A few examples of greed come to mind. Wells Fargo, about a decade ago, pushed employees into an aggressive sales culture that led to millions of unauthorized accounts, forged signatures, and inflated performance numbers. Enron—unforgettable—used fraudulent accounting to hide massive losses, triggering one of the largest corporate collapses in U.S. history. Theranos, Lehman Brothers, Bernie Madoff’s investment firm… the list is long.
My point is simply this:both government and
private enterprise are made up of people cut from the same fabric—good and bad.
Neither sector has a monopoly on integrity or failure. And when things go wrong
in either place, it’s the people in
the middle who end up paying for the mistakes. We just can't point the finger at local governments when failures exist in both private and government arenas.
Except at this time, city and state budgets have been DRASTICALLY cut back since the Feds have severely cut back the dollar help, so cities and state are having a hard time helping people in need.
I agree that personal responsibility matters, but it’s incomplete to say waste exists only in government. Corporate greed and private‑sector failures also impose enormous costs on taxpayers and communities. We’ve all seen examples: corporations taking subsidies, bailouts and tax breaks while delivering little in return, companies offloading environmental cleanup costs onto the public, or private contractors charging inflated rates for basic services. Those are forms of waste too. Yes, individuals need to be more proactive in retirement savings, and government agencies absolutely need stronger fiscal discipline. But we can’t pretend the private sector is automatically efficient or virtuous. Waste, mismanagement, and lack of accountability exist in both arenas, and taxpayers end up paying for failures on either side.
Great story! It is a good read. Thank you for sharing. I came from humble beginnings. Parents said go to college, but no directions after that. I was fortunate as an elementary school public teacher to have been mentored by another older teacher at the start of my career in saving in a 403b. My mentor guided me in 1987 to leave the rip-off Insurance Co. 403b's and move to Fidelity and later Vanguard's products, mostly Index funds. After being a diligent reader of all of the best Personal Finance books and a saver/investor for close to 30 years from the mid 1980's to 2015 my husband and I retired early from teaching. In my retirement I finally have the time and interest to dig down deep and learn the fine art of budgeting down to the dollar. It has come in handy in maneuvering through these high inflationary times. The last Personal Finance book I read was The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. I love the behavioral aspect of finance. One last note....over the last 30 years I have helped mentor/educate many, many teachers, friends and family in Personal Finance, letting them know how easy it is with guidance from the best Personal Finance books and of course blogs such has the Humble Dollar.
Comments
A few examples of greed come to mind. Wells Fargo, about a decade ago, pushed employees into an aggressive sales culture that led to millions of unauthorized accounts, forged signatures, and inflated performance numbers. Enron—unforgettable—used fraudulent accounting to hide massive losses, triggering one of the largest corporate collapses in U.S. history. Theranos, Lehman Brothers, Bernie Madoff’s investment firm… the list is long. My point is simply this:both government and private enterprise are made up of people cut from the same fabric—good and bad. Neither sector has a monopoly on integrity or failure. And when things go wrong in either place, it’s the people in the middle who end up paying for the mistakes. We just can't point the finger at local governments when failures exist in both private and government arenas.
Post: Retirement in America is not a pretty picture…and not getting better.
Link to comment from March 22, 2026
Except at this time, city and state budgets have been DRASTICALLY cut back since the Feds have severely cut back the dollar help, so cities and state are having a hard time helping people in need.
Post: Retirement in America is not a pretty picture…and not getting better.
Link to comment from March 21, 2026
I agree that personal responsibility matters, but it’s incomplete to say waste exists only in government. Corporate greed and private‑sector failures also impose enormous costs on taxpayers and communities. We’ve all seen examples: corporations taking subsidies, bailouts and tax breaks while delivering little in return, companies offloading environmental cleanup costs onto the public, or private contractors charging inflated rates for basic services. Those are forms of waste too. Yes, individuals need to be more proactive in retirement savings, and government agencies absolutely need stronger fiscal discipline. But we can’t pretend the private sector is automatically efficient or virtuous. Waste, mismanagement, and lack of accountability exist in both arenas, and taxpayers end up paying for failures on either side.
Post: Retirement in America is not a pretty picture…and not getting better.
Link to comment from March 21, 2026
Great story! It is a good read. Thank you for sharing. I came from humble beginnings. Parents said go to college, but no directions after that. I was fortunate as an elementary school public teacher to have been mentored by another older teacher at the start of my career in saving in a 403b. My mentor guided me in 1987 to leave the rip-off Insurance Co. 403b's and move to Fidelity and later Vanguard's products, mostly Index funds. After being a diligent reader of all of the best Personal Finance books and a saver/investor for close to 30 years from the mid 1980's to 2015 my husband and I retired early from teaching. In my retirement I finally have the time and interest to dig down deep and learn the fine art of budgeting down to the dollar. It has come in handy in maneuvering through these high inflationary times. The last Personal Finance book I read was The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. I love the behavioral aspect of finance. One last note....over the last 30 years I have helped mentor/educate many, many teachers, friends and family in Personal Finance, letting them know how easy it is with guidance from the best Personal Finance books and of course blogs such has the Humble Dollar.
Post: Course Correction
Link to comment from June 4, 2022