Standard Of Living

Not long ago, I wrote that "near retirees," as we are now known, should consider working past the ages of 62 or 65 for all sorts of economic reasons, and we should salve our disappointment by doing some of the things now that we thought we would do in retirement - golfing in Florida or traveling in Europe. We should consider reducing our retirement savings to pay for these rewards because those dollars won't have much time to grow before we really do retire. But that was before the economy started dropping like an elevator that's had its cable cut. Now a new study warns that if we "near retirees" (ages 58 to 65)

Former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm got in trouble when he said Americans are mired not in an economic contraction but in a "mental recession." He soon had to step down as co-chairman of Sen. John McCain's campaign for committing the ultimate political sin: telling the truth about a misperception that happens to be very popular. Americans feel as though the economy is in a recession and want the government to do something about it. In reality, it is expanding. In the second quarter, it grew at a respectable inflation-adjusted rate of 1.9 percent, double the pace of the first quarter.

WASHINGTON -- Americans feel almost as good as last year about their lives and significantly better than two years ago, the annual Harris "feel good" poll reported yesterday.The Harris "feel good index" is 74 percent, down from 75 percent last year and up from 68 percent two years ago. The biggest increases from two years ago came in the category of optimism about the economy, which rose to 68 percent from 40 percent in 1997.Ninety-six percent said they feel good about their relations with their families, 94 percent are satisfied with the quality of their lives, 92 percent like their homes, 90 percent are happy with their health, and 87 percent are happy with their standard of living.

Not long ago, I wrote that "near retirees," as we are now known, should consider working past the ages of 62 or 65 for all sorts of economic reasons, and we should salve our disappointment by doing some of the things now that we thought we would do in retirement - golfing in Florida or traveling in Europe. We should consider reducing our retirement savings to pay for these rewards because those dollars won't have much time to grow before we really do retire. But that was before the economy started dropping like an elevator that's had its cable cut. Now a new study warns that if we "near retirees" (ages 58 to 65)

JP Foodservice, an independent food distributor, says it will shift its corporate headquarters from Anne Arundel County to Howard County early next year.The company says it has leased 31,000 square feet in Patuxent Crossing, a business park near Route 32 in Columbia, for the new headquarters.About 125 people are employed at the headquarters office, now located in Hanover. All of those employees will retain their jobs when the move occurs, the company said.Lewis Hay III, senior vice president and chief financial officer for JP Foodservice, said the site's access to major highways and BWI airport played a role in the company's move, as did county government's pro-business attitude and the county's high standard of living.

NEW YORK -- An article of faith among Baby Boomers is that their generation has fallen behind. They're not doing as well as their parents did and will be forced to retire with less.But is that really true? A new study of comparative income and wealth suggests that it's not.Boomers are better off than they think, at least in the material sense. As a group, Boomers' standard of living is up, which means their retirement shouldn't be at risk.That conclusion comes from three economic demographers, led by Richard Easterlin of the University of Southern California.

NEW WINDSOR - Most of the 62 Mideast refugees who refused accommodations at the New Windsor Service Center have left Maryland, using one-way plane tickets provided by the federal government.They left behind some hard feelings from people who had little sympathy about their attitude.U.S. immigration officials say they've received dozens of calls from people complaining about the refugees' refusal to stay at the center."Most people have been asking us, 'Why are you letting them stay here?' " said Louis D. Crocetti Jr., the assistant director of Maryland's Immigration and Naturalization Service office.

President Bush wisely says he wants to stay out of Canada's domestic turmoil as our neighbor to the north wrestles with the problem of Quebec and its push for secession.Yesterday a special legislative committee recommended that a referendum on independence be held next year. The way things look now, there seems little doubt the separatists would win.Quebec has offered an alternative to independence. But it demands so many concessions from the central government that it would leave Ottawa little more than a shell and would lead residents of the other provinces to become more like Quebec in thinking of themselves as provincials first and as Canadians a distant second.

25 Years Ago* "This is the season of graduation from thousands of high schools and colleges throughout the country and a rather apprehensive public watches as the hundreds of thousands of young men and women descend upon the social fabric, already torn by unrest, uncertainty and confusion. Certainly, the best wishes of all citizens go out to these young people as they seek to find their places in a world quite different from that in which their parents made their way. These youths have learned to accept the country's present standard of living as quite the normal thing and they are naturally resentful at having to make their way hampered by a lack of employment and a shortage of the funds with which to continue the life their parents have up until now provided for them.

IT'S GETTING to be conventional wisdom that the baby boom generation won't have enough money to retire. But common sense tells you that can't be true. Thousands of octogenarians won't be sleeping on newspapers in the park.Some boomers will find that they can't maintain their present high standard of living. But as a group, they'll do at least as well as their parents did and probably better.Contrary to myth, pension coverage has greatly improved since the days when our parents retired.Back in 1950, only 25 percent of the work force had an employer-sponsored plan.

When oil was found in 1996 in Equatorial Guinea, the former Spanish colony in West Africa was one of the poorest countries in the world. Today, this small and sparsely populated country of 465,000 inhabitants has an offshore production of 350,000 barrels a day, making it the third-largest sub-Saharan producer of oil, behind Nigeria and Angola. According to the African Development Bank, a year after oil was found, gross domestic product went up 76 percent. In my role as a public health consultant, I recently visited Equatorial Guinea for the first time since 1993.

AMONG SOARING personal bankruptcy rates, corporate layoffs and major stock market swings within the past few years, a consistently rising standard of living is no slam-dunk. So how do you get by on instant coffee once you've lived on latte? That's a decaf venti latte with caramel sauce in Jennifer Dulles Jansky's case. Her daily java fix went perfectly with the rest of her life: The affluent upbringing, the white-collar job, the fancy wedding, the one-year anniversary trip to Florence, Italy, in 2002.

For generations, Americans have been riding inflation to a better life. They get a job, buy a house and, over time, accumulate wealth as wages and home values climb. But what if prices started going down - triggering deflation instead of inflation? A growing number of economists - even the Federal Reserve - are worrying about that possibility. Many don't expect it to happen, but for the first time in most people's memory, the prospect of deflation is a legitimate concern, experts say. "Nobody seems to object to a little bit of inflation.

Among the top selling points area officials have touted to lure businesses and workers to the Baltimore area is the quality of life, including the relatively low cost of living. An independent study now supports their claim that salaries go further here than in most other areas, including Northern Virginia. The average income of workers in the Baltimore region is higher than the national average, and, once the costs of goods and services are factored in, the area's per-capita income ranks in the top 10 among 219 regions surveyed by Old Dominion University.

URBAN and Virginia Linn figured they had a good idea of what to expect financially in retirement.Urban, a mathematics statistician at the former Martin Marietta Corp. before retiring in 1989, was familiar with budgeting and investments. Virginia, who retired three years ago at 64, had seen the financial issues facing seniors through her job at Baltimore's Commission on Aging.Still, the Baltimore couple had a few surprises. Virginia was shocked by the federal tax bite. Urban was struck by ever-rising insurance rates and the switch to a fixed income.

WASHINGTON -- Americans feel almost as good as last year about their lives and significantly better than two years ago, the annual Harris "feel good" poll reported yesterday.The Harris "feel good index" is 74 percent, down from 75 percent last year and up from 68 percent two years ago. The biggest increases from two years ago came in the category of optimism about the economy, which rose to 68 percent from 40 percent in 1997.Ninety-six percent said they feel good about their relations with their families, 94 percent are satisfied with the quality of their lives, 92 percent like their homes, 90 percent are happy with their health, and 87 percent are happy with their standard of living.

I predict Barry Bonds, or someone just like him, will end baseball's labor dispute.He will end it in favor of the owners.I'm not suggesting Bonds will become a scab. I wouldn't tag him with that onerous distinction.I'm saying he, and others like him, are the most likely points of vulnerability in the players' heretofore iron resolve.Think about it. Bonds is one of the game's premier stars. He is somewhat arrogant and self-centered. He is the kind of guy who doesn't give a damn what anybody thinks.

The MEDIA have begun to focus on America's standard of living.Recession news aside, these stories emphasize long-run income trends: the rising fraction of adult children who live with their parents, the yuppies' conversion to prudent spenders, the slow growth in income that apparently will extend beyond recession's end.Why do these stories appear now? How will they affect the 1992 election?Their timing is explained more by demographics (the structure of family life) than economics.The root economic problem -- the collapse of productivity growth and the stagnation of wages -- began in 1973 and has been known for some time.

IT'S GETTING to be conventional wisdom that the baby boom generation won't have enough money to retire. But common sense tells you that can't be true. Thousands of octogenarians won't be sleeping on newspapers in the park.Some boomers will find that they can't maintain their present high standard of living. But as a group, they'll do at least as well as their parents did and probably better.Contrary to myth, pension coverage has greatly improved since the days when our parents retired.Back in 1950, only 25 percent of the work force had an employer-sponsored plan.

25 Years Ago* "This is the season of graduation from thousands of high schools and colleges throughout the country and a rather apprehensive public watches as the hundreds of thousands of young men and women descend upon the social fabric, already torn by unrest, uncertainty and confusion. Certainly, the best wishes of all citizens go out to these young people as they seek to find their places in a world quite different from that in which their parents made their way. These youths have learned to accept the country's present standard of living as quite the normal thing and they are naturally resentful at having to make their way hampered by a lack of employment and a shortage of the funds with which to continue the life their parents have up until now provided for them.