I did address that, from a couple different viewpoints that you seemed conveniently to have missed. I addressed it with "You're smart", and lucky. Most folks are NOT. You had -at the very least- military counselors whose entire job is to educate military folks on personal finance and all the benefits benefiting military folks. Most folks do NOT have that. I addressed it by explaining the history of how we always had "self-direction" with no unnecessary parasitic fees being taken from YOU and given to the banks. Sadly, the uneducated not-very-smart allowed "their" bank-bought "representatives" to go pass a bank fee bill in Congress. Did you miss that stuff??Let’s circle back to your post about folks working until they die. You appear to have gotten distracted and forgotten that I’m responding to a specific post, yours.
You seem to think this scenario is a failing of the government or corporations as opposed to a result of horrible life choices and poor retirement planning.
I simply described how folks that now must work until they die could have avoided that fate. Home ownership and consistent investment in a Roth since 1998 (among other things) could have prevented the fate you describe.
Describing other paths to prosperity, previously available, doesn’t negate my point.
I chose Roth as most 401k plans are employer-based and I was making the point that folks don’t need the government or a corporation to avoid working until dying - the point of your post.
Given your thoughts on the banking industry, I would have expected you to be an expert on self-directed IRA’s.
For those that qualify, income under MAGI, who wouldn’t benefit from a Roth IRA? This is not a rhetorical question.
Ok, you OWNED him by 1.9% with an unattributed stat. Well done! Even if that stat is correct, the real issue is that lots of those "top tier" folks are still living up to their eyeballs in debt. So, you know, that's an invidiously distinctive, avaricious, wasteful wash. I think THOSE are the folks who should be allowed to die in the streets. If one is "smart" enough (good enough poseur) to bag a +$200k "job", that person should also be smart enough to save and "invest" appropriately. Sadly, many of those +$200K folks are gaining their "incomes" from economic rents (trust funds or rental units, or sales of previous-generation-earned real estate or companies)... all the while doing lots and lots of blow.$250K puts you solidly in the top decile.
Distribution of household income U.S. 2022 | Statista
In 2022, just over 50 percent of Americans had an annual household income that was less than 75,000 U.S.www.statista.com
Don't know you, but I can almost guaran-dam-tee you, yer NOT rich. Not the kind of rich we're talking about here. That's the problem with advertising-raised kids; We all think we're rich (and, therefore, start voting R) just 'cause we have a newer, bigger truck or higher thread-count sheets than our closest 25 neighbors or colleagues. Trust me, THAT's not rich. In many ways, cult-like buy-in to that kind of invidious distinction oriented mindset makes us not just the children of the billionaires, but the tools of the billionaires.So what you are all arguing about is who feels the most guilty for being rich? I don't feel any guilt at all.
Ok, you OWNED him by 1.9% with an unattributed stat. Well done! Even if that stat is correct, the real issue is that lots of those "top tier" folks are still living up to their eyeballs in debt. So, you know, that's an invidiously distinctive, avaricious, wasteful wash. I think THOSE are the folks who should be allowed to die in the streets. If one is "smart" enough (good enough poseur) to bag a +$200k "job", that person should also be smart enough to save and "invest" appropriately. Sadly, many of those +$200K folks are gaining their "incomes" from economic rents (trust funds or rental units, or sales of previous-generation-earned real estate or companies)... all the while doing lots and lots of blow.
“Where?”
You may not feel like a bankster, but most of us are easily in the "Top 5%" and if you're senior at one of the "Big Three", you're a 2%'er or better.
I didn't really work that much and I'm probably a scraping the 1% level. NOT 0.1% of course, but that'd be nice.
Cherokee, if you're feeling poor at your level, that's a YOU problem. If you don't think you're rich, you certainly have never seen poor before. I guaran-dang-tee that.
Dearborn, sure, that income will stretch a ways. Oakland County, not so much.This salary in Michigan or Pennsylvania where our families are? I’d be King.
Again, seems like a you problem. Weren't you railing (correctly, imho) against all of the danged Entitled Kids who feel that they're owed-by-the-Universe "decent housing" in some of the most expensive zip-codes on the planet? Can't have it both ways.Where I live in South Bay? I don’t feel rich.
Well duh.
But like they say, location, location, location.
Where I live in South Bay? I don’t feel rich.
This salary in Michigan or Pennsylvania where our families are? I’d be King.
Again, seems like a you problem. Weren't you railing (correctly, imho) against all of the danged Entitled Kids who feel that they're owed-by-the-Universe "decent housing" in some of the most expensive zip-codes on the planet? Can't have it both ways.
By any rational measure, you are rich, or at the very, very least "quite affluent". Deal with it. Check the couch-cushions regularly for stray pennies so you can afford a Taco Bell feast once a month.
Dearborn, sure, that income will stretch a ways. Oakland County, not so much.
I don't want to be crass - swear to God.*gestures vaguely at everything*
I really wonder if the state of the world in general is contributing. Home ownership is basically a fantasy, rent goes up, and the very real possibility that this generation won’t be able to retire. Climate change, increasing polarization and a general • negative atmosphere with all the worst parts aggravated by social media can’t be great for a person’s mental health in their formative years. I don’t blame younger people for being riddled with anxiety.
Yeah, that helps.need to suck it up. Sincerely.
Nope. I agree with your new 6 figure idea. That's why I chose that dollar amount.I think you may have chosen the wrong dollar figure to make this argument with. A professional in really most "professions", or tech people, who have negotiated a salary more recently than 20 years ago, or quite a few more business owners or just laborers/builders, can easily make $200k+. I'd submit that $200k is the new "6 figure" baseline income. The people you are talking about here are making millions a year on their investments or otherwise passive income streams. Hell, a girl with an only fans account can probably collect $200k+ in a month if she hustles (and has the "talent")
I wasn't directing that at you, and I didn't feel it was so much specific to you as much as you were voicing your generations angst. But I did mean it - there are so many existential, legitimately terrible things going on the list you sent seems...inconveniencing at most. Another way to look at it is this - live as big as you can. Appreciate things - hell, you'll never have the truly fine things in life probably - just don't miss a lot of "pretty great" because you're down about what you're missing.Yeah, that helps.
I get the gist of what you’re saying and I agree, we should be living to the fullest we possibly can.I wasn't directing that at you, and I didn't feel it was so much specific to you as much as you were voicing your generations angst. But I did mean it - there are so many existential, legitimately terrible things going on the list you sent seems...inconveniencing at most. Another way to look at it is this - live as big as you can. Appreciate things - hell, you'll never have the truly fine things in life probably - just don't miss a lot of "pretty great" because you're down about what you're missing.
I’ll freely admit that terminally online people who used to inhabit certain corners of (deep breath) EXXXXXX f/k/a Twitter before the mass emigration to, er, whatever the platform is now (Threads? Bluesky? Whatever) should stop getting high on their own supply and touch grass, if they can find any, on a more regular basis.I wasn't directing that at you, and I didn't feel it was so much specific to you as much as you were voicing your generations angst. But I did mean it - there are so many existential, legitimately terrible things going on the list you sent seems...inconveniencing at most. Another way to look at it is this - live as big as you can. Appreciate things - hell, you'll never have the truly fine things in life probably - just don't miss a lot of "pretty great" because you're down about what you're missing.
TL;DR