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I get all that. I have padded my 401k as much as possible (to mixed results, but I’m up overall so no complaints) and I should have a halfass decent nest egg when I call it quits...even though I don’t really plan to retire anyway. I like working.
But some people are driving me nuts on threads that have NOTHING to do with their personal wealth. They always find some way to tell us about how rich they are and blah, blah, blah. I would never sit here and divulge personal information about my finances. For what? It’s none of anyone’s business and no one should believe it anyway. Lol
If I was worth 5+ million I surely wouldn't be on C-D bragging about it. But at the same time, a "normal" 65 year old that worked their entire life at long stints (usually 18-20 years) in solid jobs and put away money 35 years will naturally have enough to retire nicely on...and these days that exceeds a million (usually by a LOT) for a couple with a family in the populated areas of the country.
If you think of a million dollars today as being 150K in the mid 1960's you'd realize it's not much money. If you look at it as throwing off 50K a year in income (that assuming one has a million AND housing), then a couple in the populated areas of our country is barely squeaking by. That's nothing to hide - "Hey, the wifey and I live in Sun City and we go out to eat twice a week".
This thread would certainly have something to do with personal wealth...as the experiences of members here seems quite relevant to the subject at hand. Other than that, it's all guesswork.
It's not hard to do the math....investors in the stock market over decades usually end up with 8-10% compounded. An IRA funded for 25 years at even 10K per year...with that return....would have 1.2 million dollars. That doesn't include their home equity and regular savings and investments.
As (RIP) Mr. Bogle pointed out "Stay the Course".
I would never claim that luck and happenstance does not figure in. Many people are presented with health problems, accidents, disasters, bad turns of the economy and other things that throw the ship off course.
Back to the thread title.....my guess is that many people who become "millionaires" early in life are people who DESIRE that as a goal. The doctor, social worker, teacher, etc. may not make it at all.....or, if they do, they would do so MUCH later in life.
As I tried to point out much earlier - many (most?) very educated people don't aspire to money as a goal. They aspire to higher callings.....wealth may or may not come as the result.
Wealth in itself as a goal is crass, IMHO. It means one is trading their "batteries" (our lives, labor and thoughts) for a number on a digital screen.
I don't find that surprising, you could be the smartest person on the planet and be a 0 if you do not put effort into it. I knew this guy in HS that certainly wasn't any genius but started mowing lawns, I even worked for him briefly but quit because it was every day after school and weekends. By the time he was 30 he sold that business for a few million, downside for him was he missed what is probably the most enjoyable time of your life. Then again maybe he was enjoying himself.
what can you do in your 20s that you can't do in your 30s?
what can you do in your 20s that you can't do in your 30s?
You can have 20 or so years until 40 rather than 10 or less.
That's a major thing....although our society is set up to "fool" you so that we are tempted to give our best years in the Salt Mines.
My Dad is one of the wisest people you will ever meet. He did have a lot of pleasure in his life although he worked hard too (and enjoyed it). He's in his 80's now and tells me "The Golden Years fairy tales is the biggest lie ever told".
Although I'm sure there are exceptions, I think he speaks some truth there. Lots of older people will tell you they are relatively happy (although suicides and depression are up)...BUT, do they really know what to compare it to? It may be great compared to the Salt Mine they were in formerly....
That's another of Dad's sayings (he has one for everything)..."If I put thumbscrews on you and tighten them 12 turns and then let off 4 turns, you will think you are in paradise".
That may be the "talking point" , but note that the only MBS the Federal Reserve created $2 trillion out of thin air to buy are GSE (Fannie and Freddie) MBS. Note how none of the privately-issued MBS needed a $2 trillion back door bailout.
Oh so you don't think the entire financial system got a bailout from the taxpayers? Most Americans would disagree with that I'm sure. For example AIG got a grotesque bailout due to being at the end of the line in Wall Street's little game of "hide the salami". The private sector and Wall Street's hubris was the main cause of the whole disaster. Now they are successfully eliminating some commonsense regulations put in place to try to prevent them from blowing up the system again. Imagine that?
Why exactly do you feel that these securities purchased and held by the Fed don't represent a bailout of Wall Street and big banks? I don't really care to debate what is known history with someone with an obvious bias rather just want to point out that it is wrong to vilify the GSEs exclusively when they were actually pretty far downstream of the root of the problem.
You already divulge too much personal information when you incessantly whine about your lot in life.
Is that so? When have I ever done that?
I don’t remember saying anything outside of the fact that my life has been pretty charmed up to this point. Born into a great family. Raised in a great city. Went to a good school where I had a blast. Great wife and kid. Live in one of the best towns in the best state in the United States. Decent job. Decent home here and in Mexico. Got a few nickels to rub together. That’s the American Dream. Why would I whine about that?
Show a post where I whined about “my lot” in life. You can’t. I just never buy into your BS, which makes you see me in a light that is unflattering...to you. LMAO
I don’t remember saying anything outside of the fact that my life has been pretty charmed up to this point. Born into a great family. Raised in a great city. Went to a good school where I had a blast. Great wife and kid. Live in one of the best towns in the best state in the United States. Decent job. Decent home here and in Mexico. Got a few nickels to rub together. That’s the American Dream. Why would I whine about that?
Show a post where I whined about “my lot” in life. You can’t. I just never buy into your BS, which makes you see me in a light that is unflattering...to you. LMAO
It’s funny how around here, we get all this talk about IQ and who does or doesn’t deserve admission into this or that elite university. Turns out that the most successful people (if success is largely determined by money) were fairly pedestrian students. Not dumb, but not academic superstars by a long shot on average.
This 2017 article that first appeared on Business Insider, and it’s not long at all. It lists a few of the reasons why average students are more likely to end up at the top as opposed to the high academic achievers.
Don't imagine that "pedestrian students" and "elite universities" are mutually exclusive.
I don’t remember saying anything outside of the fact that my life has been pretty charmed up to this point. Born into a great family. Raised in a great city. Went to a good school where I had a blast.
Your school isn't good. It's a joke to most college-educated people.
Quote:
Great wife and kid. Live in one of the best towns in the best state in the United States. Decent job. Decent home here and in Mexico. Got a few nickels to rub together. That’s the American Dream. Why would I whine about that?
Show a post where I whined about “my lot” in life. You can’t. I just never buy into your BS, which makes you see me in a light that is unflattering...to you. LMAO
You whine about your life constantly. What's so wrong about your life that you have to incessantly whine about being Black? You actually sound like you're embarrassed of your race.
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, but note that the only MBS the Federal Reserve created $2 trillion out of thin air to buy are GSE (Fannie and Freddie) MBS. Note how none of the privately-issued MBS needed a $2 trillion back door bailout.
