4 ms·

With so much income inequality, differences in savings rates cannot possibly be that important.

WalterBright 5y ago
What you do with the savings makes all the difference. For example, you could invest it to upgrade your job skills, making for a much higher income level. Investing it at the current negative 4% or so is not much better than setting it on fire.
- DarylZero 5y ago
  But I would just say the same thing. The differences in income inequality are going to completely swamp any such effect from differences in spending. Maybe paying for college is an exception to the rule -- only because of all the grants, scholarships, loans, and income-based tuition.
  - WalterBright 5y ago
    Plumbing, welding, etc., are very well paying trades one can train for. College is hardly the only path to leveraging oneself into a more lucrative career.
    - DarylZero 5y ago
      I wasn't saying college was the only path. I was saying it's the only place where the amount of money you SPEND on "leveraging yourself" isn't broadly determined by your income.
- Jensson 5y ago
  Investing in yourself is only worth it if you are better than average. People who aren't just waste time and money trying. But if you are better than average then investing in yourself is huge. That is essentially the only reason investing in a start-up would be better than just investing in someone else's start-up, you have to bet that you are better than the other people. And then if you keep reinvesting in yourself and you are consistently better than the CEO's of big companies then you become a billionaire, but of course most people don't generate those returns when you invest in them.
  - WalterBright 5y ago
    > Investing in yourself is only worth it if you are better than average. Investing in yourself is how you become better than average. I'm saddened by the persistent negativity I see here. Buck up, dude!
    - DarylZero 5y ago
      That's really not how.

What you do with the savings makes all the difference. For example, you could invest it to upgrade your job skills, making for a much higher income level. Investing it at the current negative 4% or so is not much better than setting it on fire.

DarylZero 5y ago
But I would just say the same thing. The differences in income inequality are going to completely swamp any such effect from differences in spending. Maybe paying for college is an exception to the rule -- only because of all the grants, scholarships, loans, and income-based tuition.
- WalterBright 5y ago
  Plumbing, welding, etc., are very well paying trades one can train for. College is hardly the only path to leveraging oneself into a more lucrative career.
  - DarylZero 5y ago
    I wasn't saying college was the only path. I was saying it's the only place where the amount of money you SPEND on "leveraging yourself" isn't broadly determined by your income.
Jensson 5y ago
Investing in yourself is only worth it if you are better than average. People who aren't just waste time and money trying. But if you are better than average then investing in yourself is huge. That is essentially the only reason investing in a start-up would be better than just investing in someone else's start-up, you have to bet that you are better than the other people. And then if you keep reinvesting in yourself and you are consistently better than the CEO's of big companies then you become a billionaire, but of course most people don't generate those returns when you invest in them.
- WalterBright 5y ago
  > Investing in yourself is only worth it if you are better than average. Investing in yourself is how you become better than average. I'm saddened by the persistent negativity I see here. Buck up, dude!
  - DarylZero 5y ago
    That's really not how.