Search

Home > The Off Farm Income Podcast > OFI 766: Why Farmers Are The Happiest And Most Contented People In America
Podcast: The Off Farm Income Podcast
Episode:

OFI 766: Why Farmers Are The Happiest And Most Contented People In America
Category: Business
Duration: 00:54:23
Publish Date: 2020-02-11 01:30:09
Description: Sign Up To Receive Our FFA Stories Newsletter! Email address: Tick Tock, Tick Tock, Tick Tock Have you ever looked at the U.S. National Debt Clock?  It is fascinating and hard to keep up with.  It would be really fun to watch all the figures changing and adding up so quickly if you weren't smacked in the face with the fact that they were true and the national debt was now about $23 trillion. Have you ever looked into the average net worth of Americans?  You know, all of your assetts (house, savings, retirement, etc.) minus all of your liabilities (mortgage, car payment, student loan debt, consumer debt, etc.).  If you have, you see that it the average net worth in America is right around $692,000.  However, that is skewed by the super-wealthy, so let's look at a better number, the median net worth in America, which is right at $97,300. Have you ever looked into the total credit card debt in America?  In 2019 it exceeded the $1 trillion mark, and this does not include mortgages, student loans or cars. You don't have to be a mathematician to realize at some point in the future, something is going to have to change to rectify all of this.  Our national debt is going to have to be paid off, or at least significantly paid down.  At that time there will be less money for social security, so individuals will be more reliant on that small, median net worth, during retirement.  And, with this financial crunch people will be less able to pay off their credit card debt, let alone their houses, cars and student loans. My Unique Perspective Over the past couple of decades I have watched the decisions by our leaders, both Republican and Democrat, plunge us deeper and deeper into debt.  And, I have watched some politicians promise more and more and more free stuff to Americans when they are trying to get their votes.  For 15 years of this time I was a police officer.  I walked into a lot of houses where nobody worked but they had a nicer television than me or hundreds of dvd's or myriads of other consumer goods. During this time, I couldn't help but do the math.  I'd go into a trailer, apartment or house where nobody was working, and learn that they were getting by with assistance from the government.  And I would learn that the head of the household was generally a woman, who was my same age (somewhere between 35 and 40) and the father of the kids was long gone.  And I would find out that the matriarch of this household had four children to my one.  And all or several of her children already had a few kids, starting when they were somewhere between 15 and 20.  And they had all been brought up to depend on the government. Pulling all judgement out of this I was left with the numbers.  The math slapped me in the face.  This lady, who was my age had 4 or 5 kids who each had 2 or 3 kids already, with a lot of time left to have more.  I only had one child, and she was not born until I was 33.  She will probably not have children until she is close to 30, and she will likely have 1 or 2.  But the lady I was there to assist, at my same age, was already responsible for 10-15 humans, and the values of work ethic and self-reliance was not being taught. Essentially, folks with the values of working hard, being independent and saving like me have been becoming the minority at an exponential rate.  This, and the combination of political candidates promising free stuff in exchange for votes is a lethal combination of negative economic forces that ultimately has to lead to much, much higher taxes. What To Do I have always worried about the day when these chickens will come home to roost.  When pessimism gets the best of me I think that it will happen right about the time that I am ready to start enjoying the fruits of my labor. I have done everything I have been told about financial security, all my life, i.e. invested for retirement, lived below my means, purchased appreciating assets like my farm,
Total Play: 0

Users also like

800+ Episodes
Farm Small F .. 50+     2