I found this to be insightful and helpful. Thank you for sharing.
Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)
121–130 of 206 posts
Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
Millenial here. Did this happen with other generations? Where the term was just used as a derogatory way to refer to young people?
It happened for Millennials and Baby Boomers. But not so much for the Greats, the Silents, and Generation X. My theory is that the Greats, the Silents, and Gen X were all wartime generations. The Silents and Gen X were also relatively small generations, there really aren't that many of them. Add to that the fact that all of those generations had some level of dispossession coupled with an even more impressive level o…
Depending on who's definitions of birth date ranges you use, Obama might be considered a Gen X president.
Also, not entirely sure why there's a generation called "the Greatest Generation". We can say they were all war heroes and suffered etc., but there were also jerks in that generation who started those wars. We are all products of our time. It kind of sucks to just lump everyone based on their birth date and stereotype them.
Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)
#1232007: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=88544 2008: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=310056 2016: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11320169
This is an interesting point you may have raised regarding re-post. At one end, repeated information will lead some to think it is counter-productive, think it is a karma-hungry person or lead to backlash. On the other end, there are many individuals that can benefit from older articles that they have yet to see. Where to find the balance? We have yet to see.
Reposts are ok after a year or so. This in in the FAQ: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html.
The reason for providing links like that is simply that people find previous discussions interesting.
Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
Barnum himself spent much of his life in and out of debt. He was a great showman and many of the performances he arranged were extreme financial successes, but he was a profligate spender and he was always one disaster away from going deep into dept.
"Do as I say, not as I do!"
More charitably, perhaps he is relaying advice he learned the hard way.
Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)
#125One modern trick to earn a tiny bit of extra money: Use credit cards for buying/paying anything at all, never use debit cards or cash: Credit cards usually pay a small reward point for spends which can often be redeemed as a cash discount later, and also since the expenses go to the credit card, the cash in the savings account stay untouched till the day you make the credit card bill payment, which will keep earning…
Didn't people abuse this one time to by buying $1 coins from the US Government with credit cards and then immediately re-depositing them into their bank accounts? They were essentially pocketing a fraction of the merchant fees the govt had to pay in order for people to buy the coins with credit cards.
Yes, and (in the US) money orders too, at USPS.
Then, USPS realised what was happening, and blocked them for purchase on credit cards.
The “manufactured spend” community (who cycle money through cards to get cashback/points without really spending money) then started buying prepaid debit cards & gift cards on credit, then buying money orders on gift cards, then depositing the money back in their bank.
That came to an end a couple of years ago when prepaid cards were also blocked: https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/7ac5t9/doc_link_n...
Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are mortgages really debt though? Because even though you owe, you also own as much as you owe (except during a market downturn of course). Whereas debt for a depreciating asset (like a car, or most things that go on a credit card) are what I would consider "real" debt. In other words, keep your net debt low or non existent (when looking at a balance sheet).
If you owned a house in 2008, I assure you, you'd feel that your mortgage was real debt. Or if you ever got laid off. Or if you ever got injured or severely sick and found yourself with shocking hospital bills. When life hits you with something like that, suddenly that monthly payment, and the risk of foreclosure, bankruptcy, and severely damaged credit, all looms large over your head like the Sword of Damocles. Yes…
Sure, but most people who do take on mortgages do just fine. There will be exceptions but on the average, taking on mortgage to purchase a home in the US is generally a safe bet.
Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you rephrase this comment? I couldn't follow it at all.
I think the argument is something like: It is not profitable to provide the current level of service to rural areas. Because of the high productivity of urban areas, we can redistribute resources and improve rural public infrastructure.
Beyond that, it required interference of the free market by the federal government
Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)
#128One modern trick to earn a tiny bit of extra money: Use credit cards for buying/paying anything at all, never use debit cards or cash: Credit cards usually pay a small reward point for spends which can often be redeemed as a cash discount later, and also since the expenses go to the credit card, the cash in the savings account stay untouched till the day you make the credit card bill payment, which will keep earning…
What about fees?
Not sure about US, but I think in NZ all credit cards with cashback have fees. And I remember there was a research or something concluding that you had to spend at least ~$3000 (don't remember exactly) per month using cashback credit card to break even.
Also, credit cards are not accepted everywhere. And often there is a minimum transaction amount as well.
Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)
#129One modern trick to earn a tiny bit of extra money: Use credit cards for buying/paying anything at all, never use debit cards or cash: Credit cards usually pay a small reward point for spends which can often be redeemed as a cash discount later, and also since the expenses go to the credit card, the cash in the savings account stay untouched till the day you make the credit card bill payment, which will keep earning…
I'm against this practice because of two things:
First, you are selling a little bit of your privacy, the bank you know all your purchase patterns and even though this seems not to be abused it creates a precedent that I do not like.
Secondly, every time that you buy things with your credit card the bank change the business a small fee, so in a way you are making the 'rich' more richer and the 'poor' more poorer.
I believe that these two thing will make me use cash forever.
Re: Golden Rules for Making Money (1880)
#130One modern trick to earn a tiny bit of extra money: Use credit cards for buying/paying anything at all, never use debit cards or cash: Credit cards usually pay a small reward point for spends which can often be redeemed as a cash discount later, and also since the expenses go to the credit card, the cash in the savings account stay untouched till the day you make the credit card bill payment, which will keep earning…
What about fees? Not sure about US, but I think in NZ all credit cards with cashback have fees. And I remember there was a research or something concluding that you had to spend at least ~$3000 (don't remember exactly) per month using cashback credit card to break even. Also, credit cards are not accepted everywhere. And often there is a minimum transaction amount as well.
In the US we have a much better system. The overwhelming majority of buyers spend ~3% more on every purchase and then wealthy cardholders who can attain the requisite credit ratings for rewards cards are given a cut of this 3%. The rest of it goes to the card companies bottom line. A truly magnificent system.
/s