Posts filed under ‘WALT’S OPINIONS’
YOU KNOW YOU’RE CREATING MEMORIES WHEN . . .
You find this Christmas as being a special Christmas.
THOUGHTS ON RETIREMENT
THOUGHTS ON RETIREMENT
I’m going to step away from the subjects usually contained in my posts and focus on the subject of retirement.
It has recently been reported that many folks are not saving enough for their retirement. The fact that 47% of working people cannot put aside $1000 for an unexpected bill. How can people save for retirement when they have so little cash available?
There are numerous ads for various schemes guaranteeing you a percentage of profit from your investments no matter what happens to the stock market. They guarantee you a safe and secure retirement.
I’ve been retired for fifteen years, and, in my opinion, all these guarantees are BS. The only individuals who are assured of having a safe and secure retirement are those who have enough money so that no matter what happens to the economy and the stock market their future is safe.
In my mind there is one important question, the most important question, which must be answered before you discuss the quality of your retirement. How long are you going to live after you retire? For the longer you live, the less the money you have saved is worth.
I look at the cost of living now and compare it to fifteen years ago. I look at current salaries and compare them to my salary fifteen years ago. Fifteen years ago, my family’s income provided a comfortable life. That same salary today might pose a struggle.
Some of the retirement plans offered guarantee that you can maintain your lifestyle you had before retirement into your retirement. That guarantee, I feel, depends upon two factors. What is the lifestyle you plan to maintain and how long you live once retire?
In reality, as all things in life, there are no guarantees.
OBSERVATIONS & OPINIONS
This a suggestion is suggestion for a writing project, either a short story or novel. There is something terribly wrong this country and there seems no way to fix it. Perhaps if readers experience, through fiction, the hurt, the sorrow being caused in this country something may happen. This is not the same country I remember as a child. Life has somehow lost its value. The slightest disagreement could end in death. Not long ago there were two mass shootings, one right after the other. Congress was not in session. Mitch McConnell said any action to be taken could wait. I wonder how many people died while Congress waited. But let’s be honest. Any action taken by congress would have little or no effect in solving the problem of guns. Our president said he would strengthen the gun laws of this country. A visit from the NRA changed his mind. The events experienced in Philadelphia during the past few days highlight the gun problem. Recently there were three events which indicate what a vicious society we have become. A mother was holding her two-year-old daughter IN HER HOUSE. Shots were fired and the child died, hit in the head. Can you imagine in that instant the anger, the fear and the hopelessness that mother experienced? I cannot imagine the sorrow that mother will experience for the rest of her life. Her innocent child denied a future by a senseless act committed by someone with no care for life or property. But this event is in no way unique. Every day, in this country, there are people gripped by the same emotions. Close to the same time, an eleven-month- old child was shot four times while sitting in a car seat. That poor child is now fighting to remain alive. The next day there was an argument between a man and his girlfriend. Two men intervened and asked the man arguing to go to his car and cool-down. Fifteen minutes later the man existed the car and shot these two men, trying to help, dead. These days trying to be of help could cost you your life. Life has become so cheap with the increased availability of guns. The NRA strives to defeat any law which would create a safer society. Who supplies the NRA with the money to accomplish their purpose? Could it be the gun industry putting profit over? How can we change this loss of life in our country? We can change it with our vote. We must elect people who will represent their constituents and not the organizations throwing money their way. We must elect those who have never accepted a dollar from the NRA. I know this is an impossible dream but something must be done. So, I say to writers write your hearts out and maybe you will reach the heart of this country.
OBSERVATIONS & OPINIONS
Why is it that convict, having paid their debt
to society are remembered for their wrongdoings
for the rest of their lives? For some, making that
life unbearable.
Yet, at the same time, companies are responsible for
crimes against humanity, make immense profits,
and all they need to pay are small fines with
a fraction of the profits made.
And their top managers are paid millions
for the crimes they have committed.
And our society, for the most part, forgets
OBSERVATIONS & OPINIONS
THE PAST AND THE OBSERVATIONS OF TODAY
Today like every other day a corruption is identified in either industry or government.
I grew up in the 50’ and 60’s when there weren’t any corrupt practices.
RIGHT!
I’m sure they existed and cleverly concealed. The technology did not exist to easily reveal them. Money and intimidation played a major part in their secrecy.
Today, things are different. Every day new corruptions are revealed. And every day nothing of consequence happens.
Good lawyers and money are finding ways around the system. Or making their way through the system through donations to politicians.
I want to share my personal experience with a large company.
I worked for this company for 22 years, which constantly morphed into a different organization due to mergers. The final merger with a less than reputable company, which in reality, was a subtle takeover was the death nell of values I respected.
When I began my job with this company it was honest, focused on their products. But over time things changed. As with most companies the focus now is on the bottom line to please stockholders.
Day after day I hear company adds talking about their top managers on retreat to discuss the company’s culture.
Corporations provide pleasant surrounding for the top executives of the company to discuss the future of the company and to their culture.
The culture is the bottom line. If a company could produce a product which would benefit society but not be profitable, what would be the decision of this products future, I don’t have to tell you what the choice would be.
The company I worked for was once sued for over three billion dollars. They said they were not guilty, but would pay the fine to put this behind them.
Have you heard that before?
I feel today we all pawns. Our lives are manipulated by the 1% not caring about our lives or the country. Their object is wealth and power.
OBSERVATIONS & OPINIONS
TRUMP & HITLER
I just stumbled upon a Trump rally in New Hampshire.
Don’t know when. It’s the content and body language
that matters.
I listened to his rhetoric, as always glorifying himself.
But I notice something different.
When he stepped away from the podium to listen to
the crowd roar their approval, I could imagine Hitler
doing the same movements.
Watch the rally and tell me I am wrong.
Fellow Americans, I think we are in big trouble.
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