Enough money

What is money to you? How much is “enough money”?

A recent public broadcasting program displayed a graph with the “disappearing middle class” from 1970 figures to present day 2012 figures. Their point: currently 400 people own half the nation’s assets or the equivalent of what 150 million ordinary Americans own. The middle class has become less as the percentage of poor increased and the elite 1% of wealthy citizens remained constant. The theme was based on As Goes Janesville in Wisconsin. http://asgoesjanesville.com/

http://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/list/

Lately, there has been a lot of television advertising highlighting the divide between viewpoints. Many people who live day to day- pay check to pay check wonder what others who have a cushion “do with all that money”.

What money? It’s always relative. Have you ever seen a person go into an anxiety attack over money? I distinctly recall a situation that changed the way I view “other people’s money”.

A  close friend, who was a recent widow received $100,000 in a lump sum from her spouse of 25 years’ life insurance policy at his death. She had options. She didn’t want to “go back to school” or invest in herself. She was comfortable and had a modest home and one child starting college and one finishing. Her family was nearby, so she had no great desire to change locations or routines. Her brother was a “stock broker”, so she gave him the entire check to “invest”. A short time later, as we discussed her daughter’s upcoming wedding, she was in tears describing her “loss”. According to her she had “lost everything”, all of the money she invested during a downturn in stocks and didn’t feel like she could afford $1000 for wedding pictures for her only daughter. On the surface, she appeared totally distraught and completely at her wit’s end. How could I let her suffer like that when she was unable to purchase wedding pictures? So, I gave her $500. A year or so later, I got the shock of my life. What is the definition of “eveything” and “all my money”? While I gave her my last $500, with no cushion and nothing in my bank account ( definition of nothing- less than $100), she never had less than $10,000 in her personal account, but in her mind she was destitute. She was more upset over those figures facing her on her account balance than I was at a fraction of that amount.

My point? Money is relative and relevant to your mindset.

What does money mean to you? If you had “plenty of money” what would that look like in $$ and Cents? I know that my idea of “not enough” is no where close to my two friends mentioned above. In fact, I was quite put out with her for having me “WORRY” with them, when I had much less financial margin and didn’t waste “OUR” time fretting over what was in my bank account.

The lesson I learned? Everyone has a different comfort level when it comes to money.Also, everyone has a different perspective.

What if the wealthiest 1% of Americans followed the example of Henry Flagler? What if they already are and we have no way of knowing the true circumstances surrounding their assets? Henry M. Flagler spent $50,000,000 on his Florida enterprises alone, and left an estate valued at at least $75,000,000 when he died on May 20, 1913. In case you are unfamiliar with his great achievements in Florida, he built a railway to connect the Keys through swamps and Everglades with the mainland of the US with his own personal fortune. What is that amount of money valued at now, compared to 1913? Does it matter? He made a lasting contribution that still stands today. http://video.wpbt2.org/video/2192790113/

http://www.flaglerkeys100.com/free-admission-family-fun-day-at-historic-pigeon-key

http://www.kislakfoundation.org/millennium-exhibit/profiles4.htm

If modern day billionaires took on the job of rebuilding America’s infrastructure, saving the steel mills that are being sold piece by piece to China, reinvesting in the people through jobs that allow us to wear shoes and use other personal items “made in America”, what would we say about ‘money’? What would we say about the wealthiest? I have no qualms rejecting obscene money making, like we see in hedge funds and playing the stock markets with no interest whatsoever in the products or people involved. The use of money to make more money and so on, is without purpose.

The real purpose of money according to Webster is : something generally accepted as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, or a means of payment: a:wealth reckoned in terms of money b: an amount of money.

About 70 years after  construction, certain bridge repairs are expected. The Port Authority in NYC spent $4.5 million over two years studying what repairs were necessary, to see that it was prudent to replace the ropes on the George Washington Bridge built in 1931. Replacing the suspension wire in stages will take eight years. Starting in 2013, the agency wants to clean up the massive anchorages tying down the bridge’s foundation, replace broken wires in the cables and replace the dehumidifiers in the chambers where the anchors are held.  They expect to finance it with bridge tolls. They have spent 4.5 million thinking about it ten years after it was “expected” by the usual engineering protocols.

The Bonner Bridge on the Outer Banks of NC was built in 1963, designed to last for 30 years. A group of “mothers” banded together to protest the lack of assurances for the safety of the bridge. This bridge has been studied for ten years, as the level of danger approached the federal standards for funding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmM05fnDN3U

This is just one state’s plan. Multiply it by 50. NC is 13th in the nation for # of bridges.

Inspection Procedures Every bridge in North Carolina is inspected at least every two years in accordance with the National Federal Standard for Bridge Inspection.  Structural problems identified during inspections are addressed by NCDOT bridge maintenance crews or through contract repairs.  NCDOT allocates $12 million annually for bridge inspections.Maintenance & Replacement. NCDOT’s budget includes $65 million annually for bridge maintenance.

•             The department’s 2009-2015 State Transportation Improvement Program includes $1 billion to replace 838 bridges across the state.       
•             To be eligible for federal bridge replacement funding, bridges must have a sufficiency rating of less than 50.   (NC Department of Transportation, 2012)

If we have multi-billionaires in America, why aren’t they taking an active interest in infrastructure needs? Why aren’t they setting the pace like Henry Flagler did- to expand and improve infrastructure for their own financial and philanthropic interests?

Let me see, there could be valid reasons.

1. Some people tell me that the private US citizens with the means wouldn’t be interested because they aren’t “in charge”. In charge? I guess that means they wouldn’t have full control of the project, the budget, the worker selection, the timeline, the materials, the end result? Or does that mean they wouldn’t be making the decisions about which bridge gets their money? Or they wouldn’t be able to choose the best contractor without being constrained by governmental contracts and less than economical techniques? Why can’t we allow them to be? Why couldn’t congress pass a new law to cover them? They passed laws to give themselves financial protections with retirements that are outside the norm for federal workers.

2. Some people tell me that private US citizens SHOULD not be able to use their money to rehabilitate or create infrastructure for their fellow Americans because “they should just pay their fair share of taxes” and let the government decide how to invest in infrastructure and prioritize projects and manage the process. Who thinks that plan will go over well with our wealthiest citizens?

3. Some people tell me that private US citizens with the wherewithal of a Henry Flagler from earlier days don’t want to. They say people aren’t interested. They say its a crazy idea. They say “things are different now”.

I say balderash, poppycock and fiddle dee dee!

Did you see the 60 Minutes show with , “The Baby Lab”? Studies at Yale are finding that infants as young as a few months old seem to know right from wrong, suggesting that morality may come built in. http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50135246n

It is moral and right, for those who recognize a need and can help- to do so. If a 5 month old baby can see that it is desirable to be helpful and good to others, then surely the most elevated and educated of our fellow Americans can do likewise. I would like to propose a national movement with the best and brightest in charge, anyone who is willing to put their talent and money to work.  Perhaps we could openly utilize a dormant workforce, who are unemployed, undermotivated or undervalued, but willing to find their own meaning and purpose in developing a new skill set and helping their fellowman. Pehaps, we could stop chasing an elusive item – money- and pursue the well being of ourselves, our friends, our neighbors, our family, our entire society, one bridge or water system or engineering masterpiece, at a time.