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DAVID SWANSON / Staff Photographer
"I probably won't be able to retire. Both my pension plan and 401(k) are heavily invested in the stock market," says Walt O'Connor (left), with daughter Kat and father in-law Gilbert Cason.
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Tightening belts in all walks of life
The monetary meltdown that has mauled mutual funds, strangled retirement accounts, triggered layoffs, and frozen lending is forcing anxious adjustments across the region in all walks of life:
The Manayunk ironworker who defers servicing his car.
The Bensalem supermarket worker who reluctantly puts off his planned retirement.
The New Jersey couple downsizing their wedding.
All are pinching pennies, making painful compromises.
"Those who have been putting money away for a rainy day and have a few thousands saved up might be better off," said Devin Pope, a Wharton expert on the psychology of consumer decision-making.
"But because of the uncertainty in the environment, it's not clear whether you even want to use your rainy-day money," he said. "How bad is this going to get? Do I need to continue saving my rainy-day money for an even rainier day?"
Restricting his spending
At the Jiffy Lube on City Avenue near 50th Street, that fearful question haunts ironworker Eric Konopka, 55, a burly man with hands like bear paws.His 2000 Ford Expedition needed an air filter last week. Ordinarily, said Konopka, he would have changed the transmission fluid and winterized the car, too, adding about $200 to the bill. But Konopka's construction job at Sun Oil is on hold, awaiting fresh steel. For now this father of four and grandfather of eight is restricting his spending.
"You've got to pace yourself," he said. "Spread it out now."
Retirement delayed
Kensington-born Walt O'Connor, who had hoped to retire in two years, works for Acme in the Woodhaven Mall. The father of five grown children, O'Connor will turn 60 in February. He and his wife, Kathryn, the office manager at Catholic Charities of Trenton, were empty-nesters.But after Kathryn's mother died in January, and her 84-year-old father could no longer get by on Social Security, he moved in. Then, O'Connor's youngest daughter, 25, also named Kathryn and known as Kat, decided to move back home so she could afford to enroll in Bucks County Community College.
The in-gathering of his family, coupled with huge drops in his pension and retirement accounts, convinced O'Connor that retiring in 2010 after 43 years with Acme was unattainable.
"I probably won't be able to retire. Both my pension plan and 401(k) are heavily invested in the stock market," said O'Connor.
As produce manager, he sees others facing hard times, too.
"The '10 for $10' sale items are driving the business right now," he said. "I see people buying two baking potatoes instead of a 10-pound bag. I see people pick up a tomato, shake their heads, and put it down. . . . Either the price is too high or they can't afford it."
A smaller wedding
Sam Spoto of Gibbstown and Kyra Braun would have loved to pull out all the stops for their wedding yesterday. Instead, they downsized wherever they could."We tried to be thoughtful about our folks," Spoto said. "They're closing in on retirement. . . . We wanted to have a good time, but we didn't want to break the bank."
Spoto, 31, is assistant manager of LifeSport Fitness Resource Center in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia. Braun, 28, of Malvern, manages the student union building at La Salle University.
To start, they trimmed the guest list to 200 from 250. "Thankfully, more than 40 said they couldn't make it," he said.
