Social Insecurity

I received my Social Security statement in the mail last week.  You know the one – it lists your earnings over your years of work and estimates what amount of Social Security you will be eligible for when you retire. 

At the rate that was quoted, I estimate I will be able to retire when I’m 87.  I’ll be living high on the hog, buying my denture cream and Depends.

That is, if Social Security survives.  The buzz in the financial world is that, by the time I’m ready to retire, there will be no “security” for me and others my age.  The idea that you’re paying into a fund that will be waiting for you when you need it most is, alas, just not true. 

The interesting thing is that this was the buzz 20+ years ago as well when I was at Michigan State.  I had a “Government Benefits for Workers” economics class that addressed this same problem.  I had to write a paper that solved this issue once and for all.  It was one of the very few things that I saved from my college years and I dusted it off and read it just this past week for giggles. 

My answer was to raise both taxes and the retirement age to 68 by the year 2000.   I called it a “trust fund”, optimistically believing that by demanding more money, the government would save it and there would be plenty to go around for years to come.  My professor loved it – I got an “A”.

What a heartless little politician I was back in 1987.  Not only was I going to make people work longer (life expectancy was going up, I rationalized), I was going to demand more money from workers. 

On second thought, people are working longer and I continue to pay lots of taxes.   Despite all this, it looks like me and my contemporaries are still not going to receive anything for all of our hard work and contributions. 

So, what’s the problem here?  Could it be massive spending by our government?  Mismanagement of funds?   People are just plain selfish and living too long?  All of the above?

I should save all of those Social Security statements and pull them out in 20 years.  Like that paper I wrote, they will seem nostalgic worth reading for a good laugh.

Spam: It’s Not Just For Computer Hackers Anymore

I was at my friendly neighborhood Kroger store today, considering what I can afford to buy since payday is later this week.  I’m thinking of going back to relying on coupons, much as I find them to be a complete pain in the rear end.  They do add up over time and, as we all know, saving money is a good thing.

I found myself standing in front of the shelves of Spam, which immediately made me think of my dad.  My father, a child of the Depression era, could serve Spam in many different and creative ways.  Believe me, we ate them all.

My mother was a SAHM, but back in those days it wasn’t so much of a choice as it is now.  It was just something many women were expected to do.  Period.

She made every single meal of the week except Saturday lunch, which my dad made for me and my two brothers.  I can’t exactly remember why this was, but I suspect that she escaped for a few hours on Saturday mornings.  Who could blame her? 

His favorite Saturday lunches were Spam and cucumber sandwiches, with mayonnaise and thinly sliced onion.  Yet another was peanut butter and mustard sandwiches.  Yes, that’s right – no typos.  Mustard AND peanut butter on the same slice of bread.  Oh, and chips, pickles and milk.  Yum.

My dad also referred to the refrigerator as the “ice-box” and aluminum foil as “tin foil” for many years.  My husband just recently pointed out that foil is no longer made out of tin, as I slipped into one of my “dadisms”.  Old habits die hard.

As for this recent recession, if my dad’s mother was still alive, she would have a million ideas regarding how to save a buck.  Widowed at 49, my grandma pulled herself up by her bootstraps and got a job after my grandfather suddenly died. 

As my mom would say, “That woman knew how to save a dime”.    She would totally approve of my coupon cutting.  She might even say that Spam was a totally acceptable food.

Spam and cucumber sandwiches, anyone?