My brother Billy, a Gen Xer born in 1962, lives in California where the combined rate of unemployment and underemployment is a stunning 22 percent (Actual unemployment rate is over 9 percent.) He sent me a tip about a story he saw Sunday night on 60 Minutes. It’s about unemployed Baby Boomers who have run out unemployment benefits, and who are too young to retire and “maybe too old to rehire.”
I have to admit, it kind of annoyed me when the guy who was making $200,000 a year scoffs at his “tiny” unemployment check. Dude, $450 a week is well above the poverty level in this country and a lot more than many Americans make.
At any rate, this is worth viewing. It’s a cautionary tale about not allowing your standard of living to rise to your current level of income. I was especially inspired by something Pelley said in regard to these tough times: “This is the time for kindness.” Not to totally bum you out, but that sounds an awful lot like how my father described The Great Depression.