.

Over time this will make sure that middle class families can afford middle class homes.

Until then, stop complaining about the “rich” in this country and work your own way there. http://blogmaverick.com has a recent post on oct. 4th about becoming rich.

STOP COMPLAINING AMERICA

Well, 30 years later there’s nothing left to feed off of.

In 1968, at $2.30 /hour, the home in Mooriestown, NJ cost $38,000.

Had that house staid at that price, I could have purchased one in less than 8 years.

To do the same thing today, I would have to make $30/hour.

That isn’t just inflation, that’s greed and prejudice. The stock needs to drop and we need to have a country that invests in people and not numbers.