Tag Archives: recession

Seniors Can Be Key To Economic Recovery

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Seniors like everyone else are rattled by the severe recession and may instinctively hang on more carefully to their financial resources.  However as John Lindsay of the group,  Friendly to Seniors, pointed out in Sudbury, Seniors are the key to stimulating the economy.

Friendly to Seniors has just published a report, entitled Greater Sudbury Challenges of Aging: Report and Recommendations.  The report outlined why the city needs to take the concerns of seniors seriously.  However seniors represent an untapped source of potential spending for any city.

Those over 55 years old control 75 per cent of the wealth in Greater Sudbury.  If you are older, you have a choice what to do with your money. You can pass it onto your children, save it for your declining years, or spend some of it now.  Older folks have more disposable spending.

The Greater Sudbury community can benefit because:

  • seniors tend to pay cash for big ticket items like cars or big screen televisions, sometimes even homes which benefits retailers and sellers
  • those 65 and up have more savings than the much touted baby boomers just now reaching the age of 60
  • only 5 per cent of seniors use transit-if they got free transit during off peak hours and the city received grants to support that, the city could benefit financially by keeping those buses running full
  • making it easier for seniors to get around the city increases the potential they will spend money in retail outlets or attend cultural events such as the Sudbury Theatre Centre or art shows

John Lindsay is asking city council to respect what seniors have to offer to the community and make it easier for them to reside in the city and contribute to the economy.

That same message applies to all communities across Canada.  It’s called Grey Power.  There are lots of ways Grey Power can contribute to healthy communities and helping to boost the economy is only one of them.

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Recession Perspective

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A CNN article reveals that in a recent poll most Americans are fearful about the state of the country.  The story highlights run as follows:

  • Nearly eight in 10 say things are going badly in the country
  • Three of four Americans are angry about the way things are going in the country
  • But three out of four questioned say that things are going well for them personally

Those sentiments are in stark contrast to some of the moving stories described in the Delaware County Daily Times weekend article. It’s entitled, ‘LENDING PERSPECTIVE: Seniors who lived through tougher times advise those struggling today to be patient’.  The article reminds us that

Economists have referred to the current economic downturn as the worst financial crisis Americans have seen since the Great Depression.  By 1933, four years after the Black Tuesday crash of the stock market, the banking system had collapsed and nearly 25 percent of the labor force was unemployed.  Presently, the national unemployment rate is around 7.5 percent — a far cry from the depths reached in the 1930s, but still the highest in a quarter century.

The article includes a number of accounts of how people coped in the years following the Great Depression.  Thankfully such pictures are unlikely to be repeated in the present situation.

The final piece of advice from someone who struggled through those difficult years is worth repeating:

Whatever comes, you can’t complain too much because things are so bad. It’s happening to everybody, not just one person. It’s happening to the whole world.  It’s going to take a long time to get better … but they’ll have to accept it and hope it gets better. I’m sure it will, but it will take time. It won’t get better overnight.

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