Working at 76: Inflation forces hard choice for older adults

[Independent thinker]

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Lenore Angey never imagined she'd have to go back to work at age 76.

With an ailing husband and the highest prices she can remember for everything from milk to gasoline, the retired school lunch worker from Cleveland, Ohio, now works part time as a salesperson at a local department store to cover the costs of food and medicine.

“The holidays are going to be tough, and it's not just for seniors,” said Angey, who said she was happy to get an extra 10 hours a week during the busy shopping season. “Luckily my daughter-in-law did all the cooking for Thanksgiving and I brought a few dishes. But the Christmas celebration will definitely be more modest.”

Thank the shithead Democrats for this, all the while they give billions to foreign Countries.

I'm kind of there myself. Collecting social security now and working because I have to. Thanks Biden.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

As one gets closer to retirement they should move things out of the volatile stock market and into more secure positions.

My MIL recently passed and my wife got 1/5 of what was left in her IRA. After we transferred it to our Financial Advisor we pretty much moved all the money out of what it was in due to it being in low yield, very secure positions. They were great for someone retired and living off of it, not so much for us.

When you start handling your own money is when you end up in trouble. That's why you pay a maintenance fee every year to have it done professionally. I was talking with somebody (now on ignore) about it during the DumBama recession. He handled his own money and lost every dime. The company I have did just great and when the market went back up, I made out like a bandit.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

When you start handling your own money is when you end up in trouble. That's why you pay a maintenance fee every year to have it done professionally. I was talking with somebody (now on ignore) about it during the DumBama recession. He handled his own money and lost every dime. The company I have did just great and when the market went back up, I made out like a bandit.

I agree that having a professional help is the only way to go. A good professional would move money out of high risk areas as someone retires for this very reason.

 

[DudleySmith]

poor people need to work harder and longer, so this is good news. Kill Social Security so they will have to get three jobs and sleep in an abandoned trailer. At least the rightwingers think that is a great idea, so I don't really take their concerns as if they're seriously bothered by the suffering of elderly working class people. The Left has even less concern, since they like criminal illegal aliens and want to exterminate the white working class altogether, so these stupid attempts at trying to shame each other is just a black comedy.

 

[Rambunctious]

True. And in the last presidential election 155 plus million people did just that.

How big are your blinders?....

 

[candycorn]

Stop your sanctimonious shit, you nasty holier-than-thou Democrat. You know very little about me or the problems I’ve endured.

Pretending to have a graduate degree must be pretty terrible.

 

[candycorn]

Agree. It shows what extensive damage the FBI’s collusion with Twitter to censor speech did. If Republicans hasn’t been silenced, Trump would be president - and the border would still be secure, there would be no Russian war against Ukraine, the inflation rate would be more moderate, and the stock market wouldn’t have lost a third its value. Retirees wouldn’t have to take jobs. People wouldn’t have to struggle to fill their gas tanks. We would have more people working.

Censorship is an evil thing when the government works to enact it.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

How big are your blinders?....

Miniscule compared to your "I LOVE MY BELOVED GOP" blinders that keep you a loyal little drone

 

[Rambunctious]

Miniscule compared to your "I LOVE MY BELOVED GOP" blinders that keep you a loyal little drone

Dude you are so duped its not even funny... you argue to defend Biden stronger than any dem on this board... you must be nuts...

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Dude you are so duped its not even funny... you argue to defend Biden stronger than any dem on this board... you must be nuts...

Not once. You always make this claim and then when I ask for a single example you can never give one.

 

[Winston]

It's not about the world, it's about us.

When Dementia signed the extra unemployment bill as industry started looking for help, it paid people more to stay home than work. People became conditioned to not working and many never returned after the handouts stopped a year from last September.

Business competing with government for workers is a terrible situation Dementia put us in. Industry had to offer much higher wages to attract what workers were left. All business costs get transferred to we the consumers. But wait! Can these additional labor costs be responsible for the highest inflation in 40 years? Not really. But given Dementia's anti-energy stance, businesses also have to suffer increased utility costs. Industries that have to heat large buildings or use a lot of electricity to manufacture their products also seen costs double there as well. That's not so bad, is it? But wait! What about increased transportation costs? Diesel fuel is still the highest price ever in the US and those trucks get around 6mph to the gallon. They pass on their losses to their customers.

Inflation is the definition of products costing more than they used to. So how are Dementia's polices responsible?

* Higher labor costs which he initiated.
* Higher utility costs which was his fault.
* Higher utility costs which always follows the price of other fuels.

Add them all together, it's no wonder we had 8% inflation. It's a little lower now because the price of gasoline dropped with the looming recession on it's way, but still the highest in 40 years.

If all the business costs are passed on to the customer, how is it that every non-supervisory and production worker has seen their wages increase by 1.6% more than inflation the last five months. And low-skilled workers have seen their wages increase by almost twice that of inflation since the beginning of the pandemic.

And these people that became "conditioned to not working", if the extra unemployment dried up over a year ago how are they making it? Could it be that they found a way to make more money, or maybe make less but spend less money, than when they worked a so-called "job"? Why would you begrudge them that? Because you want cheaper Fruit Loops?

And this increased utility cost claim, it is bullshit. Natural gas is up in price, because we EXPORT so much of it. Coal prices are down from a spike in March, and they will decline further. But the biggest thing, utilities capital spending has been increasing for a decade, and last year, under Biden, it broke all records. Smart utility plays are the place to be in the market. And so much for the claim that Biden is slowing investment, in either utilities are production. Domestic oil production will break records this year, or at least by the end of next year. I mean the claims you on the right make just don't pan out.

Look, this inflation thing was easily predictable. First, under Trump, with an economy contracting due to Covid, personal incomes went UP due to government payments. Hell, Trump was doing everything short of dropping dollars from helicopters. Personal savings expanded dramatically. I mean, du huh. And, with workers out of work, and drawing those big checks, the supply chain was fubared. It is only beginning to recover.

The war in Ukraine didn't help. Few people realize how important Ukraine was to the grain markets, and Russia to the fertilizer market. And the US, trying to be a good ally, has exported tons of natural gas and finished oil products to her allies. But we all are paying the price. And it is absolutely delusional to think that Trump would have prevented Putin from going senile.

The reality is the US is sitting in the catbird seat. "America first", wasn't that Trump's mantra? To bad he had no clue how to make that happen. We tell the rest of the world to go to hell, we thrive. We can be energy independent, and we have a thriving labor force, in no small part thanks to immigration, both legal and illegal.

But enough, let me lay the future out for you. The Fed will raise the discount rate again, and that will be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Recession is on the horizon, and maybe it is planned, because I sure don't see how anyone with two brain cells can't see that we don't need another rate hike. Millions will be laid off. Housing prices will plummet. But don't worry about your 401K, the market will enter a new bull market. Inflation will calm down, but the Phillip's curve is real, there will be a tradeoff.

In that scenario, Biden loses to anyone other than Trump, and that is your wake-up call. Republicans can take the House, which they already have, barely, and they can take the Senate. They can win the executive and get the coup de tat, have complete control, if they just lock up that dumbass Trump. If they don't, then welcome to insignificance, the scrap heap of history, and take your place besides the Know Nothing party.

 

[Thinker101]

If all the business costs are passed on to the customer, how is it that every non-supervisory and production worker has seen their wages increase by 1.6% more than inflation the last five months. And low-skilled workers have seen their wages increase by almost twice that of inflation since the beginning of the pandemic.

And these people that became "conditioned to not working", if the extra unemployment dried up over a year ago how are they making it? Could it be that they found a way to make more money, or maybe make less but spend less money, than when they worked a so-called "job"? Why would you begrudge them that? Because you want cheaper Fruit Loops?

And this increased utility cost claim, it is bullshit. Natural gas is up in price, because we EXPORT so much of it. Coal prices are down from a spike in March, and they will decline further. But the biggest thing, utilities capital spending has been increasing for a decade, and last year, under Biden, it broke all records. Smart utility plays are the place to be in the market. And so much for the claim that Biden is slowing investment, in either utilities are production. Domestic oil production will break records this year, or at least by the end of next year. I mean the claims you on the right make just don't pan out.

Look, this inflation thing was easily predictable. First, under Trump, with an economy contracting due to Covid, personal incomes went UP due to government payments. Hell, Trump was doing everything short of dropping dollars from helicopters. Personal savings expanded dramatically. I mean, du huh. And, with workers out of work, and drawing those big checks, the supply chain was fubared. It is only beginning to recover.

The war in Ukraine didn't help. Few people realize how important Ukraine was to the grain markets, and Russia to the fertilizer market. And the US, trying to be a good ally, has exported tons of natural gas and finished oil products to her allies. But we all are paying the price. And it is absolutely delusional to think that Trump would have prevented Putin from going senile.

The reality is the US is sitting in the catbird seat. "America first", wasn't that Trump's mantra? To bad he had no clue how to make that happen. We tell the rest of the world to go to hell, we thrive. We can be energy independent, and we have a thriving labor force, in no small part thanks to immigration, both legal and illegal.

But enough, let me lay the future out for you. The Fed will raise the discount rate again, and that will be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Recession is on the horizon, and maybe it is planned, because I sure don't see how anyone with two brain cells can't see that we don't need another rate hike. Millions will be laid off. Housing prices will plummet. But don't worry about your 401K, the market will enter a new bull market. Inflation will calm down, but the Phillip's curve is real, there will be a tradeoff.

In that scenario, Biden loses to anyone other than Trump, and that is your wake-up call. Republicans can take the House, which they already have, barely, and they can take the Senate. They can win the executive and get the coup de tat, have complete control, if they just lock up that dumbass Trump. If they don't, then welcome to insignificance, the scrap heap of history, and take your place besides the Know Nothing party.

Dang, you're saying wages are outpacing inflation...you must have dyslexia.

 

[BluesLegend]

This just in from Biden and Democrats..."Who cares! (eyeroll)"

 

[Rambunctious]

Not once. You always make this claim and then when I ask for a single example you can never give one.

What?... that you are nuts?... you voting for Biden shows us all that....

 

[Harpy Eagle]

What?... that you are nuts?... you voting for Biden shows us all that....

I did not vote for Biden, but you already knew that.

But, thanks for proving my point.

 

[Moonglow]

People are heading that way, due to Biden’s inflation and upcoming recession. We are going to have working class people unable to heat their homes this winter.

But that’s not your concern, as you’ve repeatedly said. SUCH a compassionate Democrat!

Is it Biden's inflation when it happens in Japan?

 

[Moonglow]

Everyone is losing... look at food prices... some of us may be able to absorb the costs but many won't... especially the elderly fixed income folks and the youth just trying to make their way... many in both groups voted for Biden.... so enjoy!!!!

I was on a fixed budget during Trump and prices increased due to tariffs like you ever really gave a shit about anyone but yourself.

 

[Moonglow]

Not all of them retired. Out of the US labor force of about 163 million, over 47 million had left their jobs by the end of 2021. That's an almost 30% loss of in the labor force, which is in no ways "a few people."

20 Stunning Great Resignation Statistics [2022]: Why Are Americans Leaving Their Jobs? – Zippia

And what we're left with today seems to be the most unqualified, unenthusiastic, and incompetent folks the labor pool has to offer. There are still shortages and supply-line disruptions, and quality-control issues, while those who are working are having to work harder to keep up with everything. Morale is low among employees and even though they have jobs, they're struggling just as hard as everyone else to make ends meet.

Welcome to Joe Biden's America. We are not back to "normal", and there's a strong possibility that we never will be.

Biden's America is just fine it is you who is pizzed because Trump is a loser.

 

[Rambunctious]

I did not vote for Biden, but you already knew that.

But, thanks for proving my point.

Yes you did... you voted against Trump which helped to get Joe elected... hell fool you are his most strident supporter here.... anytime someone bad mouths Joe you come running to defend him....

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Yes you did... you voted against Trump which helped to get Joe elected... hell fool you are his most strident supporter here.... anytime someone bad mouths Joe you come running to defend him....

He votes third party; throwing away his vote. Now he feels no responsibility for not making any attempts to stop him from taking office.