The Road to Ruin?
Charlotte retirees hold on to optimism
Marketplace's Amy Scott revisits members of a coffee klatch she met six months ago in Charlotte, N.C. Some of the folks have avoided investment losses while others have seen their portfolios hit hard. All hope to see the markets recover.
This group of mostly seniors gets together almost every morning at a Panera Bread in Charlotte, N.C., to chat about everything from recipes to the Dow. (Amy Scott/Marketplace)
More on America's Financial Crisis
Members of the group drink coffee from personalized mugs.
Bob and Iolene Brown. Bob says he got a message from a higher power to sell all his stock in November 2007. He got out right after the peak. Now he's wondering if it's time to tiptoe back in.
TEXT OF STORY
AMY SCOTT: It's a little before 10 a.m., and a group of mostly retired and semi-retired folks files into a Panera Bread.
This is an almost daily ritual. They meet here after church, drinking coffee from personalized mugs, and talking politics and investments. A framed photo and news clipping about the group hangs above their regular table. When I last met up with them six months ago, the stock market had begun its steady dive. Back then retired labor mediator Bob Brown was feeling lucky he'd sold out just after the Dow hit its peak above 14,000. That was in the fall of 2007.
BOB BROWN: I guess the Holy Spirit told me to take my money out of the stocks and put it in CDs and stuff. And thank God I didn't put it into an AIG or something.
Boy, was he right about that. Since we last talked, analysts say more than a trillion dollars in retirement savings has evaporated. Now, with stocks recovering a bit in the last month, Brown is thinking about tiptoeing back into the market.
Don Brown sits a few seats down. He's a business owner and not related to Bob. He's kept playing in the market throughout the downturn. Making bets like this one:
DON BROWN: Three dollars and 50 cents for Bank of America. It's up to $9 now. That was a pretty good risk.
Jane Francisco is done taking risks. She's a retired teacher, living on social security and her pension. She says she was losing sleep watching more than $20,000 vanish from her retirement savings. That was about 20 percent. So a few months ago Francisco and her husband pulled out what was left and put it in a bank.
JANE FRANCISCO: I need to hold onto what I worked so hard for. It was a great sting to me to realize that, and I guess realizing that I've never had money, but for the first time I did, and how quickly it can just slip through your fingers.
Francisco says she even considered keeping her money in a safe at home. At the other end of the table, Rhea Caldwell lost money in the market as well. She teaches math at a private school.
Rhea CALDWELL: I'll probably have to work till I'm 80 now to make up for all the money that we lost in the pension fund. But uh, it's coming back.
BROWN: It's not lost. It's just . . . we're waiting for it to come back.
Rhea's husband Bob reminds her that they won't actually lose the money until they sell. And they haven't sold yet. Caldwell owns a business building shipping containers. He says the downturn has helped his business some. His biggest customers are tire companies.
CALDWELL: Most people are keeping their cars. They're fixing old ones, and they have to put new tires on it. So the tire companies are making tires as fast as they can. So I'm seeing a very steady first quarter.
In Charlotte overall, the job market is far from steady. The unemployment rate has reached close to 12 percent. When I was here last one of the group had just been laid off from her insurance job. She's now back at work part time. Maybe it's the wisdom of their years or their Christian faith. But this is a pretty optimistic bunch. Again, Jane Francisco.
FRANCISCO: This is the security of having friends and support and just knowing that you know these people are here for you is so comforting.
They'll continue to ride out the recession together every morning over coffee.
In Charlotte, I'm Amy Scott for Marketplace.
Comments
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From Charlotte, NC, 04/24/2009
This e-mail is for Amy Scott. Amy sorry I missed seeing you April 14 when you visited our group at Panera Bread. Don Brown said that he had told you that I had found a part-time job since I was let go in July. He gave you the wrong information, I still do not have a job but I have been volunteering at CMC Pineville one day a week from 12-4pm. It has been a little difficult but thank goodness my husband still has his part-time job. We have to adjust things but feel we are more fortunate than a lot of retirees. Let us know Amy when you will back to visit the group so I can be there to see you. Good Luck to you and keep up the good work. Hope you will e-mail me back.
Sue Thompson - One of the Panera Bread group.
From Charlotte, NC, 04/15/2009
Hi Amy, It was nice visiting with you at Panera.
Special thanks for including our picture. Our kids are full of smiles considering how big we think we are now! Y'all come back!
God Bless You, Bob and Io
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