Based on cash in three savings accounts - not touching investment types of accounts - at our current lifestyle - many years.

Think about this - I've asked folks to get damn angry about the rate I pay into Social Security/the cap. I would like people to get damn angry about their wages and other safety nets.

I work for a major telecom.

My husband is a business owner - his lowest paid employee is a receptionist making $19 and change an hour. But he grew up for the most part surrounded by Italian fascists. You can see a very young Uncle Nicolo in pictures with Mussolini. In that mindset - if you have a union form in your business it is because you have failed your employees. And my husband extends benefits to his team that are comparable to what my brother in laws extend to their employees in Germany and Italy.

We have plenty of money. We do. We could probably move from the "rich" column to the "wealthy" column - but we would rather people live with dignity and respect and not have t be ashamed of ourselves.

Collectively - as a country - we ought to be ashamed of ourselves for setting the $10.10 bar so low (Impossible to live on in the North East I-95 corridor), not taxing the affluent to wealthy at a rate high enough to make sure no American goes without, and not shoring up our Social Security to provide for the storm of Baby Boomer as well as raising their rate of "pay" for their service to America when Reagan changed the rule book on them halfway through the game.

randy - ask me a question you never get a simple answer. But this is something I hear lots of swearing in Italian about in my household. No has been laid off by my husband the past few years. He responded in 2008 (before I met him) to the Hedge Fund Managers fucking up and over America by making a pointed decision to go "get his taxes back". He actually had four new hires in 2009 to help him spend the Hedgies money on what he calls "people who matter".

I actually do OK now where I am but hate my location and willing to do anything to move...

I wish at my age I would not HAVE to work, but I do

"Collectively - as a country - we ought to be ashamed of ourselves for setting the $10.10 bar so low."

Americans hate paying taxes & are terrified that someone (read "poor person&quot might get something from the safety net that they "don't deserve." Our pathetic media amplifies the voice of the most hateful in our society & we wonder why we've become more base.

are gaming the system.

I look at them as if I am hearing a foreign language...I want to reach out and slug them in the arm and scream at them

The playing field is getting more skewed every day.

I am retiring soon. And I have 35 years or so of life expectancy. Gonna be weird to tell my kids to work hard while I sit on my ass all day getting drunk. But it is a cross I must bear...

And my salary is good as well, but my cost of living is high as well (NYC). I save regularly what I can, but that being said, I would probably have to miss about 6 months of paychecks before I wipe out my savings and am living on the street or somewhere substantially different.

Btw, I'm 32 yrs old so my pensions aren't a reality. Draining my annuity might buy me a few more months though.

I'm on disability so that's one check a month.

was pay our itty bitty house off instead of buying a bigger, newer one. Although had it not been my husband's offer for me to quit my job & go back to school, I probably would have voted for the bigger house. Smart man.

My sisters' house payment is $1,900 & it's not that big of a house. They've been in it for 11 years, took a big hit on the value of the house after 2008 & it is finally valued at more than what they owe. I watch HGTV's House Hunters & see young people taking on huge mortgages & I wonder what the fuck they do for a living that they can afford that at such a young age? And then once they get in the house, the station comes back for a visit & you see all the upgrades they did.

This country is not broke, in spite of the bullshit the politicians & pundits spew. We have revenue streams galore that we have not touche & will not consider. There is an attitude in America that we should never ask our elite to sacrifice or share the burden. We are a "your on your own" society, not a "we're all in this together" one.

What good is the defense budget if Americans are living on the streets? What exactly are we defending? The right to live in poverty?

I believe the govt should provide the following to all citizens:

3 hots & a cot
healthcare
child/elder care
education K-college
a comprehensive nationwide public transportation system
a digital kit, including hardware & subscriptions to basic internet services (Hey, if the fuckers are going to spy on us they can at least provide us with free service.)

I'm curious how much this would cost.

Meaning that ultimately the people provide for themselves. (There are some nifty semantics going on in there--the various ways to quantify over "the people" versus "themselves&quot .

Plus it's supposed to be a fairly voluntary association. When people feel coerced to pay for others that they don't sense are "their own" the association tends to break down. My personal sense is that this sense of community has broken down significantly since I was younger, and continues, as everybody has rights and demands but few have obligations or duties. Congress is a reflection of this.

The country pulls together or it pulls apart.

If it starts to pull apart, then there's only one thing to hold it together--a strong central government that isn't any longer of the people, by the people, for the people, but over the people, serving enough separate constituencies in ways that they find valuable enough that the government maintains the semblance of a voluntary association.

It is of, by, and for the CORPORATIONS. That is why government is the problem.

Sadly.

For most people, coming of age in a bad economy impacts their personal economics for the rest of their lives. I really feel for the younger generations.

I can retire from the military in the fall of 2017...at that point, I'll be under 50 but getting about 45K-55K a year (depending on whether I get promoted one more time) in military retirement pay.

I'd assume worst-case that will keep me off the streets.

At this point, I have about 220K I've saved up, so if somehow I stopped receiving military pay for some reason, I'd be able to live on that about 4 years assuming a move to a cheaper location.

Bottom line: I'm very lucky.

Probably closer to a year though, since I would eat cheaper, use less gas, etc. With unemployment benefits, I should be fine for 18 months.

Nearly Half Of American Households Are 1 Emergency Away From Financial Disaster, Report Finds
The Huffington Post | By Jillian Berman
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/30/financial-emergency-report_n_2576326.html


One Third of Americans One Paycheck Away From Homelessness (2011)
Posted on October 5, 2011 by Yves Smith
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/10/one-third-of-americans-one-paycheck-away-from-homelessness.html

What does that say about us?

TPTB knew that if they could just get us to stop thinking like a community it would be easy to pit us against each other.

I'm disabled and on the edge.

I'm paid on my mortgage until August. I have about 9000 in the bank. I have only a few thousand in retirement (I'm in my 20s). I figure the 9000 in the bank would keep me going for about 4-5 months after August if Im very frugal. After that the forclosure process would start, and it would probably take a year for them to kick me out. However, during that year, I couldn't afford any of my bills (unless I was lucky enough to get unemployment) so even though I'd have a home, it would be one without heat, electricity, or water, while I wait to get kicked out my home.

I haven't worked in over half a decade. Other than a few years in life, I never made enough to support myself so when my parents die, I'll be on the streets.

At the moment all I am receiving is %30 retirement pay for being medically retired which is about $1300. I cant get unemployment obviously because I cant work. My wife could work but we have a special needs child who needs both of us now, being that I was his main source of security, playtime, etc.

We planned ahead though, bought some land and built a modest house in a very rural (by rural I mean boondocks) in Tn that has a very low cost of living. We are waiting on my VA claim which will/should be %100, but was told that it could be Dec of next year before we start seeing any of that money. It will have been almost a year until I have been to any type of pain management of physical therapy. Magically I received a letter in the mail saying that I am being referred to a Dr out in town. Thankfully though they keep me pumped full of medications to keep the pain down and I get to see my Psych Dr once every two months.

I have resisted going to get food assistance until we need it. Once my VA claim goes through I will also be able to apply for SS faster and with no lawyer.

Its very tight month to month but we make due. Its is definitely a culture shock to my kids who could have anything when I was AD. I grew up very poor so its business as usual for me. Just counting the days for the VA......

But I remember very well what it feels like to be one paycheck away from homeless. It's a horrible feeling. I didn't think about anything else besides my precarious financial situation. It was exhausting and stressful and nobody should have to live with that kind of stress.

I worked my ass off for years to get to a better financial place... but I also know that I was very, very fortunate to have things line up for me the way they eventually did.

I know people who also played by all the rules (go to college, go to grad school, work hard) who are penniless. And there but for the grace of god (or whomever) go I.

You better believe if the paychecks stopped coming, my spending would change dramatically.

But at current spending levels, I'd last about a year.