I think retirement is a pipe dream...

Bayouboy said

But some of it is on the company's way of handling money. Every corporation is looking out for the balance sheet and stock price. Instead of a slush fund with cash to weather a rainy day, they give it all to the shareholders. Stock goes up and everybody is happy, but you leave yourself venerable to an economic dip.

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Well, you're not wrong, but keeping too much available cash on hand is not really the smartest approach either when you're measured so exactingly against your competitors and your borrowing costs (and other financial impacts) are tied so closely to your stock price.

It's such an incredible balancing act -- trying to balance long-term growth and stability against the market's infantile screams for immediate feeding, all in a context of market pricing beyond your measurable impact, is a ceaseless, unwinnable battle.

But, at least it's not the airline business!!