As we age we all need to make adjustments. We start by accepting certain things. We can't party all night like we used to, and then get up in the morning. We can't play hooky from our jobs and just take days off. Yes, we have to make adjustments, become, shudder, responsible adults. Before you know it you are driving a mini van and attending dance recitals. But you make all these adjustments and life continues. Eventually the grandkids come along and more adjustments are made. But there is one thing we fail to adjust at some point in our lives, we fail to adjust for inflation! Well, what I mean is we refuse to adjust for inflation any further. For me I think I quit adjusting about 1989 or so. That's how much things should cost. For instance a postage stamp was a quarter. A gallon of gas $1.08. A new car was about nine thousand dollars. Those prices seem reasonable enough. Much more than that and it's price gouging. That is what I mean about adjusting.
When I was growing up I heard about people with " old money. " Those folks were rich and their money had come from their parents and grandparents. In other words, their money wasn't necessarily earned by the ones spending it , no, it was old money. There are the Kennedys, the Fords, the Rockefeller's, J.P. Morgan, Astor and DuPont. That's old money. Old money holds its' value. No need to adjust for inflation when you have that much. And then there are the rest of us. Our money is not old money, it's new money. New money is constantly changing in value. It is a strange thing. And the thing is, at some point we will quit adjusting that value, at least in our own minds we do. Then we begin to deal with that " old money " concept. The difference is I'm using the 1989 value in 2018. That's the reason three dollars a gallon for gas is outrageous! I'm not adjusting for inflation.
Now all of that is a personal thing. Each of us view it a bit differently I suppose. I just think about it most when I am giving a gift to someone. Say the grandkids are having a birthday but they are getting older now. You decide they could just use some cash instead of a gift. How much cash do you give? What you really have to decide is, which money are we talking about, old money or new money? In old money, in my way of thinking about value, a hundred dollars is a good sum. To a sixteen year old kid today, a hundred bucks is what, a pair of shoes? That's what I mean about adjusting for inflation. And there comes a point when we all fail to do that, convinced of the value of a dollar. Well, we were told we needed to learn the value of a dollar weren't we?
What I would like to know, but never will, is what is it like to have old money? I could win the lottery tonight but that would be new money. That isn't what I am thinking about. What would it be like to have always had old money, a supply of cash taken as granted. What would your parents have taught you about that? And I wonder what you would think about those folks that didn't have that old money? I've always heard that the old money doesn't respect that new money. Old money is better! I have to say I agree with that. If I had my old money today I wouldn't be worried about getting new money. That old money sure went a lot further!
What is the value of a dollar? That is what I am talking about and it varies with every individual. I do believe age and maturity plays a role. I have no first hand experience with it but I would imagine inherited wealth would be a factor as well. Is money really worth more if you earned it? Depends, doesn't it?
It depends mostly upon how important money is to you. How much are you willing to spend? Is that amount different than what you would spend on yourself? How much of yourself are you willing to give? Do we adjust that for inflation? Is it ever too much? Well, that's a different discussion altogether, isn't it?
When I was growing up I heard about people with " old money. " Those folks were rich and their money had come from their parents and grandparents. In other words, their money wasn't necessarily earned by the ones spending it , no, it was old money. There are the Kennedys, the Fords, the Rockefeller's, J.P. Morgan, Astor and DuPont. That's old money. Old money holds its' value. No need to adjust for inflation when you have that much. And then there are the rest of us. Our money is not old money, it's new money. New money is constantly changing in value. It is a strange thing. And the thing is, at some point we will quit adjusting that value, at least in our own minds we do. Then we begin to deal with that " old money " concept. The difference is I'm using the 1989 value in 2018. That's the reason three dollars a gallon for gas is outrageous! I'm not adjusting for inflation.
Now all of that is a personal thing. Each of us view it a bit differently I suppose. I just think about it most when I am giving a gift to someone. Say the grandkids are having a birthday but they are getting older now. You decide they could just use some cash instead of a gift. How much cash do you give? What you really have to decide is, which money are we talking about, old money or new money? In old money, in my way of thinking about value, a hundred dollars is a good sum. To a sixteen year old kid today, a hundred bucks is what, a pair of shoes? That's what I mean about adjusting for inflation. And there comes a point when we all fail to do that, convinced of the value of a dollar. Well, we were told we needed to learn the value of a dollar weren't we?
What I would like to know, but never will, is what is it like to have old money? I could win the lottery tonight but that would be new money. That isn't what I am thinking about. What would it be like to have always had old money, a supply of cash taken as granted. What would your parents have taught you about that? And I wonder what you would think about those folks that didn't have that old money? I've always heard that the old money doesn't respect that new money. Old money is better! I have to say I agree with that. If I had my old money today I wouldn't be worried about getting new money. That old money sure went a lot further!
What is the value of a dollar? That is what I am talking about and it varies with every individual. I do believe age and maturity plays a role. I have no first hand experience with it but I would imagine inherited wealth would be a factor as well. Is money really worth more if you earned it? Depends, doesn't it?
It depends mostly upon how important money is to you. How much are you willing to spend? Is that amount different than what you would spend on yourself? How much of yourself are you willing to give? Do we adjust that for inflation? Is it ever too much? Well, that's a different discussion altogether, isn't it?
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