Option Queen Letter By the Option Royals Jeanette Young , CFP ® , CFTe, CMT, M.S. 4305 Pointe Gate Drive Livingston, New Jersey 07039 www.OptnQueen.com [email protected]June 26, 2016 Hear ye hear ye hear ye!!! Social Security payments will increase TWO DOLLARS per $1000 next year. But wait, before you spend the extra money, the cost for Medicare part B will increase $27.20 from last year’s cost of $121.80 to $149.00. Seniors stand to lose on the 2017 adjustment and will have less money in their pockets each month for food and medicines…..Something really is wrong with the government’s calculation of “cost–of-living” if the adjustment doesn’t even absorb the cost of the Medicare increase. Seriously, something is off here. Either we have a “cost-of-living” increase that covers the increased cost of Medicare part B or, Medicare part B should be adjusted lower. The result of all this is less money in the pockets of seniors who, because they are seniors, are unemployable. Why unemployable? Because the rampant and obvious discrimination against seniors is unchecked and sadly, seen as acceptable here in the USA. Statements referring to age as "experience" and equating industry experience to "senor roles" are all too common methods of discrimination built into, and deemed acceptable, by our system. And, on to the next topic de jure, ladies and gentleman, we have.... BREXIT! A particular conversation we had a few months ago with a French colleague, oh I don't know, let’s call him Joque, comes to mind on the eve of this vote. Joque, a young educated man in his mid-thirties who grew up in Paris, came to New York on a work visa a few years ago. Today, having left his family and friends, New York is his home. We asked Joque for his take on the noticeably growing population of French living and working in New York. Joque's reaction was an interesting one. He told us of conditions described as "scary" in France: a massive influx of non- integrating immigrants and gloomy economic prospects for the young and educated. Mind you, Joque is not particularly politically minded nor does he harbor particularly strong opinions/views in one direction or the other. Sadly, we failed to put two and two together. We passed this off as the same old France that likes to protest and riot in the street each decade. What we were in fact hearing were the seeds of populism that have been planted not only in France, but across much of the world. Fears tied to immigration, the changing/watering down of individual nation's unique cultures, disappearing jobs and gloomy retirement outlooks have fueled nationalist movements in many EU member states and, here at home, have manifest themselves through the candidacy of Donald Trump. This Phenomenon is not simply Western; it
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.