Just sayin’

I see that our illustrious congressional leaders have come up with a plan. I like the wording of “reasonable” severance pay for ousted CEO’s. Wouldn’t it be nice if when we were fired from a job we’d get reasonable exit packages of millions of $$$ for not doing our jobs well? This really gets my goat!  As individuals, when we make bad financial decisions, we have to pay the consequences. No one is there to bail us out — we just learn the hard way not to do it again. Being a fiscal conservative, I do believe that business is no different. If a business gets itself into hot water then it’s up to them to get themselves out. This however is an entirely different story. I do believe that had Congress not acted it would have had dire consequences for our economy as well as many other markets around the world. In addition to the bail out, I hope Congress implements some boundaries for big business — regulations on lending and investing. I hope this stabilizes the markets and gets the housing industry moving again.

This also speaks to our society as a whole. The goal of buying your own house has been a benchmark of American success because it was not easy to attain. People have to make the personal sacrifice of saving money to afford a house — not handed to them without a down payment and crazy financing to put someone into a house no matter the financial risk.  Just because you live in this country does not mean you are entitled to buy a home. People have to work for it by paying their bills on time, saving their money and establishing good credit histories. Plain and simple.

Our society has become one of instant gratification. I want it and I want it NOW! If everything was so easy to get, it would hold no value. Maybe that’s why some people are walking away from their homes, because they are not fully invested in the commitment. Perhaps with this new policy in our financial markets, our society will follow suit. People will turn from greed and start living lives of simplicity, frugality and common sense. True value in life doesn’t come from “stuff”, it comes from the things that money can’t buy. At the end of your life, will you look back and think of all the material things you had, or will you reminisce on the relationships of your life, the memories of happy times and fulfillment of a life well spent?