Verhovayak Lapja, 1952 (35. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1952 / Verhovay Journal

Verhovay Journal

PAGE 12

THE ONLY WAY TO SAVE TODAY

The Miracle of a Dollar that Does a Three-In-One Job

People used to save for whatever they wanted to attain. If they wanted a new suit, they saved until they had its price. Parents who wanted to send their children to eollege, did without many things and pinched pennies to save the dollars that were needed for higher education. Thrift was the only way J.O home ownership. And the fellow who- spent all his earnings all the time, had nothing to show for it: when old age arrived. When dad was no longer able to work, it was up to the children to take him and mother in and feed them, unless they had succeeded in saving enough for their old age.

People who had no savings to fall back on, were in trouble in every emergency.' Illness, unemployment, bad conditions brought bitter hardships to those who had no savings & carry them through when hard times came.

For these reasons, thrift always was considered a virtue of supreme (importance. It became a mark of character and wise parents at all •times tried their utmost to teach their children its value. Thrift was the trademark of the steady, dependable man whose future was worth watching because a man’s savings were the measure of his success and (die indication of the future success was expected to attain by continued thrift.

Of course, a great many men have •died while trying to save enough to keep their family going if they should die and their unaccomplished purpose gave little relief from the hardships their survivors had to face. And a great many others have lived to see their savings plans accomplished only to see the results of their lifelong self-denial and thrift dissipated by unforeseen contingencies and living conditions beyond the control of the individual. In view of the many who never succeeded and those who succeeded only to end up with empty hands, it is rather admirable bow so many of the older generation of so-called average wage-earners succeeded in accumulating enough •money to send their children to colleges and universities, to build homes, own property and money that made proud and thankful heirs of their children. One marvels at the willpower and determination of that old generation that managed to stick so tenaciously to its purpose, doing without the luxuries and comforts our generation is taking for granted, just so they would not die penniless, just so that they could leave something behind.

Our generation is different, or so the old folks say, for even though we make much more money than they ever did, we have little, if anything, to show for it. Nor will we ever amount to anything, we are told, for not what a man earns, but what he saves will determine whether be will die rich or poor.

The Difference Between Then and Now

Now times and living conditions have vastly changed since grandpa’s days. Whether he may admit it or not, nevertheless it is true that the generally higher standard of living prevailing today more or less forces /the members of our society to live on. a more expensive scale. By this1 we do not mean that everyone has (to own an automobile, a TV set or ft mink coat. When money is spent for luxuries one can well do without,

then of course the often heard accusation that ours is a generation of Spendthrifts does have some truth in it. Nor do we refer to the expenses incurred in trying to “keep up with the Joneses’’ which is not only foolish but pitiful, too, for in all probability the Joneses can afford such expenditures as little as those who try to keep up with them. But keeping up with the Joneses is not ft twentieth century innovation. It has been the cause of ruin of innumerable members of by-gone generations that now are remembered for their thrift and frugal living.

However, there are countless legitimate items that make existence on a higher standard of living a far more costly venture than our elders; had to cope with. For example, our grandma did not buy milk specially processed and bottled under government regulations and selling for 22- 24 cents a quart. Either she milked jthe cow herself or she bought the milk from the farmer and no questions were asked about the health of the cow. Nor did she buy meat processed and cut according to government regulations from the butcher. More than likely, there was a fattened pig to be killed, processed and smoked and there were hams, saust ages, bacon and lard on hand for months to come, even if she was a. city dweller. Today, milk, meat, flour, bread and butter all are food stuffs specially processed under government regulations and that costs money that comes from the customer’s pocket.

Then, when grandma’ was young, happy and expectant, the midwife; was called when her time came and she was delivered at home like her •mother and grandmother. Today, the young mother gets pre-natal care, post-natal care, and in between goes to the hospital where the child is born under the supervision of a trained staff of nurses, attendants and physicians,—all of which costs iten to fifteen times as much money as it cost her grandmother to have a baby. And today’s community certainly would look down its nose at a young father who insists that his wife have her baby the same way las grandma had hers.

And grandma’s baby thrived, grew, became a big boy, then started to cough and in spite of all the mustard plasters, infected milk and herbs, he just kept on coughing until he d|ied. The carpenter came, took measurements and fashioned a casket fpr the boy who died as cheaply as he was born.

And when grandma’s mother took ill, she kept on fussing around the house until she could no longer stand on her feet. Then she Went to bed and maybe a day or two before she died a doctor was called to help her along, but that was about all.

Today, the public would intervene iif illness and death would be treated like that in a family. The coughing boy would be taken to the clinic and grandma would be entered in a hospital. There would be operations, years and years of treatment until the patient either gets well or dies, but more often than not the family goes broke either way.

The cost of illness and death which is an added burden of our advanced civilization, was ' unknown in grandma’s day

From the cradle1 to the grave, existence has become a far more costly venture than in the past. Laws, ordinances and customs prescribe our generation what to eat, what to drink, how to live, how to be sick and how to die. And compliance with the laws, ordinances and customs costs money grandma’s generation did not have to spend. At every step and every event of ‘their lives people of that time had less to spend and, as a result, more to set aside.

A Fortune In Taxes

But that’s only a small part of (the story. There is one whopping big item that grandpa, may he rest in peace, never had to worry about. Whatever he made in the mines, or in the mill, or in the shop, thq

U. S. Collector of Internal Revenue never sent him an unsolicited greeting. He probably heard of people who made so much money that they had to pay an Income Tax, but he certainly was not one of them, nor were any of his neighbors or friends. Once he acquired his own home, he had to pay a property tax to the county and to the city or town in which he lived and that was the extent of his concern about taxes. He never ceased complaining about’ them either . . .

What a difference today! A 25 year old wage earner making $400 a month and raising two children, if he keeps on earning $400 a month without a layoff until he attains the age of 65, will pay the U. S. Collector of Internal Revenue a total of $23,908.80 over the 40 year period of his working years. That’s quite a fortune that he could save if ha ever would see a penny of it. As iti is, the money is deducted from his paycheck.

But that is only the Federal Income Tax. There isn’t a commodity on the market today chat does not carry a dozen or so different kinds of taxes all of which •must be paid in the end by the customer. Experts have figured it out that today some 35 cents of each dollar go for taxes which in the case of the young wage earner1 mentioned above adds up to a grand total of $67,200 over a 40 year period. Of this total, $43,291.20 are swallowed up by hidden taxes which amounted to less than one-tenth in grandpa’s good old times.

Small wonder, financial experts say, that grandpa was able to accumulate a moderate fortune. But this is impossible today. While it is true that wages have increased more than the prices of everyday commodities, the advantage is more than offset by the far higher demands that our super-civilized standard of living makes on a man’s pocketbook, demands that no man can deny without excluding himself from the normal circle of society.

And the tax-drain on today’s wageiaatner’s pocketbook represents a far greater amount than grandpa’ ever managed to save. If today’s generation doesn’t accumulate savings, it isn’t because it doesn’t want to, but because it can’t. Of the1 earnings- of today’s generation taxes absorb the share that grandpa was allowed to save.

The Miracle of Life Insurance

However, financial experts agree( also that one way has been left open to this generation to save. The only way. The life-insurance way. It may be just as hard, if not harder, for the wage earner of today to pay his life insurance premium as it was for his grandpa to make his weekly or monthly deposit in the bank. But there is one great difference. While grandpa at all times owned only ns rauch as he deposited plus interest, you own a completed estate in your life insurance. Whenvér you die, the

July 16, 1052 1

amount you set out to accumulate will be paid to your family.

Now the high standard of living ps developed by our advanced civilization includes the necessity for life insurance. 200 years ago Benjamin Franklin already said: “It is a, strange anomaly that men should bei careful to insure their houses, their1 ships, their merchandise, and yeti neglect to insure their lives, surely ‘the most important of all to their families, and more subject to loss.” If that was true in his time, it is even more so today. Among the basic necessities of life today, next to our daily bread and a roof over our heads, stands life insurance.

Now life insurance is a miraculous« thing. It offers much more than protection. It does your saving job and the job of investing your savings. And because of this, lifel 'insurance enables you to accomplish as much, or more, as your thrifty grandpa did. It makes it possible for you to set up a guaranteed fund for the education of your children. It makes it possible for you to assure your wife of a regular monthly income for the rest of her life after you die. It makes it possible for you to finance the future purchase of a home and alsc Yo satisfy the mortgage if you should die before it’s paid for. It makes it possible for you to accumulate a fund assuring you of a regular monthly income for the rest of your life after you quit earning so you can retire in financial contentment.

Any plan you may have for yourself or your loved ones can be financed through life insurance.

You have to have life insurance anyhow. The life insurance premium is a necessary item in the costs of living of today. But this premium, does a triple job: it protects your family, it enables you to accomplish whatever you plan by producing the funds necessary for the plan, and iti becomes a source of income for your- Iself and your wife in your old age. Whether you live long or die young, your life insurance dollar is guaranteed to accomplish its triple task. No matter where else you put your dollar, it will do only one thing. The only dollar that does three jobs ‘in one, is your insurance dollar.

You may not be able to save like your grandpa did. But you can do better than he—through life insurance. You may not be able to put ft cent in the bank. But your life insurance property is far more valuable than anything you could accumulate in a savings bank. Instead of a few dollars now, it represents thousands of guaranteed future dollars. If you live to old age, it will! be there for you to use it. If you die tomorrow, it will be all there for your family to live on. Now, next year or forty years from now, it spells Security. The thing men in all ages have been striving for. You can attain it—through life insurance. It is the only way to save today.

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