Dollar a year

I was shocked to learn that Vikram Pandit at Citigroup and Edward Liddy at AIG have pledged to forgo their huge salaries and serve as $1.00 a year CEOs. The question I have is, how are they going to support their families on a dollar a year? That's insane! Now, I'm not much of a mathematician (or philosopher, or scientist or cosmetologist--I'm not much of a scholar at all, really, just an English major) but even I can see that when you factor in food, gas, water, electric, rent, high-speed internet, Netflix subscription, limo service, and haircuts, $1.00 just isn't going to get it done. Are these men insane? Even it was a dollar a week, something is going to have to give. 

It's obvious their kids are going to have to drop out of school and find work to help support the family. When your dad only makes a dollar a year, you have to do your part to chip in. The younger kids could hold bake sales and erect roadside lemonade stands. Mom could take in laundry from the other tenants at the Dakota, as well as from their summer neighbors in the Hamptons.

Not to belabor the obvious here, but just think about how far you'd have to stretch the whole dollar a year thing: there are 52 weeks in a year. It's a complex formula, so try to follow along here--52 into a dollar is...ok, say he was making $1.04 a year. That's 2 cents a week. And there is state, federal, city, Social Security, and FDIC deductions from that. Oh, and health insurance. That's probably 30% of his pay. 30% from 2 cents is...that's going to be at least...you know, I bet it would be more like a  50% bite when you think about it. So these guys are going to be left with a penny a week. Hardly worth cashing the check, but of course, these guys probably have automatic deposit.

I remember, when I was 8, I made a dollar a week in allowance. That's 52 times the salary of the CEOs of two multinational corporations! And that was a 1967 dollar! And I had to feed the dogs and take out the trash-- and maintain a C average in school! The pressure was unrelenting. I remember never making it to Friday with any money left. Too much week, not enough dollar. 

Maybe these guys could get a part-time job to fill the hole--something in the 2-3 million dollar a year range. But those jobs are hard to come by. I myself have had no luck even getting an interview for one of those jobs. But then, I live in Ohio. I bet the New York Times has tons of those jobs in their Help Wanted section. 

Hats off to Messrs. Pandit and Liddy. I've been there. I know they'll make it through, somehow!