A little off-topic, maybe, but that term bugs me. I work every day and I’m on a fixed income too. I make the same amount every week/month, and I have to live within that limit. So why do seniors seem to think they are unique in that “fixed income” situation?
You have to understand the period in which this was written when inflation was a lot more substantial. When inflation runs at 10%, wages and prices keep pace. But if you have a pension income which was/is often a fixed payment, then it only takes 4 years for your the buying power of your income to be effectively halved.
The term “fixed income” is indeed widely abused to mean “low income.” The term entered our vocabulary when there was high inflation in the 1970s. Inflation is not that big a deal for someone freely trading services because as the value of the dollar goes down, the number of dollars in the market price for your services goes up. But for a retiree, or disabled person, pensions in those days were normally a fixed number of dollars per month – a fixed income. For people on a fixed income, inflation was a serious problem. Such a pension was worth half in 1979 what it was in 1970.
One solution to the fixed income problem, besides reducing inflation, was that a lot of pensions, including Social Security, are no longer fixed. They’re indexed to inflation.
But people seem to have associated the term with simply having a limited income, as pensions are usually less than a working persons’ wages.
BE THIS GUY over 5 years ago
Buy only health food. See how fast he leaves.
Argythree over 5 years ago
Put a lock on the fridge, Dad…
Randallw over 5 years ago
Be gentle Mr Harris or your son could grow up to be something horrible. Like a drug dealer. He might even drag some relative into it.
pony21 Premium Member over 5 years ago
A little off-topic, maybe, but that term bugs me. I work every day and I’m on a fixed income too. I make the same amount every week/month, and I have to live within that limit. So why do seniors seem to think they are unique in that “fixed income” situation?
Enter.Name.Here over 5 years ago
Hey dad? Your son Zonker is in denial mode. Time for you to get into denial-of-residence mode quick before its too late.
dadoctah over 5 years ago
“Don’t worry. If anything is fixed around here, I can break it.”
(Wait. That didn’t come out right.)
tulpoeid_ over 5 years ago
I like the cup shouting ’80s!
GeoffChallinger over 5 years ago
You have to understand the period in which this was written when inflation was a lot more substantial. When inflation runs at 10%, wages and prices keep pace. But if you have a pension income which was/is often a fixed payment, then it only takes 4 years for your the buying power of your income to be effectively halved.
boniface22 over 5 years ago
Let’s get back to Boopsie and the gun please.
Kabana_Bhoy over 5 years ago
A lot of “time-warping” this week.
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] over 5 years ago
Just kick him out.
Bryan Henderson over 5 years ago
The term “fixed income” is indeed widely abused to mean “low income.” The term entered our vocabulary when there was high inflation in the 1970s. Inflation is not that big a deal for someone freely trading services because as the value of the dollar goes down, the number of dollars in the market price for your services goes up. But for a retiree, or disabled person, pensions in those days were normally a fixed number of dollars per month – a fixed income. For people on a fixed income, inflation was a serious problem. Such a pension was worth half in 1979 what it was in 1970.
One solution to the fixed income problem, besides reducing inflation, was that a lot of pensions, including Social Security, are no longer fixed. They’re indexed to inflation.
But people seem to have associated the term with simply having a limited income, as pensions are usually less than a working persons’ wages.