The Wages Today. I start with a disclaimer. Some of my family think I’m in my dotage. so take what I have to say with a pinch of salt. Donkey’s years ago when the lottery first started, arrogantly thinking I might win, I created a consortium to ensure that the family shared my luck, and the government failed to, I tried to assess what was the maximum amount of money I could possibly need, and came to the conclusion I couldn’t spend,(not waste),more than £500,000. Some of the family thought they could handle a million, but when put to it they were spending for spending’s sake. So I wonder why these footballers, entertainers and film actors are being paid such obscene amounts, millions a year, when they have no hope of ever being able or spend it, while those paying them with their bums on seats in the terraces and the cinemas, are in many cases being taken to the cleaners. Those in charge, or acting as agents have some responsibility, because they are on a percentage. When youngsters start out on a football career their main interest is in getting picked for a team, and I believe that while some of them have ambitions of avarice, the majority have come from a background where a few thousand is a fortune, and their sights are set on their own accomplishments rather than greed. Surely it is time that those on the terraces brought the major clubs to heel, because they are draining the minor leagues and not really giving value for money If you want to gauge how the average person feels about money in thousands, watch that slick, TV programme, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Recently there were three contestants who had arrived at £8000, with no safety net, but two were pretty sure of the answer which would give them £16,000. A sure £8000 meant so much, none went on, but two would have won the higher amount. These people were not poor, but they were not prepared to lose what they had gained. The staggering discrepancy between what these people valued and what some others believe they themselves are worth, and apparently are right to do so, is extraordinary, and defeats common sense, because the money the latter earn, at the cost of many who can’t afford the entrance fees, could not all be used, merely stored in some form. I am aware that some of these high earners perform and support charitable works, but so do people who contributed to their extortionate salaries.
Insurance It was thinking about insurance that directed my mind to the extortionate salaries being given in certain circumstances. I have recently been ripped off by an insurance company, using specious logic to disclaim my request. I have a daughter who carries a lot of her own insurance. This gave me an idea, that perhaps we could all take out our major insurance – for serious house damage, and third party liability, then for the rest, as a family, collectively carry our own insurance for the cars, the contents, minor house damage and anything else you care to think of.
I started looking back over my 60 odd years of property ownership and driving, and realised that what with preserving no-claims bonuses, I had made very few claims against insurance. In fact if I had carried my own insurance for all but the very serious damage to the house, and third-party liability, I would have a nice nest egg. Currently an awful lot of the companies that you think you’re insured with are in fact part of a group where the head company objects to paying claims. I wondered if these wealthy footballers and film stars have their money stashed away all over the place, and could consider acting as insurers for the serious damage to premises and third-party. How many houses do you know of where there has been serious damage? True, with climate change, whirlwinds (I nearly said twisters but that might have been misconstrued) and the like might become more prevalent but even then, as house insurance is a necessity demanded by mortgage lenders, it looks to me that this would be a sound investment, and enable the man in the street to get from under the insurance burden he is suffering today. I may be wrong, but I suspect insurers don’t compartmentalise their liabilities, they are lumped together, so when a disaster occurs somewhere in the world, say the sinking of the Titanic, the payout is partially coming from our premiums. – just a thought, it’s a form of bookmaking after all, just at a more polite level, and bookies lay off when the heat is on.
Insurance, which is based on fear, has really gone crazy, the other day I bought a tin opener for only a few quid and I was asked if I wanted to ensure it, for an additional 20%. Some commerce today is now based on implied fear. One only has to read the ads on television to see how insidious it is, especially if you don’t have a scientific background. We are pleaded to buy bottles and tablets of this and that to ensure that we don’t catch some unmentioned and unmentionable disease