Any work is good work

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Originally Posted by pinklather

Without diving into detail, we could also show how US mfg has *increased* in the US in the last few decades - while the depth and breadth of industries - and the jobs have evaporated.

An interesting view would be # of industries and % of population employed in mfg.

The issue is less an aggregate or total financial output - 5 min. of programmed trading in stocks & futures can outperform years of normal output - but what provides a stable and robust economy vs the frail economy vulnerable to boom & bust.

'Nothing new is going on. Calamities from monetary manipulation are as old as currencies themselves - from ancient Romans shaving coins to the 'Merchants of Venice' (banksters of their day) almost bankrupting Britain by manipulating the preference for gold over silver or vice versa.

In our present cycle, the more historically savvy responded to the '07-'08 panic by saying - they'll erase the middle class. We're just talking now about that erasure and how to survive it.

'Hope you & yours are doing better up north than our foolishness here.

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I think I saw stats that said the service sector in the US economy was about the same as in Germany but that the manufacturing percentage of GDP was slightly smaller in the US. So the two economies are roughly similar. Official unemployment figures are about 2 percentage points apart with the US being higher. I think if you took a look at most western industrialized countries we are all in similar positions to each other.

Got to agree on the erasure of the "middle class", it is a done deal and we are having to deal with it. That did not happen over night either and was a long time coming looking back on it. The need for a fat and contented middle class has been determine to be of no necessity, for whatever reason, so now you will take whatever is offered and be happy with that. There are few if any choices in the matter.

No, realistically we are not doing much better up north either because the foolishness is and was not confined solely to the US. I just got off the phone with a relative in Germany and there is plenty of talk there in the media of future generations there being poor too compared to the way it used to be. Same contributing factors, lower wages, fewer benefits, having to work longer before being able to collect a government pension compounded by increasing costs of staples not really allowing money to be put aside for retirement at the rate it once was. I am seeing something similar happening here too. If it makes anyone feel better there is plenty of company.

Bob

No matter how we piss and moan, that does not fill the spirit nor put food on the table. Find something to do. And no matter how hard we try sometimes nothing will work for a period of time. But..from my experiences, there is a time when something again does work.

Many jobs requiring knowledge and skilled jobs and semi skilled jobs are going begging around the country. Few persons nowadays can use their hands and brains to accomplish something. There are a lot of small contractors that need occasional help in their field of work. The CNC shop that occasionally does my products has about three retirees that were machinists and good at what they do work part time. A local contractor has retirees doing the supervising and light work..all part time. The paint stores, hardware's, and lumberyards have at least one retiree working full or part time. Accounting help is often needed by the small contractors and stores.
Plan now for then! Pix has the answer! Do something! If I hadn't I would have gone nuttier than I r now.

I guess that I was lucky! Worked from the time I was nine and store clerked at 12 and was a butcher at 14, etc. I learned few skills in service. I was downsized many times, moved around a lot and was able to survive. Worked in Pizza joints, Janitored, and worked a lot of "Temporary Agency" fill-in jobs while finding a "real job". The agency jobs often got me hired from the agency when the employer found I could do the job they wanted done. This has also worked for more than one person I know. Some folks like the change of venue enough they stay with the Temps'. I have gutted houses and buildings with demolition crews. I've worked on assembly lines. I've cleaned out homes for the Estate Sales or for sale. Some of the local auction houses have temp jobs for putting together the auctions. There are now local on-line auctions that need full and part time help at over min. wage. There are dealers that want stuff refurbish or cleaned on a piece by piece basis. That has brought in cash. My neighbor, after retirement, became a maintenance man for a nice golf course and gets his link time free.

I retired ten years ago to a tiny house in a small town. I had paid off my home and a fairly new vehicle bought from a car rental agency. That made the bills as monthly expenses which I could regulate by my spending's. I had accumulated a shop of tools and knew how to use them. I was lucky, as are some others, to have had a hobby that turned into an income that helped a lot after retirement. Still I am one of the very few that could live within the SS Benefits: (The new word for the shafting) as though we didn't pay in and it is now considered a Gov't gift! I paid in for 45+ years.

Again, Pix has the answer, If you can find something to do, do it! A class at the local vocational school or college. Sr's are almost free, and I was hired part time by the college to do maintenance and fill in for shop supervisors when they were indisposed. Volunteering at a facility and listening to older geezers put their history together, can be uplifting. Crossing guard at a local school can be rewarding and..it get your butt out of the house!

This is just my point of view, your location and horizons are different than mine. But...look toward, and move toward those horizons!

Good living to you all!
~Richard

Great post Richard,many great points.
I do handy man work.I live in a retirement community were the mean average age is 77,I charge $35 an hr.I will do anything I have a knowledge in such as fence repair,furniture repair,minor plumbing etc.
50% of what I do is gratis such as getting a call from an eldery lady last week to remove a dead mouse from her garage,she wanted to pay me.I said no charge dear, call me when you have some real work.
The other upside to continue working till you drop is it keeps your mind functioning.
I no alot of well heeled Retired guys,they have no need to make money,they play golf in the morning,go sit in the clubhouse all afternoon and get all drunked up,go home, watch TV the rest of the day,put on 50 lbs,and than they die.
Working keeps you young at heart.

The average SS payout is $1200 per month. The stats are widely available. If many had their way that would not exist.I'm very grateful I worked for the Federal Govt and have a pension I can live comfortably on.

Bob & Geezer Thank you both. Alot. There's at least a generation that has never seen a stock market go down until '07, never seen a house price go down, or ever wondered *if* they could find work if they really tried. That's not the world they know. The awakening is very uncomfortable and that makes guys who've seen the movie rather valuable. Sincere thanks to you both.

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

The average SS payout is $1200 per month. The stats are widely available. If many had their way that would not exist.I'm very grateful I worked for the Federal Govt and have a pension I can live comfortably on.

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Tottaly untrue,my stats are for people that started drawing SS 20+ yrs ago.the elderly.

I've been collecting SS for 18 years plus a small pension from a state back east and keep my son's books part time. All that puts me just above the max for food stamps and other gov't programs. I have, despite all the addictons of this hobby of str8's, have become a penny pincher. I've also worked various part time jobs in the past 18 years but have decided no more at my age because of the disdain many younger co-workers have for the elderly "taking away their living". But I will say this. Within the community of straight razor users I have made several friendships with younger shavers who seem to value and enjoy the inane utterings of someone old enough to be their grandfather and can give as well as take in the exchange of ideas, methods and friendly poking.

Razorfeld

I am glad that you mentioned one of the problems that happens when a system does not work as it should. When the system worked as intended people could retire and not be too financially stressed making seeking work after retirement unnecessary. When it becomes a necessity to work in retirement you are literally taking jobs away from younger people trying to establish themselves and raise a family. Add to that a seemingly constantly shrinking job market and you really see how badly the system is broken. It is just a bad situation and neither the older or younger workers faults. Really sad.

Bob

Here in VA, my mother gets disability type social security and only gets $835 a month and barely has enough to get thru the month. She also gets her rides to her Dr through medicaid. And she received $35 a month in food stamps. If she needs to buy anything over 1 tank of gas for her car or have any home/car maintenance I have to foot the bill for it and most of the time do the work. It's just flat out pathetic what they expect a person to make it on. She spent 50 years working (most of the time 2) full time jobs with a 7th grade education. Being the only bread winner for me and my brother, never made over $9.80 an hour. She worked on factories and as a regional manager of Bojangles and as the head chef/ kitchen manager at the roanoke moose lodge. She was also a security guard and she was a sewer at oak hall cap and gown. Ended up cutting off the tips of 3 fingers on a frank-o-matic making sausage links and had to have tendonitis surgery on both wrists. She finally became disabled because of severe degenerative arthritis in her back that was so severe her pain management doctor told her she shouldn't even be walking.

After all of that disability only giving her $835 a month, what a slap in the face. But it is what it is, and I am very thankful to have such a devoted mother.

Freaking social security and disability tick me off, they denied her twice before approving her application. Witch was approved on my 18th birthday, I had to work a full time job my Jr and Sr year in high school to keep a roof over our heads. I think they should take some of those $135 hammers the government "buys" and do how everybody else does not spending over 50, and use the money where it's needed.

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Originally Posted by BobH

Razorfeld

I am glad that you mentioned one of the problems that happens when a system does not work as it should. When the system worked as intended people could retire and not be too financially stressed making seeking work after retirement unnecessary. When it becomes a necessity to work in retirement you are literally taking jobs away from younger people trying to establish themselves and raise a family. Add to that a seemingly constantly shrinking job market and you really see how badly the system is broken. It is just a bad situation and neither the older or younger workers faults. Really sad.

Bob

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Taking Jobs from younger people? Try to find younger people that will dig tree stumps,clean gutters,mow lawns,the list is endless