If your email is like mine, you are inundated with scary emails about Biden stealing your 401s.
Again, if you are like me, you skip over them as they are nothing more than clickbait to sell you some service.
There is a reality to the grim state of our country and the economy. Left unchecked, many will lose their retirement dollars and sadly will depend on social security as their only source of income.
With retirement age not too far in the future, we see that with the current prices of everything, even sitting at home will be costly.
You might be tempted to blame Putin for the state of the world, but not so fast. Energy costs were already skyrocketing before February 24th. Just like Under Obama, energy costs were much higher; however, we have reached new highs.
The world economy revolves around energy. That is why China and India still build and maintain coal-fired power plants. Sure, they are dirty and pollute and might even be the cause of climate change, but…They don’t have anyone screaming at them about the environment.
That dirty air does not just hover over the place it was created. No…it travels on the Jetstream just like the dust from the Sahara Desert pollutes our air in Texas and elsewhere.
Removing inexpensive energy availability from a country forces large companies to take their business to countries where dirty air is not a problem. They also search for cheap labor (slave labor), and we look the other way.
Addicted to our tablets and phones, we ignore that SLAVES made them.
What about your retirement?
You don’t care about where the technology comes from as long as it works and entertains. You might care about the price of gas as it takes three times the amount of money that it did just two years ago to fill up your tank. Many are still Ridin with Biden, even though inflation is clearly his doings. The cost of goods and services are also much higher because energy costs are much higher.
He campaigned on killing fossil fuels, and he is doing it. Damned, the torpedoes.
You might have noticed that your mailbox has new credit card applications in it on a weekly basis, if not daily. Get this phenomenal rate of 17.9% on credit card rollovers vs. the 24% you have currently.
Why do you suppose these great offers are hitting your mailbox now?
As the cost of ‘everything’ skyrockets, people still must live. They need to get to work or keep the lights on or food on the table. While many Americans could not come up with $500 cash on a bet, they still must have the means to survive.
The money predators are there to assist you in your time of need. From Pay Day loans for those without much credit to introductory offers to those with credit, they are there.
The first time you revolve credit from purchasing gas, you are sinking fast into the abyss of debt that you might never get out of.
The cost of that gallon of gas will increase exponentially as you continue to revolve dept.
Along comes the cheaper credit card, and you see relief. No, it’s just a slower death.
What are your options?
The cheapest option is to rob your savings account. The kids don’t need to go to college. Trade school still works, and we need plumbers, electricians, and so on. You don’t really need that dream vacation that you have saved for since your wedding…do you?
At .05 % interest on your savings, it is truly the cheapest money you have access to.
Your burn rate or how quickly you run through your paycheck before the next one comes in will assist you in determining what expenses you can cut.
Do you need Netflix or Cable? Do you really need to run the air? Your ancestors didn’t have such things; do you really need it?
How warm can you stand to have your home before you are just miserable?
Do you really need to take that trip to grandmother’s house, or can she use zoom or face time?
Eventually, if things don’t change, your burn rate will exceed what you make.
Is a second job necessary? What will the long-term costs be to your children who are forced to be raised by the internet, TV, or the other kids whose parents are working two jobs? Will your child grow up to be the next mass shooter? It did look like fun in the video game.
With the rent or mortgage increases thanks to higher taxes, your retirement nest egg, that 401, looks rather attractive.
Sure, you can pay off the credit card bills, but if you don’t change the calculus on your burn rate, again, you are prolonging the result.
Borrowing from your 401 is horribly expensive money but not as bad as credit card interests.
Those of us close to retirement might use our homes as a way out of debt, opting for less expensive places to live, like a mobile home. They are horribly energy inefficient and not what I would call an attractive place to retire. They are, however, an option.
Is Biden coming after your retirement?
No, but the feds know that curbing inflation is going to require dollars that are not printed, flowing back into the ‘system.’ Where are those dollars? Yep, your savings and 401 and every other bit of capital that you have saved, including that in your home.
They are not forcing you to take those measures, unlike other governments might, but they are limiting your options.
The good news is, if they push too hard, they will kill the golden egg-laying goose. The Feds have an idea of just how hard they can push by how much money is still tied up in 401s.
“Good News?”
Yes, they don’t want to totally kill the American way of life, just cripple it enough so you and everyone else will become more dependent on government handouts. The way of life the Boomers grew up with will be gone, just like those who survived the atomic age.
Their end goal is socialism in a much larger format than what we have now. Make no mistake, we are a socialist country. If you can afford it, you pay for those who cannot. Park outside a WIC office on a Friday. Those with new cars parked far away from the front of the building. Those mothers with Boyfriends, yeah, they stay in the car.
It’s not just WIC; it’s the healthcare industry along with every government handout program. Your tax dollars fund each and every person crossing the border illegally. They get a swag bag with a smartphone, tickets to the city of their choice, and god knows what else. I wonder if they get an autographed picture of the president?
Where is my free phone or free stuff? If I sneak into Mexico and then cross back into the US and claim I am from Brazil fleeing oppression, will I get free stuff?
If you want to save your retirement dollars, cut your burn rate now before you must. When Time Warner and Netflix, and others scream at the government, they will back off. Stop spending money that you don’t have to spend.
We are in a war, and money talks.
-Best
Blog from Author TWScott 