By Zach Scheidt
This post This WWII Veteran’s Retirement Story Will Inspire You, But… appeared first on Daily Reckoning.
Does “the full faith and credit of the United States” even mean anything anymore?
That’s the question I ask myself as I see the U.S. dollar trading lower, the Federal Reserve sending mixed messages to investors, and our politicians bickering about how to run the country.
This week, I had a conversation with a friend of mine about the importance of respecting the position of our leaders (even if we don’t agree with their policies). But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that our leaders have a responsibility to respect “we the people” as well.
After all, we’re the ones they’ve been elected to serve.
And as I consider the plight of retirees in our country today, I believe much more respect is deserved.
While I can’t pull our politicians into a room and lecture them about respecting the American people, I can help you with some strategies for protecting yourself in today’s disrespectful environment.
And that’s exactly what I want to do with today’s alert…
If you’re retired, or hoping to retire in the near future, there is one question that should be weighing heavily on your mind:
Do I have enough saved to support myself through retirement?
Of course, this isn’t a new question.
My grandfather probably asked himself this question when he retired from Arvin Industries in 1985.
While Grandpa retired with a full pension, he still took on the occasional part-time work to make sure his finances were healthy. As a kid, I remember him farming his land in Indiana, working for an office supply store in his hometown, driving rental cars across the country (we got to see him one time when he was driving a Corvette through our hometown of Atlanta), and shuttling senior citizens to medical appointments.
(Between you and me, I think he also just enjoyed staying busy — a trait which has kept him young. Today, at 96 years old, this WWII vet still drives himself to family events and shares his stories with my children — his great grandchildren — whenever we get together).
I hope that I’m blessed with the same health that Grandpa has enjoyed, so I can get hugs from my great-grandchildren a half century from now.
And at the same time, I hope the money I’m saving for retirement will remain healthy, despite the changing economic dynamics. After all, for many of us, retirement is going to be a much bigger challenge than it was for my Grandpa.
The Danger of a Falling Dollar
Take a look at the chart below. For long-time Daily Edge readers, this is a familiar picture:
That’s the chart of the U.S. dollar index for 2017.
Here’s the problem…
Even if you have enough money set aside for retirement right now (or if you’re lucky enough to retire with a pension like my Grandpa), a falling U.S. dollar will erode the value of your income. That’s because with a weak U.S. dollar, it will take …read more
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The post This WWII Veteran’s Retirement Story Will Inspire You, But… appeared first on Junior Mining Analyst.