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SCOTUS Justice Brett Kavanaugh grew up in a household with parents who were professionals. SCOTUS Justice Sonia Sotomayor didn't. Neither did I. So? This issue of a privileged background - or membership in the "lucky sperm club" - is getting old. Essentially in America we're accepting that life isn't fair. From conception some have an edge. The joke is: Choose your parents wisely.  Proof that Radical Acceptance is the current mindset is that Sotomayor had to back down from attacking Kavanaugh for how differently he grew up from her and from so many immigrants and those who get paid by the hour. That mouth-full didn't go over well. Politico reports: " ... Sonia Sotomayor apologized Wednesday for suggesting that Justice Brett Kavanaugh had a sheltered upbringing that made him insensitive to day laborers being targeted by the Trump administration for immigration enforcement." She hadn't mentioned her SCOTUS colleague by name but she didn't have...

You bet, the generations which followed Boomers certainly have resentments. They size up that Boomers got a better deal than they did. A much better one. Everything from cheap higher education to secure corporate jobs (that is, at least until Jack Welch, et al., sent middle managers into the cold in middle age). Those hostilities have become raw. Therefore, Boomers have a ready-made excuse to look away from the suffering of younger generations. It's so heavy. No help is on the way for youth. They could be the worse off generation since The Great Depression.  What Boomers are looking at is their own money. Will they have the funds to continue with a lifestyle or to make it until they die? Inflation is blowing up the years of planning. And for them too help isn't on the way.  Social Security payments can be reduced in six years. Medicare is uncertain. Most have already crossed the line from very good health to scary medical conditions. How much in addition to Medicare/Medicare s...

During the next Super Bowl party, guests might not turn up their nose that I'm not serving the big brands. That's even though Pepsi, after losing customers through raising prices, got back some by lowering them. Instead for the annual entertainment hoopla of the Super Bowl, there will be the generics developed by the big boxes such as Walmart. I'll put them out there on the table, without apology. Just like AI is getting better and better so are the private labels like Great Value. I honestly can't taste the difference between Pepsi diet cola and Sam's. Recently Walmart has redesigned the look.  That's a worthwhile investment since private label has surged to a $330 billion industry. This isn't new. Way back in 2024, it was documented that there was a flight from big brands to private label.  The tipping point was price in an era of inflation.  The old-line obstacle to serving generic food items had been the socioeconomic "shame." You wouldn't...

Losing a job is very different now. America is no stranger to extreme economic downturns, mergers and acquisitions, the introduction of new technologies and reductions of corporate layers. Who among us hasn't lost a good job because of those developments.  One major shift, though, is this: Instead of the angst about maintaining your lifestyle during the search and with what you find, it's the probability of running out money. Almost 70% of the jobless drain their savings, with 44% missing regular payments such as rent. BusinessInsider  features those who are heading toward that brutal reality.  Essentially they're chasing after comparable jobs and not finding them. That's a key error of judgment, pushing them into being without income. Severance and unemployment end. Retirement funds get drained.  They can no longer assume they can pursue a linear path in earning a living. They're operating against the current headwinds of a low hiring rate, whole sectors such ...

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  Nice try. The Wall Street Journal starts out its article on us Boomers with this: "The first of the youth-obsessed baby boomers turn 80 this year, including President Trump, and they want to shake up old age." That all-knowing tone from a respected legacy publication is supposed to trigger readers nodding their heads in agreement: Ah, that's what the Boomers are about. But, it isn't. Actually our generation is increasingly diverse in what we are about. Given so many changes, ranging from AI to a sustained roller-coaster investment scene, I, for one, am struggling to catch up to who I'm becoming. Pieces of that don't include, at least not for now, wanting to "shake up old age."  Primarily I'm focused on balancing not outliving my money with the peril of being too frugal and missing opportunities such as traveling abroad for enjoying life. Several years ago I phased out being an influencer. With the exception of protecting Social Security and Med...