Author Topic: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...  (Read 10740 times)

sleepyguy

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Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« on: November 18, 2016, 01:59:34 PM »
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/divided-america-easy-retirement-only-privileged-few-152114001--finance.html

I'm not saying most will get there... they won't.  When you're making less than $20/hr in a higher income area... it will probably be unlikely unless you get extremely creative.

But the way the article talks about it, makes it seem like 'easy' retirement is some lottery pool, it's not.  The vast amount of users here proves that.

Have a read, more educational read than comedy.  Sadly people hate change... they fear it, so most scoff at MMM ideas...

human

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #1 on: November 19, 2016, 05:43:04 AM »
Holy shit can people still pay employees less than 4 dollars an hour in the US??

Cause the guy gets tips grabbing a bag at an airport? I've never tipped anyone at an airport. He would get what 5 bucks a shift if lucky?

Metric Mouse

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #2 on: November 19, 2016, 06:13:21 AM »
Holy shit can people still pay employees less than 4 dollars an hour in the US??

Cause the guy gets tips grabbing a bag at an airport? I've never tipped anyone at an airport. He would get what 5 bucks a shift if lucky?

This is why I always tip generously, and do so often. As a member of the privileged retired class, it can sometimes be hard to remember that not everyone has the advantages I enjoy. Occasionally a reminder is good.

human

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #3 on: November 19, 2016, 07:17:26 AM »
I tip in restaurants but rarely eat in restaurants and since I started being more careful with money carry no cash. My dad worked in bars so tips were important. But a job like that shouldn't have a server's minimum wage.

Dicey

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #4 on: November 19, 2016, 09:44:25 AM »
Funny, people just don't seem to get that choices have consequences. I lay a lot of this mess at the feet of the American educational system, where money is apparently still a taboo sibject.

Attitudes such as these remind me of the quote "People who say it cannot be done should get out of the way of those who are doing it."

TheGrimSqueaker

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #5 on: November 20, 2016, 09:54:26 PM »
Holy shit can people still pay employees less than 4 dollars an hour in the US??

Cause the guy gets tips grabbing a bag at an airport? I've never tipped anyone at an airport. He would get what 5 bucks a shift if lucky?

Of course. It's normal if you work in child care, food service, food preparation, health care, farm labor, retail sales, or as a domestic cleaner.

Goldielocks

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #6 on: November 20, 2016, 10:15:59 PM »
Holy shit can people still pay employees less than 4 dollars an hour in the US??

Cause the guy gets tips grabbing a bag at an airport? I've never tipped anyone at an airport. He would get what 5 bucks a shift if lucky?

Of course. It's normal if you work in child care, food service, food preparation, health care, farm labor, retail sales, or as a domestic cleaner.

??  do you mean illegal under the tax radar positions ??


marty998

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #7 on: November 20, 2016, 11:20:22 PM »
Holy shit can people still pay employees less than 4 dollars an hour in the US??

Cause the guy gets tips grabbing a bag at an airport? I've never tipped anyone at an airport. He would get what 5 bucks a shift if lucky?

This is why I always tip generously, and do so often. As a member of the privileged retired class, it can sometimes be hard to remember that not everyone has the advantages I enjoy. Occasionally a reminder is good.

Isn't this why wages are kept so low? Because businesses and employers can argue that the difference between the legal wage and a living wage can be made up through tipping?

TheGrimSqueaker

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #8 on: November 21, 2016, 12:19:19 AM »
Holy shit can people still pay employees less than 4 dollars an hour in the US??

Cause the guy gets tips grabbing a bag at an airport? I've never tipped anyone at an airport. He would get what 5 bucks a shift if lucky?

Of course. It's normal if you work in child care, food service, food preparation, health care, farm labor, retail sales, or as a domestic cleaner.

??  do you mean illegal under the tax radar positions ??

No, I mean there are entire sectors of the economy where the law simply doesn't apply. Employers are exempt from having to pay minimum wage.

Tipped employees make only $2.13 an hour. When their tips, added to this amount, do not match the federal minimum wage, in theory the employer must make up the difference. In practice, employers do their very best to gouge the employees for shrinkage, theft of meals, uniforms, and other clawbacks. Employers may require employees to pool their tips to be shared with other employees and with managers, including people who do not earn tips to contribute to the pool. The practice is not illegal everywhere.

Besides tipped employees, workers in some sectors do not get minimum wage protection. Farm workers don't get minimum wage, overtime pay, OR child labor protection. Workers at resorts, seasonal and recreational tourist-type establishments, and such don't get minimum wage or overtime pay. Same goes if you're a "babysitter", which is code for any kind of nanny or child care worker. If you have a disability, or if you work a fishing boat, or if you're doing elder care, you don't get minimum wage.

It's legal to discriminate by age and pay people under age 20 only $4.25 per hour (compared to $7.25 per hour for other adults) for the first 90 days of employment. This means you can force college students to work for less. Supposedly by doing this the employer isn't "displacing" other employees. But as long as you make sure nobody lasts longer than 90 days all you have to do is kick the old ones out or make sure they're signed on just for "temporary" or "seasonal" work.

Then of course there are people who are forced to work extra hours without pay, such as chefs, sous-chefs, and other kitchen workers in restaurants. Retail workers who work on commission earn zero when they're stocking shelves, and if you average the mandatory off-the-clock work in with the commissioned sales work, frequently the number comes in at below minimum wage. On paper that's illegal. In practice, it's situation normal at Wal-Mart and the other giant big-box stores until somebody slaps their fingers for it, at which point the Waltons and the other rich shareholders shriek, wail, and bribe until they can find enough people whose hours they can cut to make up the loss for the fines they had to pay. The American public loves this and continues to buy there... of course they frequently have no choice once all the other local grocery stores have been driven out of business.

Cassie

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #9 on: November 21, 2016, 07:07:15 AM »
I always tip the people that handle my bags a dollar per bag. If everyone did that it would add up. I always carry lots of 1's when I travel.

Aminul

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #10 on: November 21, 2016, 09:36:53 AM »
Quote
DEALING WITH UNEXPECTED SHOCKS
Financial shocks, such as a layoff, broken-down car or a divorce, happen to most of us. Six in 10 households experienced one over a 12-month period, according to a recent study by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

If 60% of households experience these "financial shocks" once a year, should they really be considered all that unexpected?

Cassie

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #11 on: November 21, 2016, 09:40:14 AM »
Of course they were not. When we ere young my DH got lots of overtime so good $ but we also knew he would be laid off so we saved for those times. For some of his co-workers it always seemed to be a shock which we never could understand. It was part of the industry.

TheGrimSqueaker

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #12 on: November 21, 2016, 09:54:52 AM »
Quote
DEALING WITH UNEXPECTED SHOCKS
Financial shocks, such as a layoff, broken-down car or a divorce, happen to most of us. Six in 10 households experienced one over a 12-month period, according to a recent study by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

If 60% of households experience these "financial shocks" once a year, should they really be considered all that unexpected?

One rude financial surprise every year or two seems about par for the course. We can't necessarily predict exactly when the black swan will show up and eat our cash reserves, but we do know that it happens pretty regularly. It makes sense to at least plan and budget for it.

Tyrist

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #13 on: November 21, 2016, 10:29:56 AM »
Quote
DEALING WITH UNEXPECTED SHOCKS
Financial shocks, such as a layoff, broken-down car or a divorce, happen to most of us. Six in 10 households experienced one over a 12-month period, according to a recent study by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

If 60% of households experience these "financial shocks" once a year, should they really be considered all that unexpected?

I wouldn't even consider them "shocks" if they occur frequently since they are easily budgeted for.

Jrr85

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #14 on: November 21, 2016, 11:12:00 AM »
Holy shit can people still pay employees less than 4 dollars an hour in the US??

Cause the guy gets tips grabbing a bag at an airport? I've never tipped anyone at an airport. He would get what 5 bucks a shift if lucky?

Of course. It's normal if you work in child care, food service, food preparation, health care, farm labor, retail sales, or as a domestic cleaner.

??  do you mean illegal under the tax radar positions ??

No, I mean there are entire sectors of the economy where the law simply doesn't apply. Employers are exempt from having to pay minimum wage.

Tipped employees make only $2.13 an hour. When their tips, added to this amount, do not match the federal minimum wage, in theory the employer must make up the difference. In practice, employers do their very best to gouge the employees for shrinkage, theft of meals, uniforms, and other clawbacks. Employers may require employees to pool their tips to be shared with other employees and with managers, including people who do not earn tips to contribute to the pool. The practice is not illegal everywhere.

Besides tipped employees, workers in some sectors do not get minimum wage protection. Farm workers don't get minimum wage, overtime pay, OR child labor protection. Workers at resorts, seasonal and recreational tourist-type establishments, and such don't get minimum wage or overtime pay.

Same goes if you're a "babysitter", which is code for any kind of nanny or child care worker. If you have a disability, or if you work a fishing boat, or if you're doing elder care, you don't get minimum wage.

It's legal to discriminate by age and pay people under age 20 only $4.25 per hour (compared to $7.25 per hour for other adults) for the first 90 days of employment. This means you can force college students to work for less. Supposedly by doing this the employer isn't "displacing" other employees. But as long as you make sure nobody lasts longer than 90 days all you have to do is kick the old ones out or make sure they're signed on just for "temporary" or "seasonal" work.

Then of course there are people who are forced to work extra hours without pay, such as chefs, sous-chefs, and other kitchen workers in restaurants. Retail workers who work on commission earn zero when they're stocking shelves, and if you average the mandatory off-the-clock work in with the commissioned sales work, frequently the number comes in at below minimum wage. On paper that's illegal. In practice, it's situation normal at Wal-Mart and the other giant big-box stores until somebody slaps their fingers for it, at which point the Waltons and the other rich shareholders shriek, wail, and bribe until they can find enough people whose hours they can cut to make up the loss for the fines they had to pay. The American public loves this and continues to buy there... of course they frequently have no choice once all the other local grocery stores have been driven out of business.

Where do you find employees that will work for less than minimum wage?  Strictly people in the country illegally and interns?  We live in a pretty low cost area and we certainly wouldn't be able to get a nanny for minimum wage.  Maybe if we paid under the table we could find somebody for $5 an hour cash?  It probably wouldn't be somebody we'd be thrilled about, but maybe somebody that was on disability and looking to work under the table to supplement without losing disability. 

And it's not just nannies.  We've lost employers that couldn't fill out shifts paying $9 and change an hour.  Literally shut down because they couldn't fill up the shifts they needed.   


mm1970

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #15 on: November 21, 2016, 11:39:19 AM »
Holy shit can people still pay employees less than 4 dollars an hour in the US??

Cause the guy gets tips grabbing a bag at an airport? I've never tipped anyone at an airport. He would get what 5 bucks a shift if lucky?

Of course. It's normal if you work in child care, food service, food preparation, health care, farm labor, retail sales, or as a domestic cleaner.

??  do you mean illegal under the tax radar positions ??

No, I mean there are entire sectors of the economy where the law simply doesn't apply. Employers are exempt from having to pay minimum wage.

Tipped employees make only $2.13 an hour. When their tips, added to this amount, do not match the federal minimum wage, in theory the employer must make up the difference. In practice, employers do their very best to gouge the employees for shrinkage, theft of meals, uniforms, and other clawbacks. Employers may require employees to pool their tips to be shared with other employees and with managers, including people who do not earn tips to contribute to the pool. The practice is not illegal everywhere.

Besides tipped employees, workers in some sectors do not get minimum wage protection. Farm workers don't get minimum wage, overtime pay, OR child labor protection. Workers at resorts, seasonal and recreational tourist-type establishments, and such don't get minimum wage or overtime pay.

Same goes if you're a "babysitter", which is code for any kind of nanny or child care worker. If you have a disability, or if you work a fishing boat, or if you're doing elder care, you don't get minimum wage.

It's legal to discriminate by age and pay people under age 20 only $4.25 per hour (compared to $7.25 per hour for other adults) for the first 90 days of employment. This means you can force college students to work for less. Supposedly by doing this the employer isn't "displacing" other employees. But as long as you make sure nobody lasts longer than 90 days all you have to do is kick the old ones out or make sure they're signed on just for "temporary" or "seasonal" work.

Then of course there are people who are forced to work extra hours without pay, such as chefs, sous-chefs, and other kitchen workers in restaurants. Retail workers who work on commission earn zero when they're stocking shelves, and if you average the mandatory off-the-clock work in with the commissioned sales work, frequently the number comes in at below minimum wage. On paper that's illegal. In practice, it's situation normal at Wal-Mart and the other giant big-box stores until somebody slaps their fingers for it, at which point the Waltons and the other rich shareholders shriek, wail, and bribe until they can find enough people whose hours they can cut to make up the loss for the fines they had to pay. The American public loves this and continues to buy there... of course they frequently have no choice once all the other local grocery stores have been driven out of business.

Where do you find employees that will work for less than minimum wage?  Strictly people in the country illegally and interns?  We live in a pretty low cost area and we certainly wouldn't be able to get a nanny for minimum wage.  Maybe if we paid under the table we could find somebody for $5 an hour cash?  It probably wouldn't be somebody we'd be thrilled about, but maybe somebody that was on disability and looking to work under the table to supplement without losing disability. 

And it's not just nannies.  We've lost employers that couldn't fill out shifts paying $9 and change an hour.  Literally shut down because they couldn't fill up the shifts they needed.

I think this varies a LOT by state.

California has a minimum wage for almost everything, including restaurant workers.  Also have overtime pay for farmworkers, though jury still out on that one.  (Law was overtime if >10 hr/day or 60 hr/week. Now it's 8 hr/day or 40hr/week, but that just means farmworkers work for 2 different employers now so that owners don't have to pay overtime).

Goldielocks

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #16 on: November 21, 2016, 03:34:19 PM »
Thanks, Grim

I knew about illegal /under the table work, and of course, when your kids work in your restaurant / convenience store..   and occasional babysitting (we have all done that as teens..), and paper route carriers (just squeak in under minimum wage because they don't pace out the time it takes when setting the rate per route).

Buy you reminded me about commissioned sales persons -- who are actually supposed to be a cross between self employed and employed...

The walmart one was new -- what do you mean?  Walmart retail staff are commission based or just the vendors who Walmart has stocking the vendor's shelves (like the bread and chip vendors, although those drivers are usually pretty insistant that they stock it themselves to ensure the most sales).   The retail store I worked with had to give 1 hour to every paid employee for ever 1 hour of work that the vendor would do.   My job there was to partly to complete the time studies to check the accuracy, but walmart definitely took the vendor managed inventory concept to a whole new level.

I thought farm workers were minimum wage, no overtime, but on a piece work basis, so the employer has to prove that the average worker gets well above minimum wage in order to enforce the piece rate, etc...? 

Can you elaborate on the Walmart one?   
 

Cassie

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #17 on: November 21, 2016, 03:43:45 PM »
I have lived in states where waiters etc made just a few bucks an hour because of tips and other states they must get paid minimum wage.

Goldielocks

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #18 on: November 21, 2016, 05:34:44 PM »
I have lived in states where waiters etc made just a few bucks an hour because of tips and other states they must get paid minimum wage.

The surprise is that there are many people, who apparently don't make close to minimum wage, even after tipping is included.. not that some states allow these people to receive an absurdly low rate per hour, assuming that they make at least $5 per hour in tips.

TheGrimSqueaker

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #19 on: November 22, 2016, 10:18:29 AM »
Holy shit can people still pay employees less than 4 dollars an hour in the US??

Cause the guy gets tips grabbing a bag at an airport? I've never tipped anyone at an airport. He would get what 5 bucks a shift if lucky?

Of course. It's normal if you work in child care, food service, food preparation, health care, farm labor, retail sales, or as a domestic cleaner.

??  do you mean illegal under the tax radar positions ??

No, I mean there are entire sectors of the economy where the law simply doesn't apply. Employers are exempt from having to pay minimum wage.

Tipped employees make only $2.13 an hour. When their tips, added to this amount, do not match the federal minimum wage, in theory the employer must make up the difference. In practice, employers do their very best to gouge the employees for shrinkage, theft of meals, uniforms, and other clawbacks. Employers may require employees to pool their tips to be shared with other employees and with managers, including people who do not earn tips to contribute to the pool. The practice is not illegal everywhere.

Besides tipped employees, workers in some sectors do not get minimum wage protection. Farm workers don't get minimum wage, overtime pay, OR child labor protection. Workers at resorts, seasonal and recreational tourist-type establishments, and such don't get minimum wage or overtime pay.

Same goes if you're a "babysitter", which is code for any kind of nanny or child care worker. If you have a disability, or if you work a fishing boat, or if you're doing elder care, you don't get minimum wage.

It's legal to discriminate by age and pay people under age 20 only $4.25 per hour (compared to $7.25 per hour for other adults) for the first 90 days of employment. This means you can force college students to work for less. Supposedly by doing this the employer isn't "displacing" other employees. But as long as you make sure nobody lasts longer than 90 days all you have to do is kick the old ones out or make sure they're signed on just for "temporary" or "seasonal" work.

Then of course there are people who are forced to work extra hours without pay, such as chefs, sous-chefs, and other kitchen workers in restaurants. Retail workers who work on commission earn zero when they're stocking shelves, and if you average the mandatory off-the-clock work in with the commissioned sales work, frequently the number comes in at below minimum wage. On paper that's illegal. In practice, it's situation normal at Wal-Mart and the other giant big-box stores until somebody slaps their fingers for it, at which point the Waltons and the other rich shareholders shriek, wail, and bribe until they can find enough people whose hours they can cut to make up the loss for the fines they had to pay. The American public loves this and continues to buy there... of course they frequently have no choice once all the other local grocery stores have been driven out of business.

Where do you find employees that will work for less than minimum wage?  Strictly people in the country illegally and interns?  We live in a pretty low cost area and we certainly wouldn't be able to get a nanny for minimum wage.  Maybe if we paid under the table we could find somebody for $5 an hour cash?  It probably wouldn't be somebody we'd be thrilled about, but maybe somebody that was on disability and looking to work under the table to supplement without losing disability. 

And it's not just nannies.  We've lost employers that couldn't fill out shifts paying $9 and change an hour.  Literally shut down because they couldn't fill up the shifts they needed.

You have to be willing to hire high school students, people with physical or mental disabilities, elderly people, people who receive food stamps or unemployment benefits, people who have no driver's license, people who have their wages garnished for whatever reason, people who use recreational drugs when they're not on the job but who are perfectly sober when they're on the clock (they just can't pass a drug test) or people who are unemployable due to issues like addiction, mental illness, or criminal records. Depending on the kind of work you've got, you may be able to hand out piecework to people who are shut-ins or unable to work at the normal rate. Having your frames made Hobby Lobby style by people who have difficulty controlling their hands may pay less than minimum wage per hour depending on the piecework rate, but it also provides income to people who would otherwise have none.

That's actually a lot of people, many of whom are completely competent for the employer's purposes. Depending on the neighborhood it could be the majority of the population. Rigorous requirements about drug testing and criminal background checks are one of the things that keeps the underclass hard to employ.

A portion of the income is often under the table, but not always. A lot of people want to make sure they get the minimum number of quarters in to qualify for Social Security.

infogoon

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #20 on: November 22, 2016, 10:43:17 AM »
So, Social Security was supposed to be one of the supports of a "three legged stool" in retirement, along with pension income and personal savings.

Very few people have pensions these days, and apparently nobody is saving either. So we're going to have a whole generation of seniors trying to get by on just Social Security checks. This is going to get real, real ugly in the next couple of decades.

Malum Prohibitum

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #21 on: November 22, 2016, 11:21:52 AM »
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/divided-america-easy-retirement-only-privileged-few-152114001--finance.html

I'm not saying most will get there... they won't.  When you're making less than $20/hr in a higher income area... it will probably be unlikely unless you get extremely creative.

But the way the article talks about it, makes it seem like 'easy' retirement is some lottery pool, it's not.  The vast amount of users here proves that.

Have a read, more educational read than comedy.  Sadly people hate change... they fear it, so most scoff at MMM ideas...

Well, Nancy Harvey owns a day care.  Those things are cash cows.  I have no clue what she is doing wrong. 

Quote
At one point, she had built up a nest egg of between $10,000 and $25,000 in 401(k) accounts through prior jobs she had in accounting and sales. About 15 years ago, she started her own business, which she runs from her home.

"Then, I unfortunately went through a divorce, and life happens," she says. She pulled cash from her retirement savings to help pay college tuition bills for her kids and for a car. All the while, even as her business grew, her take-home income remained low enough that she periodically lined up for a free turkey during holiday seasons.
  So she had low savings even in her prior work, and she funded her kids' college and a car over retirement.  Let me repeat - She pulled cash from her 401(k) for a car.

Well, enjoy the car and quit bitching about retirement.

Then there is Janene Evans who saved in a 401(k) but leaves her job for another state with no job lined up and no plan and has invested nothing in 15 years.

Then there is David Harraway, 61, now a millionaire. 

Quote
They did that by consistently putting away at least 10 percent of their income in a retirement plan. Harraway says they also didn't eat out much, didn't vacation lavishly and lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado, instead of a high-cost area. Occasionally they might splurge to see The Who when they toured.

The couple didn't make much money early in their careers, but they recently were making enough to be in the top 10 percent.
  Do we see any differences?

BMEPhDinCO

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #22 on: November 22, 2016, 03:04:26 PM »
The whole article points out over and over that ""Only the privileged have access to a secure retirement," says Teresa Ghilarducci, a labor economist at the New School for Social Research." but that's not true, anyone can get an IRA or a Roth IRA...

The real issue is living wages - and that's based on the commercial way we do business in this country. A second issue is financial education here... fix both those and it wouldn't be as big a deal for people to retire.

exterous

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #23 on: November 23, 2016, 08:53:06 AM »
Quote
DEALING WITH UNEXPECTED SHOCKS
Financial shocks, such as a layoff, broken-down car or a divorce, happen to most of us. Six in 10 households experienced one over a 12-month period, according to a recent study by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

If 60% of households experience these "financial shocks" once a year, should they really be considered all that unexpected?

I wouldn't even consider them "shocks" if they occur frequently since they are easily budgeted for.

I don't think a car breaking down should belong in the same category as divorce. But if you take that out of the equation I think the resulting statistic wouldn't generate as much emotional pull.

The whole article points out over and over that ""Only the privileged have access to a secure retirement," says Teresa Ghilarducci, a labor economist at the New School for Social Research." but that's not true, anyone can get an IRA or a Roth IRA...

I also noticed that was conveniently left out of the article. If they aren't bothering to save when they have access to an IRA I don't think just extending 401k plans to them will make much of a difference.

Metric Mouse

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #24 on: November 23, 2016, 01:06:44 PM »
The whole article points out over and over that ""Only the privileged have access to a secure retirement," says Teresa Ghilarducci, a labor economist at the New School for Social Research." but that's not true, anyone can get an IRA or a Roth IRA...

The real issue is living wages - and that's based on the commercial way we do business in this country. A second issue is financial education here... fix both those and it wouldn't be as big a deal for people to retire.

Good points.  An IRA doesn't guarantee a secure retirement, though - only access to one, the liquid capital to invest and favorable markets.  Not all of these are available to all people.

Papa Mustache

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #25 on: November 27, 2016, 06:20:46 PM »
I always tip the people that handle my bags a dollar per bag. If everyone did that it would add up. I always carry lots of 1's when I travel.

Does anyone really tip the bellboy in hotels and if so - how much?

I've never stayed in the hotel with a bellboy but the topic is popular in certain genres of movies and sitcoms...

I've always feared I wouldn't know how much to pay if I "accidentally" stayed in a place like that. ;)

Metric Mouse

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #26 on: November 28, 2016, 04:34:17 AM »
I always tip the people that handle my bags a dollar per bag. If everyone did that it would add up. I always carry lots of 1's when I travel.

Does anyone really tip the bellboy in hotels and if so - how much?

I've never stayed in the hotel with a bellboy but the topic is popular in certain genres of movies and sitcoms...

I've always feared I wouldn't know how much to pay if I "accidentally" stayed in a place like that. ;)

I always travel light enough to carry my own bags. Some places have staff that is more 'helpfully insistent' than other places; I've always figured they were just doing their job, but it can be annoying to be expected to hand over your backpack that you somehow managed to handle yourself for the last 3600 miles so that someone can carry it down the hall to your room, just to hand it back to you.

SEAKSR

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #27 on: December 01, 2016, 11:32:31 AM »
I found it interesting when I looked up the definition of Privilege.

Privilege: a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people. ex. "education is a right, not a privilege"

I firmly believe that the example above should read "Access to education is a right, not a privilege" The lowest truth is that, as is commonly heard, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. Haven't we all, by realizing the financial truths that living below one's means will lead to a secure retirement, just taken advantage of the right to an education, and then just accurately applied the lessons learned to shift our rights into the realm of privileges? All of the gospels of personal finance thump on these very lessons. The concept is easy, yet few attain the "dream" of an "easy" retirement. I think that by and large the author of the article has defined both the words "Easy" and "Privileged" far too narrowly.


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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #28 on: December 05, 2016, 03:41:28 PM »
I always tip the people that handle my bags a dollar per bag. If everyone did that it would add up. I always carry lots of 1's when I travel.

Does anyone really tip the bellboy in hotels and if so - how much?

I've never stayed in the hotel with a bellboy but the topic is popular in certain genres of movies and sitcoms...

I've always feared I wouldn't know how much to pay if I "accidentally" stayed in a place like that. ;)

$1 per bag, with $5 total for a smallish amount plus opening the room, showing how to work the thermostat  and checking to see if you need anything else.

You can normally avoid the bellhop if you only have a single bag, but if you have two or more, can be harder to do in nice places.   I especially dislike hotels that have "valet parking only".   I have a fundamental dislike of valet parking and being forced to use it.

Source - I travel a lot for work, and have been stuck in situations like this when I don't book my own flight.

Papa Mustache

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #29 on: December 06, 2016, 03:26:23 PM »
Thank you!

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #30 on: December 06, 2016, 03:53:41 PM »
I always tip the people that handle my bags a dollar per bag. If everyone did that it would add up. I always carry lots of 1's when I travel.

Does anyone really tip the bellboy in hotels and if so - how much?

I've never stayed in the hotel with a bellboy but the topic is popular in certain genres of movies and sitcoms...

I've always feared I wouldn't know how much to pay if I "accidentally" stayed in a place like that. ;)

$1 per bag, with $5 total for a smallish amount plus opening the room, showing how to work the thermostat  and checking to see if you need anything else.

You can normally avoid the bellhop if you only have a single bag, but if you have two or more, can be harder to do in nice places.   I especially dislike hotels that have "valet parking only".   I have a fundamental dislike of valet parking and being forced to use it.

Source - I travel a lot for work, and have been stuck in situations like this when I don't book my own flight.

I'm secretly afraid that if I break wind in the car due to having to eat airport food, the valet will somehow be aware of it and judge me for it.

bacchi

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #31 on: December 06, 2016, 04:44:14 PM »
You can normally avoid the bellhop if you only have a single bag, but if you have two or more, can be harder to do in nice places.   I especially dislike hotels that have "valet parking only".   I have a fundamental dislike of valet parking and being forced to use it.

What's worse is forced valet parking at restaurants where the parking is right next to the building. You hand over your keys and the valet literally drives 20 feet to park your car. It was expensed but, still, wtf?!?

Papa Mustache

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #32 on: December 07, 2016, 07:56:12 AM »
Our car has a manual transmission. I'll park it myself... ;)

slugline

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #33 on: December 07, 2016, 01:10:03 PM »
What's worse is forced valet parking at restaurants where the parking is right next to the building. You hand over your keys and the valet literally drives 20 feet to park your car. It was expensed but, still, wtf?!?

Last month I was treated to dinner out at a nice restaurant. The place has two parking areas -- a lot immediately in front of the entrance and another lot on the next block over.  The valet service has reserved the lot directly in front of the door for their parking. Now that's a "WTF!?" situation -- if my car is parked  where I can practically trip and fall on it on my way out the door, why would I need a valet to get it for me????

MgoSam

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #34 on: December 07, 2016, 01:13:00 PM »
I always tip the people that handle my bags a dollar per bag. If everyone did that it would add up. I always carry lots of 1's when I travel.

Does anyone really tip the bellboy in hotels and if so - how much?

I've never stayed in the hotel with a bellboy but the topic is popular in certain genres of movies and sitcoms...

I've always feared I wouldn't know how much to pay if I "accidentally" stayed in a place like that. ;)

$1 per bag, with $5 total for a smallish amount plus opening the room, showing how to work the thermostat  and checking to see if you need anything else.

You can normally avoid the bellhop if you only have a single bag, but if you have two or more, can be harder to do in nice places.   I especially dislike hotels that have "valet parking only".   I have a fundamental dislike of valet parking and being forced to use it.

Source - I travel a lot for work, and have been stuck in situations like this when I don't book my own flight.

I'm secretly afraid that if I break wind in the car due to having to eat airport food, the valet will somehow be aware of it and judge me for it.

That reminds me of the guy that made "The Room," and the subject of the book, "The Distaster Artist" (soon to be a major motion picture). Apparently he never wanted valets near his car because he thought they would fart in it.

Metric Mouse

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #35 on: December 07, 2016, 01:15:19 PM »
Our car has a manual transmission. I'll park it myself... ;)

Ha. We had 'valet' service at one of my highschool formal dances years ago. It was worth the price to see them sweat trying to operate the '55 chevy I drove back then.

Slee_stack

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #36 on: December 07, 2016, 02:01:16 PM »
Our car has a manual transmission. I'll park it myself... ;)
Last year I had to retrieve my car myself because they couldn't figure out how to put it in reverse.  I watched them almost smash the wall going forward and had to run over to intervene.

And the expectation is a tip for this shit???   Probably burned my clutch plate too.  Grrr.

Thankfully its very rare we are forced to valet.  I intentionally avoid hotels that don't have self park.

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #37 on: December 08, 2016, 01:58:30 PM »
Our car has a manual transmission. I'll park it myself... ;)

Ha. We had 'valet' service at one of my highschool formal dances years ago. It was worth the price to see them sweat trying to operate the '55 chevy I drove back then.

hahaha - but not worth having to replace the driveshaft universal joints! ;)

I almost had valet parking once in Italy. I drove into the guarded lot and there were several dozen cars gridlock parked in a lot. These guys were genuis and knew how to move everything to extract a car parked along the back wall without hurting anyone's cars. Like one of those sliding block games. It was always worth the few bucks to have your car guarded there.
« Last Edit: December 08, 2016, 02:02:33 PM by Joe Lucky »

Metric Mouse

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Re: Easy Retirement ONLY for the privileged few...
« Reply #38 on: December 08, 2016, 02:27:34 PM »
Our car has a manual transmission. I'll park it myself... ;)

Ha. We had 'valet' service at one of my highschool formal dances years ago. It was worth the price to see them sweat trying to operate the '55 chevy I drove back then.

hahaha - but not worth having to replace the driveshaft universal joints! ;)

I almost had valet parking once in Italy. I drove into the guarded lot and there were several dozen cars gridlock parked in a lot. These guys were genuis and knew how to move everything to extract a car parked along the back wall without hurting anyone's cars. Like one of those sliding block games. It was always worth the few bucks to have your car guarded there.

Meh. With the foot starter, they couldn't even turn it over, so there was little worry about anyone causing real damage.