4 ms·

Ehh, the reason my parents retired millionaires, despite never having earned an annual six figures combined in their lives, as well as putting two kids through

Ehh, the reason my parents retired millionaires, despite never having earned an annual six figures combined in their lives, as well as putting two kids through college with no financial aid, was because of being invested in the stock market during the Reagan 80s economy.

nickthemagicman 8y ago
Were they doing put options? Didn't Reagan put us into a recession?
- philwelch 8y ago
  Not really: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recessions_in_the_United_States#Great_Depression_onward https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recessions_in_the_Unit... In 1980, at the end of the Carter administration, the US was suffering from a bad recession that double-dipped in 1981. From 1982 onwards, the economy grew without a hitch until 1990-91. You could blame that recession on Reagan and Bush, but it didn't happen during the Reagan years.
  - chrisco255 8y ago
    Boy blaming Reagan for the 91 recession (2.5 years after his term) is a stretch. And also, in retrospect, the '91 recession was a blip, in what was largely a booming decade of growth.
    - philwelch 8y ago
      It seemed to work for the Clinton campaign in 1992. I mean, he blamed Bush, but Reagan got lumped in too. And yeah, it was a booming almost-three-decades of growth between 1982 and 2008, with blips in 1991 and 2001.
  - tcbawo 8y ago
    That recession was caused by the Fed. Rates were raised sharply to break inflation.
    - philwelch 8y ago
      I'm generally dubious of blaming large macroeconomic trends on the incumbent President anyway: * The FED has more direct influence and control (although the FED chair is appointed by the President, so I guess you can blame him indirectly) * Congress is responsible for most domestic policies, even the ones championed by the President. * Tons of economic factors are outside of the US government's direct control, especially when it comes to science and technology. (Some of these factors are even outside the control of any American actors: many of the recessions between 1970 and 1990 were at least partly caused by disruptions in the oil market.) * Even factors that you can attribute to government actions are more long-term in focus: ARPANET was established in the Johnson administration and didn't yield macroeconomic gains until the Clinton administration, while most of the economic benefit of the Interstate Highway System was realized long after the Eisenhower administration.
ofj28 8y ago
That’s a huge oversimplification that ignores so much Soviet Union was still a thing. Reagan had only just started offshoring to China that would continue through GHW Bush, and Clinton. Germany was still split. Cost of education was a small fraction it is today. Housing costs the same and healthcare. The world economy was vastly different. Your parents retired as millionaires due to right time and place. I make $200k yr. If wages had kept up with inflation, that would be more like $500-$600k/yr today. Shits fucked

nickthemagicman 8y ago

Were they doing put options? Didn't Reagan put us into a recession?

philwelch 8y ago
Not really: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recessions_in_the_United_States#Great_Depression_onward https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recessions_in_the_Unit... In 1980, at the end of the Carter administration, the US was suffering from a bad recession that double-dipped in 1981. From 1982 onwards, the economy grew without a hitch until 1990-91. You could blame that recession on Reagan and Bush, but it didn't happen during the Reagan years.
- chrisco255 8y ago
  Boy blaming Reagan for the 91 recession (2.5 years after his term) is a stretch. And also, in retrospect, the '91 recession was a blip, in what was largely a booming decade of growth.
  - philwelch 8y ago
    It seemed to work for the Clinton campaign in 1992. I mean, he blamed Bush, but Reagan got lumped in too. And yeah, it was a booming almost-three-decades of growth between 1982 and 2008, with blips in 1991 and 2001.
- tcbawo 8y ago
  That recession was caused by the Fed. Rates were raised sharply to break inflation.
  - philwelch 8y ago
    I'm generally dubious of blaming large macroeconomic trends on the incumbent President anyway: * The FED has more direct influence and control (although the FED chair is appointed by the President, so I guess you can blame him indirectly) * Congress is responsible for most domestic policies, even the ones championed by the President. * Tons of economic factors are outside of the US government's direct control, especially when it comes to science and technology. (Some of these factors are even outside the control of any American actors: many of the recessions between 1970 and 1990 were at least partly caused by disruptions in the oil market.) * Even factors that you can attribute to government actions are more long-term in focus: ARPANET was established in the Johnson administration and didn't yield macroeconomic gains until the Clinton administration, while most of the economic benefit of the Interstate Highway System was realized long after the Eisenhower administration.

ofj28 8y ago

That’s a huge oversimplification that ignores so much Soviet Union was still a thing. Reagan had only just started offshoring to China that would continue through GHW Bush, and Clinton. Germany was still split. Cost of education was a small fraction it is today. Housing costs the same and healthcare. The world economy was vastly different. Your parents retired as millionaires due to right time and place. I make $200k yr. If wages had kept up with inflation, that would be more like $500-$600k/yr today. Shits fucked