How About Some Advice for the Truly Strapped?

Try as I might, I couldn’t drip a tear as I read two recent Money Make-Over installments about people concerned about their financial futures.

A few weeks ago there was the story of a family of four making about $60,000 a year (“Taylor Remade,” Nov. 5). They were, so said the article, barely getting by. Then I read that they were paying about $800 a month for private schooling for their two children. If they can’t figure out why they are strapped, they deserve to suffer. Or are there no public schools where they live?

Then there was the story of a middle-age real estate saleswoman worth $1.6 million and her concern that she might not have $100,000 a year to live on by the time she retires (“When a Cool Million Still Isn’t Enough,” Nov. 12). I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when I read that.

Hate to tell you, but there are about a million unemployed people in the state of California. There are several million families now struggling who would love to have $60,000 a year to play around with.

Instead of inviting financial advisors to tell rich people how to invest their money, how about some suggestions as to how people without jobs might find work. Or maybe a series on how many jobs have been lost--or gained--because of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Maybe an examination of how real wages today compare to wages 20 years ago. Or maybe have one of your financial advisors tell a family of four making $20,000 a year how to spend their money.

PARKER KENDALL

Ventura