Life's just so rough on $300,000 a year!

[lilpup]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...081502957.html

[eriedearie]

Quote from close to the end of the article:

"Her friend from church, Paul Deen, has rallied. The father of three was a distressed-debt trader at Bear Stearns who lost his job and stocks worth millions when Bear collapsed, wiping him out of everything but his home, and now he's back on the 6:51 a.m. train to Manhattan for a new job at an investment banking firm, bounding up the stairs at Grand Central Terminal with an American flag pin in his lapel and hitting Starbucks for a double espresso, just like before."

That is devastating. Makes me sick to my stomach to think of stocks worth millions...gone! And here I am obsessing over a couple thousand in my mutual funds! Guess it's a good thing not to have more?

[Bobl]

Nice:

"...The nanny and property taxes take $75,000 right off the top, but Steins considers both non-negotiable facts of her life and not discretionary. When she bought out her husband's share of the house after their 2006 divorce, she assumed the costs of keeping it afloat -- $8,000 to $10,000 a month. There's a pool man, a gardener and someone to plow the snow from the quarter-mile-long driveway..."

A muted dose of sympathy here, while others are homeless and forced to do without food and medical care.

[lilpup]

That is devastating. Makes me sick to my stomach to think of stocks worth millions...gone! And here I am obsessing over a couple thousand in my mutual funds! Guess it's a good thing not to have more?

I had a great-uncle who was a furniture sales rep. and earlier in his life had opened, grew, then sold his own furniture store. He'd also worked in a bank when he was a teenager, just before the Depression. He lived in Highland Park his whole life, drove Buicks, and swore against ever putting anything into the stock market - government bonds, T-bills, CDs, conventional savings plans were his way. He ended up being my wealthiest relative.

[ccbatson]

Your great uncle would have been successful if he smartly invested in the stock market as well. Why? His success is the result of individual rights and freedom being exercised responsibly. I am sure he would have never considered taking [[or giving) a handout of stolen money from the government.

[lilpup]

My uncle was smart enough to not invest in the sham that is the stock market. It's nothing more than a glorified casino.

[ccbatson]

And everyone else smartly diversified including stocks and doing well? Not smart enough?

[elganned]

Your great uncle would have been successful if he smartly invested in the stock market as well. Why? His success is the result of individual rights and freedom being exercised responsibly. I am sure he would have never considered taking [[or giving) a handout of stolen money from the government.

Nice job at hijacking the discussion, bats. I commend you for a first-class derailment. Very subtle.

[ccbatson]

I believe that this is the core message, even if it wasn't recognized as such by the poster. No hijacking, clarification.

[1KielsonDrive]

Ha, ha Bats. There you go again.......to paraphrase one of, if not your favorite president. It seems you comment just to hear yourself comment. What did you say? Huuuuuuuhhhh?