MONEY - THE GREAT DISTRACTION – THIS NASTY INTERRUPTION

A NEW LEARNING
This would be a good time to be a billionaire.
I’m serious. Of course I won’t make it into the top 100 Canadian billionaires club any time soon. These billionaires have each taken a financial hit this year, a few billion dollars – gone! But then there is a bit of a cushion upon which to fall back. And the wealthiest man in the world, Warren Buffet is 80 years old. “What will I do?” is not an expression anyone hears him say.

In this reality show called My Retirement I am spending more time thinking about money than I have ever wanted to do. My issue is that this preoccupation is forced upon me, first by the reality of a pension income and second by the reality of the Great Disruption. This toughening economic time, this darkening cloud does not have an immediate silver lining on my show.

So believe me I am more annoyed than I am jealous that entertainers and sportsmen and big business people are pulling down enough money per year to capably support every household in my very large housing development. And still people like us curiously clamour to read how much she earned for starring in that movie, or how much he is earning for each basket he makes or how much she brings in for countless chips being installed in Blackberrrys.

This has been a depressing week for Christine and me.
We received our year end RRSP investment statement and learned that within a couple of months as stocks went slaloming south we had lost thousands of dollars from a meager portfolio we had worked our butts off to assemble. I keep looking for someone to blame but it’s futile. My commitment to a God who transcends all of this, and has more resources than we imagine keeps refocusing my gaze and ratcheting up my dependence upon Him.
Mark Zuckerberg is 23 and is the world's youngest billionaire. He designed Facebook a few years ago from his college dorm room. Good for him.

THE ECONOMY AND THE RETIRED PERSON

A NEW LEARNING
The House of Commons (Chambre des communes), our democratically elected body that consists of 308 members divided among the primary four parties in such a way that we have a minority government went back to business yesterday. Yesterday the Speech from the Throne by our Governor General contained the predictable recitation of realities.

Today the first order of business is the 2009 Budget. Today the first order of business is the 2009 Budget. I repeat myself because I am so concerned for the sake of our country, for the sake of parliament and for my own sake as a retiree.CBC provides live coverage at 4PM ET.

Life is Changing

Life is changing and I struggle to adjust to what I’m feeling.
Too much time to think about the low cards life is dealing.
I’m not ancient but I’m ageing and I think of what will be,
Not a good approach to living to reflect on what I see.
The world’s economy is tanking and the globe is in recession.
Federal bailouts of big business try to keep us from Depression.
Haven’t worried for a long time what might occur tomorrow.
Since my children became adults, I haven’t felt the need to borrow.
I’m not working. I’m not earning and the prices spiral higher.
Didn’t care much what the cost was, now I am a careful buyer.
Have a feeling that our savings may not be enough to make it
And the feeling’s getting stronger with no way for me to shake it.
‘Take no thought about tomorrow nor the clothes that you shall wear,’
Is the counsel I’ve given others when I had so much to share.
‘Don’t be anxious but in all things with thanksgiving tell the Lord’
Believing that your next need will be one you can afford.
I have no reason yet to panic though investments took a hit
They say recovery’s round the corner and will claw back bit by bit.
Haven’t got so long to wait until the market turns around
Want to travel while our bodies are still reasonably sound.
Coffee mug in hand we ponder what our next move ought to be
Should I find work and end my life as a retiree?
It’s a toss up when you consider that the government will take
Some of what they give me when they don’t give me a break.


© Ron Unruh January 26, 2009