Lazy Man and Money

Are We Financially a “Lost Generation”?

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My friend Glen Craig from Free From Broke shared an interesting article on Facebook last night. With a comment of “wow”, and former Lending Club friend Rob Garcia chiming in with “whoa”, it got my attention. The article The typical American family makes less than it did in 1989 from The Washington Post has nearly 900 comments as I write this.

I read the article and shrugged. I must be missing something.

The article compares inflation-adjusted median household incomes between now and 1989. It even gives showing all the years in between. The author states:

In 1989, the median American household made $51,681 in current dollars (the 2012 number, again, was $51,017). That means that 24 years ago, a middle class American family was making more than the a (sic) middle class family was making one year ago.

This isn’t a lost decade for economic gains for Americans. It is a lost generation.

Why should we expect to make gains on median household income on an inflation-adjusted basis? It’s like getting on a treadmill and being upset that you walked for a half hour and went nowhere. I guess according to the author this is a lost half hour and yet millions and millions of people find value in it every day.

It seems quite an over-reaction to a loss of 1% of income… or about half a percent after taxes.

The Value of Living Today

Glen on Facebook brought up and interesting point, “After reading the article I also wondered what the cost of living is compared to back then. What if we just don’t need as much money for some things as we did back then, like computers?”

My family was one of the earlier families on the block to get a personal computer (The awesome PCjr) back around 1985. Even as we upgraded to 286, 386, and 486 computational behemoths, we never had more than one computer. Today we have numerous laptops, mp3 players, and tablets. The $2000 that my family spent on a computer back then is pretty similar to the $2000 that we spend on various similar technologies today.

We can look back at what my family paid for a landline. I think it was around $40 a month and there were extra charges if you wanted to call long-distance. Today we have Ooma Telo free home phone service, but it piggybacks on a cable bill that has grown from around $20 a month to $125 a month. In addition, many people spend another $100-$110 a month on cell phones and service.

The price of cars have gone up over that time. However, when you adjust for inflation they are pretty much the same (at least through 2006 in that chart). The price hasn’t changed, but you get many more safety features, better gas mileage, increased technology, and comfort.

Lost Generation? Really?

Are we really saving money on computers nowadays? Probably not. Are we really saving money on cars? Nope. However, in both cases our money gets us exponentially more than it did back 1989.

The mere fact that an ordinary person with no journalism degree like me can write to thousands of readers and convey this article is noteworthy.

Does that sound like a “lost generation” to you? Me neither.

4 Ways the Global Economy Affects the U.S.

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[Editor’s Note: The following is a post by Annie Davis. She is a freelance writer from Tampa FL who enjoys writing and sharing her financial tips and knowledge.]

If you don’t read global news and financial topics, you might not realize to what extent the global economy affects the U.S. economy. The truth is that every country in the world has an effect on the economy in every other country. Understanding how and where that happens may change your mind about the way you spend and the things you buy.

Importing Items Sees a Huge Impact

Image by Let Ideas Compete

The U.S. gets many goods through importing. The country imports certain foods, fruits, and vegetables that only grow in other, exotic areas, along with all sorts of gadgets such as televisions, smartphones, computers, Blu-ray players, and similar items, because while the goods and materials are here, another country may have more knowledge or a quicker factory or workforce. If the price of the items frequently imported into the U.S. goes up or down because of the global economy or individual economies in Japan or Italy, it affects the American economy as well.

Global Economy Affects Exporting

The U.S. also exports many goods to other countries all around the world. Large items such as cars and trucks, airplanes, and computers are big exporters, because they’re very much needed in other parts of the world. The state of the global economy affects how much money the United States receive for these goods and services, however. When the overall economy is low, the U.S. won’t pull in much money for the items it exports.

Business Loans Aren’t as Easy to Come By

If you’re thinking about starting up a small business, you need to know what’s going on with the global economy. Even though you feel far removed from the rest of the world, it impacts what happens in America. Specifically, there are certain bank regulations coming into play that may well affect your ability to get a loan to start your business.

Banks now have to protect their money, requiring them to assess the risk of lending money to any given business. What happens to your business in Chicago or Tampa could in theory affect the European Central Bank. When you’re ready for a loan, it’s a good idea to know your risk assessment and get firsthand knowledge from a quality source, such as John Ferraro of Ernst and Young, who can even help you do what you need to secure a loan.

Gas Can Crash the Economy

An image chosen by the guest author (seriously) by Jen Gallardo

Gas has one of the biggest effects on the economy in the United States. Drivers here rely on gas from overseas, and oil embargoes and controversies can cause a lot of problems here. You need only look at the current cost of gas to realize that. The New York Times estimates that the average driver in the U.S. pumps 60 gallons of gas every single month. With gas prices ready to increase at any given moment, you can see what the cost of importing fuel does to the U.S. economy.

The economy of the world creates a kind of butterfly effect—and so does the U.S. economy. How does that make you feel about your spending habits?

4 Best Ways to Survive a Tough Economy

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While I’m experiencing a second delay at the airport, I’ll pass along this guest post from Anthony Alexander. He is a freelance writer who enjoys sharing his financial experiences with others. In these rough economic times Alexander feels it is important to share all the tips and advice possible to help others.

Tough times in the economy usually equate to tough times for individuals and families who are trying to get by on limited funds, a low level of job security, and a rising cost of living. There are some great strategies you can implement if you are trying to survive in this tricky situation and here are 5 tips to help:

Don’t Buy What You Can’t Afford

Expensive Property
You can’t afford this, can you? via Jimmy Harris

It may sound like an incredibly obvious statement but ‘don’t buy what you can’t afford’ is actually one of the most important rules to stick to during financial uncertainty. We have all gotten used to being able to finance and borrow for items which are outside of our current means, but in the midst of a tough economy this is a very bad idea. Your credit card is not your friend and can land you in a lot of trouble if the card limit exceeds your monthly spare income level.

Only Buy if You Can Afford to Pay in Cash

It is all too tempting to take out a loan to pay for a new car or get a mortgage for a new property, but if the economy takes another downturn you could end up paying the bank back more than your house is actually worth. As a general rule, if you can’t afford to make a purchase with cash, it is likely that you cannot afford it full stop. If we have learnt one thing from the last recession it is that spending more than you are earning and hoping that you will be able to keep up with repayments is a really bad idea. Just because finance options may be available it doesn’t mean they are a good idea.

Get into a Long Term Mindset

If the current economic situation is improving month on month, do not assume that this is the end of hard times. Things can change quickly in today’s global economy so it is best to be prepared for change. What does this really mean? If you are currently earning more than you are spending, instead of splashing out on new things which you can do without, plan for the future and put aside as much as possible each month. A good portfolio will help to ensure that you have enough savings during harsh times. Using an investment company like Fisher Investments overview is a great way to start.

Creating a Budget to Keep Spending Under Control

Creating a sensible and realistic budget will ensure that you know exactly what money is coming in, what your overheads are, and what spare cash you may have each month. It is extremely important to stick to your budget and not to overspend as this is where problems begin to occur. It takes a lot of self discipline but if you can manage to overcome your spending urges you will be in a much stronger financial position. One of the most surprising things you will notice is how much you can save by making little changes such as taking lunch to work, getting rid of the extras on your mobile bill, and disconnecting your landline if you don’t use it regularly.

A tough economy makes life difficult for everyone but if you secure your own financial security by following the tips above you can ensure that you do not end up in a mountain of debt that you are unable to pay off. Sensible spending and saving is the key to your own financial stability and you are in control of this.

Thoughts on the Fiscal Cliff “Solution”

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Over the past six and a half years, I’ve written quite a bit about personal finance and related financial news. However, whenever the really big financial news comes out, I’m often not interested in writing about it. Such is the case with the fiscal cliff. It seems like every news outlet is either writing about that or what’s going on Kim Kardashian’s tummy and I can’t recommend spending your time on either.

A few weeks ago, I relented and wrote about this fiscal cliff thing and I’m going to do today.

I have four main areas that I’d like to cover with regard to the fiscal cliff:

1. The 2% “payroll tax hike”

I’ve read numerous articles claiming that everyone’s taxes are being raised. Each article points to the 2% tax relief we (Americans) got to help boost the economy. This came from the Social Security tax. In other words, we took more from an underfunded source creating a bigger problem in the future. Guest author Kosmo covered it well in this article, Social Security’s Death Clock Ticks Faster this Year:

“So we take a program that is already on shaky ground … and cut funding? Sure, it will be great to have a few extra dollars in our pocket on pay day (I like extra money as much as the next person), but this seems to be missing the forest for the trees. Then there’s the prospect of this cut ending at the conclusion of 2011. Will it really end? Or will there be fear that a reversion to the regular rate will be characterized as a ‘tax increase’? If that’s the case, we could see a few more years of underfunding for social security until someone finally has the cojones to say ‘If we want to keep Social Security, we need to pay for it.'”

Nostradamus had nothing on Kosmo. Almost every article I read is characterizing this reversion to the regular rate as a tax increase. While technically true, it doesn’t deserve the bad press surrounding it. Either be thankful you got it in the first place, or celebrate our Social Security funding getting back to the norm.

The upshot of the 2% means that someone making $30,000 is going to be making around $50 less a month. I realize that there are a lot of struggling people out there. I feel for those people. On the other hand, to the people with iPhones and iPads complaining about this, “I’m Like, ‘F@#% You!’”.

I can save most people a lot more than $50 a month, relatively painlessly. I put a bunch ideas on that here: fast finance fixes.

2. The raising of taxes on people making 250K vs. 450K

We just finished saying how it is such a crime that the people making $30,000 a year are going to lose $50 a month, right? With all the struggling people and the high unemployment rate, we should be focused on these people right? So what better way to demonstrate the highest level of hypocrisy by making a big deal out of whether we are raising on those making 250K, 450K, or 1M?

Let me make sure I’m clear on this: Congress was quarrelling over whether to raise taxes on the top ~98% or the top ~99% at the expense of everyone (including those in both ranges since they’d have their taxes raised too).

The only way this could make less sense is if the quarrel was irrelevant in the first place. And according to this Forbes article it was. The long shot is that many of these people are going to get hit by the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) anyway.

Awesome… all that fighting for what seems to be nothing.

3. This “Solution” is just a drop in the bucket

The taxes amounted to 61 billion in more income a year for the government on average, while the annual deficit is something like 1100 billion (or better known as 1.1 trillion). So we’ve fixed about 5% of the problem for this year… and then we’ve got another 16 trillion in debt behind that.

I like how Rob Berger of The Dough Roller put it in one of the comments of his article: “… we’ve spent an extraordinary amount of time arguing over taxes on the top 2 percent when the revenue they will generate is so small compared to our problems. It would be like focusing all of our attention on patching a small hole in the Titanic while ignoring a huge hole on the other side of the ship.”

I wish I was an artist so I could draw some kind of political cartoon with an ant ($61 billion) trying to fight an elephant (1.1 trillion) and both them not being aware of the nuclear bomb being dropped on them (16 trillion). I realize you have to start somewhere, but it is ridiculous to be fighting a this level.

4. The people upset with politicians in Washington

This reminds me of one of my favorite Buffy the Vampire Quotes: “So, Dawn’s in trouble… must be Tuesday.” In other words, what else is new?

I am shocked that night after night the news was able to find people legitimately surprised by everything that happened with the fiscal cliff. I turned on CNBC and people were complaining about the lack of leadership in Washington.

How much progress do you think would be made if you put the Hatfields and the McCoys in the same room and told them they had to come to an agreement. What about the Autobots and the Decepticons? You get the idea.

It’s like complaining that a country in the middle of a civil war isn’t leading the rest of the world. It just isn’t going to happen.

I’m trying hard not blame one political party or the other, but well, screw it. When someone says, “The rape guy lost the election” and another person has to clarify, “which rape guy?” your political party has a problem. When one of your most public faces, Michele Bachmann, doesn’t know the basic facts about vaccines and autism, and publicly displays her ignorance many times, it demonstrates a lack of intelligence in your party’s leadership. All is not lost for your political party though… in the past few months Chris Christie has shown multiple times that he’s there for the people he represents with his response to Hurricane Sandy. He’s not afraid to praise the other political party when they help the cause. He’s not afraid to blast his own party and John Boehner when they leave without voting on the bill that would aid victims of Hurricane Sandy.

With people like that, maybe there’s hope that common sense and coming together for the welfare of the nation can still happen.

What is this Fiscal Cliff Thing?

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I’ve got a bit of a confession to make and it may solidify my standing as one of worst personal finance bloggers ever. After the election results came through with Obama projecting to win Ohio, I saw a bunch of tweets on my Twitter stream with two messages: 1) “Congrats Obama” and 2) “Next up, tackle the fiscal cliff.”

To the Google phone website: What is this fiscal cliff thing?

This Wikipedia article does a much better job explaining the fiscal cliff than I ever could. It’s too complex to break down in this post, so I’ll do a grand generalization and let you get all the fine details from there if you are interested.

The grand generalization is two-fold:

  1. Some tax cuts that President Bush created during his time in office are expiring
  2. Some planned budget cuts from the past would expire resulting in more spending

As I mentioned before it gets complicated especially with the politics of the Republicans and the Democrats slinging a bunch of nonsense. On my recent drive across the country, talk radio had Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity on the multiple channels. I’m not into politics, but these big three of conservatives made it sound like Obama was out to purposely kill America, by raising taxes on the wealthy to help balance the deficit. Sounds like a very logical thing to me, but I’ve lived in blue states my whole life.

During the week, I ended up listening to a good 30 hours of their unproductive hatred of the democrats… stuff that makes a Red Sox fan and Yankees fan having a “discussion” after a few beers seem downright civilized. I finally came to this conclusion…

I don’t care about the fiscal cliff… and neither should you.

Well, you should care about the fiscal cliff a bit, because it can have a real effect on your financial situation. If taxes go up, you’ll have less money to spend. If spending is cut, you might lose on some key benefits you were counting on.

However, unless you happen to have the ear of the politicians working on it, you can’t change anything that’s going to happen with it. It’s out of your hands. With that being the case, let’s look at the things you can control:

  • Limit Your Tax Liability – If nothing is done long term capital gains tax will go up. So if you are sitting on a pile of stock and are looking to use the money any time soon (I love the real estate market), this may be a good time to sell some stock and hold on to cash. I’m personally not going to sell any stock, choosing instead to stay invested and hope that the gains of the market surpass the tax liability. This is also a good time to think about putting more money in a Roth IRA as you’ll get it tax free no matter what the tax rate is. If income tax rates go up, there will be even more incentive to stash money in your company’s 401k plan.
  • Minimize Your Expenses – Look into cutting down on any unnecessary subscriptions. I know multiple who have Netflix subscriptions that they admit they don’t use. It may seem like a drop in the bucket, but it adds up to a couple of hundred dollars a year. I’ve compiled hundreds of ways to save money on nearly everything.
  • Double up on your Investment in your Career – Learning a new skill or two can not only help you keep your job, but also get a raise. Sure, some careers have limited ceilings, but you’d be surprised how many do not. I learned that lesson when I worked at Papa Gino’s (a New England Italian food chain) at the age of 16. While being a cashier was my specialty (no one knew the PLU codes like me), I soon learned that if I could make pizzas and man the grill area, I’d be more valuable to them. I was one of the first to do dishes during the slow period, which showed management that I had the drive to do even mundane tasks if it helped the business (the truth was that I was just bored). In the end, it didn’t take long before I was getting raises and as many hours as I wanted to work.

    Don’t know what you can do to make yourself more valuable to your company? Ask your manager that question, she/he should be able to give you a good and hopefully productive answer.

If you going to waste your time with pointless debates, I suggest you move away the Republicans and Democrats debating the fiscal cliff and go all out and check out some Skip Bayless / Stephen A. Smith debates on the Patriots (ESPN is good for one of these annoying things a month):