scion of the suberbs or middle class hustler

Let's turn on the way-back machine . Back to 1975, when I believe that the single best benefit to the working man was passed by congress . The IRA . For the first time in the history of man , the common man or woman, by putting $2000.00 hard earned dollars into a IRA every year, could theoretically have a million dollars by the time they were 62 .

This has worked pretty well for most people . Unfortunately, it gave birth to the 401k in which employers have shifted the total responsibility for a pension to the employee and his 401k . This has had mixed results, but one result is most people cannot retire when they want to because their 401k goes up and down like a roller coaster, usually with the same physical sensations .

What was happening at the personal level? Well, when our parents bought a suburban split level in the suburbs in 1963 for $35,000, they watched over the next 20 years as their mortgage paid off the value of their home, soar to 4x times it's original value . Their wildest dreams come true. It was bitter sweet though. The home they raised their children in and had so many wonderful memories now became a golden goose for medicare if they went into a nursing home, or a ticket to a Florida retirement community . Such is life .

What about the baby boomers who were starting out in the 1970's? They were working like Hebrew slaves trying to keep up with inflation and high interest rates . All the young dudes with a pick-up truck and a smile were doing side jobs to supplement their income, picking up the last of the gravy train factory jobs , which unfortunately ran out of track rather abruptly in the 1990's causing a lot wreckage .

But we boomers still had our homes and our 401ks which in the gay 90's blossomed like a money tree . While our homes did not soar in value there was still some healthy equity there, which by the next decade had been borrowed out to pay off the credit cards that we had a pitiful addiction to. Which we used to purchase the life we thought we should have. Well all good things come to and end .

So where is the suburban person now? Since women have been so involved in the work force since the advent of the Pill and abortions - he and she have evolved up to am economic unit of one, where each has their investments and careers and their own lives as well as their married lives. The suburban persons life has now become a complex web of money and emotions as we pass into middle age, oh well it is lonely at the top .

Perhaps we should try and let go of the fantasy of who we think we are and start being who we really are. Perhaps we should try and reconnect with people on a personal level instead of a professional level, forget about padding our resumes, and look into each others eyes instead of looking into each others wallets.