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Just Be Rich

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Re: Just Be Rich

#321

Post by vishnugupta »

saberdancer wrote: post #270
hiq wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Many of these charts ignore this. From https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/01/09/methodo... : > Wealth, or net worth, is the difference between the value of assets owned by households and the value of the liabilities (or debt) held by the household. Assets include items such as the value of an owned home, value of a business, accounts in financial institutions, stocks and bonds, 401(k) and thrift account…

Exactly. Which means when you finish school, if you have a student loan you have negative wealth. If you finished a good school and can expect a decent career you are not in a bad situation even though your wealth is negative.

The point of the parent was that you aren’t in net debt if you own a tangible asset, like a house or a car, on loan. If push comes to shove you could sell off your house, move into a cheaper rental house, and clear the debt.

Student loan gets you into negative wealth territory but not housing loan.

Re: Just Be Rich

#322

Post by [deleted] »

saberdancer wrote: post #270
hiq wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Many of these charts ignore this. From https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/01/09/methodo... : > Wealth, or net worth, is the difference between the value of assets owned by households and the value of the liabilities (or debt) held by the household. Assets include items such as the value of an owned home, value of a business, accounts in financial institutions, stocks and bonds, 401(k) and thrift account…

Exactly. Which means when you finish school, if you have a student loan you have negative wealth. If you finished a good school and can expect a decent career you are not in a bad situation even though your wealth is negative.

[deleted]

Re: Just Be Rich

#323

Post by herbst »

heavyset_go wrote: post #306
herbst wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you actually see how this really works before forming your opinion? The only thing my family needed to migrate to Switzerland was one job contract for my mum, not even a well paid job but some future potential due to relatively good education. The most complicated part was not paying way to much to get our stuff over here. Its not to different in many other countries. The thing is, if you are somewhat valueable (…

What first world country can people emigrate to without a sponsor, a degree or specialization?

Or money. Money works too.

None i guess, but gladly many people have the possibility to get some kind of degree these days. Just because you come from a poor country does not mean you have no means of learning a job.

Re: Just Be Rich

#324

Post by reader_mode »

nasmorn wrote: post #301
reader_mode wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grew up in a family of 7 (4 younger siblings), during civil war, father was into gamling and drinking, mother was unemployed and constantly on the verge of a mental breakdown (understandable given the conditions she was living in). To paint the picture, I have vivid memories of vomiting a boiled onion I ate after not eating for days (I think I was arround 5 years old). And we were poor well into my early 20s untill…

Obviously money will not change everything but if you get a monthly allowance to feed your children it will probably decrease the incidence of onion vomit for a substantial portion of them. Which seems valuable in its own right. Dealing with a large lump sum payment is inherently much harder.

I agree, I think some sort of universal income payment for each child would be the least controversial version of UBI.

Re: Just Be Rich

#325

Post by camhart »

bobmaxup wrote: post #307
camhart wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There isn't a finite amount of "wealth" in the world. You can go out and make wealth every single day. The rich obtaining more of it doesn't mean there's less left over for you and I. People need to be able to cover their needs. Food, housing, healthcare, and I'd be open to arguments in favor of education. But I don't see income inequality as bad necessarily. I see massive amounts of people unable to cover those need…

Would equality be better than the bare necessities?

Assuming by "equality" you mean everyone is given the same amount of money regardless of what they do or achieve, then no it's not better than bare necessities.

A degree of struggle is good for us. It pushes us to become more than we could without it. Don't take this to mean I want everyone in poverty--that's not what I'm saying. But being motivated to work towards a financial goal is a good thing. I do not believe a life without struggle is a good life.

There are struggles outside of financial struggles too. So I understand that even if you remove the financial struggle by giving everyone the same amount of money some struggle will remain from other factors in life. But in general I've found I grow the most in difficult times. It's painful. But it's richly rewarding when you come out the other side of the struggle. Robbing life of struggle will rob you of a rich life.

Re: Just Be Rich

#326

Post by heavyset_go »

flexie wrote: post #274
Barrin92 wrote: post #49

I'm just gonna quote what I think is a very important part from the Graham piece itself >" People who don't look any deeper than the Gini coefficient look back on the world of 1982 as the good old days, because those who got rich then didn't get as rich. But if you dig into how they got rich, the old days don't look so good. In 1982, 84% of the richest 100 people got rich by inheritance, extracting natural resources,…

Protestant zealotry? Seriously? When you bring religion into it, at least get the religion right: The Google founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, had Jewish backgrounds but consider themselves non-religious. Facebook founder Zuckerberg had Jewish background and considered himself atheist at some point. Microsoft founder Bill Gates is Catholic. Paul Allen had Jewish parents. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was raised Catho…

American history and culture is heavily influenced by the Protestants that made up the early US. The Protestant work ethic is a commonly referenced aspect of American culture, and most Americans regardless of religion are not free of its influence.

Re: Just Be Rich

#327

Post by lucideer »

kortilla wrote: post #184
ludocode wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This statistic is misleading. The U.S. government defines the poverty line based on a 1955 model of spending patterns. It's completely inadequate for modern needs. The poverty line for a family of four is defined as a household income of $26,200. Any reasonable person knows it's impossible to pay rent and feed and clothe two adults and two kids on less than $2200 a month. Nevermind owning a home, having a car, saving…

> Any reasonable person knows it's impossible to pay rent and feed and clothe two adults and two kids on less than $2200 a month. Step outside of your bubble. This is very feasible in low CoL areas all over the US. And remember that’s the line so it’s going to be difficult, but it can be done.

> it’s going to be difficult, but it can be done

In a thread that is all about having hurdles/challenges in life, what does your comment contribute here if the above is the case?

Re: Just Be Rich

#328

Post by mjburgess »

flexie wrote: post #274
Barrin92 wrote: post #49

I'm just gonna quote what I think is a very important part from the Graham piece itself >" People who don't look any deeper than the Gini coefficient look back on the world of 1982 as the good old days, because those who got rich then didn't get as rich. But if you dig into how they got rich, the old days don't look so good. In 1982, 84% of the richest 100 people got rich by inheritance, extracting natural resources,…

Protestant zealotry? Seriously? When you bring religion into it, at least get the religion right: The Google founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, had Jewish backgrounds but consider themselves non-religious. Facebook founder Zuckerberg had Jewish background and considered himself atheist at some point. Microsoft founder Bill Gates is Catholic. Paul Allen had Jewish parents. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was raised Catho…

The commenter is referring to the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic which is the cultural handmaiden of contemporary american capitalism.

Re: Just Be Rich

#329

Post by kuu »

saddlerustle wrote: post #103
donnythecroc wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is all down to the basic human need of a home. In the 70s and 80s even 90s someone on a teacher's salary could own their own home in a major world city - say London. Now, literally zero chance. Because homes have become an asset class and the rich can outbid regular people so they are pushed out. That's the problem. I couldn't care less how many billionaires there are if regular people can afford a decent…

Pretty much every mainstream economist put the blame for this squarely on the massively increased regulation of the housing market since the 70s causing a massive decrease in the amount of new construction, not wealth itself.

Spain and its empty 3.5M houses send you regards.

https://www.thelocal.es/20140225/spain-worst-in-europe-for-e...

Re: Just Be Rich

#330

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 »

d_silin wrote: post #7

A lot of people who are just as smart and motived as Elon Musk or Steve Jobs will never be able to start their own companies and get rich. Because they have family obligations that take priority. Because they live outside high-income countries. Because they have no access to support network, so when they fail, they fall all the way to bottom. Because they may have made a crippling mistake in their pasts that now prev…

Success is 100% luck.
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