buddha
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Pension problems hit home in our little town of Gainesville, FL. Here is the front page headline of the Gainesville Sun today:
“City OKs Pension Changes for Law Enforcement Unions”
The Gainesville City Commission has given preliminary approval to proposed pension changes for the city’s two police department unions.
Intended to slow the growth of the city’s spiraling pension obligations, the changes would cut some benefits and require that law enforcement personnel work longer to qualify for certain benefits.I’ve enjoyed the differing opinions with regard to how people will respond during the upcoming socioeconomic turmoil…..whether it is a recession or depression. As you know…..some people will burn down THEIR OWN HOME when they are upset….pee in their own soup. Others will be stoic and try to prepare for it…..then make the best of it. I’m sure the responses will be vastly different depending on the makeup of the community. Perhaps it would be wiser to focus on living in a community that is most likely to weather the storm than to focus on gold and silver.
Anyway, all this reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: “The average man is a conformist, accepting miseries and disasters with the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain.” – Colin Wilson
Bernanke says he is going to create money ad infinitum. So where are the Bond Vigilantes who are supposed to curtail the printing? They must have been chewed up in Ben’s propellers as he drove right over them.
This topic is very important to me b/c I plan to retire within a year. Obviously, I want to chose the best retirement option….monthly pension or lump sum payout. I even asked the author of this article for advice…of course I know he can’t provide financial advice….worth a shot anyway.
Something Nicole said during one of her presentations keeps reverberating through my brain: She said that once retirees understand these large pension funds like CALPERS are under-funded and the retirees all begin to take the lump-sum option….then the pension fund managers will have to bar the door. I think the message is get out while you still can…..Paul
I share rlmrdl’s frustration and then some.
I am not an economist and I don’t understand exactly what is happening in the economies around the world. It appears to me that central bank types have been pretty adept at fending off deflation by adding just enough fiat money to offset deflation but not trigger inflation. IMO they are as adroit as the Great Walenda.I guess if I were in their shoes I would do the same thing; create enough money to keep drawing things out (i.e., kicking the can down the road) and hoping the economy picks up. On the other hand, maybe they aren’t hoping the economy picks up, Bernanke and the owners of the FED have made a fortune buying T-Bonds during the past couple of years….not a bad strategy at all….if they sell out at the correct time (which I’m sure they will) they’ll be able to purchase a lot of assets during the coming deflationary period. But I’m just guessing…..I don’t know what is really going on.
The Fed is reportedly “Juking” the stock market to “manage” consumer optimism…..I believe that is true. What troubles me is Stoneleigh has said that the equities markets topped out on May 7. But now the major indices have moved above the May 7 “top”. Does this alter her economic prognosis? Does she still consider this to be a sucker’s rally?
