for later
I have already come to terms with working until I drop or start slobbering too much to be in public.
At some point lenders (buyers of debt) will step up and say they need a better return for the risk of default they are taking.
The government buying its own debt is unsustainable.
Bank interest rates are never coming back because they now borrow their guaranteed money from the Fed. If the loan goes bad the government (we) pay for it. What bank is ever going to go back to the old ways?
Inflation is screwing us badly right now. The governments inflation figures are bogus. Food inflation is terrible so even peanut butter and jelly is vastly more expensive.
I have no choice but to have some investments still at risk or inflation will take everything.
The already retired are screwed more:
a)If they have a pension plan, most will file bankruptcy and
the payments will either stop or be a small fraction of the expected payment.
b)If they have a fixed income the printing of money will be expanded to pay for unfunded entitlements, and the lying about inflation will continue to keep the COL adjustments low.
If you are yet to retire, invest in assets that will keep pace with inflation. Invest in marketable skills/activities that generate income.
In chess they have a term called Zugzwang; a situation in which no matter what move you make you will be worse off than you are currently. I believe we may be in a Zugzwang now.
It’s why I moved from seattle to central KY in 2011. Every year I am more confident I did the right thing. The evidence of where we are going is overwhelming. And it matters not which party captains the titanic after it has hit the iceberg.
It doesn’t mean you can’t retire. It means you can’t retire based on savings.
Your retirement needs to be based on an inflation/deflation adjustable return on investment. For example, rental income turned over to a management company at retirement. Maybe a small business where the day to day is hired out, like washateria or car wash. Or, best example, seek out and buy mineral rights.
Anybody with a six figure 401k and at 59.5 years should be figuring out how to turn a good chunk of that money into ROI income.
Doesn’t this theory presume that the folks in charge will be able to control the markets?
And doesn’t every historical instance of fake money eventually turn out badly?
During the Carter years and later, we were told house interest rates would never be below 8%.
Rates are being held low artifically to help save the government from drowning in interest on the national debt.
It is similar with the artificial inflation rate. It is showing at about 1.5%. Anyone who does grocery shopping on a regular basis knows that is a lie. Many grocery prices have increased 30 to 100% over what they were just a couple of years ago. The ‘real’ inflation rate is hidden.
If only we taxed the rich a little bit more.