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View Poll Results: Financially I’d Rather Be?
My current age with the assets and financial knowledge I have (thank you very much). 56 70.89%
30 years old or 30 years younger with the assets (inflation adjusted) and financial knowledge I had then EXCEPT AGE 30 IN 2012. 20 25.32%
Other... 3 3.80%
Voters: 79. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 05-25-2012, 08:40 AM   #21
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Okay, I think the poll question could be "Which age group is most negatively impacted by the current Great Recession (or political decisions related to it)".

Somebody has claimed it's the older people because their assets "are being transferred" to others. Maybe they are thinking extremely low interest rates, (which I think do transfer income from older people with savings to younger people who are net borrowers.
All correct. I didn't build the poll well, my bad...
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Old 05-25-2012, 09:03 AM   #22
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Is it better to be younger or older in 2012, based on the long term financial outlook?

Hard to say... On a personal level, we have it good for people in our 30s. We have already reached financial independence while DW still enjoys her well-paid career. So, despite the great recession, we managed to get the best of both worlds: youth and assets. I think our long term financial prospects are decent. But I think that some people in my generation got the raw end of the deal. They have been marginalized by the great recession and their financial prospects are dim. I think that Social Security allows older people to avoid the same fate.

NB: I didn't vote.
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Old 05-25-2012, 09:13 AM   #23
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I think the poll is just fine, MidPack--I enjoy all your polls and how they lead to further streams of thought.
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Old 05-25-2012, 09:14 AM   #24
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I think the poll is just fine, MidPack--I enjoy all your polls and how they lead to further streams of thought.
Thanks, you're kind. But based on some of the posts, some folks seemed to respond as if the question was would you like to be younger. That wasn't the point, but my own fault...
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Old 05-25-2012, 01:07 PM   #25
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The first line in post #1 seems to be getting lost.
It's an interesting thought experiment, IMO. And answering in the spirit that I think you intended, I would say I'd rather not reset to age 30 at this time (financially). Or to put it another way - no, I don't think a 60YO is being hurt by the economy more than a 30 YO.

However, I then realize that creates another issue - it's not just comparing two groups, it is adding 30 years of uncertainty if we jump back. And people tend to hate uncertainty. And the past 30 years included one of the great Bull markets of all time, so my 30 YO asset base would be before that, and I'd say we are unlikely to see that again in the next 30 years (just statistically speaking, not using a crystal ball - as it was a record Bull, it is rare by definition).

But as has been discussed many times, I think the flattening of the world is going to make it hard for the 1st world countries to maintain their standard of living. The 2nd and 3rd world countries are going to be competing with us on many levels, and they will gladly work for less.

I recently came across another reference to the idea that in 1900, horse manure and dead horses were a major, major problem facing large cities. No one knew what to do about it, and no one envisioned the problem would go away in a few decades as trucks/autos took over. So who knows what the future holds?

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Old 05-25-2012, 01:09 PM   #26
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Thanks, you're kind. But based on some of the posts, some folks seemed to respond as if the question was would you like to be younger. That wasn't the point, but my own fault...
I think your line#1 was perfectly clear. Some people just have reading comprehension issues, or vote first, think second


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Old 05-25-2012, 01:36 PM   #27
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Thanks, you're kind. But based on some of the posts, some folks seemed to respond as if the question was would you like to be younger. That wasn't the point, but my own fault...
Midpack, we are all free-minded here and many (including you and me) at times post what they want to say regardless of what the question is. Part of forum life, I guess.
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Old 05-25-2012, 01:41 PM   #28
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Thanks. I'm happy with most polls & posts I've contributed, but I've had several polls go sideways on me despite trying to think them through beforehand. You'd think I'd learn by now...
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Old 05-25-2012, 02:49 PM   #29
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The job market is much tighter now than it was when I was 30. At age 30 I was making big career moves/job changes to drive up my salary. Now people are clinging to their jobs - and if they lose a job, they end up taking one that pays less.

At least in my market and field.

Exactly! You and I must have been in the same field.

There is a lot of job uncertainty today, something I never faced. I could change companies when I wanted to and did so, today being 30 would scare me. I'm quite content and would not want to be 30 today.
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Old 05-27-2012, 08:35 AM   #30
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+1. I guess most of us (including me) have been guilty of doing the same...
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Midpack, we are all free-minded here and many (including you and me) at times post what they want to say regardless of what the question is. Part of forum life, I guess.
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Old 05-27-2012, 10:15 AM   #31
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Okay, I think the poll question could be "Which age group is most negatively impacted by the current Great Recession (or political decisions related to it)".
That's only one part of the equation. I suspect a large number of the posters on this board rode the market rocketship in the '90s. I made a buttload lot of money that decade. Which means I had a lot of money going into this recession.

It just comes down to... or seems to come down to.... what kind of decisions you made in the years between huge growth and recession. If I rebaselined my money back to 1990 and calculated a modest 6% compounded annual interest (pulling a number out of the air), that number would be signficantly lower than the money I made in the market that decade.

While I may moan and whine that the Fed is keeping interest rates artificially low, I'm still ahead financially. We can pay our bills. We have no debt. We can travel a bit. We live where we want to live and do what we want to do. BUT, the difference is we had a reasonable plan with built-in contingencies.

Maybe the question just might be (if you depend on interest earnings for your basic living expenses) what kind of changes are you having to make due to the impact of low interest rates that are expected to remain in place for at least the next 18 months?

Just a thought.....
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