When we were young investing just meant putting money in the bank. If you were lucky you got to keep it there. Then as you got older saving became a lot more important, if you were lucky to be able to save anything. We learned that over a 30 year period that ten thousand dollar savings you had would probably be worth just under one hundred thousand dollars. If your investment return was above 7%, which was a fairly real projection. Then the economy tanked and return of investments dropped 50% in the last recession. It did not feel very good. The lost monies were real if your needed it then. Now the stock market is up and above where it was at the start of the recession but continues to move all over the place. Being nervous about your future financial stability is a real concern for almost everyone.
So now that the market and property prices are back up what do you do? Assuming you have saved for your future then you need to make some choices. How do you invest in the future to maximize your retirement and emergency funds? Do social equality / justice and climate stabilization enter into your considerations? Are the higher returns from some industries worth the on-going investments you have been making for the future of the country? Do you have a responsibility to the person at the bottom of the income ladder or are you hoping the guy at the top of the ladder will take care of you? These are just a few considerations you need to make. If you do not make a conscious choice you have still made it by ignoring the issues. What do the issues mean to you? Our capitalistic system is very good and is held as the current economic yardstick for the world. It must be working. Look at the stock market it is flying. But wait. Only a small part of our society is really taking part in it. That would be the 1%er for sure and a smaller part of the middle class. But it is not the majority of our citizens. We need to be able to invest in our financial futures so most of our people have a safe and comfortable future.
I believe in personal responsibility with a back bone by the government for the people who by no fault of their own fall and really need help. This makes it very hard to balance my financial goals with my heartfelt responsibility to the rest of our countries citizens and the earth’s people and its' resources. I still believe in planning for the 7th generation. Social conscience can be a real pain. If you have ideas on how to do this please forward them to me and your legislators'. Our legislators were elected by us, including your votes or non-vote, to represent you. They should know your thoughts. I continually hear that a socially conscience investment is 1-2 percentage points below the standard returns you can get in the stock market. This might work if the market is soaring, but not if you do not get the anticipated returns you need for retirement.
I think our capitalist system needs a few tweaks to help the less than 1%ers secure a future as they work. There needs to be good compensation for all. This compensation needs to be balanced in a way that is more socially justifiable. The spend on income 99%- 1%ers need to be closer in relation to each other. But making money still needs to incentivize investment in our futures. I do not think the two issues need to be opposing to each other, they need to support each other. Let me know how you think this can be accomplished.
