Amazon?

[Jstpssng]

The Forest products industry has declined everywhere in this country, with the reduced demand for pulpwood. The digital age has greatly reduced the demand for print media and all paper products (except toilet paper). This is an issue that is hampering forest management everywhere.

Right now we can sell everything which gets cut. It may not be at a price we want to get, yet it all adds up. The forests are different here than out west; it's mostly second growth and much of the ground has been cut through several times in the last 100 years. Yet it keeps coming back. Plus, as I mentioned above, mills have expanded recently and are working to use the smaller wood which traditionally fell out of the stand due to competition.

 

[caver]

In southern Missouri all the sawmills appear busy. Pallet wood and RR ties. There's also a hardwood flooring mill I pass that has huge stacks of stickered oak.

 

[Torvy]

Where did you get that shuck and jive? It's not true.

No shuck and jive...how about we remain respectful...

Simple math. Most employers do a match. It can vary, but I have had multiple who gave 50% of the 1st 6%. So, if I invest 6% of my hypothetical 100k salary, that would be $6k. My employer matches that at 50% for a total of $9k. The beauty of compound interest over the course of 30 years. 9000/12=750 per month. Average rate of return in the stock market is 10% annually. That investment will grow to $1.7M in those 30 years. That money continues to produce income forever at 10%. That means over $170k per year and I still have $1.7M of my money to spend for emergencies or whatever...I can pull it out and go fishing, whatever. This is a conservative estimate. My actual rate of return over the past 30 years is closer to 40%. 10% is the average over the last 50 for the S&P.

Compound Interest Calculator | Investor.gov

Determine how much your money can grow using the power of compound interest.

www.investor.gov

 

[buckeyefarmer]

My uncle spent his life working at GM and had a great pension. Then they went bankrupt and took most of “his” pension money away. Me, I never had a pension or a union but my employer has a 401k match. I’ll retire with far more wealth than he ever had no matter what may happen to the company and their finances.

GM got screwed by O.

 

[Oaktree]

How about sick leave? Paid vacations? Paid holidays? What went away with your parents' generation was collective bargaining. You strolled barefoot through hell, and got burned.

Not sure what point you're trying to make. Not everyone in my parents' generation belonged to a union, though more so than today, but it was a different time. Neither of my parents did.
Not sure how I got "burned" by never working for a company with a pension. I've done OK for myself. If someone psssed away every dime and never saved for the future, that's on them.

 

[Pixguy]

The union benefits of the boomer generation were unsustainable and the main reason companies fled to SE Asia.

I could not raise my prices high enough and still attract customers if i offered half of the benefits some received.

 

[Oaktree]

Right now we can sell everything which gets cut. It may not be at a price we want to get, yet it all adds up. The forests are different here than out west; it's mostly second growth and much of the ground has been cut through several times in the last 100 years. Yet it keeps coming back. Plus, as I mentioned above, mills have expanded recently and are working to use the smaller wood which traditionally fell out of the stand due to competition.

Logging activity around here has picked up a lot in the past 3-4 years, not sure where it's all going. The paper mills are all gone, and most of the biomass power plants were shut down due to pricing disputes with Eversource (electric company). Still a few furniture makers around, but even they're not what they once were. Local firewood dealer seems to be doing quite the business, but I doubt they're accounting for even half the increased cutting.

 

[Pixguy]

 

[Dftodd]

Logging activity around here has picked up a lot in the past 3-4 years, not sure where it's all going. The paper mills are all gone, and most of the biomass power plants were shut down due to pricing disputes with Eversource (electric company). Still a few furniture makers around, but even they're not what they once were. Local firewood dealer seems to be doing quite the business, but I doubt they're accounting for even half the increased cutting.

Maybe to make up for that TP shortage last year

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Why do you suppose union workers are the only ones with pensions?

I don't recall saying that.