1. you have children for many reasons,not least of whoch is the continuation and care of the family, which includes yourself. as a side note; it's worth pointing out that our national birthrate is below replacement level. we need to find a way to incentivize people to have kids, and this strikes me as as good a way of doing it as any.
2. if you haven't had kids, congradulations! raising a kid costs $11,000 a year, which is money that you have now saved! invested over the 20 years that you weren't raising kid that nets you $552,461.68, which left alone until you retire - 20 years later - will give you $2.8 million dollars, making you financially independent and relieving you of any need to burden the entitlement system!
Lovetosing, thanks for replying to my post. An aside first: I’m a retired EE/ME my wife is a retired avionics software eng. flight management. Our concern is how many of these jobs are moving to India etc. in the past 18 years.I have a lot in savings actually but it is in the form of loans I took out, put in a bank, and am making money off of it so when I graduate I will end up being able to pay it all back all at once and have made some money in the process. I do know how to save. My dad is an accountant as is my boyfriend. They have taught me well and continue to do so. I am not working right now because with my class schedule it is not feasible. I am looking for an internship for this summer or may just volunteer in my field so I can make money when I graduate. Considering I am majoring in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, I would hope I make a considerable amount of money once I graduate. I will know how to save and I plan on paying my father back over time. I realize I am very lucky to be in the family I am in. My dad makes a considerable amount of money so what he is paying me a month is very little. He will have money for retirement and by the time he is ready to do that I plan on being in a place where, if necessary, I can help him out.
My boyfriend's dad did not plan at all for retirement. He worked at the university here and retires next friday. The only reason he has any money to spend during his retirement his because of his ex wife and his son who helped him. I do not think the government should be responsible for his retirement, he should have planned ahead but I'm fairly certain no one taught him along the way, when he was younger how to save. I think that is the key to most of the problems today. Educate people and we could all be fine.
I think the reason people aren't having kids is because they are expensive
Prices are going up but wages are mostly stagnant. If people had a better quality of life and lived more financially comfortably, they'd feel better about bringing a kid into the world and taking care of it.
Lovetosing, thanks for replying to my post. An aside first: I’m a retired EE/ME my wife is a retired avionics software eng. flight management. Our concern is how many of these jobs are moving to India etc. in the past 18 years.
You wrote “I have a lot in savings actually but it is in the form of loans I took out, put in a bank, and am making money off of it so when I graduate I will end up being able to pay it all back all at once and have made some money in the process.” Sorry, those loans are not savings, they don’t contribute to your net worth. Once you complete the arbitrage what you net will be earnings.
You wrote “Considering I am majoring in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, I would hope I make a considerable amount of money once I graduate.” These jobs are moving overseas quickly. We were forced to assist and maintain this process when we were working. Good luck.
You wrote “I realize I am very lucky to be in the family I am in.” Yes you are lucky.
You wrote “My boyfriend's dad did not plan at all for retirement. He worked at the university here and retires next friday. The only reason he has any money to spend during his retirement his because of his ex wife and his son who helped him.” If he worked for the university he’ll be rescued by SS. He was forced to pay in a small amount now he’ll get small checks, what he deserves. He’ll be a burden, but not too much. One way to look at this particular incidence is his sons SS tax is converted into his SS check, it is a pay as you go system not an investment system.
You wrote “Educate people and we could all be fine.” When I was young this is also what I thought. Now I know not saving for the future is a personality trait that is very hard to change if at all. And, people have bad luck, e.g. make bad investments in a 401k.
No... it's proven the more educated you are the less kids one has. Put a nice school in an area the birthrate will go down drastically. It's because people will have actual goals in their life and they try harder to make better decisions and be smarter about them.I don't believe people have a lot of children because they are poor... A lot of people are poor because they have a lot of children.
Wow, your post offered insight into your basic underlying principles.
Population is another problem. It deserves another poll.
shewolf said:The issue of population implosion could be easily solved with immigration reform..
I don't believe people have a lot of children because they are poor... A lot of people are poor because they have a lot of children.
No... it's proven the more educated you are the less kids one has. Put a nice school in an area the birthrate will go down drastically. It's because people will have actual goals in their life and they try harder to make better decisions and be smarter about them.
this is actually completely backwards. the birthrates in poorer countries are much higher - people start off poor then they have children. those who are poor are unable to store alot in disposable wealth, so they have to find other ways to secure themselves in their old age. their culture is one that contains' high birthrates - and provides them with a means to do so. we are doing the same thing with our entitlement structure - the problem is that by socializing the gain we provide no one with the incentives to take on the costs.
that might be a good way to look at it. in the same way that socializing losses while privatizing gains (corporatism) turns an investment into a "sure thing" and invites a flood of people seeking to partake, potentially overwhelming the system and creating a bubble; socializing gains while privatizing losses (our entitlement system) invites a drought as people flee, creating a dearth. whether or not people articulate those incentives precisely as the reason for their decision, that is the incentive structure they are making decisions in, and that is what the culture encourages.
You're just arguing causation. Children are expensive, have a lot of children can potentially decrease the households quality of life. If somebody is born in poverty, they are likely to get out of it if they have the proper resources... skills, time, and education, and it's hard to acquire an education and dedicate yourself to studies when you're first priority is taking care of your children.
Outsourcing to poor countries does not make them wealthy or increase their quality of life
Are you saying that you favor corporatism and socialized losses?
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