Poll, are you better off or worse off

[WhitewalkerInPhilly]

Honestly? Yes, much better. 

 

I had hit a low point professionally in 2019 and found myself taking a step back to move to an area in the industry where there was more potential professional development. My industry boomed in 2020 as lockdowns started, and we went from planning scheduled furloughs to being pushed past capacity. When the furloughs did come, the COVID relief packages meant that I didn't have to scrimp because my unemployment effectively covered the paycheck. The relative lack of places to go meant that I saved a lot more money. The stop of federal student loan payments meant that I could focus on paying off principal and I made ground that I never could have done without it. 

 

The time off meant that I could work on my resume and start building for a new job. In 2021 I took a new job with a 50% raise and a shorter commute so I barely fill up my tank once a week. The vast majority of people in know in my generation found new jobs, better paying jobs, and are far, far, far happier with their new employment and work life balance.

 

Now, I am not going to credit Joe Biden for all of that. In fact, I'm looking real hard at some of the promises he has yet to deliver on. But the answer to your leading question is not what you are hoping for in my case.

[Demongyz]

11 hours ago, The Frankish Reich said:

The S&P 500 closed at 4122 today.

I chose February 14, 2020 as a pretty good date for "just before the start of COVID." (that's the poll question). You know what it closed at on that date?

Answer: 3380.

In other words, even given the recent correction (Or is it a bear market? Call it what you like), the markets are UP about 22% since just before COVID became a thing in the United States.

You feel poor because the S&P 500 hit 4800 on January 4 2022. So it's down about 14% since then. But still UP a ton since pre-COVID days.

I say this not to be an ass, but just to point out that people's sense of happiness or satisfaction is always relative, not absolute. I think objectively most Americans are better off today than they were 2.5 years ago. 

But here's what I think may be going on: deep down a lot of us have a sense that this is a bubble economy. Low interest rates, quantitative easing, huge money handouts to lots and lots of people ... there's a sense that it's gonna end, and the end will be ugly.

 

 

Yeah, I don't completely blame Biden, I blame a ton of this on the fed.  Free money is terrible and their long term plan of 2% inflation was playing with fire.  We are definitely reaping what we sowed.

[RiotAct]

better off… no thanks to the sh**hole government in place in NYS or the dementia patient currently residing in the White House.

[T master]

Much worse off than in 2019 !! I am in the entertainment business i drive a coach carrying the performers from show to show & 2019 i made more money than i had in 13+ years doing this but now it's totally different .

 

Add that to the fact that fuel to fill my coach went from approximately $600 to at the high point $1115. 00 i can't imagine what the artists extra's must be seeing as we have 3 buses & 1 semi so each time we fill up that is times 4 .

 

But there are the num nuts here that think we are so much better off yet when asked alls they have are old pictures or place blame but never except responsibility for anything after the fact & i don't see it getting any better soon .

 

After the fuel tax is replaced when the mid terms are over it will go back to the same old BS .

 

This is their way of thinking things are better . Gavin Newsome out in Cali said to give out checks of some $1100 a piece to each individual to off set the rise in fuel costs but put a three cent a gallon tax on the fuel & the people are all about it .

 

But that won't increase inflation now will it ? That is the way the left thinks & if that's common sense government action they all need to fired ASAP because that's only something that the ignorant would think is going to help in any way .

 

But Joe & his team has got it going on just ask BT he'll tell you it's all the prior POTUS fault .

[T master]

6 hours ago, WhitewalkerInPhilly said:

Honestly? Yes, much better. 

 

I had hit a low point professionally in 2019 and found myself taking a step back to move to an area in the industry where there was more potential professional development. My industry boomed in 2020 as lockdowns started, and we went from planning scheduled furloughs to being pushed past capacity. When the furloughs did come, the COVID relief packages meant that I didn't have to scrimp because my unemployment effectively covered the paycheck. The relative lack of places to go meant that I saved a lot more money. The stop of federal student loan payments meant that I could focus on paying off principal and I made ground that I never could have done without it. 

 

The time off meant that I could work on my resume and start building for a new job. In 2021 I took a new job with a 50% raise and a shorter commute so I barely fill up my tank once a week. The vast majority of people in know in my generation found new jobs, better paying jobs, and are far, far, far happier with their new employment and work life balance.

 

Now, I am not going to credit Joe Biden for all of that. In fact, I'm looking real hard at some of the promises he has yet to deliver on. But the answer to your leading question is not what you are hoping for in my case.

 

I have a couple of questions and will end with a couple of statements if you don't mind .

 

What was your previous choice of employment that had you at a low point ?

What industry was it that you were in that boomed during the lock downs ?

So your life was better because you depended on the gov't bail out money due to them shutting down the economy not paying for gas & not paying for student loans you decided to take on rather than earning a living correct ?

By being made to stay home you weren't allowed to go out & frivolously blow your money rather than decide to do so responsibly so that took your irresponsibility to spend vs not spend out of consideration ?

Your dependence on the gov't to forgive your school debt helped rather than you not spending money on frivolous trips or going out ?

A 50% raise happened because of those that would rather stay home & collect gov't money or just not work at all which is great for you Is better True .

Less travel time has helped you to not spend as much on gas which doubled in price since 2019 which hasn't helped because even though you are traveling less you are paying double sometimes triple to go half the distance so are you truly doing better ?

 

Not trying to cast any stones but some of your past being in a bad place could have been due to your personal decisions not the economy or the rules in place at the time & If you look at it from a different angle it doesn't sound as if your doing nearly as good as you think but that's just a difference in opinion .

 

I guess especially seeing as i never stopped working during the shut down i just had to depend on past skills learned and kept on working so it was over a year before any PPE money was given out in the industry that i was in which was completely shut down so i had to fend for myself .

 

Then to add to it all of that PPE money from both of the last 2 POTUS has directly cost each of us when it comes to inflation so are we actually better off ?

 

But i'm glad you feel better about it !! 

[WhitewalkerInPhilly]

32 minutes ago, T master said:

 

I have a couple of questions and will end with a couple of statements if you don't mind .

 

What was your previous choice of employment that had you at a low point ?

What industry was it that you were in that boomed during the lock downs ?

So your life was better because you depended on the gov't bail out money due to them shutting down the economy not paying for gas & not paying for student loans you decided to take on rather than earning a living correct ?

By being made to stay home you weren't allowed to go out & frivolously blow your money rather than decide to do so responsibly so that took your irresponsibility to spend vs not spend out of consideration ?

Your dependence on the gov't to forgive your school debt helped rather than you not spending money on frivolous trips or going out ?

A 50% raise happened because of those that would rather stay home & collect gov't money or just not work at all which is great for you Is better True .

Less travel time has helped you to not spend as much on gas which doubled in price since 2019 which hasn't helped because even though you are traveling less you are paying double sometimes triple to go half the distance so are you truly doing better ?

 

Not trying to cast any stones but some of your past being in a bad place could have been due to your personal decisions not the economy or the rules in place at the time & If you look at it from a different angle it doesn't sound as if your doing nearly as good as you think but that's just a difference in opinion .

 

I guess especially seeing as i never stopped working during the shut down i just had to depend on past skills learned and kept on working so it was over a year before any PPE money was given out in the industry that i was in which was completely shut down so i had to fend for myself .

 

Then to add to it all of that PPE money from both of the last 2 POTUS has directly cost each of us when it comes to inflation so are we actually better off ?

 

But i'm glad you feel better about it !! 

 

K', you're a little rambling and incoherent there so I will try to help you out by going over things in bullet points for you.

 

• I went to school for STEM and found myself in food manufacturing. I found myself at a low point due to a combination some poor personal decisions, including not taking treatment for anxiety and depression. I take responsibility for that. But yeah, starting from scratch with your life can be tough, especially when the decision to get a degree came when industry number on salary were reporting about 20K annually higher than expected, and then needing to take a step back from even that subpar level. Getting a little extra cash, and more time to work on my mental health to get myself back on track without starving, defaulting on loans or getting evicted absolutely helped me. As bad a things were in the economy in 2020, things would have been worse had we allowed nature to run its course.
• On a related note, part of my trouble in the first place was that wages have been massively depressed in comparison to productivity. I am privy to some of the public reports of profit number of places I have worked and let me tell you:  The parts of Corporate America that I saw still made money hand over fist. Looking at their earning statements before you scream about how inflation is causing commodity price increases.
• As an aside, I am still blown away by business owners who do not blink at adjusting models to increases in price for raw material in logistics, but somehow cannot grasp that labor is a commodity. This is the first time in my memory where people actually began to grasp that fact, which is one small blessing. 
• RE: student loans-people did not blink at the idea of shelling out billions of tax cuts for corporations in some trickle down illusion. I personally support the ground up model, because if you give a millionaire $50K he will maybe so some stock buybacks with it. If you give it to middle class Americans? They put it back into their local economies. This is a much better investment, and helps the auto industry and generates generational wealth with home ownership. I get that economics might be a hard subject to pick up, but do a bit of research.
• Let me tell you, I spend less on gas than I used to. And I cannot put a price at having more time in my day to do things rather than sitting pissed off in my car.

 

I know my story isn't universal. But as much as I love to criticize Biden, the stimulus reaaaaally ain't what has made it worse for most people. 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

9 hours ago, WhitewalkerInPhilly said:

Honestly? Yes, much better. 

 

I had hit a low point professionally in 2019 and found myself taking a step back to move to an area in the industry where there was more potential professional development. My industry boomed in 2020 as lockdowns started, and we went from planning scheduled furloughs to being pushed past capacity. When the furloughs did come, the COVID relief packages meant that I didn't have to scrimp because my unemployment effectively covered the paycheck. The relative lack of places to go meant that I saved a lot more money. The stop of federal student loan payments meant that I could focus on paying off principal and I made ground that I never could have done without it. 

 

The time off meant that I could work on my resume and start building for a new job. In 2021 I took a new job with a 50% raise and a shorter commute so I barely fill up my tank once a week. The vast majority of people in know in my generation found new jobs, better paying jobs, and are far, far, far happier with their new employment and work life balance.

 

Now, I am not going to credit Joe Biden for all of that. In fact, I'm looking real hard at some of the promises he has yet to deliver on. But the answer to your leading question is not what you are hoping for in my case.

Not hoping for anything- genuinely interested in the cross section of the board.
 

Glad to hear things are better for you. 

 

 

[Doc Brown]

6 minutes ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

Not hoping for anything- genuinely interested in the cross section of the board.
 

Glad to hear things are better for you. 

 

 

It would be more interesting if we could do this poll in the OTW forum instead of PPP.  Not possible though.  I personally am way better off as I had a lot of cash ready to go into an index fund once the market took that huge crash in March of 2020.  I got lucky.  I'm also more appreciative of some of the freedoms we have in this country that were briefly stripped away from us given this was a black swan event.

[T master]

1 hour ago, WhitewalkerInPhilly said:

 

K', you're a little rambling and incoherent there so I will try to help you out by going over things in bullet points for you.

 

• I went to school for STEM and found myself in food manufacturing. I found myself at a low point due to a combination some poor personal decisions, including not taking treatment for anxiety and depression. I take responsibility for that. But yeah, starting from scratch with your life can be tough, especially when the decision to get a degree came when industry number on salary were reporting about 20K annually higher than expected, and then needing to take a step back from even that subpar level. Getting a little extra cash, and more time to work on my mental health to get myself back on track without starving, defaulting on loans or getting evicted absolutely helped me. As bad a things were in the economy in 2020, things would have been worse had we allowed nature to run its course.
• On a related note, part of my trouble in the first place was that wages have been massively depressed in comparison to productivity. I am privy to some of the public reports of profit number of places I have worked and let me tell you:  The parts of Corporate America that I saw still made money hand over fist. Looking at their earning statements before you scream about how inflation is causing commodity price increases.
• As an aside, I am still blown away by business owners who do not blink at adjusting models to increases in price for raw material in logistics, but somehow cannot grasp that labor is a commodity. This is the first time in my memory where people actually began to grasp that fact, which is one small blessing. 
• RE: student loans-people did not blink at the idea of shelling out billions of tax cuts for corporations in some trickle down illusion. I personally support the ground up model, because if you give a millionaire $50K he will maybe so some stock buybacks with it. If you give it to middle class Americans? They put it back into their local economies. This is a much better investment, and helps the auto industry and generates generational wealth with home ownership. I get that economics might be a hard subject to pick up, but do a bit of research.
• Let me tell you, I spend less on gas than I used to. And I cannot put a price at having more time in my day to do things rather than sitting pissed off in my car.

 

I know my story isn't universal. But as much as I love to criticize Biden, the stimulus reaaaaally ain't what has made it worse for most people. 

 

I know people in higher places that own businesses & they said prior to this POTUS they were busier than they had ever been & the growth of their business was 10 fold ! Now not so much and given the fact that China holds the cards when it comes to supply they have been at a huge disadvantage now .

 

Then you add this, they also said in part reasons why in some cases they don't want to pay more to start is because you can't find anyone now days that will actually work, while on the clock they spend a good share of their time starring at their freaking phones answering texts & what not but that's todays world .

 

If by chance you say anything they get booty hurt & quit because of their entitlement mind set . I had a crew a long while ago now & if i was still a boss that would be said up front the phone goes away or off while i'm paying you or don't bother so that is a huge reason why some won't get paid more .

 

I have friends that like you had to start over & went into a apprenticeship & are now making more money than they ever have because to get a true American to get off their ass & work today is rare !  The entitlement mentality has killed the work force here & is why they moved most of it to China & is the other reason why they want illegal immigration because they will work like Americans use to .

 

I agree time is a huge benefit that we cannot put a price on . I'm glad things are better for you keep fighting the good fight hopefully one day things will get back to what ever normal will be .

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

2 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

It would be more interesting if we could do this poll in the OTW forum instead of PPP.  Not possible though.  I personally am way better off as I had a lot of cash ready to go into an index fund once the market took that huge crash in March of 2020.  I got lucky.  I'm also more appreciative of some of the freedoms we have in this country that were briefly stripped away from us given this was a black swan event.

It’s the second P man.

 

I traded the covid crash well, not this last nasdaq meltdown. 
 

glad you hit it well

[Precision]

Made a boatload in the market.  Wife and I were remote so spent nothing on gas or car maintenance.  Saved money by taking out rather than eating out.  Kids received refunds from college for room and board.  Wish the monkeypox would pick-up a little more!

 

On the downside I did gain a few pounds.