Positive action in response to economic pain

[xeney]

I'm with Lisa here. We are fine, we are young, we have a reasonable mortgage and we can keep putting money away. But my parents are retired and live off of their investments, some small pensions, and payments on the farm they sold -- which the buyer may be about to default on due to the downturn in the housing market. Still, they are well off and will probably be okay. My husband's parents probably can't retire any time soon now, though. My husband's grandparents ... oy. We're worried.

And even though we are fine, nobody is hiring right now; my husband has been out of work for five months and there is no job in sight. Our COBRA runs out in five months and then I don't know what we are going to do for health care. And we are well off. We are fine. There are a whole lot of people who are NOT fine, who are not going to be fine, and I think it would be pretty irresponsible of the media to ignore that situation.

[tulip]

Our COBRA runs out in five months and then I don't know what we are going to do for health care.

As a side note, when I left my corporate job over two years ago in order to live a more balanced life, I got individual health insurance at a quite reasonable cost through ehealthinsurance.com. No relation to the company, just putting that out there. I could not afford the COBRA (nearly $1000 a month), but I have good coverage with a major health insurance company for $180 per month premium. You might want to check it out and see if there are options for you.

[tulip]

To get back to LBTC's post, she said that yes, things are bad, but there's still so much to appreciate--birds singing, our health (for those of us who are in good health), and all the good that still is in our lives. It's NOT all negative. While I understand the negative, I don't let it rule my life even though my financial situation and that of the people with whom I share my life is not all hunky-dorey.

[Geonz]

This is a time to be looking for ways to help other people instead of being afraid they will take from us... "we have nothing to fear but fear itself" means more than that we shouldn't be afraid.

[Crankin]

I am closer to retirement than a lot of you. But, I just can't get overly pessimistic. If we have to cut back, we can. My husband's job is secure and he makes a ton of money. The benefits are good. If I sat and looked at what our 401Ks have lost in the last few weeks, maybe I would be despondent, but I won't let myself wallow in it. My plan is to work full time for 2 years after I get my new degree, get my license, and then cut back to part time. Since I will be 60 () by then, it fits my definition of a balanced life. But, if I have to keep working full time, I will.
One thing I notice, after looking at a map of this, while reading this morning, is that all of the places where people are flocking to, i.e. warm climates, are the places that have had so much speculation in the housing market. When I was briefly in AZ last month, I was shocked at the number of for sale signs... We just haven't experienced this here. Yes, the prices went up wildly, but people weren't "flipping" houses.
Well, I've always said "Endless summer is not always nirvana."

[OakLeaf]

Actually, Ohio is one of the states hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis. One of the earliest, too, if not the earliest. It's not exactly a retirement or vacation home Nirvana.

Flipping condos affects the rich, and if they weren't smart enough to keep enough in reserve, I don't have a lot of sympathy. But there are thousands of low to middle income families that have been forced into homelessness in the last couple of years, and many more in extreme difficulty.

As for us personally, we'll be fine as long as there's an economy for us to participate in. If not, we're not entirely prepared, but I think there'd be enough time for us to take care of things, and we have land, available water and most of the skills we need. But to put it in perspective, DH's very safe investments, that usually track counter market, have taken a huge hit.

If in no other way, even people with an adequate income, a secure job and no investments are still taking a huge hit, because of the radical decline in funding for schools and other public facilities. School bus routes are being cut or eliminated, kids aren't getting up to date textbooks, roads and bridges aren't getting fixed. This is affecting everyone, and it's not going to be over soon.