Are you better off than you were four years ago?

[phantom power]

[Township75]

1. I am much better off, though I was doing fine 4 years ago too.

.

[semillama]

2. Financially, a little worse off, but personally, better

Have had an hours-reduction at work in effect all year, but in the last four years I've also had a son. But I'm figuring the intent of the poll is more aimed at financial well-being.

[phantom power]

3. I decided to leave that open to interpretation

although I suppose it's mostly some variation on "financial." What makes for a good quality of life is broader than just finance.

[Solomon]

36. LOL Doesn't fit the narative you want, hunh.

This is a goalpost with no ground to stick it in - "what makes for a good quality of life broader than just finance."

[phantom power]

42. I'm not sure I had a "narrative" in mind, although I did have some private expectations.

So far, the poll is consistent with my basic expectation of being strongly weighted toward "worse off." On the other hand, I imagined that there might be very few people who chose "much better off," which I don't think is true -- a nontrivial number of people have chosen "much better off."

I, personally, think there is a relation between quality of life and finance, but it isn't a simple linear one by any means. The relationship might best be expressed in terms of "financial security." If a person is living a lifestyle they enjoy, with basic needs met, and within their means, then that person is likely to be happy, somewhat independent of how much they are actually making. If you aren't making enough to meet basic needs, then you aren't likely to be feeling secure or happy. If you make a lot of money, but for whatever reason are living paycheck to paycheck, then you are probably not feeling secure and not happy.

[DJ13]

4. 2 years of no COLA on my SS coupled with 2 years no raises for my wife

Much worse off, thanks to that zero inflation the government keeps claiming.

[bigwillq]

5. About the same.

I am one of the lucky ones. I have a lot of friends and family who are in so much worse shape. :(

[Township75]

6. Im curiuos how many people think they are worse off, because they consider how much $ their home was

worth in the bloated market.

[Dawgs]

9. Why?

Are you suggesting that it's there own fault for buying a house when the market was "bloated"?

How about those people that are under water now and bought a house when it wasn't bloated?

[Township75]

12. Neither.

I consider myself better off because I have made 2 job moves in that time, each one increasing my salary.

I was fortunate not to purchase a home during that time, so I coudl get up and move and not have a mortage lying around.

Some people may have larger salaries than they did 4 years ago, but consider the drop in their home greater than those increases. I'm curious how many people in the poll took that into consideration.

[Dawgs]

21. Okay. Sorry.

I shouldn't have assumed.

I was actually wondering the same thing.

[dmallind]

25. I have made two moves and owned three homes - and lost nary a dime

Not had to worry about breaking leases either, or had to forego tax deductions. With good credit and the good sense not to buy homes at the far reach of your prequalification, it's perfectly doable to carry two mortgages if you need to. Will actually have that this time for a month too due to difference between closing dates.

My case is somewhat different. My salary is actually slightly lower - by just a couple thousand, but by moving to a state with half the income tax rate and 1/3 the property tax rates (almost unavoidable moving from New York state), I am several thousand a year better off even so. Cheaper housing here too. After all is said and done I pay $500 less per month for a comparable house.

[gkhouston]

31. Four years ago, we had a household income and health insurance.

Today, we have neither, and our house's value is slightly more than what it was four years ago. I'm sure it would be difficult to sell in this market, but that's the least of our worries right now.

[Kaleva]

7. Depends

I'm on SSDI now and making much less but it was hell trying to work four years ago. On the plus side, the home mortgage is paid off along with alot of other bills.

[Little Star]

8. Worse because of two years with no COLA and I'm also worse off

mentally because of the thought that Dems would even think of tinkering with SS & Medicare. Worrying about where my children and grandchildren will be by the time The New Deal is totally dismantled with the help of Democrats!

[William769]

10. Same here!

:thumbsup:

I voted much worse off.

[dkf]

11. Before you can wonder how your kids and grandiose retire...

Ask yourself how they will live as their social security and Medicare and income taxes are all raised to fulfill the promises made to you and their parents.

[William769]

16. Same as I did for my parents.

[girl gone mad]

33. It doesn't work that way, dkf.

There is no such thing as an intergenerational wealth transfer with respect to the social programs.

[dkf]

48. Sure there is.

I pay into social security and my parents receive social security. If my grandparents were alive they would also.

[Little Star]

37. Those programs worked just fine when my

medicare and SS taxes were raised to fulfill the promises made to my parents and grandparents. If our government had not raided the funds and refused to paid them back and if they would just lift the cap, my kids and grandkids could live just fine.

There is nothing wrong with any of the new deal programs that could not be fixed by just returning to the way they were intended to be implemented.

What is wrong is the crooks that we have elected who only care about enriching themselves.

[Justyce]

13. My job was outsourced to India, and I took about a 45% pay cut switching jobs.

[LanternWaste]

14. Much better off...

Much better off... received a 25% raise earlier this year. I figure I've jumped a bracket or two.. :P

[Shagbark Hickory]

15. I need to add a discalimer to my vote.

I'm in one of those businesses that seems to do better when the economy is bad and have actually been positively affected by the cutbacks in municipal budgets!

FOUR MORE YEARS!
FOUR MORE YEARS!

[William769]

18. Bill collector?

:evilgrin:

[FreeJoe]

17. I picked "somewhat better off"

My income has kept up with inflation, so that's roughly the same. During that time, I haven't had any major financial calamities. I paid off my house and increased me savings, so I'm getting a bit better off every year. Home prices in our neighborhood have recovered almost entirely, so that's not an issue either way.

Honestly, where I live and work the recession has been almost a non-event, so it's been a surreal experience. I constantly read about how bad it is, but it is almost like reading about someplace else in the world.

[Marrah_G]

19. I am better of but only due to combining 2 households

I went from a single mother to a house of 5 adults and 2 older teens. Had I not done that I would not have made it alone.

[frazzled]

20. Four years means 2007: last two years of Bush administration

This is a question generally asked about a single administration and its policies. Why straddle two administrations?

So if you have to ask it that way, I'd have to say "about the same or better": due to the recession that began in late 2007 and reached its peak in late 2008 and early 2009, our retirement funds tanked and my spouse's (academic) salary was put on freeze for two years. I also had a year in 2009 where my freelance work dried up completely. Starting in 2010, my husband's salary was raised, I started getting more freelance work than I could even handle, and due to the stock market recuperating, our retirement funds regained some of their value.

[tblue]

22. Four years ago I had hope that we'd elect people who'd fix things.

Now, not so much.

[canoeist52]

23. 4-day workweek, no overtime and insurance deductables

and co-pays are killing us,
some food prices have almost doubled
fuel prices hurting us -longer distance to work for that 4-day job

Of course we're worse off

[coalition_unwilling]

24. I voted 'Somewhat worse off' because I'm unemployed. However,

still getting unemployment compensation and really enjoying the free time, albeit not the stagnant job market.

N.B. Unemployment benis are about 50% before taxes of what I was making at my last position.

[MadinMo]

26. Much worse off.

Lost my job in 2009 which paid well, had good benefits, and stock options, and ending up having to take a much lower paying job with minimal benefits.

On the upside, however, mortgage will be paid off in 2 or 3 months; husband (retired) finally started a part time job; both my teens are employed part-time and will begin college next month.

Even with the upside figured in, I still figure I'm much worse off.

[Broken_Hero]

27. I voted better off,

but we have been lucky, many around us/and family have had a lot worse. We are just lucky, it could've been disastrous at any point the past four years, or even now. I consider ourselves to be extremely lucky.

[fredamae]

28. The question for me is, where would we be under

Pres mccain? Obama/Dems have been blocked from creating jobs but we are no longer losing nearly a Million jobs a month. In that respect we are Much better off.
That is until the republicans drive us over a cliff---Again. We will Immediately begin to bleed nearly a million jobs a month again. They will blame Obama for that. It is their goal. It is their intent.

norquist and his ideology of Starving the Beast, if successful will allow "them" to assume total control over all of us, the economy, politics, government, elections and individual states (already in motion, WI, NJ, OH, MI etc)

Stop allowing them to control and focus the conversation toward the negative/dark side.

We must start looking at how well we have sustained in spite of the repubs.
They use the same psychology with that as they do with their rationale for not raising revenue (taxes), instead they focus on over-spending and spending cuts instead of a Huge Revenue deficit.

They constantly refer to "household budgets" and how we would Cut, thats not true, Most families seek to Increase their revenue/income before Cuts.

[ileus]

29. Much better off....

[rox63]

30. I chose Somewhat worse off

I'm financially worse off, because I'm only making about 2/3 of what I was making 4 years ago. But I hated the job where I made the extra money, and I actually like where I work now. I can pay the bills, but I don't have much extra cash. So it's a mixed bag, job-wise.

My condo (bought in 2005) has dropped significantly in value, so I've suffered a loss there. With the current state of the housing market, I won't be able to sell it without taking a loss for several years. But the mortgage isn't much higher than I'd be paying for a comparable rental, so that's also a mixed bag.

[Urban Prairie]

32. Worse off in some ways, perhaps better off in others

which is likely how many others are, as 4 years ago, we hadn't as yet been evicted from my already foreclosed upon home.

Worse off b/s my wife had yet to become a full-blown substance abusing alcoholic.

Worse off b/c she flatly refuses to seek professional and medical help (we just now have "talked" about it) to overcome her addiction to stong opiate drugs prescribed by her physician, who would likely immediately drop her as a patient, IF he knew that she was whipping up such a lethal daily cocktail that can and very likely will kill her sooner or later. She complains frequently about how sick doing that makes her, but yet she also claims that she, and I quote "likes how it makes her feel" which is likely b/c she was diagnosed with having fibromyalgia last year, as well as long suffering from spinal (cervical) stenosis/arthritis, and being/becoming drunk and wasted for much or most of the time helps to get rid of the acute pain that she is (was) in, and is mostly why she won't quit. She has held no job for over two years now, of course has no insurance, and her applications were DENIED last winter for Medicaid/SSD the former b/c my annual disability income barely exceeds the maximum permitted in our state by about $300.00, calculated by using the federal poverty level for one person x 57% for a two member household...sigh.

It is sad that this nation does not have national public healthcare plans/options, for those who don't qualify for Medicaid/Medicare, so that someone like my spouse can get into a rehab facility soon, b/c right now the couple of free "charitably-funded" ones locally have at least a three-month waiting list for beds, and those who charge for treatment absent insurance, cost over $250 per day. Then there is the very distinct possibility that my spouse will refuse to go anyway, b/c she will not call them even once a week to keep her name on their list of those waiting for availability.

Better off b/c I was approved for SSD + a small disability supplement from my ex-employer, and I finally began receiving Medicare after a TWO and 1/2 year wait after being approved for SSD, which obviously does nothing to also help my spouse.

Maybe MUCH better off soon, b/c I secretly plan on leaving her and separating by this fall, when the cooler weather will permit me to gradually move my belongings out of our rented condo, and into a larger storage unit (I am renting a smaller one currently) and perhaps needing to live out of my dilapidated and ancient PU truck for a while, until I have saved enough money to rent a room or perhaps a small efficiency apartment, hopefully before the onset of winter, and no, I have no one who I can move in with at least temporarily, no matter whether friend or relative. She can keep our furniture and TV, and I will give her a portion of my disability to live on, the amount to be determined after I am able to seek counsel from a divorce lawyer. My wife has also become increasingly moody and angry, and has become more often verbally abusive to me, despite my supporting her throughout her descent into abuse and addiction, as well as my fruitless pleas to convince her to seek help. She is also not a small woman (5' 10") and is quite capable of causing me physical harm, and has done so a couple of times in the past. She has two misdemeanor convictions for domestic assault on her record, when our neigbors had called the cops on us while we were fighting (I have never done more to her than push her off or away from me). and if it happens again, and the police again become involved, she will very likely be doing some jail time, which in fact might actually help save her life, (for a while at least) come to think of it.

[lynne]

34. MUCH, much worse off. Three of four adults in my house have been laid off -

- two of us managed to find replacement work so far BUT at much lesser per hour wage and less hours per week. Third adult hasn't found replacement work. Other adult working part time. BTW, two of the adults in my house are early 20's children who can't afford to leave home and can't afford college. =(

Thankfully we had some reserve built up but are living off it now. Don't know what we'll do if things don't get better and soon!

[Dappleganger]

50. I hear you...

:hug:

[phantom power]

35. I would say I'm seeing more "much better" votes than I predicted to myself

[shanti]

38. financially worse

by approximately half, but that's to be expected when you retire. more healthy now though.

[Coyote_Bandit]

39. MUCH worse off

I'm a single highly educated and long-term unemployed 50ish woman. I've collected over a thousand rejection letters. I've done what I can to earn a few bucks and in the process have discovered that the desk that resides in a corner of a spare bedroom represents job creation even though it does not generate enough funds to pay basic housing expenses. There was no capital available to finance a real business start-up to try to replace my lost income. I don't qualify for any kind of assistance and my unemployment predates that of the 99ers. I have lived frugally and exhausted considerable savings. Given that employers are permitted to discriminate against unemployed folks in hiring I have lost all hope of ever again finding traditional employment. I'd be absolutely delighted to find work paying half of my former salary.

While my home has not appreciated it has held its value. But it is a small older home in a transitional neighborhood. It has required some major maintenance (new heat and air system, new water main, relocation of the gas meter due to leak, new washer and dryer and hot water tank). My homeowner taxes have skyrocketed (doubled in the last 8 years).

My old house and 10 year old car are paid for. But I now carry a credit card balance. It is small and I could pay it off. But it is easier not to when you have no money coming in and when your credit history is a criteria for employment. One has to have and use credit to have such a history. Credit cards and a student loan several decades ago are the only forms of credit I have ever had. I'm disciplined and limit my purchases.

I am partially sighted and have a hearing impairment. I haven't seen a doctor in nearly 15 years and I need to have some dental work done. Oh well.

I enrolled in a technical college - one of the largest ones in this state - and completed one full year of training before the school terminated the program without offering any refunds to students - or the opportunity to complete the program. That was a waste of time, effort and money.

Last year I went to 11 funerals. Those included 3 suicides, a sibling, an uncle, a close friend, a neighbor, a beloved pet.

With the death of my sibling, I am now an only child. My parents live in another state and are approaching 80 years of age. I feel certain that I will need to relocate to attend to them. I'm not sure I can sell my home. The cost of living there is higher and I have little faith that I will be able to find employment.

My life circumstances pretty much suck right now - and my life is much worse than it was four years ago.

[MrSlayer]

40. Rght around the same.

I'm working 9 months a year on average.

[FloriTexan]

41. Much worse for me and my family...

My husband is a 99'er and has been unable to find a job in his field (plumbing designer). We are barely pay check to pay check. He is working part time for a moving company though and that is keeping us afloat, although barely, so I am afraid to complain to loudly.

[tammywammy]

43. Much better off. n/t

[noamnety]

44. Better off.

School teacher so pays been frozen and benefits are down.
House lost value.
But the husband works in defense, so family worth is up.

wouldn't it be something if that was the other way around and our worth was up because I am a teacher?

[phantom power]

45. Our country's attitude toward education and teachers is disfunctional.

We pay lip service to "valuing education" and "kids our our future." But simultaneously public schools and teachers are vilified and payed poorly.

I've watched what teachers do. It's a skilled profession, and we leave our children in their hands. One wonders why it's not a job people make six figures doing? It's certainly not for lack of difficulty or impact.

[Common Sense Party]

46. Much better off.

[moparlunatic]

47. Much better for me

I've gotten my house paid off, no more car payments and just a little left on my credit card. I haven't gotten a raise in over a year but it feels like it without all the debt.

[Dappleganger]

49. Much worse off than four years ago, worse off than ten years ago...

but better off than last year and the year before that.

Hopefully, the upward trend will continue although we are still struggling.

[GReedDiamond]

51. Roughly the same...

...but on the edge of oblivion.

As always, since 1976.