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Too many people thought if you had a 401k it didn't matter because "stocks always go up." Too many people thought if you bought a house it didn't matter becaus

Too many people thought if you had a 401k it didn't matter because "stocks always go up." Too many people thought if you bought a house it didn't matter because "housing always goes up." You have to take responsibility for your own investment decisions. This means not buying a McMansion and trying to keep up with the Joneses. This means not buying multiple huge SUVs and living in the suburbs and spending thousands on gas every year. This means not trusting some financial planner when they tell you that you should put 100% of your retirement in the stock market. People need to think for themselves and take charge of their own financial future. The greatest generation did this - they grew up during the great depression and they understood that you had to save and not trust Wall Street. They understood that housing doesn't always go up. Their kids partied at Woodstock and forgot everything their parents told them.

michaelchisari 15y ago
This means not buying a McMansion and trying to keep up with the Joneses. This means not buying multiple huge SUVs and living in the suburbs and spending thousands on gas every year. Are we really so positive that everyone who is hurting in this economy made these kinds of irresponsible financial decisions?
- illumin8 15y ago
  A good many of them did. If you think housing is an investment and leveraged yourself to the hilt in 2005, you probably got what you deserved.
  - michaelchisari 15y ago
    The problem is, economics is a group activity. While many people were irresponsible, the effects of their irresponsibility have been felt throughout the economy. And some (banks) were definitely more irresponsible than others (homeowners), by virtue of the amount of power they wielded.
jfruh 15y ago
The greatest generation did this - they grew up during the great depression and they understood that you had to save and not trust Wall Street. The Greatest Generation benefitted both from social security and from the defined-benefit pension plans their unions won for them. Edited to add: Also, many got to go to college for free on the GI Bill, and so entered the professional workforce without the debt burden that their children and grandchildren would face. Makes it easier to save.

michaelchisari 15y ago

This means not buying a McMansion and trying to keep up with the Joneses. This means not buying multiple huge SUVs and living in the suburbs and spending thousands on gas every year. Are we really so positive that everyone who is hurting in this economy made these kinds of irresponsible financial decisions?

illumin8 15y ago
A good many of them did. If you think housing is an investment and leveraged yourself to the hilt in 2005, you probably got what you deserved.
- michaelchisari 15y ago
  The problem is, economics is a group activity. While many people were irresponsible, the effects of their irresponsibility have been felt throughout the economy. And some (banks) were definitely more irresponsible than others (homeowners), by virtue of the amount of power they wielded.

jfruh 15y ago

The greatest generation did this - they grew up during the great depression and they understood that you had to save and not trust Wall Street. The Greatest Generation benefitted both from social security and from the defined-benefit pension plans their unions won for them. Edited to add: Also, many got to go to college for free on the GI Bill, and so entered the professional workforce without the debt burden that their children and grandchildren would face. Makes it easier to save.