I remember back when I was in high school, my dad telling me about how my cousin had withdrawn something like $30,000 out of her Walmart retirement account in order to buy a new car. I know new car prices were nowhere near $30,000 back then so I’m not sure why she took out so much unless she just cashed out. Anyway, based on 20% withholding and a 10% penalty (I believe both existed back then), she would have lost $9,000 right off the top. Then, she would have spent approximately $13,000 on a Thunderbird.

I don’t have the exact numbers or dates but let’s just assume she withdrew this money on January 2, 1987. The split adjusted price of Walmart on that day was $2.27 a share, which means she would have sold 13,215 shares.

Fast forward to Tuesday, May 15, 2012. Walmart is trading at around $59 a share.

Multiply 13,215 by $59 and you get…

$779,685!

I’m pretty sure she’s not still driving that Thunderbird.

Of course I made a lot of assumptions here. I assumed that the entire amount withdrawn would have stayed in Walmart stock the entire 25 years. And, there was no guarantee that Walmart’s stock would have performed that well over the years. It also would have been risky to keep all her money in Walmart stock (it should have been diversified, which would have most assuredly meant lower returns).

All that said, I seriously doubt my cousin did the math. Instead she went with her heart and bought a new car.

Half of All Americans Aren’t Doing a Thing for Retirement

Half?!?

I’m pretty sure SOME of those people COULD save something if they really wanted to.

I don’t know about you but this makes me concerned for our future as a country.

Free Exchange: Hope Springs a Trap

Bottom line: in order for people to move out of poverty, they must have hope. Sounds “new-agey” but it makes a lot of sense.

And, in my opinion, being on the government dole has the opposite effect of creating hope. Being told by politicians that you NEED what they have to offer, forces you to become dependent.

Anyway, I hope all the moms out there had a very happy Mother’s Day! Sorry this is late. I tried to post this yesterday but wasn’t at my computer and I couldn’t get the picture to upload via my iPad.

“This is so-and-so with the so-and-so company trying to reach so-and-so. If you are not that person, please delete this message because the following information is not for you.”

Then there is a pause and the rest of message continues.

First off, if you call my house and leave a message, I can listen to the whole message if I want. It’s not my fault you have the wrong information.

Second, if you desire better information, it might be wise to include a number at the beginning of the message that people can use to report wrong numbers.

Third: SPEAK CLEARLY and SLOWLY when you’re giving out numbers! I had to listen to the message several times in order to get the phone number.

Just a thought.

Anyway, the new list is out.

Number one on this year’s list is Exxon.

The Fortune 500 ranks companies based on revenues. Exxon had $45.3 billion in revenues last year, beating Walmart’s $44.7 billion (Walmart was no. 1 last year).

As a side, this is the first year I have read the list on my iPad. I have to say, it’s pretty cool.

I didn’t find the kids’ responses scary. I thought the results were age-based. The younger kids were farther off than the older kids.

Did you find the responses scary?

Bank of America Offers Principal Reductions to 200,000 Homeowners

A select group of struggling mortgage borrowers are about to get an offer that sounds too good to be true. Executives at Bank of America say they will begin mailing 200,000 letters offering certain customers mortgage principal reduction.

…eligible borrowers could get as much as $150,000 knocked off the balance of their mortgages. It is all part of the $25 billion settlement reached this year between federal and state agencies and the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers over fraudulent foreclosure document processing (so-called “robo-signing”).

Responsible people get nothing.

Regardless, I’m ready to get this stuff behind us.