[EasySt]

This was published by a fellow former IBMer today.

I thought I would share it here, as his thinking closely mirrors my own. (Just less "extreme"...)

[heterosupremacist]

This was published by a fellow former IBMer today.

Exceptional post! Really enjoyed reading it. He has a future as an author, IMHO ~ send my best regards to IBMer ~ I’d like for us to have a beer together...

[fireman15]

Between 1971 and 1990 my IBM salary had increased to $63,600 (due to several job promotions and cost of living adjustments based on CPI by IBM). That’s the good news! When I retired in 1991 I received a reasonable pension ($28,880/yr.) from IBM, and a nice medical benefit (promised for life for both June and I, and paid in full by IBM). In 1993 the medical benefit was withdrawn by IBM, and replaced by a fixed annual limit for medical expense coverage from IBM. Neither the annual pension nor the fixed medical expense limit has been or will ever be adjusted for inflation, so my pension income is fixed and my buying power continually decreases because of inflation.

I know a lot of people in very similar situations. Their pensions were reasonable to start with but have not kept up with inflation. These days in the Obama economy very few people outside of government have any pension at all. With low interest rates and a risky stock market environment this situation is unlikely to improve.

[Don W]

But, but, but, I was told by one of our fellow FReepers that I was wrong when I posted about how the price of gold versus its purchasing power hadn’t changed.

I was told that comparisons like that were irrelevant and misleading.

Hmmm, could he have been a troll?