But inflation eats cash reserves, returning nothing. As prices rise the money can buy less. Any interest earned only offsets a small fraction of the loss of buying power.

Have I put you to sleep yet?

History and basic economics suggest our economy is headed for recovery, but next on the list typically is very high inflation for a period of time.

Owning real property is a hedge against inflation, and if the inflation rate outpaces or even comes close to the finance costs you are even that much more ahead. One of the reasons long-term homeownership builds wealth despite taxes, maintenance, insurance, and finance costs.

It can even make sense to buy with the intent of selling later (after the inflation has raised the price). Home “flippers” do/did this…and as long as they were intelligent about what they were paying and when to get out of the market, many did extremely well.

But I’m not talking about a house. Houses we’ve got!

With a property and plan in mind, it can make sense to buy now.

Of course, it only makes sense to buy now as long as your income holds out…which, in these times, can be a serious question. If it doesn’t hold out…well, THAT’s when you need the cash reserves.

Sigh. Risks. There’s no reward without them. How much though? We could fall hard or succeed gloriously.

Cash or property…that is the question. I wish I knew the answer…it’s a real and immediate question for us at the moment…plans are cooking in the brain. Plans with distinct targets as to property and use…the property I can get…maybe. The rest of the plans…well…I don’t have a clue how I’d carry them out. There’s only so much time in the day. How much “flying by the seat of my pants” and instinct is safe? Reasonable?

I’ve almost always come out ahead listening to my instincts…and almost always regretted (sometimes severely) when I ignored them. But my instincts now…they run contrary the mainstream thinking…I guess they usually do though.

What’s this all about? Getting out of the corporate world (eventually). Small town Texas. The Old Vic. More projects than I can handle. Projects I like. Food. Publishing. Books. Art. Money. Time. Towers. Internet. Responsibilities. Bloodcurdling sheer panic.

Cash or property…yep, that is the question. It’s about a $35,000 question as a matter of fact.

All balanced against our future plans and security.

Gad. It’s a wonder I sleep at night.

More later (with specifics when I can).

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer

Anyway, shortly they are going to lay off somewhere upwards of 500 workers…that’s an extremely healthy percentage of our remaining workforce.

In addition, for any remaining behind they’ve reneged on our retirement benefits…essentially “pulling out” alltogther and ending their participation. They’ve also said “no raises” for the rank-and-file and are now viewing employees as a revenue source by charging us for parking and giving us the privilage of paying for communications devices/plans they require us to carry.

Goes to show you just what over 24 years of loyal service will get you…

I’ll leave my feelings out of this at the moment. What I have to do is understand and prepare for the impact of these events on my and my wife’s lives.

Even IF I survive the coming round of cuts…

If.

Anyway, we’ve decided that now is a good time to accumulate a bunch of cash. We are drastically cutting our budgets for anything we can, including the work on the Old Vic.

How will this effect the house project?

Well, simple. We will continue to enjoy our house, and our project focus will shift to the more labor/time intensive projects that don’t need a lot of money spent on materials. Clean up, chimney removal, foundation work, windows…all of those need done and don’t cost a lot as we are doing the labor.

The utility room…which was next up on the list, will be postponed for now. Cabinets, plumbing, and appliances are on the “spendy” list.

We’ll keep you posted.

CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer