Robin SmithWhether you've ever had a garden, the term "seed corn" is heard on occasion in Southern dialogue, especially in making a point about saving for future growth.
In the world of agriculture, taking care to collect and save a portion of your crop to return to seed is key.
Corn is a grass that is naturally pollinated by the wind with the seed identified as a grain. Planting corn requires not only good seed but rich soil that has reached 60 degrees to allow germination as well as full sun. Seeds need to be placed one inch deep and four to six inches apart with multiple rows about a yard apart to ensure pollination.
A single seed of corn may produce a corn plant that yields 600 kernels of corn each year. What a return on your investment!
Of course, this "return" is after planting and watering the crop, protecting it from pests such as worms, raccoons, deer and invasive weeds, and harvesting the crop. Yet, the seeds began as cobs of corn left on the stalk to dry as others were harvested.
Planting a corn crop takes planning, work, commitment and discipline.
The current practices of mankind are demonstrating willful ignorance of planning and discipline to save and not spend, the commitment to work toward a goal through budgeting and sacrifice, and the notion that possessing seed corn for the future is not a priority.
Last week, USA Today featured data that show too many people are eating their seed corn with no plan for their future.
A national survey conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), a nonprofit organization, of 1,003 American workers and 1,001 retirees captured a disastrous trend.
Of those surveyed, 28 percent noted they had less than $1,000 in any type of savings or investments. Fifty-seven percent acknowledged having a portfolio valued at less than $25,000 with 64 percent of current workers admitting their lack of planning puts them "behind" in preparing for an emergency or retirement. The expectation of 67 percent of current workers was to remain employed in some capacity throughout their retirement years.
Why do Americans fail to save even a portion of their earnings?
Reasons offered in the EBRI survey included the cost of daily living expenses and debt as the top two cited, with 51 percent of workers and 31 percent of retirees noting a level of indebtedness through credit cards and loans that disrupted their ability to save.
Good habits are the key, but that requires responsible choices.
On April 14, the U.S. Commerce Department issued figures for retail and food services sales for March. For the first time since tracking began in 1992, Americans spent more on food in restaurants than in purchasing food in grocery stores.
This trend alone, with millennials aged 18-28 years old making up 23 percent of total restaurant spending, shows the little thought given to the potential buying power of one's income that, if budgeted, would permit an opportunity to save. Choosing discount stores -- whether for groceries, clothing and other needs -- is part of the behavior of stewardship and discipline.
Choosing to save, to stash seed corn as a hedge against hard times or as a way to provide for a secure future, is a willful choice.
Robin Smith is a former chairwoman of the Tennessee Republican Party and owner of Rivers Edge Alliance.