When It Comes Down to It!

Saving for retirement is what the world teaches in absolute rebellion against Scripture.  In Scripture, earthly wealth was for heirs, not a planned prolonged period of unproductive living!  I'm sorting through my own concepts, now that I'm officially past 55.  I guess the bottom line, is we all feel differently about what it is to be fiscally responsible.

In a conversation with my niece who has had the "affliction" of being like her aunt, who would be me . . .  She's heard this comparison in a very negative way, most of her life.  She and I spoke of money and responsibility, jobs and creativity, and G-d.  Not in that order, per se, but rather how those other subjects align with His plan and purpose.  As we talked about her hopes and plans, she clearly indicated making money was not her primary goal.  She wants to write and she'd like to learn more about natural health.  Non-materialism is considered a very odd perspective in our family.  Any member of our family who does not prize money, is considered to be irresponsible and have their priorities amiss.  As I listened to her sorting, I wanted to encourage her in G-d's plan for her and not make her feel that she had to identify with my lifestyle, just because she can't with the rest of the family.  I shared with her a brief summary of the way I live, because of G-d.

I don't believe in worrying, I don't plan to retire, and I don't buy what I don't need.  I like my life very basic, so I can spend my energy on what is truly important to me.  The ministry to which I am called is so diverse I just don't have the need for entertainment or extra stuff.  That's not to say I don't have too much stuff, because I do!  I shared with her that between time with Abba, writing, homesteading, and the business; my days are full.  I also shared, by not buying stuff I don't need, there's always enough money in my purse for the next project.  Truly what more does anyone need in life?  She giggled and agreed!

If Messiah tarries, this next generation will have to make a serious decision.  "Jobs" are not as secure as they once were, and investments can be gone overnight, as so many recently experienced.  Debt and mortgages have left many homeless, and education loans have already rendered many into the bondage of indentured servitude.  Although historically, we've all had the choice, this generation has the opportunity to change their dream and actually live according to G-d's purpose and plan for them, rather than money.  They don't have to strive for the American dream, they can actually be content in G-d's plan for them.  

What Do You Make?

This question has become a very rude one to ask, because the social implication is a reference to earned income.  It hasn't always been that way, though.  "Make" used to actually pertain to production, not money.  For some of us it still does.  If someone asks me what I make, and they do . . . I tell them soap and cheese.  This response immediately produces the next question, "You make enough selling soap?"  In an effort to avoid looking at them dead on and telling them they just don't get it, I try once again, by saying.  I make quite a few things around here . . . but YHWH is my source of provision.  At that point, they can ask about Him or drop it all together.

I don't make books, or words, but I do a great deal of writing and I'm pondering another book.  I'm not knocking anyone out of first place on the New York's Best Seller list, but I do receive a 1099 Form to file income taxes, so they must be selling.  It's also kind of fun to receive an e-mail stating an auto deposit has been sent to my business account, but that's not what I make . . . I make truth available, I make information available, but the money is just the tangible proof that the words I put on paper have actually been obtained by others, and hopefully read.

I do have a soap and natural health product business in which everything sold is made or formulated right here in my own lab, by own two hands, including the labeling and the catalogue, as well as the web site.  I was blessed to have made acquaintance with a very talented artist a few years ago, who graciously offered illustration for a webpage.  I did the linking, the building and the formatting after he illustrated the main index page, as well as my personal page, and the soap page.  That was something he made.  There are still people in this country who are making things!  We are using our G-d given talents to "make a living."

We don't "make money" as that is what the federal reserve and US mint, somehow do.

A Twenty Doesn't Go Far . . .

I can't say for sure, and they've made it clear that it's none of my business, but my parents seem very concerned and offended about the bigotry against the One Percent!  I do know them well enough to know they don't work on Wall Street and they were very frugal in their younger years.  What that has amounted and amassed to by now, I have no idea, but I do remember as a kid, Daddy always making the statement about breaking a twenty . . . "Once you broke a twenty, it was gone in no time . . ."

I'm guessing a twenty won't even get most of us through any stop we'd make, much less last the day, if we're making purchases, at all.  Last week, I made some comparisons over the last 50+ years, and basically discovered that most things had increased by about the same percentage.  So, in that figuring, I would have to say, it would take about $140.00 to go as far as $20.00 used to.

With raising most of my own food, I don't spend a great deal at the grocery store, but by the time I buy dog and cat food, and that is food for 2 large dogs and 1 medium, coffee and some table wine, my hundred is definitely broke and will be gone quickly.  The one difference I've noticed and pointed out was the disproportionate increase in gasoline prices.  I think the price may have come down this week, but it still well surpasses the average increase of income and grocery prices, so even if I make it out of the store with a reasonable amount of change from my hundred, it won't fill the gas tank, like Daddy's change from his twenty.

Fifty years ago there was little difference between "$5.00 worth of regular" or "fill 'er up."  Fifty years ago, "$5.00 worth of gas" bought over 20 gallons of gasoline.  Twenty gallons of gasoline purchased now is a major purchase.  Gasoline was officially moved out of the list of incidentals and actually included in the figuring for the cost of living back in the 70s, I believe.  That probably should have served as a warning as to where the price would be going.

A great deal of the extreme wealth of this country is simply invested in making more wealth.

Comparison of a Lifetime

This morning, an idea came to me that may not exactly separate the Other 1% from the 98%, but perhaps again, it does.  This article addresses the cost comparisons of a lifetime . . . mine to be specific.  We have to start somewhere recognizing both the continuity as well as the change.  The statistics are very basic in 1958, which probably has allowed for the wider wealth gap between The One percent and the 98%, but I noticed something else in the research.  The use of the income acquired has dramatically changed in the past 50 some years.  The most current comparison I could obtain was from 2010, but I have also included a link to the new way of figuring economic stats.  For the purpose of this article and the obtainable information from 1958, here's the basic comparison. 

In 1958 the average annual income was $4,650, with minimum wage set at $1.00 per hour.  The minimum wage act had been instituted in 1938 at 25¢ an hour. Following WWII, minimum wage was set at 40¢ in late 1945.  It would be another 11 years before it rose to $1.00, yet this was the time America saw great economic progress, historically referred to as a "booming economy!"  Our economic statisticians love to move the value of a dollar throughout history, but I'm not quite so savvy.  I've simply taken the minimum wage difference and multiplied everything in the list by that same approximate number.  With minimum wage at $1.00 om 1958 and now set at $7.25, for all intents and purposes, I've just used the multiple of 7 as the "constant" for the illustration.
  

Here are other basic expenses for the year of 1958.  The median price of a house was 30,000.  A new car could be obtained, depending of course on make and model, for $2 - 5K.  Gasoline was priced at 24¢ a gallon and I have no "gas war" statistics for those who remember that long forgotten part of American history.  Milk was right about a dollar a gallon, and bread was 19¢ a loaf.  I still hear various price recollections from my Daddy, who was finding his way into the world as a young adult through this time frame.  To mail a letter, first class, would cost 4¢ and oranges were a dime a pound.  There was no cable, no cell phones, and as I recall, very little dining out.   Now fast forward 50+ years, and by the way, they do actually arrive faster as I go.

Minimum wage is over 7 times what it was when I was born.  The average annual income is also about 7 times what it was, just under $30,000 annually.  The price of a home fits neatly into that same multiplied statistic from $30,000 to $200,000+.  Here's where it gets a bit surprising.  New cars are at least 10 times what they were in the late 50's but cars are among the last depreciating products still assembled in America, and the gasoline has followed that same rise of 1000% increase.  Postage has increased that much as well, and notably a fully contained US service.  As for other basics, bread has increased at about the same rate as income, while the cost of milk has only increased at half that rate, while cattle prices have skyrocketed through the years.  Interestingly, the price of fruit and produce have increased markedly, which seems odd considering the GMO promises and immigrant farm workers . . .

The biggest rise in American expenses that I was able to find was in higher education.  Obviously, the University tuition I've included is not your average state college or university.  I've chosen an Ivy League, simply because those stats are easier to find and are national, rather than state to state.  Harvard Tuition was 1,250 per year in 1958 and over $33,000 in 2010.  I'm guessing the local colleges and state universities would be comparable . . . That is an increase, not of a multiple of 7 or even 10, but of over 25 times over!  That is a 2500% increase!

No wonder the programming toward higher education took precedence over everything in the past 1/2 century.  A nation of enslaved dependency has been gaining ground so rapidly, it would actually appear to be the goal, rather than unintended consequences . . . comparatively speaking.    

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=United+States

http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/chart.htm