Comments on: Why I Pay More For Everything

By: Friday wrap-up: Why we pay more; enjoy the recession; recycle more « Cheap Like Me

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:22:08 +0000

[...] This blog post examines the reasons we pay more than we have to, from many perspectives. It’s no crime to pay more — but it is a wise idea to make that decision consciously, rather than falling into constant overspending. [...]

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By: Ron

Ron — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:27:12 +0000

Thanks Dana,
The 2 percent comes from what the average person puts in vs. what they take out. Obviously there are those who have put in very little and take out a great deal as well as those who put in a great deal and never live to see any of it.
Proper planning IS your best friend. Your Dad was right!

By: Dana Seilhan

Dana Seilhan — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 05:58:01 +0000

My dad says it, “Prior planning prevents piss-poor performance,” but he was career Navy.

Where’s the two percent number come from on the return for Social Security? If you’re getting a Social Security check it is coming straight out of the taxes that people currently in the workforce are paying.

This is what a lot of people have trouble understanding, apparently–they view it as a savings program. It’s not a savings program. It’s a regular government program paid for with current taxes. Even the term “trust fund” is misleading, for that reason: we’ve come to think of a trust fund as something that someone squirreled away and now it’s being used. Not in this case.

I have to laugh, as well, when I see someone calling it a Ponzi scheme because it’s not that either, any more than the military is a Ponzi scheme or the highway system is one. It’s just a baseline income for retirees, disabled people and survivors in the immediate family of the deceased to help prevent them falling through the cracks. Nothing to get worked up about.

I’ve probably run into most or all of your reasons listed here for spending more. A lot of the time it is just not having the time or patience or forethought or some combination thereof to stop and do a little math. Which goes right along with the “proper planning” proverb.

By: » Sunday Night Roundup - 100km Edition @ fivecentnickel.com

» Sunday Night Roundup - 100km Edition @ fivecentnickel.com — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 03:37:21 +0000

[...] Why I Pay More For Everything This is a great article that touches on the many ways that we as consumers justify spending more [...]

By: Ron

Ron — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:39:06 +0000

Thanks Shama,

Reminds me of the saying “proper planning produces peak performance.”