I truly identify with this lady....I am 83 years old ....a retired Architect, Project Manager, Entrepreneur and also into radio broadcasting. My current annual income just barely allows me to exist from month to month. I on just on a bare Social Security income...no medical insurance. I live in the past glory of what my life has been...from working on projects like assistant to the great Oscar Niemeyer ...building the City of Brasilia...to 4 patents in personal electronics and mobile communications......but now I have nothing. I live from month to month...with distant memories and untold missed opportunities....and hope. Hope that my next dream will be successful....I live in hope! .....and broke!!!
Huge amount of respect to you for your accomplishments Las Latty. It's unfortunate that things have not worked out for you in the financial arena though. So it's safe to say that the American Dream for lots of Americans is just that a 'Dream'.
Probably not, but the exposure is payment. Same reason top acts perform during the Super Bowl halftime show. She has a great book though. Highly recommend reading it. I asked my public library to order a copy. I think it's called "55 Unemployed and Faking Normal"
I listened to this in 2024. At 63 years old and have chosen retail as a career in the 70’s when it offered so much more, I am left with nothing to fall back on today. As an African American and a single woman, I have faked normal for years. Thanks for a great presentation on this topic.
There's so much to unpack here. As you read the comments there's plenty who have snarky things to say, brags about how well their doing but only a few who gets that this is bigger problem or give real helpful advice. Our society as a whole will never understand that It doesn't take much to lose a lifetime worth of savings & work. A couple of bad choices or medical issue and you can litterally be dependent on anyone but yourself in the blink of an eye. The 1% with the riches will always get the best deals, breaks & advantages and they don't need it plus rarely do they reach back to help a underprivileged community, a small biz or someone struggling to build from nothing. Anyways, as you can tell I have lots to say about this. Loved her Talk. Hope she found her peace and gained financial benefits from sharing her story. I think I have some gems to share as well... Need to see how I can be of help. Be Well folks, God bless this getting older life, we need it 💕🙏✌🏽
Well said, we must all do what the speaker here did and help educate people about history, government, politics, civics, ethics, and critical thinking, in order to prevent the greedy and authoritarian cons from stamping out liberty, financial stability, and international peace, it's all connected. Indeed, be well, and thanks for sharing your views! :)
So many don't have a clue how precarious it is when you're caught in a perfect storm, much of it not of your own making, to be thrown into chaos. Even when doing all you can to circumvent it and to move forward, the toll is immense, and leaves one depleted. If this has happened repeatedly, the chances for recovery grow more difficult each time. I'm so grateful for my family, my friends, and most especially my faith. Without them, it would be impossible. Thank you for sharing. 😌
@@lovemymuzic1 I have a sibling who has gone through 2 layoffs in 3 years' time. We are doing our best to help out. I am rooting for you as well. Stay strong!
Yes to everything White says. I came off of my throne. It was both a necessary and a very positive step. It hasn't lead to nirvana, but honest work is honest work, and as White says, money is green. The trick has been to find dignity in what I do regardless of what I do. One payoff is that I feel younger by having to do things that mostly younger people do. It helps keep me feeling vital.
retirement should not be about sitting in front of the TV all day, or not being physically active. Retirement for me equates to not having to be at a job. Equates to doing what I feel is important, and done at my own schedule.
I watched a documentary about a 92 year-old man who was bagging groceries to supplement his SS check. He had been a wealthy man, and had planned for his retirement. Then he met Bernie Madoff. He ended up broke and unable to support his lifestyle. So he went out and he does what he can to make a living. He and his wife have a vastly different lifestyle now, but he remains positive and cheerful. You can, and many people do, end up like this despite their best efforts to avoid doing so.
It's the central banking system fault,not yours,your purchasing power has been robbed of you for the last 50 years. Inflation stole money out of your pocket so you can't afford to buy as much anymore.bills and services have went up in cost because of inflation.
@@seanorourke7011 The insidious tax and theft of inflation is the least understood topic about money in America. It seems like nobody cares about the value of their savings, probably because they don't have savings and the economy long ago evolved into paycheck to paycheck lifestyles or dependency on government welfare.
As a financial counselor, I can tell you that these types of scenarios play out way to often and many of them are too heartbreaking. Thank you for sharing Ms. White's story.
QueenBee1118 I don’t feel sorry for these elderly parents. Having children for the sake of having a caretaker when you are old is probably the most selfish decision anyone can make.
The focus is to live within our means, stop keeping up with the Jonses, work and plan our own retirement. I would never want to be a burden to my children. Times have changed.
I think of my Mother who was an interior designer, she has a heart of gold! A bad marriage and numerous health issues has her living in a similar way. She looks like a million bucks as Ms. White does. Yet, on a now fixed income. Needing me and my brothers help. We aren’t affluent and at 49 years old I have my own set of concerns. This is a dose of reality that no one wants to take. Blessings to everyone who sees this video and can personally relate to it. My mother never imagined that she would be this dependent on government assistance or her children. All we can do is try to not make her feel like she’s a burden. My heart breaks for her.
My mother was born in 1924, and I am sure that I owe a lot to that fact. My spouse and I have our differences, but we largely agree on what it means to live frugally.
@@carpediem673 Mind you it is much easier to live through hard times when most people around you are in the same boat. When I was a boy and young man, the typical older person had lived through the Depression and was willing to talk about what that was like. It was very harsh for many families (loss of savings due to the failure of banks and S&Ls, no heat or telephone, meat 1-2x/month, letting widowed grandmothers or unmarried sisters live in unused bedrooms, non chain grocery stores letting families buy a minimum of food on a "pay me when you can basis") In 1974, in the reading room of the city library, I overheard elderly men share about how they had spent hours in that same reading room during the Depression, because it was a heated space that was free of charge. Families were often supported by a young adult son or daughter who earned something like $1000/year. People stopped paying for trains and drove instead. An elderly aunt in Deroit told me in the 1980s of seeing in the early 1930s unconscious people seated in streetcars and buses, that she believed had fainted from hunger.
A really good video, I think ladies show watch these kinds of videos more. Material possessions cant guarantee you financial stability instead it takes from what you have, investing or learning a skill can ensure you a life of financial independence.
This woman, Elizabeth White has hit the nail on its head for a large portion of the "baby boomer" generation. She's brilliant and courageous and has put her finger on the systematic void that many of us baby boomers have been experiencing! Thank you Elizabeth White!
Debra Taylor I suppose this means you realize that "Millennials" aren't the entitled one who had everything handed to them; it was *your* generation and you are living proof that everything that was once handed IS NOW TAKEN AWAY. The generation that follows yours will have to work twice as hard to get half as far. Wait, I'm sorry, that's an exaggeration... they'll actually have to work MUCH HARDER TO GET EVEN LESS.
Debra Taylor See nothing brilliant and courageous about this woman. She blew her money living it up when she was successful and working. Now she's broke and struggling.
I was born in 1978. I suppose I'm a semi Millennial. I can't believe that people from an older generation can be so poor in planning for the future. Even during my first corporate job out of college i saved closed to 50% of my pay. As my salary rose, I have been saving 70% or even 80% of my take home pay. When I was not at my corporate job, I've worked for my brother at his restaurant, took a job at an Amazon warehouse for a short time, and even worked as an Instacart grocery delivery for about a month and a half. I actually didn't mind these side jobs, aside from the relatively low pay, they kept me on my feet, and phyiscally active. People need to be flexible,
She said my words exactly. I love my friends but I hated going out to dinner with them to expensive restaurants. Actually, even when the restaurants weren't expensive, my friends would order without thinking and then divide the bill. Mind you, i already looked up the menu before i got there to make sure I could afford it but between the things I didn't eat and the generous tips i felt compelled to leave, i always ended up blowing my budget out of the water.
I'm 21 and I really understood what you were saying. It's foolish to think that the money we make when we're young will always be there even after retirement, and that's if we are lucky enough to be able to retire. As a society, we need to understand that our self-worth shouldn't be attached to how much we make or how much we have. This obsession with materialism that we all have can and will lead to our own demise if we let it. I don't have a financial issue yet but tightening my belt, getting off my throne and reevaluating what I spend my money on will help me to avoid being in an undesirable situation in coming years.
At age 26 My husband and I were caring for our younger siblings who lived with us. We both hadparents that died very young and unexpectedly. This ruined saving money in our twenties and thities. By 34 we had already put 2 siblings through college. by 38 our own children were starting college. Now Im 47 Im caring for our youngest son whose totally disabled. His care cost a fortune. WHEN was I supposed to save money
I take my hat off to you. My sister was the same age when our parents died and she took in 4 siblings and had 6 kids of her own. We (10 kids) however paid for our own college or went to the military. I understand where you are coming from. Good luck on your retirement.
This was very inspiring and I feel her pain at 59 myself. The sad thing is that you can't really share this info outside of your orbit because no one wants to hear a sad story. So if you tell your story, you are then shunned and not called upon. I've learned to live with less because we all can. I went to private schools growing up, but my family didn't have much so I'm reverting back to what was. Geez, I bet a lot of us are wondering how we got here and how does it all end?
We added solar panels to our home which has saved us a lot of money, cut out the extras in our grocery bill, started growing some of our own food. It's tough out there but it was tough for my parents too. We made the mistake of teaching our kids that having it better than we did means having more stuff. We are now trying to unteach them that concept. Lose your pride when it comes to taking jobs. Do what it takes to survive. Never get credit cards! I had to learn that lesson the hard way. With all of our changes to our lifestyle we aren't so much getting ahead as treading water.
Never get credit cards unless you can use them to build your credit not your debt. You are correct in that we must do what we can and pass that on to our children. Best to you.
I thank you for sharing what I live, and have struggled to admit. 65, retired teacher ...never thought I would be here. I no longer can afford to fake normal. .Thank you for breaking the silence my Sister.
I told my students back in 2000-2001, most of whom (but not all of whom) came from fairly comfortable, middle-class lives: The precariousness underlying the U.S. economy is such that most middle class families are only one car accident away from utter poverty. When I said it that way, they understood it.
My retirement income will be ~ $110k per year before taxes. Health insurance is paid for life. Not because of luck. Because of the decisions i made 20 years ago. Most people just assume everything will work out in the end. It dosnt.
At 53 I’m feeling the squeeze. I’ve gotten rid of bills that aren’t necessary (cable, water delivery, no take out, no manicures or hair salons) and when you’re a single income it’s even scarier. Most of my friends plan on working very late into their 60’s and I realize that will likely be me as well.
It's a huge problem and has many contributing factors. Personally, we have a lot we can do to have more financial security. Systemically, there are a lot of things that could change to make things better for the vast majority of people. Without giving up on the systemic changes that need to happen, I focus more on what I can change about myself. I spend too much, shop too often, and dream about increasing my lifestyle for really no reason. Those habits spread into the people near me as well, so we all go downhill together. But my goal is to change that and focus on the things that really matter most like relationships and health and learning. They also happen to be very cheap, oftentimes. A nice hike with a friend can accomplish all 3 and cost nothing. Let's figure out ways to slowly flip the norm and encourage a less consumeristic lifestyle and one that creates the intimacy needed to share struggles instead of feeling like we need to cover them up.
Fortunately, I am in a very good financial position. 2 reasons why: I have avoided debt my whole life...never owned a credit card; I paid cash or I didn't have it. Second reason: I saved 20% of every pay check I got. Most people save if there's anything left. I always saved first, and made what was left last.
I started saving for retirement when I was in my early 20s and only making about 10 bucks an hour. All thanks to a radio show called Capitalist Pig. His talk about the power of compounding interest blew my young mind, and 25 years later I can say that I owe that guy a beer. The sooner you start saving the bigger your nest egg will be.
The saving we do before turning 40 is very potent saving indeed, esp. if that saving is invested in the stock market. USA stocks have returned an average of 10.8%/year since 1949. The longer the time interval, the more likely the average will prove to be an achieved fact. 10.8%/year means that money in a tax-deferred account with dividends reinvested doubles every 6.5 years. That is thanks to interest compounding.
I have to tell you I finally got into the stock market and it is quite a lucrative place. Yes you have to be careful and there are risks but there is so much money out there it's ridiculous. There's no reason why someone can't do well in it. It does take time to learn, but have the patience to figure it out. As far as investing goes, there are plenty of dividend companies out there that are a great investment for the long haul of compounding interest. And as for a more current interest, cryptocurrency isn't a bad idea either, especially with Bitcoin going up lately. It's an investment for the future.
Student debt and the price of pharmaceutical drugs aren't going to make things any better. As long as the oligarchs of the world continue to fleece us without us taking a stand against it--nothing is going to get better.
Stay informed, critically think, gather facts and evidence, question your sources, and *then* go vote! That is the first act of defiance, resistance, and empowerment all must take against oligarchs. Revolution and force should be used as a last resort, especially in modern times, nuclear weapons exist these days, they didn't the last time a global conflict took place to rest control from the cold hands of authoritarians and their greedy inner circles. Just something to keep in mind.
Vote progressive candidates,vote for Bernie Sanders! Think long and hard,listen to the fact ,that the last 30 to 40yrs haven’t helped the middle class or working poor people in this country! This system we support is not working for , WE THE PEOPLE! HELP YOURSELF , THINK 🤔🤔🤔who in government will help you ? NO REPUBLICANS OR CORPORATE DEMOCRAT,SO THEN WHO?THINK FOOLS THINK 🤔 GOOD LUCK WITH THAT !🙂
Gary Thornbury think fool think 30 to 40yrs , you like the way it’s going? You think this system is working? Maybe for you,i don’t know you! But surely not for working class people something has to CHANGE!ITS A GREAT COUNTRY,but Iam afraid it’s not working for working class people anymore.its working fine top 1% where are you 1% probably not. Why should I even care,i live a very comfortable life,(BECAUSE WHATS HAPPENING IN THIS COUNTRY TODAY IS WRONG) ps if you support Donald Trump don’t bother!
This was excellent and at age 58, here is my view. When I went to college, it was not expensive, we lived in dump apartments and drank Milwaukee's best. Todays kids have high tuition, live in nice places, drink craft beer and sushi and do a semester in France. Most on borrowed money. Pre mid 80s, designer clothes were for the people with bank, then everyone jumped on the band wagon paying a fortune for a label. Then starbucks came in and quadroupled the price of a cup of coffee. Then it was the McMansions, BMWs etc. All show, no substance.
@@MJ-uk6lu luckily for me I got a full ride for college. But that's not the case for most people, so I need folks who didn't have to struggle to pay for their education (myself included) to have sympathy for those who do.
This is an AWESOME Ted Talk. We need to stop defining ourselves by the things we have. Most of the time people are trying to impress other people that do not care about them. My mom has always said it is the fact that we are a selfish and greedy society (just look at the show American Greed). I do well but I am never above learning from someone older than me or even younger. There is always pride before the fall. I enjoy standing and walking upright, so I choose humility. Strength will always be in numbers. We, as a people, need to be the change we want to see.
Please understand folks that you must live below your means at all cost. I have never been in a Starbucks, and I am proud of that fact. We have to know that the only helping hands we are going to get are those at the end of our arms. I was a minimalist before it was popular; we do not need a lot of stuff to occupy space.
Love this as it hit a nail on the head. I didn't realize that I'm still adjusting after losing my job back in 2016. I'm in the bridgework process and it helped me put things in a different perspective to move forward with my new normal.
Sometime around 2005, when White was around age 45, she resigns from a good job at the World Bank (WB), where she worked with African nations. She opens a shop in suburban DC that sold African crafts and decorative items. She opens a second shop in the DC suburbs and a third one in suburban Baltimore. In 2008, along comes the GFC and the tills in her shops stop ringing. She closes her shops and sets herself up as a freelance consultant for economic development projects - a gun for hire by the WB, IMF, State Dept. etc. Her annual income falls to an average of about $30K/year, and she never knows when and how much her next contract will be. For the past 10 years, she has lived in a sort of Twilight Zone of near poverty. I learned these facts from an interview she gave that PBS broadcasted some years ago. My comments. 1. I was 43 when I landed my last job. I did not like that job, and applied for other jobs for 10 years, without success. To my pleasant surprise, the people who made my job unpleasant gradually all resigned in one huff or another. The last years of my career were the best ever. A number of people who were far more successful than I ever was told me that it can be nearly impossible to find a new white collar job after age 40-45. The job you find yourself in when you are 45 or so, is probably the job you will retire from. I have long had an uneasy feeling that many people over 45 work jobs they dislike because they cannot find another one. 2. Given her age, she should have stuck it out on her WB job until retirement. BTW, WB employees owe no US income tax. I do not know if they can enrol in Social Security. All this plus being single means that White should have been able to sock away as much as $50K/year. That level of saving means that she could have retired early, possibly as early as age 55 or so. Every year on my last job, I contributed the maximum allowed to my IRA and that of my spouse. This came in very handy when I had to retire at age 62. 3. White apparently resides in DC. Housing in safe DC neighbourhoods is VERY expensive. The first line of defense against poverty is being able to living in an owned residence where the property taxes are modest. These desiderata translate to a 1 bedroom condo in a neigbourhood that is not the finest. The price I paid for having paid off my mortgage in 17 years, and for owing only $2K/year of property taxes, is living in a neighbourhood with a rising proportion of rented houses. 4. Her story is an example of why being married can be a form of economic insurance, and why spouses should have careers in different lines of work. 5. I know a white woman in her 60s, with a law degree and a beautiful command of written English, whose situation is much worse than White's, but for one thing: Medicaid. 6. Generations of our ancestors believed that only business owners and the self-employed could be truly free. The only form of self employment open to all was freehold farming. The resulting vast demand for small freeholds fueled the enormous emigration of Europeans to North America and Australasia, where small freeholds were cheap, even given away. White collar employment became common and respectable only in the 1920s. 7. Forget self-employment, because 80% of small business ventures fail. Nowadays, freedom requires owning a small slice of the return to privately owned capital. This is easy to achieve via Roth accounts invested in mutual funds. I advocate a UBI of $6500/person/year. My preferred way of thinking about a UBI is as a material fraction of the return on a nation's capital stock, noncorporate as well as corporate, equally shared with all of its legal residents.
Thank you for filling in the blanks; I was wondering how someone with a Harvard education ends up being this economically shaky; look into Andrew Yang running for President and his proposal for a $1K a month UBI. He's qualified for the debates and I expect will make a good show of it; many interviews with him available here on YT and MSM outlets.
@@signalfire6 I have convinced myself that the USA can afford a UBI of $6500/person/year, with parents getting the UBI their children are entitled to. I would make SS benefits and the dole fully taxable, and subtract my UBI from SSI benefits. I would abolish TANF and all refundable tax credits, but keep food stamps, section 8 vouchers, and Medicaid. I have seen nothing indicating that Yang's UBI of $12K/adult/year is affordable or workable. I estimate that my UBI would have cost $1.4 trillion in 2017.
She had a dream in opening her shop but it catered exclusively to black people who comprise a small percentage of the population. Black people are like everyone else. Soon they probably tired of their decor or stopped gifting African items so were not repeat buyers.
Look at any culture that isn't western and you will see villages and towns where everybody chips in for everybody, because no state is looking out for them. Selfishness is far less in these small tight knit communities and I'm sure it's very rewarding. I'm sure if we kept all our money and hard work within a small community then everyone will get the leg up they in this life. I'm definitely victim of trying to prove to be something I'm not to keep up with my peers. This all changed when I knew my partner was having a child. Family are helping us getting married and I am giving up all my luxuries because now my family comes first. Watching my child grow to become the best human we could possibly create will be far more rewarding than showing strangers the new flash car you have or your expensive holiday. These small communities in the middle of nowhere have their priorities right and it's these small communities that became the great nations we have today. We must find our roots again as a family and a community.
Even in tight knit communities, minorities get shut out, which is why people form their own affinity groups because they know the majority would only begrudgingly chip in for them.
David Thattenbanos Which non-Western culture are you trying to be a part of though? Unless you are referring to somewhere like Iceland, Sweden, or some other Scandinavian culture, I’d commend them but if you are referring to (literally) anywhere else such as Africa, the Middle East - yeah I’ll pass. The crime, violence, misogyny, hyper religiosity embedded in those cultures are not compensated by their supposed willingness to chip in for each other. I’d much rather be an American.
Thank you for having the courage to step out in front. What you are describing is now a great need. In my many years of counseling others toward maintaining hope, restructuring their talents and experience into self-fulfilling altruistic marketable skills, I have seen such a shift in societal thinking and values. Younger people in the US often view baby boomers as nothing more than old useless folks who don't deserve respect, can't keep up with the times and stole their money away. The younger people want everything right now and will stomp all over older workers to get it. As a young person, I held the more experienced workers in awe, with respect. Not so nowdays. Crazy online gossip fills these younger folks heads with nonsense instead of real history and truth. When the internet crashes, they will be coming to us. We have serious life skills, not just degrees. Let's help each other....not through AARP, but through grass roots like we did in OUR younger days. Think young, but think strategies based on a vast amount of knowledge and experience that we can pool together to figure this out!
When you job is doing great, never assume that that will last. Live ordinary middle class, don't trade up to a better house, drive your car until it wears out, pay off your credit card by the end of every month. Save 30-50% of your salary and bonuses. Saving includes reducing the balance owed on your mortgage. When the next recession comes, say by-by to bonuses and raises, and hello to being laid off. Have a plan for living bare bones for 2-3 years. When I was 20, my father was unemployed for 9 months. The dole paid the rent and utilities. I dropped out of college, worked in a factory, then stocked shelves in a supermarket. I gave my mother some of the money I made. We never went out to eat, and Xmas and birthday presents were pretty trivial for a while. The family cars held up. It is a lot easier to go into a recession with 50K in liquid savings. Those savings plus the dole can enable you to get by for about 3 years. The biggest problems with hard times is having to service a fat mortgage and paying for health insurance.
alnot01 I hear you. Now you are going to genuinely listen to people who tried to do honest things to change life around them and people’s dishonesty caused them to lose so much. Thanks for your advise but genuinely listen.
@@MJ-uk6lu Your Savings = Paying down your mortgage + Additions to retirement accounts + Purchase of taxable investments. If you are not raising children, you should save at least 15% of your income. Once your children are grown and your mortgage is paid off, you should aim to save 20-25% of your income.
@@lylecosmopolite Why not just save and invest 50% of your income in first two working years. I know, it can be very difficult, but power of compounding is really amazing. Later saving and investing can be far more sane, but those two initial years might be worth dedicating to that. It's best done while living in rented flat, which is in LCOL area and working in middle income job. You can prepare for that by studying abroad for free or for cheap, so once you walk out of parents house, you have no or minimal liabilities.
This Ted Talk is truly food for thought. Ms White worked for the World Bank, she had and idea for a business and went for it.Using money from her saving, etc. After a few years the business failed. She does not look like it but she is 64 years old, so at this age you also deal with age discrimination. So it hard to get ahead in the work place, so you have to think outside the box. There bur by grace could go any of us. And, as she states there are a lot of folks "faking normal".
The pension funds couldn’t invest properly either. It’s all over the news. Underfunded, poorly invested, stolen from. We need to learn to live without ever taking a loan. Stop paying interest. Things are going to get a lot worse. We need to leave the cities. Live somewhere cheap... small towns but in walking distance to a grocery... and try growing some food. Love this lady and her honesty!
Also we need to vote corrupt Republicans out of political office, because they're continually gutting social safety nets like social security and health insurance regulations. Survivalism is important and helpful, but the American people do have some political influencing power available still, it's voting, and we must all exercise it for every single election, local, state, and national. The most important election in US history is coming up this November (2018), it's the Congressional Midterm Elections and we must all vote for more progressive candidates. Because Republicans who control Congress, the Senate, and the White House right now have shown their true character (or lack of it) by allowing President Trump (an agent acting in favor of the Russian oligarchy and against US interests) to reign unchecked all so they can pass laws that deregulate the economy, allow corporations to restrict wages, stagnate the minimum wage despite increasing costs of living and inflation of currency, and give extremely generous tax cuts to the wealthiest 1% of Americans by gutting agencies that protect and support the lower and middle classes. Do something about it, go vote!!!
Really wouldn't ousting ANY corrupt politician regardless of political affiliation please you? Lost my health insurance due to the "Affordable" Care Act. Simply couldn't afford it since then. The Federal Reserve (a private entity) purposely creates more inflation by creating more federal reserve notes. The Fed has not been audited. Trump is doing NOTHING to curb government spending. Venezuela has a regulated economy. Look how they are fairing. The fact is we have regulations that hurt small business and favor the corporate giants. The corporate giants are who is really in control. They buy the influence politicians of both parties. We might all need survivalism soon. Wait til everyone starts getting their SS cut because the system just doesn't work. 2 tax payers are supposed to be able to support 1 retiree in the coming years- the money isn't there, the math doesn't work. Pensions were poorly invested and are collapsing everywhere. The only one who can look out for you is you, not some magic government who can print wealth out of thin air.
I don't actually have *any* political party allegiance. I am not a Democrat or a Republican or an Independent. I vote *all* corrupt politicians out of office, regardless of party or ideology. If someone is damaging the country, and behaving unethically, I do *not* support them. But, based upon my research and the extensive research and reporting of non-profit, independent, analytical, statistical, and journalistic sources and organizations, there is a very clear trend in US politics over the past 50 years. The trend is that Republicans are the party that damages this nation and acts unethically. Republicans follow outdated, pseudo-scientific economic strategies, chiefly those of quack economist Milton Friedman, which have been proven time and time again over decades to damage the US economy and the financial stability of all classes of society. For example, "trickle down" economics, that's a Friedman-derived economic strategy, and it simply does not work. Every time it's been implemented it boosts the wealth of the richest few at the expense of the working poor and working middle class, inevitably resulting in wider economic repressions and depressions. And which political party keeps pushing "trickle down" economics, the Republicans. The 2008 financial crisis occurred due to the G.W. Bush/Cheney (Republican/Neo-Con) White House and Republican-led Congress/Senate deregulating banks, markets, and loan-providers. Inevitably, it was sub-prime mortgages which created an unsustainable housing market bubble thanks to adjustable rate mortgage loans dished out to millions of Americans who could never possibly pay them back, it brought down the entire economy when the bubble burst. When it comes to economics, Republicans are the culprit of financial ruin for the vast majority of American citizen workers, because they seek short-term (and short-sighted) financial gains at the expense of average people and at the expense of the entire economy in the long-term. Republicans keep trying to destroy Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, the Department of Education, etc... and love taking corporate donations more than any other group of politicians. Republicans were responsible for "Citizens United", legislation that deregulated political campaign financial contributions, which allows private funds to be injected into politicians in a pay-for-policy pipeline of corruption. In regard to the Federal Reserve changing currency valuation and causing planned inflation/deflation etc... That's their job, and inflation is a critical tool in any government's economic system. However, it is Republicans who are responsible for the policies and laws that allow corporations to give multi-million (sometimes billions) dollar raises to CEOs and CFOs while not raising middle and lower level employee pay to account for that inflation of currency. Inflation is natural to an economy, even useful to it, but it shouldn't happen without commensurate increases in pay and benefits to all employees at all levels of the workforce. Republicans are increasingly unethical, pro-corporate, anti-social support, anti-federal, anti-law and order lackeys whose sole motivation is short term wealth accumulation at the expense of everyone else. I highly recommend you do some independent research into economics, microeconomics, and macroeconomics, read about Milton Friedman and the Chicago School, contrast that with Keynesian economics and evidence-based economics. Also, use these non-profit statistical, educational, and data-centric political records and database sites and tools to see exactly how corrupt and ethical or unethical, honest or dishonest, any politician is in the US government has been and vote accordingly: 1) voteview.com/ 2) www.congress.gov/ 3) polisci.ucla.edu/ 4) www.congress.gov/congressional-record 5) www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/macroeconomics 6) www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/macroeconomics/inflation-topic 7) www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2015/10/22/going-off-the-rails 8) link.springer.com/content/pdf/bfm%3A978-94-009-2567-0%2F1.pdf 9) www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/nov/16/post650 10) www.people-press.org/ 11) www.people-press.org/2018/06/20/2-the-2018-congressional-election/
I got several office jobs via temping and volunteering way after age 40. Forget sending resumes. Once they experience your enthusiasm and work ethic you'll be hired.
It is so interesting that my husband and I will be homeless tomorrow...and we just had this conversation today, then this video was recommended. In addition she looks like the older version of me. I am slender, chocolate-dark-skinned, have that yellow dress, and wear my hair in a powerful afro! lol!
@@flowerhour9539 you are certainly correct! We are where we need to be. Lessons are being learned. All will be well in Jesus' name. Thank you. Be blessed!💞
I fought for a few years because I had to move in with my little sister and her family. It was a lesson and a self reminder of life itself. Things happen and there's no need to be ashamed or angry. I honor the choices I made now and I'm not afraid to look that fellow in the mirror anymore.
Tbh, you don't live in a world defined by income, but a country defined by income. There are plenty of countries where society catches you before you hit rock bottom.
Brilliant. Yes! Shame keeps us from finding a path where the world says there is none. I wonder if the disabled who mostly have never been given a chance at any job, could by explaining how they make their lives work. Some don't do a good job but some are amazing. Sometimes I find when I look down I am actually looking up.
The US has a consumption crisis.. homes have gotten bigger by 2x while families are smaller by half. Closets have gotten bigger, three car garages, plus filling these big houses with stuff. Our economy is driven by consumerism. Look at national credit card debt vs national savings rates. It’s a crisis. We all need to small up
I've watched a lot of RU-vid videos interviewing homeless people. A common thread is that not only do they lack money, they lack a family support system. No friends or relatives etc that can help. Perhaps they had one and lost it do to bad life choices, substance abuse, etc. But in belt-tightening times, having a group of people who can work as a trusted team and conserve resources is vital. That's what helped people survive the Great Depression.
Classic rock Lover the local homeless man in her neighborhood actually paid the rent on her posh condo for a while because he had thousands of dollars he didn’t need because he loved so frugally. So, she had support...support FROM the homeless. No shame in her game apparently. The interview is posted on RU-vid if you want to verify.
Honestly it’s just a matter of not giving up. I just moved to a completely different state and the opportunities here are so much better. My advice is to keep looking and research! Trust me! You can do it!
and the more people steers the "job market" downward in "what the market will bear" in the "job market"....so they can pay "competitive wages"....which means "as low as everyone else will pay
It takes courage to be so raw and honest. A lot of us are going through this and shame, embarrassment and self blame make us miserable and ill. It is rough. Reach out and talk to someone. Don’t be alone.
Your parents should have taught you how to be more responsible. They should have taught you how to save and plan for your future. no, we want to keep up with the Jones. Hang out with rich white folks like we got it goin on. Y'all better wake up. As long as you got food clothing and shelter...you can make it. You can provide your own medicine through herbs and you can provide your own safety/ security by investing in some guns and ammo. Who say you have to live on the grid? I have spent all this money on education now I have to show America I can make it and that system. Simplicity is good.
We're taught to save but life circumstances don't always allow for it. I had an injury on the job at 55 that decimated my life. Employers are no longer responsible for their labor staff.
Ummm, the entire banking and credit system wasn't even mentioned.. The debt that exists was created by the banking system to enslave people within. Or how governments allow it, perpetuate it, and cause more problems with public debt to buy votes..
Aviri Char Have you noticed ppl seem to be voting for whoever will make things worse fastest the US could have had Sanders who may have pushed back in the UK we have a chance with Corbyn who will try to push it back, I think there are enough ppl in the US that have had enough they voted to burn it all we may yet do the same in the UK.
I really think one of many solutions would be that people who recognize they won't have enough funds to make it...consider some sort of 'dorm' type arrangement NOW, a dozen small rooms with a community area with things like laundry room and other such areas... where all 6-12 people share the cost of the unit. I mean there are tons of things people can do but this is certainly something people now living alone, or just splitting the bills with one other person could consider as a way to start saving up now... sort of 'communal living' - possibly even with a maid that comes in once a week and helps clean the common areas to cut down on 'issues'.
I learned this lesson early, luckily. I am trying to help my boomer friends and family get a handle on it before they plan to retire 10 years from now. While teaching my gen xers and fellow millennials. We have to get ahead of this.
I come from Greece, situation here is identical, (...I thought that we were the only "Idiots"), 30% of the population can handle their living, they are the ones that VOTE, but they lose daily, they do not realize that their children will have no possibility to live in an illusionary free world, as they did. Those who are brokes are the modern slaves, they have to fight for living as a start. Those who can handle it economical, must be motivated to change the situation, till now with all their stupidity they pay extra taxes to support what the state should already provide. They support a black hole that shall swallow the most of them as well. Elizabeth you are great, thank you, greetings from Crete.
US Americans do good to learn from the citizens of the soviet union. Over night the whole system collapsed, leaving hundret millions with nothing and very few with almost all the remaining wealth.
Heartbreaking, honest and requires collective empathy. And definitely confirms my fear - that there is no financial certainty apart from the one that you create for yourself.
ONLY if you're capable of finding a life/sexual partner earlier on in life (teen ages even), if not the case = you're either doomed to spend it all on Drugs, Gamble, or Charity, that's about as much as a "minimalist" loner during mid-age can do
I hope I picked the right profession. Truck driving doesn't care what you look like or how old you are as long as you can safely get a load delivered on time. I am homeless and live in my truck because it makes no sense to rent when i am never home. I may not make 200k a year but with as much i save on bills and living expenses I might aswell make that much.DC is hella expensive to live. I don't have to chase the Jones' as far as living standard. I am doing ok so far. 15 years for me to go til I'm 55....ill check back in for an update then :)
Sobering assessment of the financial elephant in the room, I appreciate how Elizabeth addresses the seismic change in our 2018 financial reality without blame and I also do foresee a "bridge" in managing this impending crisis through small groups reliance and communal organizations, whether its families or neighborhoods... Not certain of how that looks like just yet, perhaps a kind of "circling the wagons" that allows contribution to one another.
I found your PBS documentary and TED Talk. I would say "it's an illusion" to those envious of my smile and outer appearance. Now I know I too am faking normal. I was corporate too; what happened? It is a suffocating experience.
@@marcyfox9508 the youth straight out of college will eventually catch on, and demand higher pay. They see their more senior people doing little work and getting paid 2x - 3x what they are getting, eventually the leave for better opportunities. Thats what I've been doing for the last 15 years.
@@_Wai_Wai_ The others getting paid more had to pay their dues too. Right out of college doesn't guarantee a high-paying job, it doesn't even guarantee one gets a job. Of course people with more experience should get paid more.
What nation wide problem? Being too proud to take jobs that you think are beneath you and live below your means. Agreed. Entitlement is a nationwide problem.
I am happier now that I'm retired . Not much but my pension but living less stress than before.....I take a day at a time and far from lonely , I make due every day and never sat on that throne 💖
Omg. Lying in bed crying listening to this. This is me except I have a family of four. I'm 55 lost my job and watching my severance drain away. And now were heading into a recession.
If you own your home and don't pay very much in property tax, don't owe student loans, and still have your credit card, it is possible to live on $1000/month + food stamps + Medicaid. Cancel your land line. If you don't own your home, you probably qualify for section 8. One can lead an interesting life with an income as modest as what I have just described. Watch over the air TV -- no need for cable. Have an internet connection, read books from the nearest public library. Do an exercise class. Join a church, stay in contact with friends and relatives. Go to public lectures at the nearest university. Don't eat out.
alnot01 most people, including this speaker who admits as much, are way too proud and entitled to do such things. Which is fine...just don’t come looking for a hand out later.
@@NicE-jq3wv It is inevitable that when some people pay the price for the stupid things they have done, they will vote for politicians who promise to pay them somethnig out of the public purse. That is why Social Security was created. Trouble is, SS is very complicated to navigate, so that people make stupid SS choices.
She's very together for someone whose life has been up-ended. Age discrimination is very real and even par for the course, but so is having competency and intelligence well beyond youth. Heck, isn't it odd that the prime earning years, in your 50's, is also when so many people find it difficult or impossible to find work?
Many 401ks evaporated in 2008. It wasn't through the fault of the people that invested. The people that were at fault were never held accountable and this isn't the first time. I remember the Savings and Loans Scandals of the 80s/90s and that hasn't been fixed either. As long as the banking system is not addressed this is never going to be fixed. Fat chance of finding a new job after the age of 40. Unless you are a politician and live in DC.
I love trucking...have a bunch of retirees getting into it and out into the world. Kids are grown some have no spouse. If you have a love for driving and stay healthy it's quite nice....I will drive until i cant anymore...and really if i cant drive anymore I probably wouldnt want to stay here on earth either....lol burry me in a Semi.
no.What more people need is a more accountable and compassionate State, an economy that intentionally absorbs our skills and does not choose to de-prioritise education , health care and medical costs. We need a state that does not manufacture indebted students with ridiculous fees and companies that provide adequate pensions and medical care because they can but choose not to.We need to not blame the broken and kick the injured/.
Great points, brilliant woman. But why leave out an essential part of her journey? In her PBS interview, she tells of her foray into her own business, and how she put all or nearly all of her eggs in that basket. It was a wonderful idea & I would have shopped there, but starting your own business in this way (quitting your day job, investing your last penny) is a huge risk, more so as you get older. Starting your own business is a great opportunity, but there are no guarantees of success-this has always been. We hear of people making millions with start-ups, but so many fail, and we don’t see those on the news. Perhaps this, more than any other factor, is at the root of her present financial situation. I hope in her books or future presentations she focuses on lessons learned with entrepreneurship. Many could benefit as so many people want their own business, but do not realize the risks and how labor-intensive it can be to stay afloat let alone make a huge profit.
I think because at the root of it, she's not the topic. She's speaking about retirement specifically, and using some of her experiences to showcase what a dire financial situation looks like. It really isn't 'about her', this is specific to challenges her generation and society as a whole will have to face, not her personal life story.
MeliLew I respectfully disagree. I think it is the exact opposite: She is speaking about her personal life story specifically, and using other factors in our current society and financial world to explain the difficulties she is now enduring. Are there other factors out there that affect all of us? Of course. But her primary reason for speaking and writing a book is , in fact, her personal experiences & story. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, and listeners and readers can learn a lot from her story. But it is a glaring omission to leave out the part about losing it all because she put all/most of her $ into her dream business; and that omission belies the title, "an honest look."
You are right, about quitting your day job, investing your last penny, and from what I understand she said she even kept the business going for the sake of the artists after she was losing money, thus the mortgage on her townhouse, because she thought she'd just jump back into working in the corporate world.
I agree and disagree. I think the video was more about how she is now in the group of Americans who are financially insecure, regardless of the reason, and reasons for why it's difficult to get out of that hole. Yes, she took a risk when she started her business by investing all her money into her store. But for folks who have an unexpected medical expense or family emergency or anything that might require a lot of money up front, sometimes they decide to take from retirement instead of a payday loan. Maybe they don't have the social or family connections to help them out financially. As for getting a conventional 40 hour work day job, that becomes harder to do as one gets older as they usually "cost more" to hire than someone who is younger. So yes, I think the main point was not "How did I get in this mess?" but "Why is it so difficult and why is it taking so long for me to get out of this mess?"
