The truth is that the money

 one has saved goes down in value as the dollar inflates.

One of the things I keep hearing is that the fed is putting a pretty hefty amount of money out to keep the economy rolling which is no surprise.

They just keep pumping more and more money into the system and it lowers the value of the once proud dollar.

It seems to be rapidly getting to the point where it isn't really worth it to save money. The dollar I saved in 1960 is worth about 12.6 cents today, not including interest. At 5% over that time I would have about $3.65.

When you consider that the $7.90 I saved in 1960 would be worth $1.00 today I'm losing money.

Since about 1793 until the 30s and FDR gold stayed at about $20 an ounce and the dollar was pretty damned stable. If you saved a buck, over time you saved a buck and that didn't count interest. You could loan your money out and get ahead.

These days at 5% over time you are still losing 54% of the value of your money over time.

I am not an economist or an investment banker but it sure looks to me like saving money is a pretty lousy investment unless you can find some sort of a way of getting a damned good return on your money.

For years the epitome of having amassed a fortune was to make a million bucks but these days having a million bucks saved for retirment is a shaky thing at best with inflation on the rise. The million bucks isn't going to last someone their lifttime if inflation eats it away. The way things look we're headed straight for it at runaway rates.

Anybody that does their own food shopping can see it every time they go to the grocery store if they even pay the smallest amount of attention. Prices are climbing at a pretty alarming rate.

I grub shop for the boat and I used to buy all of the grub we needed and have some money left over to split up with the guys. These days the extra money simply isn't there to be split and it won't be long before we're going to have to start paying for part of the grub bill out of our own pockets. Actually, to an extent, we are now. Any middle of the trip extras come out of out pockets.

A couple of the younger guys have asked me for advice and I really don't have much to give them. I suppose that one could spend his money on tools and other durable goods so they can have them as they age. When an economy goes sour you have to be able to take care of yourself. Tools enable one to do this.

Simply saving money seems like a losing deal to me. I suppose if you just spend it on hookers and blow you'll at least have the memories to look back on you when you get old.

Truth is I don't know what to tell younger people anymore.

To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html