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Here I am in my early 30s, already complaining about how inexpensive things used to be. While my grandparents would tell me about their 10-cent movie dates or $10,000 homes, I recall the 22-cent stamp fairly vividly (apparently, when I was born, my birth announcements could have been sent for a dime a pop). In my memory, I've seen the price of sending first-class correspondence rise from under a quarter to, as of May 14, 41 cents. In fact, rates have been hiked 13 times in 32 years. But folks wanting to plan ahead can stock up on the "forever first-class stamp," unveiled this morning at the National Postal Forum. The stamp, featuring an image of the Liberty Bell, will go on sale April 12 for 41 cents but will feature the word "forever" instead of a price. The plan is for this stamp to remain valid into perpetuity, even as postal rates inevitably climb. Introducing the new postage, Postmaster General John E. Potter quipped, "Who said nothing lasts forever?"
This is good news for those of us who still favor the old-fashioned letter, prefer to pay bills the old-fashioned way, or have a hefty holiday-card list (mine is close to 200). One pro, in addition to the obvious chance to hedge against future rate increases, is the reduced reliance on those annoying one- and two-cent stamps. A negative, of course, is that the "forever" stamp won't cut it for those who wish a little whimsy in their postage, such as stamps with famous icons, book covers, or holiday themes.
The Postal Service expects to end 2007 in the red by about $2 billion as expenses continue to rise. The agency, which is roughly 700,000 employees strong, is funded by operating revenue rather than taxes.
Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.
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