Americans "Snapping" by the MILLIONS...

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Terrorism. Chaos. Fear of the future. America is undergoing a “fundamental transformation” – that much everyone knows. But what few seem to realize about this transformation is that the sheer stress of living in today’s America is driving tens of millions to the point of illness, depression and self-destruction.

Consider the following trends:

Suicide has surpassed car crashes as the leading cause of injury death for Americans. Even more disturbing, in the world’s greatest military, more U.S. soldiers died last year by suicide than in combat;

Fully one-third of the nation’s employees suffer chronic debilitating stress, and more than half of all “millennials” (18 to 33 year olds) experience a level of stress that keeps them awake at night, including large numbers diagnosed with depression or anxiety disorder.

Shocking new research from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that one in five of all high-school-aged children in the United States has been diagnosed with ADHD, and likewise a large new study of New York City residents shows, sadly, that one in five preteens – children aged six to 12 – have been medically diagnosed with either ADHD, anxiety, depression or bipolar disorder;

New research concludes that stress renders people susceptible to serious illness, and a growing number of studies now confirm that chronic stress plays a major role in the progression of cancer, the nation’s second-biggest killer. The biggest killer of all, heart disease, which causes one in four deaths in the U.S., is also known to have a huge stress component;

Incredibly, 11 percent of all Americans aged 12 and older are currently taking SSRI antidepressants – those highly controversial, mood-altering psychiatric drugs with the FDA’s “suicidality” warning label and alarming correlation with school shooters. Women are especially prone to depression, with a stunning 23 percent of all American women in their 40s and 50s – almost one in four – now taking antidepressants, according to a major study by the CDC;

Add to that the tens of millions of users of all other types of psychiatric drugs, including (just to pick one) the 6.4 million American children between 4 and 17 diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed Ritalin or similar psycho-stimulants. Throw in the 28 percent of American adults with a drinking problem, that’s more than 60 million, plus the 22 million using illegal drugs like marijuana, cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens and inhalants, and pretty soon a picture emerges of a nation of drug-takers, with hundreds of millions dependent on one toxic substance or another – legal or illegal – to “help” them deal with the stresses and problems of life.

By the way, things are no better over the pond – and may be worse, according to one major study that concluded almost 40 percent of Europeans are plagued by mental illness.

Full article:

What is the "actual" American unemployment rate?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) looks at six categories of different data, from U-1 to U-6, to analyze employment every month. U-3 includes people who have been unemployed but who have actively looked for work during the past month; this is the official unemployment rate used by the media. U-6 contains data excluded from U-3, including part-time workers and the unemployed who have unsuccessfully looked for a job in the last year; this is the real unemployment rate. Those politicians who want to take credit for lower unemployment thrust U-3 figures forward. Those who wish to deny them credit prefer U-6. But matters may be even worse. 

Now there is fresh reason to believe that even the 14.3% rate may be a considerable understatement.

A huge step would be to acknowledge the invisible unemployed who are not part of the current BLS calculations. They include not merely the so-called “disabled,” but also those who have left the workforce for other reasons.

CNS News noted of the February 7.7% unemployment rate: “The number of Americans designated as ‘not in the labor force’ in February was 89,304,000, a record high… according to the Department of Labor.” 

The economic trend-monitoring site InvestmentWatch concluded that the actual American unemployment rate — one that includes all unemployed — is around 30%. The site reasoned that “89 million not in the labor force = 29%, give or take, assuming the U.S. population is 310,000,000 + official unemployment 7.7%.”

LINK to full article:

Another Reason to Work From HOME...

Wow...the cost of commuting to a job goes up! 

Owning a car will cost the average American driver more than $9,100 this year, the AAA has revealed. The automotive club unveiled its annual study of driving costs on Tuesday and found that the average sedan owner will rack of $0.61 for every mile on the road.  SUV drivers are in for even more pain in the wallet - $0.77 per mile or $11,600 a year. 

The AAA estimates include nearly all expenses of taking to the road - from the cost of the car itself to gasoline, tires, insurance and repairs. 

With the average American commute to work being about 16 miles, the daily trek to and from the office will cost most Americans about $19.50. 

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Hello "Health Care" – Goodbye Work Hours...

The Affordable Care Act — also known as ObamaCare – is designed to help provide health insurance coverage for those who are least able to pay. But exhibition execs attending CinemaCon this week are quietly planning to minimize the law’s impact on them when it takes full effect in 2014, even if it means penalizing part time employees who might stand to benefit. Theaters are most concerned about a provision that requires companies to provide coverage for those working at least 30 hours a week, not just full-time employees who work at least 40 hours. So, guess what? Theaters are beginning to reduce part timers’ to less than 30 hours a week. “All of [the major theater companies] are making adjustments in the workforce,” Stephen Gooding, President of Reynolds & Reynolds — an insurance firm that specializes in exhibition concerns — tells me. When it comes to preparing for the changes “the very large circuits are ahead of the curve, but the smaller and midsized ones are just realizing and going ‘Oh, my’.” 

Link to article:

Retirement Crisis a 'Looming Catastrophe'

This article from US News & World Report:

Ronald P. O'Hanley is president of asset management and corporate services for Fidelity Investments, the huge Boston-based provider of employer retirement plan services to roughly 20 million people. Last week, he gave a speech in Washington at the "Capital Markets Summit" sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. I know, another droning, predictable paean to the virtues of free enterprise and the marvelous retirement industry in which Fidelity plays such a major role. 

Only it wasn't. It was, instead, an aggressive and unequivocal wake-up call. Think Churchill talking about manning the retirement barricades. Unless a lot of people begin changing their ways, and changing them soon, O'Hanley said, the nation will not be able to avert a "looming catastrophe" in the retirements of millions of baby boomers who are now headed for destitute financial futures and old ages spent in poverty.

Such an outcome, he stressed, would have a disastrous affect on everyone in the United States, not just the elderly. "If tens of millions of Americans reach retirement with insufficient savings," O'Hanley said, "the impact on our citizens, our economy and our national security could be catastrophic—and not something we could solve for most retirees after the fact."

LINK to full article.

Financial Anxiety Plagues Boomers Nearing Retirement

Living longer may have its rewards, but it also keeps middle-class boomers anxious about their retirement security. 

Declining health and the ability to create a sustainable retirement income were two primary concerns among boomers, according to a report from Bankers Life and Casualty Company Center for a Secure Retirement.

While more than half (55%) of boomers have saved less than $100,000 for retirement, 19% have saved less than $10,000, according to the findings.

This adds to the study’s findings that nearly two-thirds, or 62%, of pre-retirees report some level of anxiety about retirement—with 28% reporting being “anxious” or “very anxious.”

For this reason, according to the study, it is not surprising that three out of four (75%) middle-income boomers expect to work in retirement, however, simply working longer may not be the answer to the longevity risk dilemma. 

Since no one can predict how long they will live,—as unexpected illnesses or accidents can threaten employment in later years—assessing longevity can be an effective tool in planning for retirement.

To compensate for the possibility of outliving their savings, boomers have planned a number of ways to deal with shortfalls in retirement income, including a reduction in spending (63%); getting a part-time job in retirement (41%); and selling their home (25%).

About 44% admit that their retirement savings may not last until the end of their life, yet when it comes to developing a savings goal, only 21% of middle-income retirees and pre-retirees have calculated a monthly retirement income goal number.