Time to give thanks
 

that most of us are retired, or gainfully employed, and doing fairly well. Just watched a 60 minutes segment on professionals in San Jose, CA., in their 40s, 50s and 60s, who have been out of work for two years or more. Most have college degrees, and many have advanced degrees. It made me think, what it would have been like if the economy had been like today when I was looking for a job in my 40s and 50s, as I did a few times, seamlessly. Thankfully all my kids have pretty secure careers, as two of them own their own company, which is releatively inflation-proof (health care staff provider) and the other one works for them. I just had two very close friends who were "laid-off" from very good management positions in the insurance business and I worry for them, as there have been so many lay-offs in that industry in the last two years, that there is a glut of talent and a minimal number of available positions. My timing has not always been right-on, but my retirement 2 1/2 years ago was pretty fortuitous.

60 Minutes
 

I watched it too. It was so sad. I am so fortunate to have retired 5 years ago.

I also watched 60 minutes. I cannot imagine what it would feel like to know your future is so unsettled. To go from having a good job to having no job and being jobless for 2 years and counting.

When folks ask me what I do in retirement I tell them I spend all day looking for somebody who's as lucky as me.

I'm still looking.

I too feel lucky to have been enjoying such a good retirement for the past 2 1/2 years, with the last year and a half here in the beautiful Villages. But we have to be realistic; if things don't change and the dollar free-falls or collapses, even we are in dire straits.

There isn't a day that goes by where I don't think about how fortunate I am and thankful for my position - I help out as much as I can with the food pantry at church and other areas.

As I watched that segment, I thought how lucky we are that we'll be coming down to TV next month to buy. As in so many other instances, we begin to realize that we must enjoy what we have because at any moment our situations can change. Just reinforces our thinking of why wait to move...let's do it now while we're healthy and we can.

Bless you, mfp...
And you are right, the time to be thankful is every day. Ed, thanks for the reminder.

Celebrate life!

We are truly blessed and living the American Dream, beyond our wildest expectations.