If You Are A Saver
The Federal Reserve bank says they are going to keep short term interest rates low for the foreseeable future or some similar wording which means that keeping money in a savings account or a certificate of deposit will probably lose you money in that the price of some things will continue to go up and you will pay some taxes on whatever interest you might receive.
Frankly, I'm not sure how much people should be paid for cash that they might have on hand. Back in the bad old days of communism there was a joke that was more of a truism than humor. "We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us". There were always shortages of food and things that people needed and that was the way the books were balanced: some kind of enforced misery for a lot of folks. The issue is very complicated and not very rational on any level.
I live in a really neat neighborhood that is gentrifying. The housing stock, mostly one story ranch housing mixed with two bedroom apartments that became condominiums is changing fairly quickly. Houses(the Land) built in the 1950's are worth an awful lot of money and are being torn down to build much bigger houses that are two story houses or bigger townhouses. A few years ago I thought a house that was selling for $1,000,000 was a lot of money. Now I walk by or drive by those houses all the time and $1,000,000 houses aren't rare and $2,000,000 are closing in. Some of these houses are so big they look like hotels. Recently, I've started seeing folks driving Bentleys, Ferraris, and I just saw the 2nd Tesla in the neighborhood. Where is the money to pay for this stuff coming from?
And I on the other hand am intrigued by cable TV shows like Extreme Cheapskates and Tiny House Nation. I don't own a smart phone, hang my laundry on the line to dry, my car in dog years should have retired a couple of years ago. And that doesn't count how thrilled I am to turn off the air conditioning, open the windows and wait to see the next electric bill which should be below $50.00.
Meanwhile, the young girl who made a very public decision to end her life on November 1, 2014 because she has inoperable brain cancer has wisely postponed her decision.
Frankly, I'm not sure how much people should be paid for cash that they might have on hand. Back in the bad old days of communism there was a joke that was more of a truism than humor. "We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us". There were always shortages of food and things that people needed and that was the way the books were balanced: some kind of enforced misery for a lot of folks. The issue is very complicated and not very rational on any level.
I live in a really neat neighborhood that is gentrifying. The housing stock, mostly one story ranch housing mixed with two bedroom apartments that became condominiums is changing fairly quickly. Houses(the Land) built in the 1950's are worth an awful lot of money and are being torn down to build much bigger houses that are two story houses or bigger townhouses. A few years ago I thought a house that was selling for $1,000,000 was a lot of money. Now I walk by or drive by those houses all the time and $1,000,000 houses aren't rare and $2,000,000 are closing in. Some of these houses are so big they look like hotels. Recently, I've started seeing folks driving Bentleys, Ferraris, and I just saw the 2nd Tesla in the neighborhood. Where is the money to pay for this stuff coming from?
And I on the other hand am intrigued by cable TV shows like Extreme Cheapskates and Tiny House Nation. I don't own a smart phone, hang my laundry on the line to dry, my car in dog years should have retired a couple of years ago. And that doesn't count how thrilled I am to turn off the air conditioning, open the windows and wait to see the next electric bill which should be below $50.00.
Meanwhile, the young girl who made a very public decision to end her life on November 1, 2014 because she has inoperable brain cancer has wisely postponed her decision.
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