Alpha Consumer

Alix McMurray of Sterling, Colorado responds to the question: How has the financial crisis affected you?

A couple of your friends find out that you were laid off and call you to gossip about it. Like getting any scary diagnosis, you are instantly attractive because you have been infected with something they have not, and that difference makes them feel all the healthier. They are eager to find out vicariously what it feels like to be a workforce zombie, to observe how you are alive yet also dead. Your resurrection (that is, potential for becoming re-employed) is not nearly as interesting as your being a zombie. You make it a point not to give those friends that particular cheap thrill, and so you do not return their calls.

You keep your employment status a secret from your family, but feel liberated when telling this to perfect strangers, such as grocery store clerks. You pick your audiences carefully, either bringing up the recession yourself or allowing them to do it first as they scan your purchased items and drop them into bags. Every one of these perfect strangers is completely on target with their empathy, and wholly without pity, as they look you evenly in the eye and wish you “good luck” or “a change for the better.” These feel like outright gifts, and it seems as if, as you accumulate them, that you are accumulating the magical properties necessary to actually hasten your own resurrection.

Continue reading »

Dear Alpha Consumer,

I read your article in last month's issue regarding retirement calculators and found it very informative; however, I am having trouble getting an accurate picture of my retirement when I use them. Let me explain.

I live in an area of the east coast with a high cost of living. My salary is comparable to others who live in my area--if not a little higher. However my plan is to retire to a part of the country that has a more reasonable cost of living (one of the southeast states). When I use the usual retirement calculators that ask me to input my current income the results inform me I need to be saving far above what I think I will really need in retirement.

Is there a calculator you would suggest I use given my situation? Should I calculate my current income based on what it would be cost to live in future retirement area right now and use that figure for that calculation?

Continue reading »

With shoppers spending about $25 billion on gift cards this holiday season, consumers advocates are issuing advice on avoiding potential pitfalls:

• Spend it quickly. With more retailers expected to go out of business in 2009, gift cards could quickly be rendered worthless. So if you receive one, make sure to spend it as soon as possible. (Shopping in late December and early January will also get you post-Christmas discounts.) If you give one, Consumer Reports recommends staying away from troubled retailers.

• Give debit cards instead. Jody Farmer, vice president of CreditCards.com, recommends giving general purpose cards that are issued by major credit issuers and are used just like credit cards. To recipients, says Farmer, the gift is like getting a shopping spree. General purpose cards are much more flexible than gift cards because you can spend them anywhere.

Continue reading »

Normally, I'm not one to judge people's splurges. But I found myself puzzled over the choices of a family profiled in today's Wall Street Journal.

In the front page article, "When the Going Gets Tough, Some People Lay Off the Nanny," we meet Suzanne Sirof, a stay-at-home mom who enjoys spa outings as well as Botox and Juvéderm injections. (In case Juvéderm isn't part of your everyday speech, it's an injectable gel that reduces the appearance of wrinkles.)

Sirof recently laid off her nanny, Alba Monterrosa, who is now unable to buy her own children shoes, in order to save money. As a result, one of Sirof's daughters has become "sad and withdrawn" because she misses Monterrosa so much.

Continue reading »