Is it Safe?

This was written in 2008 about the great debt meltdown. During these Pandemics’ days, it seems to be a theme that resonates. Is it Safe? Not right now.

One of the most terrifying movies I have ever sat through is the Marathon Man, which stars Sir Lawrence Oliver as a crazed Nazi dentist hiding jewels and Dustin Hoffman as a pawn in the entire scheme. In this movie, there is a set of scenes where the crazed Nazi dentist torments the Dustin Hoffman character with a hobby drill. The dentist drills his teeth, and his only question is, “Is it safe?”. Just recollecting this scene puts chills up my spine, but it is a good metaphor for any of the current financial crises we have had over the past while.

At the macro level, governments have no idea whether “It is safe,” They don’t know the answer to the question, but in fact, this movie is an even more potent metaphor at the Personal Finance level.

Are We Safe?

Is it safe? What does that mean? Is our money safe? Are our jobs secure? Are our lifestyles safe? Is our family safe? Is that safe? Are my RRSPs safe? Is it safe to retire? Is my house safe? (to paraphrase a frantic Dustin Hoffman), the question without context is tough to answer, and there is the more complicated part, what is the answer?

Is it safe? I have no idea, but I think we are all fighting to find out “Is it safe?” (financially, health-wise, life in general). I hope we are safe, but I guess we really won’t know what the question means and what the answer is until the latest crisis ends, now will we?

Are you safe? How can you make yourself safe? Is safety what we should be looking for?

Is it Safe?

I hope we are safe.

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