123 lines
6.7 KiB
Plaintext
123 lines
6.7 KiB
Plaintext
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= F.U.C.K. - Fucked Up College Kids - Born Jan. 24th, 1993 - F.U.C.K. =
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Can Any of us Get Ahead in Our Lifetime
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The 1997 year has come to a close and once again it is time for me to
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figure out how much the taxman is going to take. I did pretty well
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this year clearing just over twenty-eight thousand after taxes
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(Federal, State, Social Security, and Medicare). My earned income
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came from two jobs and unemployment compensation. Imagine making
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forty thousand dollars but only being able to keep two thirds--that
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is the power of taxes. I wonder how many people actually try living
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off their gross instead of net income? Quite a few I'll bet.
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I don't have a budget or bother with trying to budget money. People
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who tend to have credit problems or spend beyond their means should
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worry about budgets. I tend to be what many would call a "tightwad"
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or "penny pincher." Course I don't like the name being tagged on me
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even if it is true. I guess it's from growing up the way I did--
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always saving. My family always saved yet we never had any new cars.
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Even though we had the money my dad often didn't like seeing my mom
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buy new things he felt "we" didn't need. Back in 1987 my mom bought
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me a $150 walkman which my dad threw across the room in rage when he
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discovered the price. He couldn't relate to "buying the best"
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especially when one could settle for a $30 walkman instead. Course I
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should be thankful since my parents saving helped pay for 85% of my
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college education (which was at a public, in state, university).
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This brings us to the question of what the hell did I do with the
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remaining money the government let me keep? Well, in 1997 I invested
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17.5k of the money into stocks and mutual funds. I lived off the
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other 10k plus a couple thousand in interest from savings and cashing
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bonds.
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Living at home for the first couple of years during my career allowed
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me to save most of my paycheck, which I then invested into stocks and
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mutual funds. No kids, wife, or student loans also helped. I
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estimate, given an average market I may be able to reach my one
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hundred grand goal by the turn of the century. Then, with the power
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of compounding, the money will double every seven to ten years. With
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any luck I'll have a million dollars by the time I'm sixty. However,
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it is very important not to get too carried away with money and
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investing such that you aren't enjoying what you make in the present.
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Of course it seem that not many people have to worry about this.
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I invest so I can afford that house, car, motorcycle, etc. down the
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road. I also invest to have a security blanket. Working long hours
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or doing something I despise is a trap I want to avoid. Having some
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savings allows me to not have to take anyone else's shit. The bottom
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line is to not fall into the "slave" trap where you HAVE to work and
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are living paycheck to paycheck.
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Some people only save money through their employer's pension plan.
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This is a great tax free way to save--especially if the employer
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matches contributions. It is also a good way to keep employees
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around a long time (nothing wrong with that unless the employee hates
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their job). Unfortunately, people rely on these pension and social
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security payments too much rather then attempting to build their own
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investment program and safety net.
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I make a decent wage compared to the US average. When I hear about
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people making 20-30k before taxes and have a 100k home I wonder how
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they are surviving? Paycheck to paycheck? A thirty-year mortgage
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means you will probably be paying 250-300k for a 100k house! Run the
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numbers and find out for yourself. Rent, insurance, car maintenance,
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food, and the bare necessities cost me 12k a year and I'm a
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"tightwad." Throw in a house, wife and kids and I'd probably be
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living paycheck to paycheck.
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Think about it for a moment. Are you controlling money or is it
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controlling you? If you lost your job and were out of work for a
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month would you survive?
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Life isn't always hard roads or happy times. It's a mixed blessing
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of the two. I believe it is important to enjoy the hear and now but
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I also believe one can overdo a good thing. Invest a good 10-25% of
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your earned income, keep a two or three-month survival fund (savings)
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and enjoy the rest while you are able to.
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EPILOGUE
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I wrote the above in early 1998. Now, ten months later, and looking
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at today's depressed stock market I'm staring to wonder if I'm
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kidding myself about "getting ahead." I realize, and you should to,
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the stock market is a long-term investment. However, I can't help
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theorizing about conspiracies of getting people to invest their hard-
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earned money into what may turn out into a bottomless pit where only
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the rich reap the benefits. Could it be someone's sick idea of
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giving the working man a false hope for a better tomorrow? Promising
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early retirement and more money then they can spend in their time
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left--the good life we all seek. Perhaps the market is a false
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prophet or maybe it is another way for the rich to siphon funds from
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the middle and working class. Hell, I don't know where I get these
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crazy ideas from but I do know that I will continue to invest.
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However, from now on I'm going be a little more cautious especially
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when it comes to high tech stocks.
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Still in the ballgame and playing to win,
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Pallbearer
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