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What a great read. This resonates with me. At one point in my life I was desperately close to homelessness. At the time I was lucky to still be enrolled at a un

by jakeva 6y ago

What a great read. This resonates with me. At one point in my life I was desperately close to homelessness. At the time I was lucky to still be enrolled at a university and could therefore easily take out as many loans as I needed. It was a horribly risky gamble I wouldn’t wish on anyone, but without going into more details of my life story I barely managed to graduate and find a successful career. I was able to pay off all that debt (nearly 150k) in 4 years. I recognize soberly that my story is the exception and far from the rule. I had a lot of luck. But from that experience I can say nobody should have to experience this. Especially not in the most wealthy nation in the history of the world. - edit: I just want to add the experience nearly broke me, to the point friends and family barely recognized me and the looks I remember in their faces still haunt me. That transition after graduating and starting to make money to being a person who could interact with others who never got so close to total disaster was just as hard. Please be kind. You just don’t know what someone has been through.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
voodootrucker 6y ago
> Especially not in the most wealthy nation in the history of the world. Everyone keeps repeating this, but it's not true. Switzerland beats America by mean net worth. And look at median... whoa 22. By government deficit (and likely household, corporate, etc), I bet we're #1 in all categories. The truth is, America is great at spending money. That doesn't make it wealthy, quite the opposite. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_financial_assets_per_capita#List_of_countries_by_mean_net_financial_assets_per_capita_by_Allianz_A.G._(2018) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_financial... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_per_adult https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_pe... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_government_budget https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_governmen... re: be kind. Sorry, I don't mean to be mean or pick on you personally. That experience must have been terrible. Normally I'd let the data speak for itself, but I will reveal my reason for posting it is because I don't think we give a fair shake to people like yourself.
- brundolf 6y ago
  When people say "most wealthy nation" they mean GDP, not per-capita. America's wide discrepancy between those two is usually the point.
  - voodootrucker 6y ago
    But GDP is most certainly not a measure of wealth, and not doing it per capita makes no sense. https://www.britannica.com/topic/gross-domestic-product https://www.britannica.com/topic/gross-domestic-product https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth Edit: GDP is more like income than wealth, and not per-capita makes no sense because the expense of welfare programs would be on a per-person basis.
    - brundolf 6y ago
      All I'm saying is that's what people mean colloquially.
      - voodootrucker 6y ago
        That's genuinely understandable. My worry is that it was true back in the days of the boomers, and it has been so ingrained in us that we didn't even notice it shifting, and now lack of awareness of this fact causes a kind of cognitive dissonance preventing us from fixing these issues, not least of which the OP. We've squandered our wealth for ever-increasing cash flow, and by the time we're done I'm worried that the country will be a empty hulk.
    - kelnos 6y ago
      I think the rationale for ignoring per-capita is that you're talking about the wealth of a "single entity", the US. And, well, yeah... ok, I guess (ignoring the fact that, as you point out, GDP is more like income than money in the bank). I agree that looking at it that way is meaningless for the purposes of figuring out whose populace is the financially healthiest, but... that's what people do, for some reason.
  - 6y ago
legulere 6y ago
May I ask for how long you took that loan? I’m from Germany and a lot of people live here from around $15 000 per year. 150 thousand seems like such a big amount, but I guess life is also more expensive in the US. I just want to understand, because I come from a different perspective.
- iddan 6y ago
  Unlike in Europe, in the US going to university or college requires huge amounts of money and usually require students to take loans. And unlike other types of loans it is nearly impossible to declare bankruptcy for student loans. There is a great summarising it: https://youtu.be/pVKEsiNMPNc https://youtu.be/pVKEsiNMPNc
  - riffraff 6y ago
    while not the norm, there are places in Europe where student loans are relatively common, e.g. Norway[0] and Sweden[1]. Just mentioning because I was very surprised when I discovered it, and it offers an interesting alternative on how student loans could work. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_loans_in_Norway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_loans_in_Norway [1] https://www.collegefinancinggroup.com/student-loan-repayment/free-college-in-sweden-high-student-debt/ https://www.collegefinancinggroup.com/student-loan-repayment...
    - lb1lf 6y ago
      -But those loans do not cover tuition (which is basically free), but your living expenses while studying, which you would have incurred anyway.
    - bberrry 6y ago
      There is literally no tuition in Sweden. The loans are for rent and general cost of living. You can have literally zero means and still go to university in another city.
      - bberrry 6y ago

by jakeva 6y ago

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

voodootrucker 6y ago

> Especially not in the most wealthy nation in the history of the world. Everyone keeps repeating this, but it's not true. Switzerland beats America by mean net worth. And look at median... whoa 22. By government deficit (and likely household, corporate, etc), I bet we're #1 in all categories. The truth is, America is great at spending money. That doesn't make it wealthy, quite the opposite. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_financial_assets_per_capita#List_of_countries_by_mean_net_financial_assets_per_capita_by_Allianz_A.G._(2018) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_financial... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_per_adult https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_pe... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_government_budget https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_governmen... re: be kind. Sorry, I don't mean to be mean or pick on you personally. That experience must have been terrible. Normally I'd let the data speak for itself, but I will reveal my reason for posting it is because I don't think we give a fair shake to people like yourself.

brundolf 6y ago
When people say "most wealthy nation" they mean GDP, not per-capita. America's wide discrepancy between those two is usually the point.
- voodootrucker 6y ago
  But GDP is most certainly not a measure of wealth, and not doing it per capita makes no sense. https://www.britannica.com/topic/gross-domestic-product https://www.britannica.com/topic/gross-domestic-product https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth Edit: GDP is more like income than wealth, and not per-capita makes no sense because the expense of welfare programs would be on a per-person basis.
  - brundolf 6y ago
    All I'm saying is that's what people mean colloquially.
    - voodootrucker 6y ago
      That's genuinely understandable. My worry is that it was true back in the days of the boomers, and it has been so ingrained in us that we didn't even notice it shifting, and now lack of awareness of this fact causes a kind of cognitive dissonance preventing us from fixing these issues, not least of which the OP. We've squandered our wealth for ever-increasing cash flow, and by the time we're done I'm worried that the country will be a empty hulk.
  - kelnos 6y ago
    I think the rationale for ignoring per-capita is that you're talking about the wealth of a "single entity", the US. And, well, yeah... ok, I guess (ignoring the fact that, as you point out, GDP is more like income than money in the bank). I agree that looking at it that way is meaningless for the purposes of figuring out whose populace is the financially healthiest, but... that's what people do, for some reason.
- 6y ago

legulere 6y ago

May I ask for how long you took that loan? I’m from Germany and a lot of people live here from around $15 000 per year. 150 thousand seems like such a big amount, but I guess life is also more expensive in the US. I just want to understand, because I come from a different perspective.

iddan 6y ago
Unlike in Europe, in the US going to university or college requires huge amounts of money and usually require students to take loans. And unlike other types of loans it is nearly impossible to declare bankruptcy for student loans. There is a great summarising it: https://youtu.be/pVKEsiNMPNc https://youtu.be/pVKEsiNMPNc
- riffraff 6y ago
  while not the norm, there are places in Europe where student loans are relatively common, e.g. Norway[0] and Sweden[1]. Just mentioning because I was very surprised when I discovered it, and it offers an interesting alternative on how student loans could work. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_loans_in_Norway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_loans_in_Norway [1] https://www.collegefinancinggroup.com/student-loan-repayment/free-college-in-sweden-high-student-debt/ https://www.collegefinancinggroup.com/student-loan-repayment...
  - lb1lf 6y ago
    -But those loans do not cover tuition (which is basically free), but your living expenses while studying, which you would have incurred anyway.
  - bberrry 6y ago
    There is literally no tuition in Sweden. The loans are for rent and general cost of living. You can have literally zero means and still go to university in another city.
    - bberrry 6y ago