Dave wrote:
Chuck Harris wrote:

Tell me, how do you fund your 401K when you work for McDonalds
flipping burgers?

Flipping burgers is for kids! Get skills training. 'The more you learn
the more you earn.' is a great guideline.

I should think a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering should
be enough "skills training". But when you can hire an excellent
EE in India for less than $10/hour USD, where would that leave me?

The biggest result of moving all of our manufacturing jobs to
China/India/??? is the loss of good paying jobs here in the USA.


Corporations are groups of people, my IRA, my 401k, my retirement
plan, who invest our money in corporations in the expectation that
they will make profits. Profits increase the value of equity [stock
shares] and the amount of money you can draw on when you retire. If
profits are not made then your IRA, 401K, etc go bankrupt and you
will never retire.

Be careful of that profit stuff. It may be too good for you!

/s/ DD, retired and loves watching my equity increase.


Yeah, you got yours while there were still good jobs and good retirement
policies here in the US. What about your kids? What about mine?

-Chuck

Your retirement planning is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!

I have already taken that responsibility.

It is NOT the
responsibility of government. It is NOT the responsibility of your
employer. It is NOT the responsibility of your union. The responsibility
is Yours alone!

You are missing a vital point: You need to be able to earn a living.
As we are sending good, high paying, jobs out of country, we are creating
a large base of people who are underemployed, or out of work. I know
EE's who haven't worked in their field in more than 10 years. Yeah, they
have found something else to do, but have lost their homes, and any
semblance of the decent lifestyle they once had. They did everything right,
went to college, got a good job, worked hard, and poof! an AT&T, or Xerox
closes a division and sends the work overseas, and they are out on the
streets. Too old to be hired as an EE, and too far in debt to "retire".

If you don't like McDonalds then start your own business, work your butt
off, put in 60, 70 or 80 hours a week, and retire a millionaire.

A million bucks doesn't go very far anymore. Inflation makes it go
less far every day. I have been running my own business for the last
25 years. It isn't a magic bullet. It requires customers. When your
customers find they can go to India, or Bulgaria, or China and get the
same work done for 1/10th the domestic price they leave in flocks.

If you
choose McDonalds then plan your retirement on welfare, but don't blame
McDonalds ... you made the decision to work there in a kids job.

If you don't like McDonalds then get a skill such as a CDL for example.
I have a son doing $1800+ a week driving 4 1/2 days a week. He quit high
school at 17 and now owns a $300,000 home, has 7 kids, and is home 2 1/2
to 3 days a week.

And he will be out of luck when Congress decides to allow Mexican trucks
and truckers to drive on US highways... poof! All of the sudden, that
monster mound of debt that he has taken on will ruin his life. Besides,
what kind of a life is it where you have to be away from your wife and
kids 5 days per week? He is literally dumping all the hard stuff about
child rearing on his wife... 7 kids without relief? I predict a divorce.

Where and how you choose to work is your personal gold mine, not a sweat
shop or a salt mine. Choose a mine with a piece of the mother lode, as
opposed to fools gold [AKA McDonalds]. A major contributor to financial
success is your personal ATTITUDE.

Again, you are missing a major point.

You are the only person responsible for your life style as you reach the
mature years. Accept the responsibility.

An interesting observation: All of your Senators and Congressmen are
heavily invested in the Equity Market [stock market]. Don't you wonder
why? As corporate profits go up, their net worth goes up!

I am already heavily invested in the stock market. And it is doing
quite well, but what about the guys that don't have enough money or
life left to play? And volatility! I have lost hundreds of thousands
of dollars in a day... it comes back, but it always takes a long,
long time to recover.

I suspect you can easily invest $10 a week ... give up 3 packs of
ciga---buts, or 2 six packs ... or a $10 lottery ticket.

I don't smoke, play the lottery, rarely eat out, don't have cable,
don't go to the movies, drink very little. I suppose I could find
an extra $10/week by not eating, or bathing. But I doubt I can find
the extra years it would take to allow that to accumulate. Nope, one
of those good EE jobs that went to India would be necessary.

A simple $10
equity investment in a conservative mutual fund will produce more than
$60,000 in 30 years. Invest 2 hours pay a week and the same fund will
yield almost $250,000 in 30 years. Factor in pay increases [inflation]
and it is easy to have a $1,000,000 fund to convert to an annuity at
retirement.


I opened this with the following: "Your retirement planning is YOUR
RESPONSIBILITY! It is NOT the responsibility of government. It is NOT
the responsibility of your employer. It is NOT the responsibility of
your union. The responsibility is Yours alone!" It is true!

It is the responsibility of my government not to destroy the economics
of this country. They are doing so by allowing illegal immigrants to
flood through the borders, and by allowing American companies to export
good high quality jobs without tax implication.

-Chuck