“Now his pension plan’s been cut in half and he can’t afford to die,” sings John Rich, of the country music duo Big & Rich, in his new, controversial song, Shutting Detroit Down. Two things nobody is ever financially ready for, especially if he or she is a money spender: retirement and death. Financially speaking, it is hard to die at the right time, unless you know much more than anyone else and can plan your death. People are so wrapped up in saving for retirement, 401k plans, life insurance plans, IRAs, money markets, or anything else they can find that will provide extra money for retirement and death. If you die too early, the paychecks your family was living off of are gone. If you die too late, you impoverish your family or confine yourself to an unpleasant local retirement home by depleting your savings.

One unexpected side effect of the recession is a jump in sales of fixed immediate annuities, which dispense guaranteed income for life. New York Life reported an 82% sales increase this quarter alone. A man at retirement age paying them $100,000 now will receive $650 a month for life, which is perfect for a retired man whose house and vehicle are paid off and bills are low. That’s equal to 7.8% of the total each year, double what most retirement investments pay out.

Christopher Blunt, who runs New York Life’s retirement division believes that annuities offer the best way to lock in guaranteed retirement income. Retirement income is  generated from a stock-and-bond portfolio requires keeping plenty of assets in reserve in case they’re needed to fund a long life or contend with a nasty bear market,” he says. The point is that you can get the same retirement income as you could from your portfolio, with 25% to 40% less principal.

The way they generate superior retirement income is by transferring it from those who do not collect it to those who do. For instance, if you pay them $100,000 and die three days later, your money is lost and goes to someone who is still collecting. However, if you live until you’re 85 and you have been collecting since you were 65, you have received $156,000 over the tenure of the relationship, over 50% profit. If you are lucky to live to 95, you have likely received $234,000, with a profit of nearly 150% of what you paid. For those who are healthy at 65, it is a good investment, especially if that person also has savings and stocks to tide over through bad times or to leave to their families. Assuming you are in good health, there are few downsides to a fixed annuity, especially if you keep your product features simple. You pay $100,000 of your savings to provide for the rest of your life. If you have been saving well for retirement, you likely still have $350,000 to leave to your family whether you collect or not.

Last year and even into the summer of this year metal prices were at all time highs. Recycling metals was so profitable that new laws and regulations were set in place by state governments to require identification (and sometimes waiting periods) for people who were bringing in recyclable metals to facilities. The laws were put into place to deter people from stealing wires and other metals. There was a news report out of Memphis that thieves were taking copper wire from air conditioners from churches.

Now, the price of scrap metal and other recyclables has fallen dramatically. Most metals have fallen equally (sometimes more) with the price of oil. The drop in prices has caused recycling facilities to cut jobs just because they can’t get the same revenue as they used to. Some people aren’t recycling as much either. Several cities that have started curbside recycling are scaling back.

The real loser in the price drop is the environment. When prices were up, people were more inclined to recycle because of the money they could get. Also, at the time recyclable materials prices were up, gas prices were up and consumers were becoming more environmentally conscious…now, with gas prices and other commodity prices down, awareness has also taken a hit.