I was struck at how much older several appeared from what I remembered of their appearance locked in my memory at a much younger age. But they are older now and caught up as we all are — in the relentless march of time.
Photos don’t lie — but our mind’s remembered images can.
I wondered if any of these “senior” lawmakers ever considered that day when they cease working and if they had given any thought to their own retirement and their future financial needs and that of their families — as many current retirees must now do with an uncertain future?
Perhaps they have prepared for their own individual retirement outside the rapidly diminishing resources of the NMI Retirement Fund supported by personal wealth invested in interest generating accounts earning a return greater than their money’s purchasing power is rapidly being eroded by inflation.
It would be interesting to learn their position on the government’s abandonment of the retirement plan it sponsored in the eighties. My impression is that it would be hard for them to ignore the realities of that sinking ship now without life boats.
Are these among the political candidates which, over the years plead for votes so that they may “serve” the people?
Is it because many NMI legislators have their own individual retirement plan which has rendered them indifferent to patching the holes in the base of the future retirement of their constituents?
If I’m wrong — and those who have spent so many years with the legislative branch are without a retirement plan — then their time — and their day is coming.
With an economy stuck on the reef — and the value of our money declining. Good Luck ol’ timers.
I understand the Commonwealth Retirees Association meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., Thursday night, Sept. 29, at the American Memorial Parks Visitor Center. I wish I could be there.
BILL STEWART
NMI Retiree
