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One thing I find interesting about this was the description of the people likely to borrow to invest. >Borg told City Lab that they’re usually educated, with s

One thing I find interesting about this was the description of the people likely to borrow to invest. >Borg told City Lab that they’re usually educated, with some assets in their portfolio, but are worried about their retirement. “They earn more than $60,000 a year, and have at least an adequate handle on technology,” reports CNBC. I think this is very understandable from my perspective. I'm relatively young, smart and have a good job. I'm tech savvy, but I'm also numerate. Because I'm numerate I can look at the house I'd like to buy - it's £3/4/5m, I earn >£100k, but probably will never earn >£300k (numbers deliberately fuzzed for privacy reasons). So I look at my situation and say "I can never get to that house that I really want". It's not a mansion, it's just a nice detatched house in a good part of town. From that perspective I completely understand this compulsion to start betting. The step from working middle class to comfortably well off is just an unimaginable step.

nostrebored 7y ago
Unrealistic desires are not an excuse for betting, they're the exact reason not to bet. The road to the mansion is paved with the crippling debt of the less fortunate. Assuming you'll be the winner of a speculative bubble is not the numerate decision.
olasco 7y ago
You can become a millionaire before you retire is you save $100 dollars every month and ask your bank is there is any program that can give you 10-12 percent increament of your savings. Try it.
Nursie 7y ago
Those £3/4/5m houses are not affordable for the comfortably well off. They're for the very wealthy. You can only be talking about London here because in most of the UK you can get a nice detached house in a good part of town for well under a million. Probably under half a million in most places. Earning over £100k pa is also not "working class". You're earning several times the national average wage. If you're not feeling "comfortably well off" on somewhere between four and ten times the average wage, you might want to look at what you're doing with your money.

nostrebored 7y ago

Unrealistic desires are not an excuse for betting, they're the exact reason not to bet. The road to the mansion is paved with the crippling debt of the less fortunate. Assuming you'll be the winner of a speculative bubble is not the numerate decision.

olasco 7y ago

You can become a millionaire before you retire is you save $100 dollars every month and ask your bank is there is any program that can give you 10-12 percent increament of your savings. Try it.

Nursie 7y ago

Those £3/4/5m houses are not affordable for the comfortably well off. They're for the very wealthy. You can only be talking about London here because in most of the UK you can get a nice detached house in a good part of town for well under a million. Probably under half a million in most places. Earning over £100k pa is also not "working class". You're earning several times the national average wage. If you're not feeling "comfortably well off" on somewhere between four and ten times the average wage, you might want to look at what you're doing with your money.