I was investing in myself, in the form of my college education. At that point my other investment, my baseball card collection, was already in a box in my parent’s attic.
I was mainly investing in the future of my family. I went through 7 months of unemployment after being laid off from Digital Equipment in May, 1994 (with 5 kids at home ages 2-16) until the very start of 1995. During that time every resource I had (including cashing out a small 401K from an earlier job) were completely drained. I was literally at 0 when I started my next (and final) job on 1/2/95 (and a kind-hearted HR rep who understood the drain COBRA had put on me listed my start day as 1/1 so that my medical coverage would start on 2/1 instead of 3/1).
@Mark_L I hate to go here, but: This is exactly why, in addition to what’s happening now, nobody should EVER vote “R” again. Universal Health Care would have gone a long way toward assuaging the crushing fear a loss of employment can cause in the US.
@Mark_L Also, it’s nice to hear of HR being benevolent. For me…once while being fired from a job on the 31st, I asked; “can you wait one day to make this official, so I can have another month of healthcare?” “Nope”.
@FritzCat In spite of what I went through (which, by the grace of God, I was able to recover from and retire comfortably 23 years later), I would never vote in favor of universal health care. Hint: look at how well big goverment handles your retirement savings.
@Mark_L I do have to respect your opinion, but I’ll respond with three of my own. One; I doubt that God had much to do with your success, I’d bet that you worked your ass off, and was fortunate to have the characteristics necessary to be successful. Among them; Physical and Mental health and the fact (my assumptions…sorry) that you’re a White Male whose native tongue is English. Two; My daughters live in Canada and are in the process of generating their families. They are fortunate to live in a country that works to reduce the stressful process of childbirth and caring for children during their earliest years. Three; As a retired person myself; I am grateful for the pittance that Social Security provides (Yes, the financial markets would have done much better for those with the wherewithal to take advantage of it), but I am even more grateful that I worked during an era where Organized Labor provided me with an opportunity to earn a reasonable pension…or two. Again; If you care about your future and that of your children, Vote “D”.
@FritzCat@Mark_L My wife has given birth to children in both Canada and the United States. The Canadian experience was considerably worse in terms of the hospital environment and care provided than the ones here. My Canadian in-laws like to remind me that the only Canadians who are proponents of their health care system are those who aren’t old enough to need to use it on any regular basis. To be fair, ours isn’t better. It’s just bad in different ways.
@FritzCat All I want to say is, you have zero idea what has ocurred in my life between the time I started that job and when I retired. And if I related some of them, you would (or might) realize how far from the truth you are.
@FritzCat This is an occasion where I wish that we could really meet face-to-face. Even though (as seems to me) our views are close to 180 degrees apart, my desire (following the principles which I have been taught to follow) is to “be at peace with all men” (if interested, I’m sure you can find the source).
I was in high school, so, nothing. A small savings account is about all I had at the time that would’ve been considered “saving for the future.”
1000 shares of Apple Stock….
Oh I wish…
I was investing in myself, in the form of my college education. At that point my other investment, my baseball card collection, was already in a box in my parent’s attic.
I was mainly investing in the future of my family. I went through 7 months of unemployment after being laid off from Digital Equipment in May, 1994 (with 5 kids at home ages 2-16) until the very start of 1995. During that time every resource I had (including cashing out a small 401K from an earlier job) were completely drained. I was literally at 0 when I started my next (and final) job on 1/2/95 (and a kind-hearted HR rep who understood the drain COBRA had put on me listed my start day as 1/1 so that my medical coverage would start on 2/1 instead of 3/1).
@Mark_L
ouch; that’s a heavy load to bear.
@Mark_L I hate to go here, but: This is exactly why, in addition to what’s happening now, nobody should EVER vote “R” again. Universal Health Care would have gone a long way toward assuaging the crushing fear a loss of employment can cause in the US.
@Mark_L Also, it’s nice to hear of HR being benevolent. For me…once while being fired from a job on the 31st, I asked; “can you wait one day to make this official, so I can have another month of healthcare?” “Nope”.
@FritzCat In spite of what I went through (which, by the grace of God, I was able to recover from and retire comfortably 23 years later), I would never vote in favor of universal health care. Hint: look at how well big goverment handles your retirement savings.
@Mark_L I do have to respect your opinion, but I’ll respond with three of my own. One; I doubt that God had much to do with your success, I’d bet that you worked your ass off, and was fortunate to have the characteristics necessary to be successful. Among them; Physical and Mental health and the fact (my assumptions…sorry) that you’re a White Male whose native tongue is English. Two; My daughters live in Canada and are in the process of generating their families. They are fortunate to live in a country that works to reduce the stressful process of childbirth and caring for children during their earliest years. Three; As a retired person myself; I am grateful for the pittance that Social Security provides (Yes, the financial markets would have done much better for those with the wherewithal to take advantage of it), but I am even more grateful that I worked during an era where Organized Labor provided me with an opportunity to earn a reasonable pension…or two. Again; If you care about your future and that of your children, Vote “D”.
@FritzCat @Mark_L My wife has given birth to children in both Canada and the United States. The Canadian experience was considerably worse in terms of the hospital environment and care provided than the ones here. My Canadian in-laws like to remind me that the only Canadians who are proponents of their health care system are those who aren’t old enough to need to use it on any regular basis. To be fair, ours isn’t better. It’s just bad in different ways.
@Mark_L @xandersherry Yeah, my daughters are in Ottawa and are pretty assertive, so there’s that.
@FritzCat All I want to say is, you have zero idea what has ocurred in my life between the time I started that job and when I retired. And if I related some of them, you would (or might) realize how far from the truth you are.
@Mark_L Absolutely true, sorry. I should only speak for myself, my experiences and my opinions.
@FritzCat This is an occasion where I wish that we could really meet face-to-face. Even though (as seems to me) our views are close to 180 degrees apart, my desire (following the principles which I have been taught to follow) is to “be at peace with all men” (if interested, I’m sure you can find the source).
@Mark_L As-salamu alaykum