As the election nears, I’m thinking hard about that same old question they always like to ask: “are you better off than you were four years ago?” Slowtwitchers, are you better off than you were four years ago? I’ll go first.
My income has risen 3% per year over the last three years. These are the smallest pay raises I have ever received. I averaged 6% from 1996-2000. My health care deductibles/co-pays have gone up quite a bit over the last three years. I was able to re-fi my house at a lower rate, which saved me some money, but my homeowners insurance premium has doubled, as have my property taxes (due to a local government re-assessment). My employer has a $1,000,000 loss in their operating budget due to the economic downturn, which is of serious concern to me. My stock portfolio/401k is all over the place, fuel costs are much higher, inflation is up. My running times are not what they used to be (I can’t blame that on anyone but myself).
Overall, I’d say I’m about even. My income has risen marginally and income tax dropped a bit, but it’s been offset by higher property taxes, increased insurance premiums, higher energy costs (gas and utilities), increased health care costs, etc.
I live in NJ. Property taxes are up 33% in the last three years. Insurance is up. I work in the communications business. That’s in the toilet, partly because of the FCC, partly because of the industry geniuses and the Internet bubble. Our Governor is either a liar, a moron, or a crook. and I voted for him.
I am much better off. Changed jobs in February and have increased my income considerably. Most importantly, I don’t have to work with that bitch supervisor anymore. Also, 4 years ago I was glued to the couch.
Good points, Mr. Tibbs. Financially, I’m even (I think this is what I was getting at with my original post…), but I’m way ahead on the overall happiness scale due to a great girlfriend.
All my running PR’s were set during the Clinton administration, though.
Fiscally, I’m better off. 4 years ago I filled out a tax return with a negative number for total income. That was the first full year of being self employed. Today I am making more money than I ever did working for someone else. I avoided the bursting bubble because, as a confirmed chicken, I put everything in cash when I quit my job. (Now, though, I just tell people that I saw it coming.)
Physically, I am worse off. Not only am I older, I am still in the same age group. (39 sucks) Tough to keep on a training schedule because of work. No triathlons since last fall but I am aiming toward a marathon in November. Like someone said, my PRs were during the Clinton administration.
Quality of life, much better. We moved to the country and life is good. My wife is even thinking about getting a job. Miracles never cease.
My situation has improved greatly, but I attribute none of it to politics. Four years ago I had a negative net worth, lived in a crappy apartment, and had just taken my first full-time “professional” position.
Now I’m married to a wonderful woman who is also a triathlete, have 1.8 graduate degrees, a 401k account, an IRA, a condo, and run a consulting/coaching business on top of my day job.
Another way to look at it is that if you start at less than zero, things can only get better.
Politicians can and do influence the quality of our life. If I were a senior citizen on medicare and the prescription drug plan passed recently allowed me to either save money on prescriptions (and thus have more money to spend on food or transportation, etc) or gain access to prescriptions I didn’t have before, the quality of my life could be enhanced.
If I were a reservist and I was called up for two years and taken away from my family and small business, the quality of my life would be influenced.
There are countless examples. The real question is, I guess, how we let these decisions influence our happiness. Hopefully not at all.
Far too much emphasis is placed on the president’s importance to the lives of individuals. Does George Bush really have that much control over my life? Is my life going to nosedive in December if Kerry’s elected? (And let’s be honest, a big part of this question is really, “Do you have more money than you did four years ago?” And as far as that goes, the president has *very *little impact.)
Furthermore, it’s the wrong question. It should be, “Is the nation better or worse off than it was four years ago?” There’s a difference.
Yup, the president is just a piece of the puzzle, which is why I didn’t mention him specifically in my original post. My congresswoman, governor, president, and a few other locals are all up for re-election. My decisions won’t be based just on national events…
“My point is the politicians have nothing to do with how we live. How we choose to live is what is important.”
Bravo Tibbs! Congratulations on your turn around. I agree with Tibbs on the overall picture of life. We all make choices and those determine how things go for us, not the President. Every generation talks about how it was in the good ol days and how coffee was a nickle and they bought their first house for $3000 but times change and the reality is that never in the history of the world have people had the success and luxury we enjoy today. As for the group of people on this board, our worst days don’t remotely compare to most of the worlds best days.
Income flat the past two years - because of the industy I’m in, not who’s in office. 401k - way up the past two years as we’ve pulled out of the recession. Gas prices have no impact on me. Net worth way up the past 2 years.
I’m paying less taxes and would like to keep it that way - my taxes would go up under Kerry. That’s REAL money out of my pocket - which I owe to NO ONE. But Kerry wants me to give it to the government. Sorry, I already pay a ton. Eough is enough.
At 43, I’m in the best physical condition of my life - lots of PR’s the last two years.
Pssst … Congress passes tax laws. Kerry can’t increase taxes. Even if he is elected due to recent, since the census was released, redistricting the Rebulicans will probably maintain a majority in both houses.
Four years ago I was fixing Y2K code in San Jose, people couldn’t throw money at that problem fast enough (my only 6 figure year so far). I moved for quality of life issues to hell on earth (Albuquerque, NM). I took a big pay cut but that was my choice. I started training two years ago, things are looking up. I’m working in as a Network Administrator which is not my first choice but is much easier and has better hours than programming. Plus I just bought some sweet new Profile Designs bar tape so I have something to do when I get home tonight.
Pssst … Congress passes tax laws. Kerry can’t increase taxes. Even if he is elected due to recent, since the census was released, redistricting >the Rebulicans will probably maintain a majority in both houses.
Post: don’t think that when you get to the over 40 crowd they’ll get slower…
Oh, I don’t. But the 35-39 group always seems to be the largest around here. If I’m in the middle of a group of 20 I’m 10th but the middle of a group of 10 is 5th. See, I improved 5 places!
Besides, I’m just looking forward to seeing a few different names as I read down the results to get to my own.
As George Will so deftly put it, “That depends. On what? That, too, depends.”
A good read, if you’re so inclined:
"In contemporary politics, nothing succeeds like excess, so permutations of Reagan’s trope are going to recur. Therefore, it is time to consider its deficiencies, which are symptomatic of a desiccated mentality.
Unfortunately, the phrase “better off” is generally understood as a reference to your salary, your bank balance, your IRA and the like. But wait. Are you better off being four years older? That depends.
…
We do, unfortunately, live, as Edmund Burke lamented, in an age of “economists and calculators” who are eager to reduce all things to the dust of numeracy, neglecting what Burke called “the decent drapery of life.” In this supposedly rational and scientific age, the thirst for simple metrics seduces people into a preoccupation with things that lend themselves to quantification.
Self-consciously “modern” people have an urge to reduce assessments of their lives to things that can be presented in tables, charts and graphs – personal and national economic statistics. This sharpens their minds by narrowing them. Such people might as well measure out their lives in coffee spoons.
