Has the economy effected you?

[Martin]

Last year, my former company had several lay-offs, shut down various weeks or only worked a 32 hr shift, sometimes less. Any form of a pay increase was delayed for two years.



Just got word that they did away with their second shift and moved them to first shift and word of more lay-offs to come within the next few months. They are even talking about moving production to their China branch. Looks like the semiconductor business is taking a big hit for many companies.

 

[Dave S 2]

Yeah - 401K took a hit but my other investments, not too bad for me as I converted most of them to stable funds late 2007. Mostly by luck!!!



Going gang-busters where work and I don't see any signs of it slowing down over the next few years.



The 737NG's and 777's have finally reached their first major maintenance cycles. So as long as they are flying, I'll be kept knee deep in work.

 

[Gerald Pierce]

401 took a significant hit, but since i wont draw out of it for about 17 years, I should be fine. Did choose to invest a good bit in CD's with 5% + apr's for the short term, and my military retirement in april of 2010 will not change other than going up. I am a little concerned about the job market when I do retire from the Navy, but worst case, I will go back to school under the new gi bill and that will supplement my retirement with about 1600.00 a month in living expenses, in addition to them paying for tuition and books.



House took about a 45k hit, but I will keep it long enough that I should recover. From what I paid to current worth is about 3k down, so most of the loss is just on paper, not actual value.



I took advantage also of the very low interest rates on a new car, so I am pretty happy as of right now. Only debt is house, 4runner loan, and Focus loan. Both cars could be paid off cash, but I am earning more on savings than I pay in interest on the loans.

 

[Jim parnell]

for my wife and I, our investment and retirement accts took the hits just everyone else did, but we are in our early 50's so we have to time to recoup the losses I hope, never have taken any out yet, don't have to either. We both have steady jobs, but I wonder about mine at times. We owe very little on the the house (about 25% of MV), 2 out of 3 vehicles are paid for, the boat and HD are paid for, so our current income is more than sufficent to pay our monthly bills, we live a somewhat frugual lifestyle, no weekly movies out, don't eat out much, I take my lunch to work, do all of the work around the house now, etc, and can do what we want when we want, but we are concerned about things, so we stay home and watch tv alot. Clip coupons too. Alot of people are truly living paycheck to paycheck, we are most fortunate not to be in that position, and it will probably get worse before it gets better, but part of our being in the positon we are in is that we were careful with our $$ before all of this mess started, and didn't buy more than we could easily afford like house and cars Usually pay cash for cars unless the interest rate is in my favor, which is why I owe on the ST, 2.9% from Ford Credit, can earn more w/ my $$ in the bank.

 

[Rodger Tellefson]

Yes, but mostly because of bad decisions made over a year ago. We are still standing, and fighting back. Fortunately our retirement funds have not been affected because I am retired Fedral, and my wife is retired state, and we have no car payments. We are praying for our mortgage to be restructured. :blink:

 

[Jacob Dryer]

My wife is Navy, so her pay is unaffected. We took a loss on our investments, but we are young (27-28) so it really shouldn't be an issue as we don't plan to retire for a long time.



I'm self-employed and work from home but it's a new buisness for me so I can't say if it has or hasn't had an effect on me. I haven't been actively searching out clients as my current few keep me busy enough when you tie in the work that goes along with my newborn twins.

 

[Bob Alcaro]

Not as yet.

I retired two yrs ago with no debt. (mtg paid off, vehicles paid off, no CC balances as we pay it off each month)

My retirement accounts took a hit to the tune of an overall 11% loss in '08 but I'm not feeling that yet.

We've been fortunate....................

 

[Bill Barber]

No matter how young you are, NEVER have an attitude of, I have time to make up my loses.

Before you know it, the sand in your HR glass will be almost gone.

 

[Jenn D]

I've survived 3 massive layoffs at work and have been told that I have a job, as long as there is a company to work for.



My 401K did stellar because at the beginning of last year, I had a hunch about 2008 and I put 100% into bonds. I actually MADE 3%. (I've since moved about 25% back into stocks and am considering more).



While we are saving more "just in case", we are also spending more freely because the big ticket items are just so much cheaper now. If the recession continues, and my husband and I stay employed, we will be completely out of debt (with the exception of our house - which we are not upside-down on) and we will be purchasing a boat.



I've learned a lot because of the recession, and I'm thankful for being young during it. I couldn't imagine being retired, or almost retired, and on a fixed income during this...

 

[EddieS'04]

yup! in ways I dont even knowabout yet.

 

[Chad Merry]

Yep!!!



Lost my job, and the 401k to a hit as well.



But the strange thing that happened last week was my former employer called me to help them out. They no longer have anyone who can troubleshoot their production lines and related equipment. No one who does AutoCad, PLC programming, no electrical experience. Now they want me to help them train my old direct reports to do my old job:huh: They do not have any education in Electrical Engineering. So my meeting should be fun next week.:banana:

 

[eric huskey 2]

There have been layoffs at my job and many more to come! I work for an electronics supplier to the auto industry. I have a job as long as they don't move the plant. My wife stays home with our 2 boys and I'd like to keep it that way. The only payment is our house. Other than my 401k taking a 48% loss we are ok shape.

 

[JerryW Gilliland]

I'm a 60 year old small business owner with mucho funds in investments...do the math.



My year end profits were down about 20%, which means my paycheck was down the same amount. My profits ARE my what make up my paycheck. I still work hard every day, but since just about everyone has prescription insurance, I get paid MUCH less than my usual and customary price. Ever since Medicare Part D kicked, thousands of pharmacies have closed. I won't close, but I've had to tighten my belt considerably to avoid laying off any employees, who are like family to me.



My wife took a necessary early retirement in the middle of 2008 so we lost her salary for a while. She'll be drawing some of her state pension later, but not for a while.



We also adopted our two granddaughters a few years ago to get them out of a bad home situation. They're in their junior and senior years in high school now and have plans to go to college. They're very good students each with a 3.5 GPA, so we're hoping they'll qualify for some kind of scholarship.



But in the end, I've been affected along with my family. I was hoping to retire and get out of working 6 days a week. It looks as though I'll work until I can't anymore.



But life is great. I don't let too much bother me. It just doesn't pay.

 

[Ryan Schaecher]

No... not yet anyway. My company has rumors of pending layoffs, but 'should' not affect me.



My wife and I only have student loan and home debt. We are refinancing (going from 6% with PMI to 4.875% flat!!) and will save around $150/mo off the mortgage.



Other than investments, by my count, there are 9 posts saying "Yes" to a semi-significant degree and 19 with "No". There are 2 that I can't make a determination. I'd be curious to know if 9 out of 28 (or 32%) is inline with national trends or higher or lower.



Just curious

 

[Paul Maurer 2]

We have been adversely affected on many fronts. LASIK volume is down >50%, and those who are postponing LASIK and buying glasses are no longer buying multiple pairs, hurting our optical shop. Cataract surgery was up in '08, but revenue was flat due to declining reimbursements from insurers. Look Limo Service is barely breaking even with the decline in tourism, and one of the limos is for sale. My real estate investments are in the crapper, my vacant Marathon real estate office is costing me a fortune each month as the company abruptly closed. I have a $160k judgement against the owner but recovery will be difficult- we have attached his assets but so has every other creditor. Fortunately, my practice is busy and our surgery center is showing a profit. That Porsche cabriolet I want for my birthday is cancelled, as is the big vacation this year. Fortunately, we sold a condo recently and we do own some property outright and are holding. We are fortunate compared to most....

 

[Nelson Atwell]

chad, let us know how your meeting goes. It seems you hold all the cards. I would hook them for a significant consulting fee or get the job back with a guaranteed length, so they don't lay you off again after you train them.

 

[user 62394]

My day to day life has not really been affected. My investments have been beat to hell like everyone else, but I'm not planning to retire for 25-30 years (now that's depressing). I'm postponing some improvements to my house until I have the cash instead of putting it on my home equity line (because there is no equity in my home anymore). Beyond that, not really.



Rocks

 

[Robin Cox]

Yes, our plant shut down, but I got a job at another one of our company plants. OT is down 10 hours per week, costing $350 per week. 401 K took a hell of a hit, but we will survive. At least I am still working with good bennies and the out look looks pretty good. Have went from matintenance foreman over 7 other guys to going on 2nd shift next week by myself. But at least I am working...Hope everything works out for eneryone that is haveing problems....