Aug. 16, 2025

Corporate Greed vs. Living Wages: The Real Financial Crisis

The truth about your financial struggles isn't what politicians want you to believe. Despite the constant narrative that high taxes are draining your wallet, we're actually experiencing historically low tax rates compared to previous decades. The real culprit behind your financial stress is a fundamental economic disparity: while the cost of goods, housing, and everyday necessities has skyrocketed, wages have remained stagnant for most Americans.

Consider this eye-opening comparison: in the 1950s and 1960s, a single income with just a high school education could comfortably support a family of four, own a home, maintain multiple vehicles, and save for retirement. Interestingly, during this period of widespread prosperity, tax rates were significantly higher than they are today. This contradicts the popular narrative that lower taxes automatically translate to greater financial well-being for average citizens.

The true issue lies in corporate compensation practices. Major corporations have systematically failed to increase employee wages in proportion to rising costs. Instead, we witness troubling scenarios where companies lay off thousands of workers while simultaneously conducting stock buybacks and awarding executives millions in bonuses. This represents a fundamental shift in how businesses distribute their profits – prioritizing shareholders and executives while neglecting the workforce that generates those profits.

The impact of this wage stagnation is felt acutely in everyday expenses. Grocery shopping has become an exercise in frustration as basic necessities consume an increasingly larger portion of our paychecks. Housing costs have especially outpaced income growth, making homeownership increasingly unattainable for many Americans. When we examine these economic realities, it becomes clear that focusing on tax rates misses the more significant problem of inadequate compensation.

Employment loyalty dynamics have also shifted dramatically. Staying with one employer for your entire career was once rewarded, but today's reality shows the opposite effect. Data consistently demonstrates that employees who switch jobs every few years experience substantially larger salary increases than those who remain loyal to a single company. This creates a paradoxical situation where companies lose talented employees, then post the same positions at significantly higher salaries – often tens of thousands more than what would have kept their experienced staff from leaving in the first place.

This short-sighted approach to employee retention costs businesses enormously in recruiting, onboarding, and lost productivity. Yet the practice persists, forcing employees to make difficult choices about their career paths and compensation. The responsibility falls on workers to advocate for themselves, presenting market data and their contributions to negotiate fair compensation – or make the difficult decision to seek better opportunities elsewhere.

When we examine the current push to allow cryptocurrency investments in 401(k) plans, we see another potentially dangerous financial development. While cryptocurrency itself isn't inherently problematic as part of a diversified investment strategy, incorporating these highly speculative assets into retirement accounts bypasses fundamental principles of sound financial planning. Retirement accounts should primarily consist of boring, proven investment vehicles like index funds and ETFs that have demonstrated reliability over time.

Most Americans already struggle to understand their existing 401(k) options and features. Adding cryptocurrency – which even many crypto investors don't fully understand – introduces unnecessary complexity and risk to retirement planning. While a small percentage (5% or less) of one's overall investment portfolio might reasonably be allocated to speculative investments like cryptocurrency, this should only occur after establishing solid financial fundamentals: emergency savings, debt reduction, and core retirement investments.

The fundamental takeaway is that financial security comes through addressing the real economic issues facing Americans today: inadequate wages, corporate greed, and adherence to sound, proven financial principles. Rather than focusing on tax rates, we should demand fair compensation that keeps pace with the actual cost of living. And when planning for retirement, boring and methodical typically wins the race over exciting but speculative investments.