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Show HN: In a single HTML file, an app to encourage my children to invest

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Re: Show HN: In a single HTML file, an app to encourage my children to invest

#351

Post by array_key_first »

danielbarla wrote: post #141
triceratops wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know what you mean by that. They teach compound interest in every school. Basic economics too. Anything more advanced is going to be lost on most kids, because that's most adults' level of financial literacy too. The problem is many kids don't have much money to save or invest. Or if they do, real banks kinda suck when you only have a kid amount of money ("Here's the 0.2% interest on your $37 balance"). So th…

While I certainly had the _concept_ of compound interest taught to me at some abstract mathematical level, the application to real life practical financial scenarios was definitely not done [1]. Economics as a whole was an optional subject. I think schools and curriculums could do a whole lot better in representing this important facet of life. More broadly, I often feel that "applying all that math you've learned to…

The problem is that the financial industry is, like, capitalism-maxxing.

How do you teach "financial literacy" in a practical way without referring to specific products, offerings, or corporations? You really can't.

If you talk to people about investing or retirement, they're gonna talk about Fidelity, Vanguard, whatever. Which is very practical. But I'm not so sure we need our government and education system to basically directly endorse these corporations.

Re: Show HN: In a single HTML file, an app to encourage my children to invest

#352

Post by vasco »

tonyhart7 wrote: post #311
Brendinooo wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is true of most money behaviors! My mom taught me the same thing about giving. And even today, knowing way more about personal finance than I did at the start of my working life, I'm still amazed at how blocking out money in the budget astronomically increases your chances that that money actually goes to the thing you want.

"My mom taught me the same thing about giving." care to share what you learn???

They mean don't wait till you're rich to start giving charity. Just give what you can when you can. Many people tell themselves they are great people because of all the money they'd give away just as soon as they are rich enough to do it but die without giving anything.

Re: Show HN: In a single HTML file, an app to encourage my children to invest

#353

Post by array_key_first »

RealStickman_ wrote: post #117
alxmdev wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably, because everything would collapse if everyone was an "investor" and fewer people did actual work to keep the world going.

This type of investing isn't about day trading following the latest hype. It's about putting some surplus money to better use for when you need it in 10-20 years.

That's even worse, because the entire point of the stock market is supposed to be that investors choose where to put their money based on how the company is performing and what they're saying. I.e., you vote with your wallet, and the market therefore punishes bad behavior and rewards good behavior.

If everyone is passively investing, that no longer works. Then it's not even a market. We don't even know, for sure, if that works.

Re: Show HN: In a single HTML file, an app to encourage my children to invest

#354

Post by array_key_first »

koakuma-chan wrote: post #270
bilekas wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The issue appears to be that 50% of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck and have no savings? I can't imagine how this could be anything other than them just spending money on shit they don't need. Or that there's no standard minimum wage, or income protection if something does go wrong. Student debt is crippling to people in itself never mind hospital events. That's so many people you should think "something must b…

> It shouldn't be though, if you pay taxes, the government should be there for you in an emergency when it comes to health. As far as I know in the US your employer provides health insurance?

Some jobs provide healthcare, many don't.

Many people here, if they are not educated, are forced to work manual labor jobs. Those jobs will always work you under full-time, so they don't have to give you insurance. Usually that means you have to work another job.

People who haven't lived that life just don't get. It just doesn't click in your head.

You can work 60 hours a week and just barely make rent and food. Not only can you do it, I think most people are. And there's nothing you can do. There is no higher paying job waiting for you somewhere, because you don't have a college degree.

How're you gonna get a college degree when you work 60 hours a week? Hm? You're not. You're stuck. Your best shot, really, is to work up through management. That's why you'll see people working at the same restaurant for 20 years.

They must be so stupid, why don't they get a real job? No, actually, that's probably their best bet.

Re: Show HN: In a single HTML file, an app to encourage my children to invest

#355

Post by Waterluvian »

koyote wrote: post #338
Waterluvian wrote: post #160

I had a very similar idea this summer. But my kids are 6 and 8, so I approached it using the video game approach. It's been an absolute smash hit and entirely altered the habits of doing chores in this home. It's been about 3 months and it's still going stronger than ever. The whole thing is a static page, driven by a Google Spreadsheet that Mom and I edit to adjust goals and track progress. https://ibb.co/RTw5sCDJ h…

That is very cool! Do you have any details on how it was built or is the source code available? Also, what happens if one of the daily missions is not completed? Is there a passive income from those?

I wrote it in an evening so it’s disaster code. I might clean it up and make it public this holiday break.

The dailies are a minimum requirement if they want screen time.

I spent a lot of time reflecting on video game incentives and disincentives and was incredibly careful not to teach the wrong thing. The very minimum behaviour we want to enshrine as routines. Everything else is treated as a bonus. Some days they get no coins and that’s fine. Points are never taken away. Coins are spent however they want.

Re: Show HN: In a single HTML file, an app to encourage my children to invest

#356

Post by array_key_first »

nxor wrote: post #95
ho_schi wrote: post #90

At the point with investment I was lost. Children should learn to be patient (saving money) and prepare for bad situations (saving money). That’s enough. When older we can teach them what capitalism considers as investment. Capitalism is a longer word for greed. Money doesn’t work. Employees do. Customers pay. Both suffer to make greedy persons rich. Give them a piggy bank. Teaches the concept of preparation.

I mostly agree but greed is a part of human nature is it not?

I don't know, is it? It seems natural - after all, animals are selfish and will put themselves first to survive.

... but then again, animals also rape and murder each other. Is rape a part of human nature? I don't know, but I know we don't want it.

Re: Show HN: In a single HTML file, an app to encourage my children to invest

#357

Post by tinfoilhatter »

ryandrake wrote: post #349
tinfoilhatter wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So when authors of history-related works criticize or make remarks about bloodlines such as the Hapsburgs or the Medicis or the Colonnas are you equally as outraged as when it involves a bloodline of Jewish people? If I navigate to - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genealogy_of_the_Rothschild_fa... - every section of the page mentions the family being involved in banking. Am I stereotyping members of the Rothschild blo…

I think the word "bloodline" has gotten people wrapped around the axle. You could have just said "the Rothschild family" and been in the clear. "Bloodline" veers a little close to smearing an entire ethnicity over the actions of one relatively small family. I'm sure it's not what you meant, but as soon as you start talking about the contents of people's blood, people's ears start perking up and looking for bigotry.

Well I don't really understand the difference between the words family and bloodline, because what is a family besides a lineage of people connected by blood? Just for clarity - I am referring to Mayer Amschel Rothschild and his descendants who have been and continue to be involved in central banking. I am most definitely not referring to all Jewish / Ashkenazi Jewish people, any ethnicity or anyone with the last name Rothschild who isn't or hasn't been involved in central banking and orchestrating wars.

Thank you for pointing this out. I'll try to be more careful in my choice of words moving forward.

Re: Show HN: In a single HTML file, an app to encourage my children to invest

#358

Post by bruckie »

singleshot_ wrote: post #341
bruckie wrote: post #340

I run a "Bank of Dad", tracked in a spreadsheet for my kids. They can choose to "invest" their money with me or not. To make investing meaningful for them, I pay 10% interest per month, up to a $50 balance. To avoid bankrupting myself—and to encourage them to get a real investment account when the time comes—the rate drops as the balance increases, similar to progressive tax brackets. By the time they get to $1000 ba…

These kids are going to be so mad at how low interest rates are at actual banks that I wonder if this is ultimately going to teach them to borrow rather than save. I guess it’s the same thing, really: they’re learning the time value of money either way.

I've been very transparent with them that the interest rates they get from me are far more generous than out there in the real world. :)

Re: Show HN: In a single HTML file, an app to encourage my children to invest

#359

Post by renewiltord »

johntiror wrote: post #73

There’s an old story about Rothschild getting a haircut when the barber started giving him stock tips. Rothschild thanked him, left the shop, and immediately sold all his holdings. The reason was: “When even the barber is investing, the market’s gone too far.” I might be wrong, but reading this, I couldn’t help but think: if we’ve reached the point where we’re building apps to get our kids into investing, maybe we’re…

Sure, I did that in 2018 as I was leaving London. Cabbie was talking about the coins he was buying and this and that. Bitcoin was $10k/coin at the time. I sold my bitcoin as soon as I reached Heathrow. This was a very wise move because I followed the story.

Re: Show HN: In a single HTML file, an app to encourage my children to invest

#360

Post by triceratops »

dingaling wrote: post #284
linsomniac wrote: post #102

There's an awful lot of negativity here, but as someone who's 55 and has earned a good wage since I was 17, I really wish I had taken investing more seriously from the very beginning. While I knew of compound interest, I really didn't understand it until like a decade ago. If I'd started putting 5% of my money into a target retirement plan from 17, I'd be retired now. As it is I'm not doing badly, but I really wish I…

> and let him pick a couple stocks to put some money into And yet we complain that corps today are too focused on their market valuation over everything else; customer experience, longevity, worker conditions, R&D are all being neglected in order to make the needle go up. 'Investing' in stocks in order to flip them when the price goes up is feeding this insanity. Teaching kids that this is perfectly rational seems se…

Investing in stocks and bonds both helps promote economic growth.

Corps have always been focused on their market valuation. It's up to society, and the laws it passes, to change their incentives.

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