My interest
in the stock market began at a young age with my Polish grandparents talking
frequently about the Great Depression and the inevitability of a repeat performance.
Many of my ideas of survival are shaped from those impressionable young years
about subjects that were considerably larger than my young age to fully comprehend.
I predicted the first housing bubble bursting in the 1980’s as I had become
sufficiently educated to understand the consequence of speculation, actual
value and supply and demand markets.
I made my
co-workers crazy in 2007 as I was advising them to move their money to the side
lines as I understood the impact of deregulation of Wall St was ready to fall
upon us. In 2008 I became manic and agitated as I predicted and correctly
identified the timing of the crash and I met my predicted targets each month
and how far the market would fall. My ex-Merrill Lynch financial boyfriend initially
resisted my persistence, but finally moved his money when the DOW fell to
12,000. Anyone paying attention could see the signals of a collapse, but I
cannot to this day explain how I predicted with accuracy what the DOW would be
from month to month. Perhaps it was my grandmother’s spirit whispering in my ear.
Your guess is as good as mine.
The laws of
deduction make my assessments for the future reasonable conclusions. Most
people understand the population pyramid and that the baby boomers, of which I am
one of the last, are going to make our nation top heavy with retirees. We are a
significant group of market investors. It used to be that there were 6 supporters
for every one retiree. When I retire it will be a 2:1 ratio. It is no wonder the
2030’s will bring to bear a stress on Social Security and Medicare. It’s more a
pyramid problem than it is a spending problem, although we seriously have to
address our futile care system and rampant fraud from providers and unscrupulous
law practices. As a RN for thirty years, I am acutely aware of the issue of
futile care.
This idea of
long term care insurance boggles my mind. I see it as an unattainable pyramid
scheme. Why you may ask? Perhaps you have not dealt with an aging loved one
yet. There are already a lack of services in homecare and extended care
facilities. This deficit will only worsen in the next two decades. You may have
the money, but good luck finding the care. The whole reverse mortgage is yet
another bad idea. You lose value in your greatest asset, a roof over your head.
If nothing, absolutely
nothing is done with Social Security, we will see a drop in payout to 80% until
the boomers die off. It will not go bankrupt as fear mongers would like you to
believe, and a few small measures would keep it at 100% such as just raising
the current $113,000 ceiling on Social Security taxation. Means testing has
bipartisan support. Why do they want to privatize Social Security? To save it? Absolutely
not! Wall St will witness a retiring divesting tsunami as we tap into our
investments to use as liquid cash. Think of basic supply and demand….all
sellers and few buyers will drive the markets down. Wall ST wants the steady
flow of guaranteed cash from Social Security to shore up the markets. I have a Tax
Sheltered Annuity, but who can tell me that my taxes won’t be higher when I
withdraw than when I earned it??
Social
Security has USA backing, but what about private
retirements that will experience the same stressor at the same time? Many
companies have limited or eliminated their liability by transitioning their
retirement programs to expensive 401K programs. Of course those in positions of
power and in the driver’s seat of the distribution
of wealth have secured significant guaranteed retirement packages. I expect
any company with a significant retirement obligation will be put under
financial pressure. Many of these plans have lacked necessary government
oversight and are desperately underfunded. Much of the money has been shifted
into bonus payouts and extravagant salaries. It is easy to predict that many
will take the easy way out of their retirement obligations by filing bankruptcy.
This will leave us, the taxpayer, on the hook following the “privatize the
profits and socialize the losses” business model.
Deficits are
not as impressive to me as the pyramid. It will leave a vacuum of unfilled
positions as many of our current population cannot afford an education. We are
dumbing down in the USA because of our failures in policy and priorities. I am
a conservative when it comes to “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of
cure.” Obstruction of investments into our infrastructure will leave us
seriously weak as a nation. Privatization of government will leave us in the
hands of those proven to not give a rat’s ass about the greater population that
extends beyond their own narrow circle. So many moving parts as the pyramid
flips and puts its weight to bear on our nation. I hope we are strong enough to
make the changes necessary to keep us moving forward with strength and resolve for
the best interest of the nation, not just a few.
