So I have been in Seattle for the past couple of weeks working. It has been a pretty successful trip from a business perspective, but it also really opened my eyes to the current financial issues going on around the country. See, in Alaska we have been pretty shielded from all of the issues, we have heard about them on the news, but we haven't actually seen or felt them. We are fortunate that our state is dependant on an industry that is still thriving (oil) and that we have had multi-billion dollar surpluses to store away for "leaner" times.
I went into meetings this week only to find out that the person I was supposed to meet with had been laid off, this happened a couple of times. I heard dozens of stories about spouses, family and friends of our accounts who have been personally affected, either by losing their job, or having hours drastically cut. It was pretty unbelievable. It really made all of the news stories that I have heard suddenly become real.
I felt heart broken for these people, they have been affected, not because of anything they did, but because of a broken system. People who planned on retiring soon, now working till who knows when. One person I met with was an older lady who's husband had been an engineer with a HUGE local company for almost 30 years, about 5 weeks ago he lost his job and because she doesn't make enough to cover their bills he had to take a part time job at Barnes & Noble just to make ends meet. Here is someone who went from a high paying job with a Fortune 500 company, to a bookseller at a national book chain. It just didn't seem right.
I have had a lot of down time at my hotel the past couple weeks to think and reflect on all of this and here is what I have come up with.
1) I am VERY thankful that I live in a state that is doing well financially. I am also VERY thankful that we have leaders (Gov. Palin & others) who, when we have multi-billions of dollars in surplus, don't spend it. They save it because they know that, while today we have plenty, tomorrow we may have need.
2) We need to fix the economic system in America. Now, I have no idea how that needs to happen, BUT, I do know that bailout after bailout will not help. If we bail a company out, but don't change the flawed approach that got us here in the first place, we are only delaying this happening again.
3) We need to be fiscally conservative. Now, please do not read that statement as "we need republicans in power". We have had a republican president for 8 years and we have a 10.6 TRILLION dollar national debt. Ugh. We need to take an honest look at where we stand financially. As Americans we need to be honest about our finances, maybe there are things we can't afford that we need to cut out, and maybe there are things that we can afford, and simply don't need. Just as American families need to do that, so does our government.
4) Americans need to save. I know that I blogged about saving a few weeks ago but I think it is important enough to say again. We have become so dependant on credit, that when the credit is no longer there we are helpless. Here is a blurb from a Washington Post article about the financial state of the American family, I think it is pretty interesting.
_
"Meet the typical American family.
It has about $3,800 in the bank. No one has a retirement account, and the neighbors who do only have about $35,000 in theirs. Mutual funds? Stocks? Bonds? Nope. The house is worth $160,000, but the family owes $95,000 on it to the bank. The breadwinners make more than $43,000 a year but can't manage to pay off a $2,200 credit card balance."
It has about $3,800 in the bank. No one has a retirement account, and the neighbors who do only have about $35,000 in theirs. Mutual funds? Stocks? Bonds? Nope. The house is worth $160,000, but the family owes $95,000 on it to the bank. The breadwinners make more than $43,000 a year but can't manage to pay off a $2,200 credit card balance."
_
No wonder we are in the place we are. We are living with such a small "cushion" that when something unexpected happens (loss of job, loss of hours) we are quickly in trouble.
_
5) Americans need to give. Huh? Didn't I just say we need to save..now I'm saying we need to give? Yup. Our church runs a soup kitchen in downtown Anchorage that feeds 90,000 meals a year to the homeless and working poor in our city. The local newspaper recently did a story on them on how they are seeing a HUGE increase in families at the soup kitchen. Average, working, American families. There are thousands of families who have to choose between rent and food, and when there is a soup kitchen and food bank where you can get free food, the choice is made easier. Sherri and I have found that every time we give, we are never without. In fact, honestly, we believe that 100% of the reason that we have been as fortunate as we have financially, isn't because of any striving or achievement of our own, it is because right from the start of our marriage we made the choice to view our money as a tool not a yardstick. Something for us to use, not something for us to be measured by. So give, no matter how much or how little, give to organizations that meet practical needs. I think that giving helps us stay aware of how blessed we really are, and that is something that we all need to continually remember. We have much to be thankful for.
_
Think of giving not as a duty but as a privilege.
- John D Rockefeller
_
Who knew that a 2 week business trip could turn into a multi-paragraph blog/rant.
No comments:
Post a Comment