> I was brought up to work diligently, not take on debt, and save - a simple approach to building wealth This is a lie told to the lower class to have them wor

> I was brought up to work diligently, not take on debt, and save - a simple approach to building wealth This is a lie told to the lower class to have them work like slaves. That's not how wealth is generated anywhere on earth. Wealth is created by "luck" ( finding oil, discoveries, stealing/confiscating, etc ) or using capital ( inherit it, borrow it, steal it, whatever ) to hire others to generate value and give those "others" as small a piece of the generated value as possible ( without the others turning on you ) and keeping the rest for yourself ( aka wealth ). Imagine you and your 3 brothers make 10 pizza pies. If you can get them to take 1 pie each and you keep 7 pies, you just generated wealth. Congratulations. > but I'm concerned that will put me at a disadvantage under an economic system with negative rates. If you have to ask "How to prosper under negative interest rates?", then you are already disadvantaged and nothing is likely to change that. Negative interest rates, positive interest rates, it really doesn't matter for the average joe. Why not just live your life instead of worrying about things outside of your control? Ultimately, it all balances out. Sure, your savings account might not pay decent interest, but your mortgage or student loan interests will be lower.