Is anyone else just worried about the future?

[WildBaldMonkey]

I have to say that I am.

[NoFenders]

Well, I'm sure most with some investments are quite worried about what will happen/has happened to their money. Most are worried about when the value of their home will perk back up. And quite a few are really scared at just how either one these idiots we have running for president will finally tell us the truth about what exactly they will do, instead of promising more free shit with no money to back it up.

We could certainly have bread lines in the near future, but to think it would go to zero is very far fetched. Keep on keepin on. Don't wait for anyone to tell you how to spend or what not to do. If you have a feeling something will make yuo money, take the feeling and run with it.

This is a time of opportunity just as much as it is a time of catastrophe. Keep your head up, and your eyes and ears open. It could be your time to shine, if you really want to. I know of others who love living in the doom and gloom world.

:cool:

[AceFace]

i've been pretty nervous since yesterday. matt just called and said they had to let a supervisor go at his office. i don't know what we'd do if he lost his job.

[alien autopsy]

this is an opportunity to find something real

[NoFenders]

(y)

It's also an opportunity to do something for yourself, instead of waiting for someone to do something for you.

:cool:

[kaiser soze]

I'm concerned but not worried.

We can pull this shit easily, think about it as being virtual because it is, we make our own problems. Figure out what the cause of these problems are and correct them.

If things are looking bad, good will come of it. I guarantee changes will be made in the way we consume energy...but I pray it won't be nuclear

may I suggest checking out the Shock Doctrine

[WildBaldMonkey]

We had a conference call at work the other day. About 1/3 of the people either got their hours cut or are completely out of a job. I wasn't effected but it feels like it's just a matter of time before I will be.....

[Adam]

this should be a poll
&
nope

[ms.peachy]

Yes and no. I'm reasonably confident that we'll be OK. We started scaling back our lifestyle about a year ago, when mr.p formed his own consultancy, because we knew he'd have to pay himself a minimal salary to plow money back into the business, and he's got work for at least the next year, more (and more money) if this one particular job comes through. My job is secure, but admittedly doesn't bring in much. Our 401k's back in the US have taken a hit, but even with the real estate market as it is our properties are well situated so they will stay valuable. If one of our tenants is hit and ca't pay rent though, it will stretch us, so fingers crossed there. Overall, it may be tight for us for a bit, but we'll be OK. I think. Thank god we are in the UK at least and don't have to worry about health care, if any horrible unforeseen shit should go down. (A good friend of ours was diagnosed with throat cancer this week and his wife is pregnant with their 3rd, so this has been on my mind a bit lately.)

I do worry about my dad though. He is 61 and his pension has taken a beating, he lives in Florida (where the real estate market is, I understand, shit) and he works for Wachovia. If he loses his job, what will he do? What will happen to his wife, who has an immune system disorder and needs specialised medical care? What will happen to my nephew (of whom he has legal custody), who is autistic and is in a residential school that costs 60K a year?

Maybe NoFenders has some brilliant ideas on how this situation could be a great opportunity for my dad; I'm sure he'd love some suggestions.

[NoFenders]

Maybe NoFenders has some brilliant ideas on how this situation could be a great opportunity for my dad; I'm sure he'd love some suggestions.

I'm holding myself back from calling you a bitch.

My reply was to the creator of this thread, not to your dad.

I was begining to agree with your post and about to add to it, until you pulled this crap.

I do have some advice, seeing as though I'm around people that are older than your father every day. They don't have jobs anymore. They depend on their 401K every month. They have given me some insight as to what they're in for. They even have plans on how to survive should they get nothing at all next month.

Your dad has a job, I'm sure he's thankful for that.

:cool:

[Knuckles]

I'm holding myself back from calling you a bitch.




I'm not going to hold back and call you a fucking asshole.

[ms.peachy]

I'm holding myself back from calling you a bitch.


Don't hold your breath waiting for me to admire your restraint.

[NoFenders]

I'm not going to hold back and call you a fucking asshole.

LMAO

I always get a kick when a shmuck takes a shot on a message board.

You just made my weekend thanks!

(y)

:cool:

[NoFenders]

Don't hold your breath waiting for me to admire your restraint.


Trust me, I want to be very far away from your admiration. I don't like the association factor.

:cool:

[ms.peachy]

LMAO

I always get a kick when a shmuck takes a shot on a message board.

You just made my weekend thanks!

(y)

:cool:

See, you should be totally grateful to me for that opportunity I created for you.

[Knuckles]

LMAO

I always get a kick when a shmuck takes a shot on a message board.

You just made my weekend thanks!

(y)

:cool:

anytime (y)

[alien autopsy]

fact is, living with this american system is a gamble. saving for retirement is a gamble. pensions are a gamble. stock market is a gamble. social security is a gamble. its all a big game, and if you choose to play you might just lose your ass. remember the last great depression? how quick we forget.


you need to take care of yourself. if your dad loses your job, then your family should get together and talk about the future. perhaps it would make some sense to buy some land out in the country with what is left of the money he has, and offer some young folk some money to live for free and grow the food, make the fuel and develop other ventures that are valuable to a community (such as the fuel making, food growing, bee keeping etc...) this way, he is taken care of, the young folk are taken care of, and there is income and local economy developing.

[Knuckles]

fact is, living with this american system is a gamble. saving for retirement is a gamble. pensions are a gamble. stock market is a gamble. social security is a gamble. its all a big game, and if you choose to play you might just lose your ass. remember the last great depression? how quick we forget.


you need to take care of yourself. if your dad loses your job, then your family should get together and talk about the future. perhaps it would make some sense to buy some land out in the country with what is left of the money he has, and offer some young folk some money to live for free and grow the food, make the fuel and develop other ventures that are valuable to a community (such as the fuel making, food growing, bee keeping etc...) this way, he is taken care of, the young folk are taken care of, and there is income and local economy developing.

I think he's got something here.

You know, I've always wanted to try my hand at bee-keeping...

Peachy, run this plan by your dad and let him know I'm interested.(y)

[NoFenders]

See, you should be totally grateful to me for that opportunity I created for you.


I know, and it sucks that I let you give me a bit of happines.


Serioulsy though, what the fuck? I never mentioned a thing about older people and how they'll be. I was responding to a question from what appears to be somebody younger. You really threw me with that remark, and I wanted to call you a bitch, but didn't, but was vewy vewy close.

Anyway, we have our disagreements, and that is great in a lot of ways. Most here do not agree with my point of view, and in a lot of ways they're lucky. They don't put any pressure of being something in their liefe on themselves. They can easily place the blame eslewhere. I so wish I could do that. It would mean I could sleep better, and eat better. But I can't.

My opinion comes from life experience, and what I see day to day. Not what I read day to day. And as degrating as our media is from one day to another no matter if it's a left wing rag or a right wing rag, or rag that says they have no side, my and your personal opinion means most.

When I was attacked for not having a link to any arguement, only personal experience and opinion, I felt sorry for those who accused. It was truely their own loss of reality to believe everything they read and not take notes from somebody who's been there and done that.

But then again, we only believe the lies and stories we really want to, so it's all fair game.

I don't think you're a bitch, but to throw me under a bus like that and tag your father to it as if my way of thought or life contributed to it or could effect it, really was low ball.

I'm over it, and I think you are too.

I do get enjoyment out certain political things, but this is a bit harsh, and I'd rather nip it in the butt.

Cool???


:)

[Randetica]

well our main nazi haider died this morning which means austria is going down the drain now

[HAL 9000]

I think that in the last decade and a half, we have become accustomed to constant and steady economic growth. In the West we have been able to ride out wars, droughts, failed harvests, Oil Shocks etc for along time thanks, largely, to economic growth driven by massive technological innovation (mostly the internet).

The previous generations lived through an economic cycle of boom and bust with real wages (rising in the good times and falling in the bad) being the counterbalance to our macroeconomic success or failure.

We thought we had beaten this cycle but we never did, we can’t predict or control economies because they are Chaotic Systems whose inputs we only dimly understand. I guess the issue now is that we are used to the idea of constant growth and this applies to governments too who have not put enough aside for the bad times.

We should worry but not unduly, people will lose their jobs as they always have in times of hardship. In the past, people have relied on their friends and families in these times. Perhaps it is a time for governments as well as individuals to pool limited resources and allocate it to those who need it and benefit from scale at the same time. (Ms Peachy – perhaps your US family could live with you in the UK? Not sure if that is feasible, legal or desirable but I guess it is how families coped with this type of situation in the past.)

Ultimately, our increasing fundamental prosperity is the product of human ingenuity and of investment in research and education. As long as these remain, a return to steady economic growth (albeit cyclical) is inevitable – I just cant help feel that the governments role is to smooth the peaks and troughs so that people don’t get overly screwed by bad economic timing (like having to retire in an equity crash).