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The Myth of Fixed-Income

Mark Pribonic at On the Borderline makes a compelling argument destroying the myth of fixed-income.  He concludes:

But like other government myths, living on a fixed-income is not a description about one’s financial status. It is merely another pass key to take the wealth of some and put it into the pockets of others.

Today, the 400,000 individuals laid off since the beginning of the year have more than likely experienced a significant decline in income. With more layoffs coming across a wide spectrum of industries, I am sure many of those affected individuals would, unlike my father-in-law, find some solace in a fixed-income.

Read the whole thing.

Posted by Owen at 1731 hrs
Culture + Politics + Politics - General + Politics - Wisconsin

1. That was a very interesting post - I read the whole thing.  Must say, don’t hear that term “fixed income” tossed around as much as maybe 20-25 years ago.  I wonder if the term was really invented by the government, or something that started out being used by citizens and the media.  I notice that Mark’s father-in-law is 88, so 25 years ago he was 63 years old.

   I remember my late father being disgusted with that generation for not “listening” to the fine print about Social Security - that it was supposed to “supplement” other resources for retirement and was not meant to be one’s sole source of income.  Instead, a whole generation came into retirement without having saved anything else, and going ballistic that prices were rising & their Social Security wasn’t enough to maintain their lifestyle.  They sincerely thought that they had been “screwed”.

   That is why I am a little skeptical about people who make the assumption that nationalized health care is going to give them exactly what they want and maybe more.  If it evolves like Social Security has, in order to cover everyone, it will have to be a “compromised” system.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 08, 2008 at 1246 hrs
   
   
   

2. My income is not fixed.  It is broken.  As soon as I fix it, I will retire. 

   Posted by Leonard on July 08, 2008 at 1347 hrs
   
   
   

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