4 ms·

Exactly. If society were to fall apart, the number in your bank account will matter very little, if it even exists anymore...

munk-a 5y ago
That is highly unlikely - thankfully there is a much more reasonable way to read how important it is to live for today. Nobody intends to be hit by a bus but some people are - make sure you're getting what you want out of life before you get hit by a bus.
- Teknoman117 5y ago
  Definitely. Planning and saving for the future also has to be weighed against the risk of (you) not making it to that future.
- jltsiren 5y ago
  Unlikely but not highly unlikely. If you expect to live for another 50 years, there is a nontrivial chance that you will face a crisis that happens once every 500 or 1000 years on the average. Dying prematurely is one kind of risk, outliving your society is another.
Applejinx 5y ago
Indeed. Money is a bit of a lie in its own right. Me, I go for functionality. The catch there is, if I've acquired plenty of functionality for something I consider desirable but then I don't DO that thing, does it still exist?
- yreg 5y ago
  Functionality typically decreases in value over time while money (in various forms) increase in value. Properties are the exception, being both functional and an investment.
  - Applejinx 5y ago
    Thing is, you can say that is the lie. That, over sufficient time, any form of money will collapse to worthlessness. Then it's just a question of when you bought in and when you cashed out. It's rather arbitrary. That it increases in value, is the lie. Nothing says it does… but repeating the lie. It's a very popular lie. Now tell me about how crypto is money :)
yupper32 5y ago
There are a massive amount of things between "society collapsing" and "nothing bad ever happens" where the number in your bank account matters greatly. You have unexpected huge medical expenses. You are no longer able to work. You're fired and can't find a job. Tech salaries collapse. Your town in burned down/destroyed in a hurricane/etc. etc etc etc
jimbokun 5y ago
If society doesn't fall apart, that number could mean an awful lot.
tick_tock_tick 5y ago
If money doesn't matter anymore then it's beans, bullets, and bandages.
PeterisP 5y ago
If I look at various social collapses that people around me have seen in the last century and a half (and there have been many!), then it's clear that while the number in your bank account was not always useful, it did often provide options to protect you from the worst of society falling apart. Other things being equal (of course, often they were not equal) having resources during collapse did matter - sure, it might turn out that some class of your resources became worthless overnight, but generally it wasn't all resources at once; in collapses where land was confiscated by a invading nation, having some gold watches to trade for a way out on a ship were life-saving; in economic collapses where money and stock became near-worthless, having a spare farmhouse was a great benefit, etc. You do need to diversify to something more than a number at a single institution, but in general, I'd say that it's the other way around - when everything is fine in society, then life is okay even if you're a bit lacking, but when things become hard and not everyone is going to make it, then the have-nots will suffer even more due to lack of options caused by lack of resources. For a crude example, think about the difference between 1930s European Jews who could or could not afford to travel overseas (which was a much more serious expense than now) when things started to become threatening.

munk-a 5y ago

That is highly unlikely - thankfully there is a much more reasonable way to read how important it is to live for today. Nobody intends to be hit by a bus but some people are - make sure you're getting what you want out of life before you get hit by a bus.

Teknoman117 5y ago
Definitely. Planning and saving for the future also has to be weighed against the risk of (you) not making it to that future.
jltsiren 5y ago
Unlikely but not highly unlikely. If you expect to live for another 50 years, there is a nontrivial chance that you will face a crisis that happens once every 500 or 1000 years on the average. Dying prematurely is one kind of risk, outliving your society is another.

Applejinx 5y ago

Indeed. Money is a bit of a lie in its own right. Me, I go for functionality. The catch there is, if I've acquired plenty of functionality for something I consider desirable but then I don't DO that thing, does it still exist?

yreg 5y ago
Functionality typically decreases in value over time while money (in various forms) increase in value. Properties are the exception, being both functional and an investment.
- Applejinx 5y ago
  Thing is, you can say that is the lie. That, over sufficient time, any form of money will collapse to worthlessness. Then it's just a question of when you bought in and when you cashed out. It's rather arbitrary. That it increases in value, is the lie. Nothing says it does… but repeating the lie. It's a very popular lie. Now tell me about how crypto is money :)

yupper32 5y ago

There are a massive amount of things between "society collapsing" and "nothing bad ever happens" where the number in your bank account matters greatly. You have unexpected huge medical expenses. You are no longer able to work. You're fired and can't find a job. Tech salaries collapse. Your town in burned down/destroyed in a hurricane/etc. etc etc etc

jimbokun 5y ago

If society doesn't fall apart, that number could mean an awful lot.

tick_tock_tick 5y ago

If money doesn't matter anymore then it's beans, bullets, and bandages.

PeterisP 5y ago

If I look at various social collapses that people around me have seen in the last century and a half (and there have been many!), then it's clear that while the number in your bank account was not always useful, it did often provide options to protect you from the worst of society falling apart. Other things being equal (of course, often they were not equal) having resources during collapse did matter - sure, it might turn out that some class of your resources became worthless overnight, but generally it wasn't all resources at once; in collapses where land was confiscated by a invading nation, having some gold watches to trade for a way out on a ship were life-saving; in economic collapses where money and stock became near-worthless, having a spare farmhouse was a great benefit, etc. You do need to diversify to something more than a number at a single institution, but in general, I'd say that it's the other way around - when everything is fine in society, then life is okay even if you're a bit lacking, but when things become hard and not everyone is going to make it, then the have-nots will suffer even more due to lack of options caused by lack of resources. For a crude example, think about the difference between 1930s European Jews who could or could not afford to travel overseas (which was a much more serious expense than now) when things started to become threatening.