Invest in yourself in uncertain times.

In the Recessions of the early 80’s and the mid nineties, many Canadian Boomers started to realize that there were no safety nets when it came to employment. As a result, they started to invest in themselves by upgrading their training and education. People realized that if they were going to keep their job, they needed to invest in themselves. It paid off for the individual, and it did pay off for business, both large and small. Employers gained a more educated and trained labour force and workers were able to keep or get new jobs.

What suffered was the concept of company loyalty. The idea that one would work for two or three companies over your employment life, went the way of the Dodo bird. Young people today realize that they are the ones who can use their training in almost any employment setting. As a result, employers, as Boomers retire, will have a more difficult time finding and/or retraining workers.

A report by the AARP on how the Boomers did after the “Great Recession” of the early 2000’s built on the theme of self reliance, which many in Canada had learned earlier. Here is some highlights from the report:

·       A number of policy options could address the employment and retirement income prospects of America’s boomers.

·       Encourage workers to take advantage of training and retraining programs that their employers offer. The unemployed obviously lack this option, but they may have had it before becoming unemployed. Not only might the training provide boomers with marketable skills, but it also may demonstrate to current employers that they are willing and able to learn new ways of doing things. Training might help those without work to find a job and those with jobs to increase productivity and stay employed. It might also help them change careers and give them an option to remain in the labor force longer.

·       Urge workers close to retirement to engage in training in light of the possible need to postpone retirement or return to the labor force after retirement.

·       Expand opportunities for jobless boomers who need financial assistance to get the training that might enhance their career opportunities. Offer financial assistance to cover costs, particularly in the case of the unemployed (who may need such training the most). This training may help offset some of the costs through lower Unemployment Insurance benefits paid and higher tax receipts. Ensure that information on where the jobs are and what skills employers are seeking in the way of skills is current, accurate, and readily available.

·       Encourage workers to save, to save more if they are already saving, and to keep retirement savings invested for that purpose. When unemployment strikes, savings become especially vulnerable. Adequate unemployment benefits coupled with job-training and job-search assistance might keep some unemployed boomers from raiding their retirement savings accounts and/or opting for Social Security prematurely.

·       Invest more resources in government efforts to monitor and enforce anti-age discrimination laws to better protect older workers, especially in economic downturns when labor surpluses enable employers to discount or overlook the potential contributions of older employees or job seekers.

·       Identify government and private programs for advising older workers on the wisdom of starting their own business as a primary or secondary source of income. Assisting them in doing so could improve the financial well-being of older workers who cannot find work and provide added income for workers who need extra money to supplement their wages from other employment.

·       Recognize that Social Security is, and will likely remain, the bedrock of retirement-income security in the United States. Perhaps in a generation or two, retiring workers will have accumulated sizable funds in their retirement savings accounts and thus be better equipped to weather economic storms such as the one that workers have faced over the past several years. It is highly uncertain that this will occur or that it will happen to everybody. Unless it does, workers—including the many millions of boomers yet to retire—will remain heavily dependent on Social Security for support in retirement. As traditional pensions decline, Social Security remains the only major stable retirement income source. It is critical that this program be protected.

Some dark humour for dark times

I went to the thirtieth reunion of my preschool. I didn't want   to go, because I've put on like a hundred pounds.

Every time I sit down to try to take a dump, I start reading the newspaper and end up forgetting to do my business. I think I might have Attention Defecate Disorder.

Tampax Launches a New Ad Campaign: "We're Not #1! But We're Way Up There!

Upon taking a seat at the bar, the exec noticed that each stool had a number painted on it. Sitting next to him was a rather depressed-looking gentleman and an attractive young woman who was obviously enjoying herself. The newcomer turned toward the unhappy fellow and asked if he knew the purpose of the numbers. "Sure," the guy said. "Every half hour, the bartender spins a wheel and whoever has the winning seat gets to go upstairs for the wild sex orgy they have up there." "That's terrific!" exclaimed the surprised customer. "Have you won?" "Not yet," the man said, miserably, "but my date has, four times in a row!"

A little old lady was sitting on a park bench in The Villages, a Florida Adult community. A man walked over and sits down on the other end  of the bench. 
After a few moments, the woman asks, 'Are you a stranger here?' 
He replies, 'I lived here years ago.' 
'So, where were you all these years?' 
'In prison,' he says. 
'Why did they put you in prison?' 
He looked at her, and very quietly said, 'I killed my wife.' 
'Oh!' said the woman. 'So you're single...?!' 

First they came for .....

When things get so bad that the leaders can no longer be honest with their citizens about the true state of affairs and the real causes for it, and the citizens are either too fatigued or too cynical to figure things out for themselves, a search commences for scapegoats.

Next to money, scapegoats are the mother’s milk of modern politics.

When created (and test marketed), scapegoats provide the simple, easily understood explanation of why things have gone in the crapper – and much more importantly, the simple and easily understood remedies for setting things straight. 

These remedies are about as intellectually sound as phrenology and faith-healing. But they are emotionally appealing, particularly when every government in the world now uses fear to keep the Plankton People under control.

Frightened people always have an index finger ready to point to the external causes of their woes. They’re also more likely to ignore any part they played in creating the morass and deny their involvement. 

We need to recognize that if our leaders start to play the blame game, we cannot sit back and do nothing. 

 At this time I am reminded of Martin Niemoller, 

Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was a prominent Protestant pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps.

Niemöller is perhaps best remembered for the quotation:

First they came for the Communists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me

And there was no one left

To speak out for me

Now is the time to speak out, if we wait, we do so at our own peril.

Its your story, tell it WELL!

It’s your story. Tell it well.” ~ Nancy Juetten

“It’s people, not things, that will give you a meaningful experience. You don't need a budget for love.” ~ Morgana Rae

“Our thoughts and feelings are the colors that paint our reality.” ~ Eva Gregory

“When you choose, you have the courage to conquer…” ~ Jon-Paul Rippetoe

“In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.”  ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

“No matter where we are in the journey, we must live today like we want tomorrow to be. It is in fact the only way to achieve it.”  ~ Kathi C. Laughman

“Good decisions come from experience, and experience comes from bad decisions.” ~ Unknown

“There is no one, true, right, and only way.” ~ Mercedes Lackey