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On Being Rich-ish: Lessons I learned becoming suddenly middle-class

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Re: On Being Rich-ish: Lessons I learned becoming suddenly middle-class

#41

Post by [deleted] »

lscdlscd wrote: post #27
commandlinefan wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I couldn't help but do the same thing when I was reading the article, in the opposite direction: "wait - you had a wife and you were poor?" When I was young and my income was low or nonexistent, it seemed like women could smell the poverty on me and I couldn't even get close to them. It was like trying to sneak up on a grazing gazelle - they'd hear me coming and just sprint to a safe distance. The more money I made,…

That's a very sad way to view the world and people.

[deleted]

Re: On Being Rich-ish: Lessons I learned becoming suddenly middle-class

#42

Post by [deleted] »

lscdlscd wrote: post #27
commandlinefan wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I couldn't help but do the same thing when I was reading the article, in the opposite direction: "wait - you had a wife and you were poor?" When I was young and my income was low or nonexistent, it seemed like women could smell the poverty on me and I couldn't even get close to them. It was like trying to sneak up on a grazing gazelle - they'd hear me coming and just sprint to a safe distance. The more money I made,…

That's a very sad way to view the world and people.

[deleted]

Re: On Being Rich-ish: Lessons I learned becoming suddenly middle-class

#43

Post by the_only_law »

hallway_monitor wrote: post #37
lscdlscd wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a very sad way to view the world and people.

Why would it be sad? Women are attracted to security and success. Men are attracted to good genetics expressed physically.

Since we're tossing random anecdotes, everyone I know in a happy relationship makes less than me.

I'm suppose if I was properly rich and flaunted it, certain women would suddenly be interested, but no person I'd marry.

Re: On Being Rich-ish: Lessons I learned becoming suddenly middle-class

#44

Post by entropicgravity »

And this is why Sweden has a more creative economy than the US. The state takes a bit more from the rich so that those at the bottom have at least, decent housing, health care, nutrition and education.

In a capitalist system the top 10% will always be richer and the bottom 10% will always struggle. And this would still be true even if a magic genie came a long and made everyone ten times smarter.

This isn't a knock on capitalism. Capitalism scales where many other systems don't. (I'm looking at you communism.)

Re: On Being Rich-ish: Lessons I learned becoming suddenly middle-class

#45

Post by WXLCKNO »

thatfrenchguy wrote: post #31
danrocks wrote: post #30

I have been poor in a poor country and now I’m not. I make mid-high six figures and just bought a house. I have five years of expenses saved up and could extend it to ten with the right moves. Still, sleeping at night is hard, imagining that everything could collapse at any moment - I don’t know how I would explain to my kid that “we don’t have money anymore”. This feeling permeates every interaction I have at work -…

> but simply to stop being worried every damn minute of my life. You would be worried nonetheless, because your brain will latch on to the next anxiety. Just like you thought that having 5 years of expenses would alleviate your anxiety. What you need is a good therapist to work on your anxiety issues.

I can confirm. Grew up poor, now worth mid 7 figures and still have money anxiety despite barely spending money. Therapy sounds like a good idea lol.

Re: On Being Rich-ish: Lessons I learned becoming suddenly middle-class

#46

Post by reactspa »

hnaccount141 wrote: post #17
legitster wrote: post #7

I can relate to a lot of this, I was pretty stinking poor growing up. Now I make good money. (I still buy used tires from shady lots tho). But even now that I'm making good money, it boggles my mind how richer everyone else still seems. Like, how do so many young people have a favorite island in Hawaii? How is everyone out there affording new cars? People actually picked a college major without thinking about cost? O…

> Like, how do so many young people have a favorite island in Hawaii? How is everyone out there affording new cars? The reality is that oftentimes they simply can't, at least according to a responsible definition of "afford". All we see from the outside is the brand new Jeep, we don't see the fact that they're underwater on a 72 month loan with 6% interest. The average car loan term in 2019 was 69 months, that's insa…

> Something like 30% of trade ins have negative equity

Could you please clarify what this means. E.g., A car "X" is traded in for a car "Y". X gets a trade-in-value of $2,000. That is, the cost to buy Y is reduced by 2,000. Where does the negative-equity in your point apply here please? Thanks.

Re: On Being Rich-ish: Lessons I learned becoming suddenly middle-class

#47

Post by thehappypm »

entropicgravity wrote: post #44

And this is why Sweden has a more creative economy than the US. The state takes a bit more from the rich so that those at the bottom have at least, decent housing, health care, nutrition and education. In a capitalist system the top 10% will always be richer and the bottom 10% will always struggle. And this would still be true even if a magic genie came a long and made everyone ten times smarter. This isn't a knock o…

By what measure is Sweden more creative? The US is the cultural capital of the West, Hollywood, art, music..

Re: On Being Rich-ish: Lessons I learned becoming suddenly middle-class

#48

Post by legitster »

reactspa wrote: post #46
hnaccount141 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Like, how do so many young people have a favorite island in Hawaii? How is everyone out there affording new cars? The reality is that oftentimes they simply can't, at least according to a responsible definition of "afford". All we see from the outside is the brand new Jeep, we don't see the fact that they're underwater on a 72 month loan with 6% interest. The average car loan term in 2019 was 69 months, that's insa…

> Something like 30% of trade ins have negative equity Could you please clarify what this means. E.g., A car "X" is traded in for a car "Y". X gets a trade-in-value of $2,000. That is, the cost to buy Y is reduced by 2,000. Where does the negative-equity in your point apply here please? Thanks.

Your old car has more debt left on it than you get in the trade-in.

The dealership gives me 10k, but it still has a 12k loan on it. So on top of the cost of the new car, I am still out $2k.

Re: On Being Rich-ish: Lessons I learned becoming suddenly middle-class

#49

Post by busterarm »

entropicgravity wrote: post #44

And this is why Sweden has a more creative economy than the US. The state takes a bit more from the rich so that those at the bottom have at least, decent housing, health care, nutrition and education. In a capitalist system the top 10% will always be richer and the bottom 10% will always struggle. And this would still be true even if a magic genie came a long and made everyone ten times smarter. This isn't a knock o…

Ask any Swede. Sweden is a capitalist country. They have social programs. They used to have a Socialist economy for a few decades but famously abandoned it in the early 90s after finding that their GDP had remained completely flat and their citizens went through crazy lengths to avoid tax (e.g. ABBA and their wardrobes)

Comparing Sweden as an opposing choice to Capitalism doesn't make any sense.

Re: On Being Rich-ish: Lessons I learned becoming suddenly middle-class

#50

Post by wnissen »

hnaccount141 wrote: post #17
legitster wrote: post #7

I can relate to a lot of this, I was pretty stinking poor growing up. Now I make good money. (I still buy used tires from shady lots tho). But even now that I'm making good money, it boggles my mind how richer everyone else still seems. Like, how do so many young people have a favorite island in Hawaii? How is everyone out there affording new cars? People actually picked a college major without thinking about cost? O…

> Like, how do so many young people have a favorite island in Hawaii? How is everyone out there affording new cars? The reality is that oftentimes they simply can't, at least according to a responsible definition of "afford". All we see from the outside is the brand new Jeep, we don't see the fact that they're underwater on a 72 month loan with 6% interest. The average car loan term in 2019 was 69 months, that's insa…

I would strengthen your statement to say that almost everyone can't afford it. Median household income is around $67K in the US, and the median household assets (minus the house) at age 65-69 is $75K. So even if a third of your income is being replaced by social security, a typical household has not even two years of income saved. A 25th percentile household has less than 5 months! Most people save basically nothing, on net. Even 75th percentile households only have 4 years of income. Assuming reasonable investment returns, that's only saving 2.5% on average. Pensions aren't expensive, retirement is expensive! People, even ones who can easily afford it, often won't save.

https://dqydj.com/household-income-percentile-calculator/ https://dqydj.com/average-median-top-net-worth-percentiles-b...

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