331–340 of 390 posts
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If you’ve recently become homeless, it’s very likely you still have an iPhone (and you better hold onto it).
The efficient decision would be to swap out into an Android phone of similar vintage and sell the iPhone. You’ll come out positive because iPhones hold value better.
>This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness
Most comments in this thread are about learning to budget/control finances. I would just like to point out what I call "The IT bubble". We all make money here. Most of us make good money. Our social circles are filled with people making money. Most people do not have this privilege. Below a certain threshold there is no such thing as budgeting/finances. It's just survival. You're not gonna budget because you can't sa…
Most of us didn't wind up in IT by random accident though: the prudent behavior of our parents fostered an appreciation of a value system that ultimately leads to life comfort, including the discipline to forego short-term pleasure in order to obtain it. These are educable elements that COULD be instilled in schools if teachers weren't hamstrung by administrators, politicians, and parents allowed to second guess thei…
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Another change, but one much harder to manage is that many of the products people buy today have no value left after 2-4 years and some both have no value after 2-4 years and do things degrading their performance forcing you to again purchase an expensive item that does nothing to build wealth. Vehicles, electronics, home appliances all sit at something like a max of 8-11 years of use and loose 30-50% of their value…
> I have a refrigerator from the 70's that works great That refrigerator had a real cost (adjusted for inflation) that's just as high as "heavy-duty", "pro" units that you can buy today and that will last you just as long (adjusting for survival bias)
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So, when you log into the Bank of America website, you want to be greeted every time with things like the following? "Dude, maybe you should sell this car that you're paying $450 per month for and get a $7000 used car." "Did you know that between starbucks and happy hour you spend an average of $120 per week, and that amounts to 10% of your take-home pay?" "You currently spend $2500 per month on rent. If you downsize…
An automated fiduciary would be a huge boon, the robotic equivalent of a piggy bank. But it should be client side; it's role is to screen you from from being exploited by those who you do business with, including your bank.
This too will be co-opted by the greedy who look to profit in the short term, even if just to profit in the app. The boom bust cycle just shows up too many times in history not to be caused by a failure in the human psyche.
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To be honest, I don't know what the business model would be, but it seems like it should be in the banks long-term best interest to create rich, prosperous people with invest-able funds. They are literally in a position to create their own wealthy customer base. What would it actually do for a big bank, if it were the exception rather than the rule, that their low/middle-class account holders had enough savings to co…
> To be honest, I don't know what the business model would be, but it seems like it should be in the banks long-term best interest to create rich, prosperous people with invest-able funds. They are literally in a position to create their own wealthy customer base. You're right! It's absolutely in the best interest of a bank to help create a prosperous, happy, long-term customer with investable funds. Of course, this…
The market cant see past the next quarter. Long term thinking requires visionaries that can sell the idea, without them you get 3÷ growth at any cost (including signing up customers for services they didn't ask for, Wells Fargo). Banks are late up with Too Big To Fail these days to care about the long term.
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To be honest, I don't know what the business model would be, but it seems like it should be in the banks long-term best interest to create rich, prosperous people with invest-able funds. They are literally in a position to create their own wealthy customer base. What would it actually do for a big bank, if it were the exception rather than the rule, that their low/middle-class account holders had enough savings to co…
Banks make a lot of money (averaging a bit over 12¢ per dollar lent) on credit cards. It would likely be overall disadvantageous for them to pull people out of credit card debt, out of debt in general, and to eliminate overdraft situations.
No one is mentioning the insane debt levels we are currently holding in this country at every level in this thread.
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I'm pretty sure that this is actually a thing; Like once you step outside of the technical field; most everyone else really needs to "dress for the job they want" in the form of, for example, having a class-appropriate car. I think this is one of the biggest bonuses you get as a technical person; you can live with roommates and drive a beater car, if you want, and it's not a problem when getting quarter-million dolla…
I can believe this. Realtors, on a %-based fee, have to show their clients how much they’re making (for other clients). If a realtor turns up in a Mercedes, they’re basically saying: “I’m a good salesman/woman”. Devs in SF display status in other ways. HN karma? Exits? Economists call those “hard to fake” status displays.
No, developers display status more directly, by pointing at a thing and saying "I did that" - or on a lower level, simply displaying intelligence and domain specific problem solving ability.
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Banks don't want you to spend money. They want you to have as much in your account as possible. So it would be in their interest to encourage saving.
Pretty sure they want you to pay as much interest and generate as many interchange fees as possible.
the trifecta of: student loan debt + mortgage debt + employer based health insurance, is clearly just a bundled and packaged form of indentured servitude.
The first and last yes absolutely, though aim a conservative Brit and how Americans reconcile themselves to your health insurance (or lack of it) system really baffles me. Mortgages aren’t as clear cut. Our mortgages have been the backbone of my family’s current financial security. After all the idea is at the end you own your house. Interest only mortgages not so much of course and it requires that the house ends up…
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The efficient decision would be to swap out into an Android phone of similar vintage and sell the iPhone. You’ll come out positive because iPhones hold value better.
Um, no. iPhones hold value for multiple reasons. One of which is they last longer. >This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness