AI financial advice is surprisingly good, especially if you ask right questions

Post by tdrz » Sun, Aug 02, 2026, 8:50 AM UTC

throw0101a wrote: post #161

AussieWog93 wrote: post #98

People in this thread are massively underestimating the level of financial illiteracy in the general population. We've had multiple people try to convince us to set up bank accounts for our kids, so that they could accumulate interest over 18 years. More that tried to convince me to gamble on random pump and dump shitcoins. More still that talked about "investing" in random collectables like Funko Pops or Pokemon car…

> You could replace the AI with a piece of paper […] This is actually the 'schtick' of a book that was written ten years ago: > Emails and comments on his blog asked for a real index card with financial advice, so Pollack jotted down nine rules in two minutes, took a picture of it, and posted it online.[1][4] The image went viral, and was covered on many internet news sites.[4][5][6] Pollack and Olen wrote The Index…

Post by blitzar » Sun, Aug 02, 2026, 8:54 AM UTC

what wrote: post #164

AussieWog93 wrote: post #98

People in this thread are massively underestimating the level of financial illiteracy in the general population. We've had multiple people try to convince us to set up bank accounts for our kids, so that they could accumulate interest over 18 years. More that tried to convince me to gamble on random pump and dump shitcoins. More still that talked about "investing" in random collectables like Funko Pops or Pokemon car…

> We've had multiple people try to convince us to set up bank accounts for our kids, so that they could accumulate interest over 18 years. I don’t really see the problem here? Why wouldn’t you want to set up financial accounts for your children and invest in them?

Post by massysett » Sun, Aug 02, 2026, 9:14 AM UTC

jjav wrote: post #283

ornornor wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was at a dealership not that long ago to buy a new car for someone. The seller explained us how a lease was so much better financially than outright buying. He was completely wrong on the fundamentals: basically with a lease the car company makes you a huge favour because after the three years are up the car is worthless but they’ll take it back and lease you a new one anyway and you get a brand new car. Whereas if…

> The seller explained us how a lease was so much better financially than outright buying. Of course a lease is better than buying.. for the dealer. So the seller was honest, just not entirely transparent. Leasing is one of the dumbest financial moves ever. Forces you into a perpetual treadmill of payments for life. Just buy a car, pay it off (cash if you can, or with a loan) and then drive it forever.

Post by ncruces » Sun, Aug 02, 2026, 9:33 AM UTC

jjav wrote: post #282

throw0101a wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You could replace the AI with a piece of paper […] This is actually the 'schtick' of a book that was written ten years ago: > Emails and comments on his blog asked for a real index card with financial advice, so Pollack jotted down nine rules in two minutes, took a picture of it, and posted it online.[1][4] The image went viral, and was covered on many internet news sites.[4][5][6] Pollack and Olen wrote The Index…

> Never buy or sell an individual security. This is controversial but very bad advice. No index funds, by their nature, will ever match the return of high-flying company stocks. If you have very little investment capital available, then yes, allocate it all to index funds because you can't afford to narrow it down yet. But as soon as you have some room to invest in individual stocks, do it. After about three decades…

Post by Pragmata » Sun, Aug 02, 2026, 9:49 AM UTC

jandrewrogers wrote: post #204

sheepolog wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't downvote them, but I am genuinely curious to hear from people who "can't save money", and try to understand why that's the case. My assumption is that a large percent of them are spending way more than they need to, but that could easily be an incorrect stereotype.

Federal Reserve studies indicate that 10-15% of the US population can’t save money due to fundamental financial realities. That is, the necessary expenses of an ordinary lifestyle consumes all of their income. That is tens of millions of people. There is another ~30% that expand their lifestyle to consume all available income. Not saving is a choice for this part of the population.