Feel the SQUEEZE ?

Release

Unless you are fortunate to belong to the top 1% income bracket, or born with a silver spoon in your mouth, felt the squeeze from life ?

Of course, the squeeze based from economic elements will spread to other parts of life. Felt the squeeze of having to be more competitive ? In every facet of life, work, paying bills, driving on the roadway, and even shopping at warehouse for food ?

We had been experiencing tremendous growth in our region, except for golf industry. I mean, there are golfers buying equipment and getting on the golf course but they are not beating down the doors.

Money does not stretch as far as it used to be. A hundred dollar today won't last as long as a $20 just 10 years ago. The old teaching of saving for the raining days would not work well unless one could generate more income to keep up with the inflation.

I wonder how do people survive in other parts of the world ? One friend just came back from visiting Vietnam as one item on his bucket list. He said even the large cities in Vietnam back in the 70's looked like a 3rd world country dump, but today the cities were very much alike Western cities. Living standard is still low, they went out as a group of 8 had a big dinner for $31 for the total bill. He said maybe we should have left it along in the 70's if they just need to figure out for themselves that the communist's system would not work. This is coming from a retired full Colonel of the Marine Corps whom served two tours to the Vietnam.

I see there are more choice for the golf equipment and most are more affordable than 5 years ago. This did not translate into more sales volume nor more profit. Of course the internet commerce played a big part in the trend. Some local golf courses still packed the tee sheet during weekend with sunny forecast . Cancellation rate is high should the weather forecasting changes ( according to a friend works at one one of the very popular local daily fee golf course .

Does time really fly when you get older ?

PIGDivot

It's all perspective I suppose. Is your quality of life good, based on how you spend your time? Money can't buy happiness, and how you live your life is not gauged by 6 figure incomes honestly. When you lose a loved one you take a step back (or two or three) and realize how much time you had with that person that you wasted.

Carpe Diem (seize the day), because this one can't be replaced. Embrace your loved ones, and live today as if it will be the last chance you have with them. We are not promised tomorrow.

From a financial perspective, my parents certainly did a hell of a lot better than any of their 4 children. Dad is a millionaire, thanks to a good job and a little luck, and a lot of Marriott stock. Wife's parents will be leaving her a nice little nest egg, once the MIL finally passes.

But all the inheritance in the world can't replace the experiences and the time spent with someone. I took a 40% pay cut to take this job, just to be in the same town as the MIL, as my wife is an only child. We are here to watch over Mom till she passes. We passed up the better pay in a better city to do this. You can have that better job, just to be miserable alone. That's a stupid way to live life honestly. And I see so many people stuck in their phones with no human interaction. I wonder what these people will look like at 60, 70, etc. No wonder suicide rates are so high.

It's the one on one with others that counts in life. Don't let our culture of consumerism and killing ourselves just to make that extra dollar tell you otherwise.

Oh, and golf is a game best played with good friends and family. Playing golf is alone misses the point of the experience honestly. So invite a friend to tee it up with you. Time well spent IMHO.

Release

PIGDivot

I agreed with you !

We had made choices in life to spend more time with family and bring up our children the right way. Both my wife and I had forgone opportunities to make more money. We don;t have as much as our friends but we have our children to top everyone of theirs. We gave all we could to make sure our children have the correct attitude to be successful in whatever they like to do in life.

My Dad used to say this and I passed it on to my kids when they were in grade school and repeating, and repeating........ Do what you love and love what you do, everything else will take care of itself.
Of course be sensible, my favorite thing is to play golf but I'm not good enough to make a living golfing, then the next thing would be snacking in my Lazyboy watching my favorite show, and that's not going to work too well either....

Anyhow, Yes I also enjoy playing golf with "friends" . Sometimes I do but not always. Simply because it's easier for a single to walk on at moment's notice and be done with golf then go do something else instead hang around to socialize.

swinnea

Interesting article in today's newspaper. I've only scanned it for now, but the jest is that even the "middle class" would have problems coming up with an emergency $1,000 right now.

Release

swinnea

Middle class is dwindling in numbers. We are getting more and more like other parts of the world with the top one percent overseeing the very small middle class then a mass on the bottom of the pyramid.

All the other types of discrimination will give way to the "Class Distinction ". Tradition and other good stuff from our forefathers will be forgotten. Old value will be replaced by opportunist value.

The best generation I had known in my life span was my father's generation whom lived through WWII, Korean War and the Vietnam War. They know what could be if we don't live a clean life and most of them had to build their life with their own hands. Not the hand me down stuff. Imagine your children wishing you passed on sooner so they could get their hands on your nest egg ? From the 90's to today, just in this region there were several well publicized News of children killing the parents to try to get to the inheritance sooner.......... unthinkable in the old days.

Someone will say, the generation before you said the same thing and so on and so on....
True, but if you look further back in human history, there were darker era. low moral and starvation..... I not just saying it. My father's generation was the best in the recent history of human being.

I guess even in Japan they could say the same. The younger generation will not work s hard as their father's generation.

The new trend for the millennium is, make so money then take several years off to enjoy life, travel and do whatever they wish. Came back to work when the money runs low...... reminding me of an example of Southeast Asian native. I had known a guy whom opened a manufacturing factory in the Southeast Asia in the 80's. He told me that he had labor issue. The native were good workers and learned quickly but a few times a year they would just disappeared. Then showed up for work again when the money ran out.

Funny how things mirror from different places and time.

garyt1957

swinnea

Is that because it's so tough to make it today, or because the middle class spends every dollar they make trying to keep up with the Jones'? I'm doing fine with "very" middle class wages, but we drive two paid off older cars and paid our house off at 50. I still have a flip phone because I get it free from work.

garyt1957

Release

I do agree that the WW2 generation truly was "The Greatest Generation"

Bangoman

"would be snacking in my Lazyboy watching my favorite show," Said R.

It all seemed so simple then.............
At night the entire family sitting down to watch T.V. together right after dinner and talking together during dinner. Days long gone.........

Release

Bangoman

One of the guy I played 18 with last week told me this.

He was angry because his kids only call him when they need Daddy to pay their bills or late payment.
They seldom call or see him, except for a couple of "must get together" seasonal celebration like Thanks Giving, Birthday.... On top of that one of his son converted to eating Kosher ( they are not Jewish ), one is vegan, and his wife eats vegetable and seafood. My friend ? He eats everything and enjoys the food.

It seemed the old value for family is not being practiced. The family under one roof is there for convenience until they find a better hang out. Kids call their parents by the first names. We do know some "normal" family, but that's few and far in between.

You know, not many families cook dinner in Hong Kong for decades. I think this mainly because of the necessity having both parents working to pay the bills. Now this fashion had grown to most part of larger cities in Asia and in the last few decades , here in the States, at least in the lager metropolitan area on both coasts lines.

We insisted of home cooking whenever we could, this is the only way for kids to learn and keep a good diet. Something they would benefit for life. Besides, we save from eating out and eat better food. We do go out to eat as a family several times a month, a break from the routine is good.

Release

garyt1957

Your are correct in the assessment of being so competitive these days. when there are more fish in the fish tank, All fish in the tank will compete for oxygen, food and space. Middle class is going to be a past tense soon, or never the same as it used to be since this current administration dug out all the savings the middle class used to have for nest egg. By using the strategy of no interest savings account and discouraging idle funds sitting in the Certificate of Deposit , by taking away or remodeling federal funding qualification.
Why ? To infuse the economy with the savings. I saw the 60 minutes program on CBS last night and for the first time realized how one person could influence the captain of the ship to steer toward the unknown. No wonder there is no interests in taking over and clean up the mess this administration caused. They kept using numbers compiled unscientifically to claim victory of reducing the unemployment rate ..... lets not be fooled by the numbers in the paper. I don;t see a better job environment around here, maybe in Washington DC they have it better.

I guess we could call us a middle class family. However, we feel we are sliding into a paycheck to paycheck family with no savings now. One of my car just turned over 140K, and the other 160K. But all paid off. The third one at 55K and still have 3 more years to payoff. Yes, they don't have engines which rate over 300 hp ( seemed to be the required number these days for even the sedan/SUV/Truck to be packed with over 300 hp ) still running. With 2 kids in higher education, we are in the crunch mode.

Haven't had a real vacation for years, but this year we might do a short trip with the oldest kid whom is going to graduate school this Autumn. Tax return might be used for this purpose, and new tires on one of the car can wait.

I know I will never match my father's generation for work ethic and uphold the moral standard. Most of them would work harder, and try their best to be a decent man. I remember my father never took a charity when we were in need of help and Mom was crying one day because she ran out of food for dinner.
He raised all 6 of us through college and I understand now why he would look at a pair of new shoes and walked away ( Mom had to get the kids to go back and purchase the shoes for him ). I'm having difficulty with just two kids.

Salute to the generations ahead of me. At least I'm doing my best to bring up my kids to be able to contribute to the society. They have good work ethic and a good direction for life.

swinnea

garyt1957 Fortunately I currently don't have the "thousand dollar" problem, but it's only because I don't "keep up with the Jones'". Salaries seem to be flat everywhere and things like property taxes take larger and larger bites out of income.

PIGDivot

Release Your are correct in the assessment of being so competitive these days. when there are more fish in the fish tank, All fish in the tank will compete for oxygen, food and space.

152.3 million people living in the United States in 1950.

324.1 million people living in the United States in 2016.

It's not competition, it's double the population and then some.

brsmith

I have worked everyday for the last month averaging over 64 hours a week. I haven't played golf in over a year and if it weren't for my company truck, I wouldn't have a working vehicle. My riding lawn mower needs work and I haven't had the time to repair it. I need to do more to right my situation. With my wife Stephanie leaving in 11/14 and my mother dying 2 months later to the day, it has been a struggle, but I am trying. Add to the fact the cost of living is increasing without wages adjusting, just adds to the "fun."

Life is tough, but there are people who have it far more difficult than I.

PIGDivot

brsmith Life is tough, but there are people who have it far more difficult than I.

Yeah, I think we're doing ok, compared to the Venezuelans.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/05/18/venezuela-food-shortages-cause-some-hunt-dogs-cats-pigeons/84547888/

Release

PIGDivot

You missed the population without status in the States.
What did they say ? 25-30 million ?

PIGDivot

Release You missed the population without status in the States.
What did they say ? 25-30 million ?

In 1950, or 2016? LOL. I stopped counting honestly. Just take the population of Mexico and Central America and divide by two. That's whats in the USA now.

Release

PIGDivot

Surprisingly ! we have many from Europe, not just Eastern Europe but places like Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany .... and also from Scandinavia countries. Of course can't forget those from SE Asia.

Ever since our last Governor Christine Gregoire (D) openly stated that our State will not actively pursue those with illegal status, we had been flooded with those hoping to find a better life here. Now with the first position to propose higher minimum wage.......... we've open arms to everyone whom wish to have a piece of the apple pie. Nothing wrong with this but many of these don't have a realistic view of the needing to work hard even with breaks from the State. Nothing is free !

Our infrastructure is over loaded with the booming of population, roadways/bridges need repair, hospital and schools are over maximum capacity so, up the property tax to support the building of new schools and hospitals... proposed State level income tax and other special assessment.... on and on. So, in view of the changes brought on by the population boom, I really don;t believe the $15/hr minimum wage ( not even fully implemented yet ) will go far. What it does is accelerating the inflation.

PIGDivot

Raising the minimum wage just forces businesses to adapt their labor to meet the requirement, and if anything, reduces the amount of people they hire on. If actually read some businesses literally closing up because of this sort of legislation.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2015/04/30/and-here-is-as-we-said-the-effect-of-seattles-15-an-hour-minimum-wage-on-employment/#b2b1e631063b

Sadly, that sort of legislation works against someone like me who has scraped and worked hard for 22 years in this business, only to see my hourly wage be just above what your city proposed and passed into law. What sort of message does that send to someone like me? That the $3.35 I worked for at McDonald's in 1983 was a waste of my time and experience? That the $15 an hour I made after many years in this business means that all that experience is worth nothing?

Ironically, in another state that shall remain nameless, my 24 year old daughter just went back to work at Target, and due to her previous experience there, they started her back at $12 an hour. She just asked me for help in buying a car today, to which I replied, "I don't make much more than your $12 an hour, so who is helping who here?" Translation, you're on your own.

We've severely devalued experience and hard work in our country now, and when you hand someone $15 an hour to flip burgers or ask someone if they want fries with that meal, then you are telling me that my 22 years of experience isn't worth crap, and I'd be better off working one of those jobs at $15 an hour with less stress and not having to think through complex problems and procedures, that come with this job.

At some point the "entitlement generation" will run out of other people's money to float their little life project with. I told that to my daughter today as well. She's nearly 24 years old, and is seemingly running up a pile of debt while she figures out what and where she wants to go in life. I kind of told her that it's past midnight, and your glass slipper wasn't found by Prince Charming. Better get busy working and figure it out yourself. I'm done being your ATM card.

Release

PIGDivot

You have to remember this, relativity is to be considered before comparing.

In our City, Capital hill demands $2300 rent for a 400 square foot one bedroom apartment/condo. Average 2 bedroom apartment anywhere close to the metropolitan area will be over $1200.
Anyone need to shell out more than $1000 for rent, better think of getting a better job than minimum wage soon. Some entrepreneur pay "livable wage" I don;t know how much is that but it worked for the owners of Mod Pizza, which had grown so fast, they're going international soon.

Others I talked to in the retail service industry told me when the minimum hourly wage went up the manager cut their hours back and stretch the cover by using less workers for the same work load .

Sneakylong

Google productivity vs. wages. After WW II productivity and wages rose together. Then around 1973 while productivity kept rising, wages flat lined. It's been that way since (increasing productivity and declining wages). Why? Corporate greed IMO.

Couple that with Supply Side economics that's still with us since the early 1980's (regressive tax policy favoring the wealthy). Globalization where an American worker cannot compete with third world wages. The decline in labor unions where they're only ~ 9 % of the workforce. Transferring to a lower wage service based economy from a higher paying manufacturing based economy.

With all those economic forces against the working class and favoring the donor class it's no wonder why the middle class is in decline and has been for quite some time.

A billionaire hedge fund guy wrote a book awhile ago saying the pitch forks are coming if the greed continues. As the nations wealth continues to be redistributed to the top incomes eventually there will be a tipping point. This presidential election cycle may be a glimpse of what lies ahead.

History shows what happens when a country responds to such huge disparities in class with "let them eat cake". How long will the corporate oligarchy / plutocrats continue to have it their way at the expense of everyone else? Time will tell.