tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post3888182176901682694..comments2023-10-28T02:59:37.028-07:00Comments on E m e r g i n g ...Q u a k e r i s m ..L i t e r a t u r e ..R e l i g i o n ... L i f e: Financial crisis and silenceDianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12396312339372162866noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post-64828176579171983412008-10-14T06:27:00.000-07:002008-10-14T06:27:00.000-07:00Hi Bill,Thanks for responding and it's wonderful t...Hi Bill,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for responding and it's wonderful to hear from you. I'm glad the stock market seems to be rebounding. Hardworking people unable to retire puts a human face on the situation.Dianehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12396312339372162866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post-6910766435622899312008-10-11T07:50:00.000-07:002008-10-11T07:50:00.000-07:00Yes, people are talking about it, but it isn't tha...Yes, people are talking about it, but it isn't that real for many of us. If you have a secure job, you're able to pay your mortgage, and you don't expect to draw on your investments for years to come, it doesn't affect you directly.<BR/><BR/>I was talking at work with a woman who is going to retire at the end of the year. She is not an emotional person, but she was almost in tears as she noted that she had lost most of the money she had put in her retirement fund.<BR/><BR/>For people my age (I've been eligible for regular retirement from my job for a year, and am 5 years from my regular S.S. retirement age), it may well affect when we retire. I really need to wait until the markets recover and, if they don't, I may be working until I'm very old. My retirement system relies heavily on the 401(k) element.Bill Samuelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00752443575410023776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post-90790748694410754502008-10-11T07:37:00.000-07:002008-10-11T07:37:00.000-07:00Hi Lisa,It is so good to hear from you! I hope you...Hi Lisa,<BR/><BR/>It is so good to hear from you! I hope you and Steve and the kids are well, beyond the economic pall that is hitting us all. <BR/><BR/>As I worry about things like paying for college next year (and I am having a heightened anxiety about this), I too worry about people who may not have a cushion and how to help and the importance of sticking together.Dianehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12396312339372162866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-265511791146423221.post-67734398874077450152008-10-10T19:19:00.000-07:002008-10-10T19:19:00.000-07:00We haven't discussed this with anyone else either....We haven't discussed this with anyone else either. We lost at least half of what we had saved for the children's college and our old age. I haven't really reacted to that news yet...perhaps because it is so awful, there is really nothing to say. We make dark jokes in private about the future, just to keep from getting too depressed. Or maybe just to mask our fear. In public, it seems too personal (maybe because it is about money?). And of course, one is always of aware of the majority of people who do not have a nest egg to lose in the first place, so it feels wrong to complain.<BR/> It is frightening to think of all the suffering this economic crisis will cause. I am wondering how I can help my neighbors and people in an even worse position than I am in to get through this terrible downturn in our economy.<BR/><BR/>Lisa SAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com