The U.S. poverty rate: http://news.yahoo.com/behind-poverty...151738270.html

Wow...

Yeah, even on my worst days as a foreigner here in CH, I cannot forget how thankful I should be (and am) to be now living in such an economically stable country. In fact, sometimes I even feel a bit guilty for it -- with all my family still being stuck back in the States.

Sadly, it's very hard for me to imagine that things will improve in the US anytime soon.

But I am very glad to see that the rich there will (hopefully) be soon paying more taxes. It's about time! I hope Obama's plan goes through...

Time to bring back indentured labour, I say!

What's the point of freedom if you can't afford to enjoy its benefits?

Oh yeah, this is definitely a problem. Unfortunately times are tough in the US, and it's a shame. With better management the country could be doing far better. Let's hope the leadership can get their act together and get something done.

Aha, but Switzerland does not have an aircraft carrier... the US has 10 or something. There, try to beat that Switzerland!

But they were paying for their way to the promised land, not the other way around !!

So send them all to Israel.

The more the merrier!

The "promised land" for the pilgrim fathers was the US
ok, professor, point taken.

Ja, all bubbles burst at some stage.

I`ve been quite mind-boggled lately at the "affluence" enjoyed by everyone.

When I was a kid .... (sung to the tune of "When I was a kid") ... we ate left-overs the next day ......... we wore old clothes .....we had 2 pairs of shoes (one for special and one for school) ......

No-one had a private swimming pool.

Owning a bicycle was a sign of wealth for a kid.

Owning a family auto was a sign of wealth for a family.

Eating in restaurants was an annual event (for the super rich!) hahaaaa

The family dog lived off left-overs.

The family cat lived off mice .......

Veterinary surgeons were an un-heard of profession .....

Doctors were some person you called (to the house) in an Emergency, like wrenching an arm or leg out of its socket, or suffering a mysterious tropical disease .......

Hospitals were a place you visited, in rare and dire circumstances, to visit people you knew who ended up there ..... armed with bunch of grapes, a magazine, a few flowers from the garden, and a chocolate bar (rare extravagances awarded the nearly dying)

Everyone had a compost heap, and vegetable garden ... that provided the weekly vegetables ...

And all sensible homes had a hen-house for eggs and an odd Sunday roast.

Most towns had a farmer where you went to buy milk.

And mothers baked the family bread.

Ja .. those were the olden days. Now - life is much more improved.

Don't feel too safe as the EU isn't out of the woods, yet, and, especially with the Nordic countries, the pensions are about to weigh heavily on the social systems. No doubt, the US is pretty well screwed, but the folks around here driving porsches got that money from somewhere and that somewhere might be drying up soon. With chicken at 30CHF per kilo, it doesn't take much of a dip to see folks hitting hard times. Don't gloat, it feels dirty.

couldn't possibly comment.... sounds like the 1930s....
you're way younger than that

Sounds like Switzerland now

I think that soon we will find out that we are living on borrowed time. The stinking rich will stay stinking rich and the stinking poor will be just that. It will suck for the over 50ies without a job. Wanted by nobody to old to get work but too poor to stop.

Frankly, I think the young and the old are both pretty well screwed as well as the so-called 'middle class'. Retirement may well be something that only our parents got to enjoy (well, my parents died within 1-5 years thereof so...), so...who knows what the future holds but it's certain to be a very different sort of future than we imagined when we were young.

I find managing my money here in Europe to be easier than the states - not sure why but it seems I have fewer expenses and don't have to worry so much about healthcare.

A colleague of mine in the states got laid-off in 2008 and ended up living out of his car with his wife and kids after not being able to find another job & losing his house - it took him over 4 months to get unemployment and by then, there was no house left

Saddest part - he begged us not to tell authorities otherwise they'd take his kids away.......

Now ... yes .. maybe .... But only the older generation lived like that ... and the few off-spring who actually lived it and ingested what they witnessed, and continue to attempt to live like that ............................ still have money in the bank, and a fairly secure future to look forward to. Depending of course on the course of future events.

That's what you get for buying boneless breasts!

The whole chicken I bought and smoked after work cost CHF 7/kg at Denner.

Tom

Yes, younger than that. But wise enough to pay attention to the course of events.

Bubbles are not forever.

The best advice I ever read was a little snippet in a Readers Digest ..... "Live, always, slightly below your means of income, so when your income drops, you can still live".

And to quote Jamie Olive in his "Fowl Dinner" programme ... "What sort of life did that chicken live .... for its Chf7/kg ......?

Sorry, I have not done my homework on how much it costs a chicken to live a fairly decent life prior to slaughter ... but some farmers are providing them at a "break-even" price .. just to stay in business and be able to provide their own families with food and shelter.

Hence the following thread:
The only way for anyone to retire now is to become a millionare

I think we're in a strange reality now... papers are full of doom and gloom, yet if you've not lost your job (many havent') and haven't tried to sell your house (thus e.g. just continuing to pay your mortgage regardless of changes in market value) really you're in a reality where recession isn't much of an issue. Tax hikes may change that of course, but that's a different matter.

I have a lot of sympathy for people who've had their lives derailed the past couple of years and fear that we've not seen the end of it. Sure they still have it much better than somebody born into poverty somewhere in Africa, but it can be very humbling and painful to see what you've worked for just being wiped away.

In my early childhood I was part of an affluent family and due to circumstances life decided to throw a curve ball and wound up living on welfare, having to scrape by as a family at the end of the month to buy food, etc. Changed my outlook on life a lot, and made pulling myself out of that by education and hard work a big priority. I also don't take things like a retirement for granted anymore - perhaps too much of a cynic though