My parents brought me here to the U.S. in 1952, at which time jobs were easy to find if you had skills and were easy to keep if you had a work ethic. Pay wasn't great, but it was "good." The unions were growing and powerful, so being in one helped a good bit. By the time my parents retired, things had changed considerably. When my father retired, he conceded that his peers with whom he'd maintained contact over the decades were all, without exception positioned better than he was in terms of retirement.

My Mother had worked 9 years in Germany and 36 years in the U.S. when she retired, yet she received more in social security from Germany than what she received from the U.S. for her 36 years' employment. She also received a pension from the State job she held for about 12 years, and that exceeded her social security as well, further, it covered her health insurance toward which she continued to have to pay copayments and medicinals, but which was covered for 80% of her premiums.

It surprised me to learn that that's how her retirement was covered, though I know she had made ample provision on the investment market for her "declining years," though her decline was actually limited to about four weeks, prior to which she was independent and in good health. The markets reduced her portfolio by 86%, owning largely to her overinvestment in insurance based items, which, for the last year or two, had substantial negative yields and, before I learned of them and took her out of those deathtraps, cost more per month than they ever would have yielded.

I find it crazy that one of the pairs running for President here wants to privatize social security, turning the nation's retirement over the "totally corrupt" Wall Street guys, as some have described 'em, since that and the classic insurance industry have proven to be such poor havens for one's "nest egg."

One fellow, possibly the most financially wise, and therefore successful guys I know told me that "the surest way to ensure that you get the best treatement from your investments is to select them yourself ... but read the fine print."

The U.S. offers great opportunity to become successful if you're well-trained, diligent, conscientious, and do your homework. Failing in that, you "get what you deserve." Everybody wants to become a billionaire, but very, Very few succeed at it.

RE