BOOMERS HAVE REGRETS

BABY BOOMERS HAVE SOME REGRETS

A recent article by Rebecca D'Angelo in USA TODAY found that there are some common regrets among those born between 1946 and 1964.

This is what they wished they had known earlier:

•The stock market can go down as well as up.

•Your home equity line should not be used as a personal ATM.

•Youth doesn't last forever, but moving more, and eating less can delay old age. Comments like, "Why didn't I start with the sunscreen sooner so I wouldn't be so wrinkled?” as well as consternation over bulging waistlines, weight-related illness or ailments, and decreased physical capabilities are common.

•Our parents weren't blowing smoke when they said "Live within your means" and "Save for a rainy day." Now "they're afraid they'll outlive their money" because they didn't plan and save enough and certainly didn't predict the economy's meltdown.

In general their comments might be summarized as: “A little less ice cream and a lot more saving.”

If they live another 30 or 40 years, they will find longevity brings challenges. Some folks are realizing that 35 years of work cannot easily support 35 years of retirement.

It is not as if Baby Boomers did not have great role models. The generation that fought World War 2 has often been called the “Greatest Generation.” I am sure that the Depression era that preceded World War 2 did more good than harm to the character of Americans. It seems that the further we have gotten from those awful financial times, the more spoiled and selfish we have become.

Is there anyone now who will rise up and claim that Generation X, Generation Y or whatever we have now, will be the greatest generation? I certainly can’t imagine it.

But, the folks in the mid 1920’s never thought they would see a full out stock market crash in 1929, ushering in the worse Depression in American History. It is fairly well accepted that there were five causes or aggravations of the Great Depression.

1. Stock Market Crash of 1929: One of the major causes that led to the Great Depression.

2. Runs on Bank as Banks Failed: Over 9,000 banks failed and deposits were uninsured, so the money was just gone. You can recall a run on the banks in the classic Christmas movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

3. Spending and Jobs Dried Up: Lack of money and fear kept many from purchasing items, which led to a reduction in the workforce. Foreclosures and repossessions followed. The unemployment rate rose above 25%, and that was likely not even accurate due to the conditions of that day. In many places it was much higher. My Granddaddy used to say, “There just wasn’t no money back then.”

4. American Economic Policy: Desperate for anything that would help, the government tried the Smoot-Hawley Tariff in 1930 to help protect American companies by charging high tariffs on imports. Trade stagnated further.

5. Dustbowl: The Mississippi Valley’s epic drought in 1930 caused many to have sell their farms. This was the topic of John Steinbeck's “The Grapes of Wrath.”

Today, we may be looking at similar conditions. Rising unemployment, stifled spending, a lack of production, foreclosures, less credit availability, rising food and gas prices and a staggering and growing national debt. If a natural disaster, a terrorism cyber attack or other unforeseen tragedy occurs, that may be all it takes to begin building a couple of truly great generations.

Mr. Peel may be available to address your civic club or church, please contact his office at www.PeelLawFirm.com

Predictions for the Future

Predictions for the Future

The future is coming at us much faster than most of us are prepared for. Here are a few things that I think will be changing in the next few decades.

1. Driving. I think that all interstates will be mandated to be equipped for cars that have automated driving capability. Essentially, some cars will have the ability to drive themselves. This will be rolled out incrementally, and the incentive will be a lane of travel only for auto-drivers. Magnets impeded in the center of the lane can provide an all-weather way for cars to be centered within the lane. Further, radar proximity sensors will keep you very close to the car ahead and behind, which reduces drag and therefore, fuel or battery consumption.

2. Highway Safety in General. As a personal injury lawyer that handles accident cases every day, I see carnage caused by head-on impacts. I have said for years that our descendants in 2050 and later will be amazed at us. They just won’t believe that we drove 87,000 lb. tractor trailer trucks one way, facing school buses and passenger cars coming the other way–separated by a mere 11 inches of yellow painted stripes!

3. Technology implanted in humans. This is actually already here now. Smart chips have been implanted in dogs for over 20 years. They are currently being implanted in human trials. The favored placement is within the fatty layer between the thumb and index finger on the right hand. Many will recall the Bible’s prediction in this area: " . . . and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." -- Revelation 13:15-17.

4. Cashless society. Cash is on the decline. Already, I have traveled abroad without using cash. Debit and credit cards allow use regardless of what country you are in or currency system they use. Locally, at Kroger, and other retailers you hand swipe a card that has data on it that tracks your purchases. They tie an incentive to save on groceries and gas to use it. Exxon gas stations you hand wave in front of scanner to do your business with “Speed Pass.” This all strikes me as great training for a mark within your right hand with which to trade.

It is important to realize that money is not inherently evil, but instead the “love of money” is. Similarly, it is not a chip that is evil, it is the eventual use by a future evil government. Thus, I am not predicting the end of the world or the rise of anti-Christ. However, technology now exists that seem to lay the groundwork for much of what we see predicted in the only reliable text, The Bible. Is your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? One day in your future, that will be the ONLY thing that matters to you. Turn to Him today.

Just How Bad is the Economy? Looking for Some Humor in Gloomy Days:

In this day and age, the economy is on everyone’s minds.

Some experts are saying that the economy is improving because house sales are increasing and the stock market is turning around.

Other pundits are saying that with gold prices up, and continued job losses, that the economy is flagging.

On a purely tongue-in-cheek basis, I have created a humorous checklist that we regular people can look at to see how the economy is actually doing.

12. If you order a burger at McDonalds and the kid behind the counter asks, "Can you afford fries with that?"

11. If your boss asks you for a personal loan.

10. If the CEO of your company cancels his exclusive country club membership and has recently been seen playing putt-putt golf.

9. If the credit card offer you receive in the mail was already pre-declined.

8. If your stock in Hot Wheels and Matchbox car companies is trading higher than GM and Chrysler.

7. If, instead of the Quarter Pounder, McDonald's starts selling the Quarter Ouncer.

6. If rich people fire their nannies, and actually start to learn their children's names.

5. If the most highly-paid job available you know of is jury duty.

4. If people in Africa start donating money to Americans. (Mothers in Ethiopia start telling their kids, "Finish your plate; do you know how many kids are starving in America?")

3. If Motel Six just won't leave the lights on for you.

2. If airlines begin charging by the pound.

1. If your bank returns your check marked as "insufficient funds," and they call and say it was their funds that were insufficient, not yours!

There is just nothing wrong with this country that a Great Depression or a World War couldn’t fix.