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Amen. The trait of rich people that I try to emulate (not always successfully) is that they tend to purchase assets that appreciate in value. Toys are paid for

Amen. The trait of rich people that I try to emulate (not always successfully) is that they tend to purchase assets that appreciate in value. Toys are paid for with highly disposable money and not the nest egg. The trait of poor people that I try to avoid is purchasing depreciating assets, usually on credit ensuring that you'll be poor until that lotto ticket hits big (i.e. forever).

true_religion 15y ago
Isn't this pretty hard? Most assets depreciate. Here's a non-exhaustive list: furniture, kitchen supplies, food, electronics, and vehicles. It seems like it'd be hard if you're poor to avoid having a large chunk of your income go towards things that depreciate immediately you touch them.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- jdludlow 15y ago
  It isn't easy, but it pays off. I slept on my floor for 2 years after I got a job as an engineer at IBM. The overall point is this. If you say that you're poor, but you have a cable connection, TV, cell phone, data plan, multiple cars on finance, large student loans for that lib arts degree, and eat out at restaurants, then you're poor by choice. It's fixable via a change in priorities. I'm not claiming that everyone is in this situation, but many people fall squarely into this bucket.
clarebear 15y ago
What can a normal person buy right now that appreciates in value at any reasonable rate? Not savings accounts, not stocks (on average), not houses... Most of us don't have the money or connections to invest anything other than some time in hits-driven businesses like startups.
- nknight 15y ago
  > not stocks (on average) ??? My (non-retirement) portfolio began with $1000 weeks before the 2008 crash. Despite the horrific timing, those shares are now up 6%. Overall (with continued intermittent investments and zero attempt to time the market, though a couple times I got a little lucky), my shares in a couple mutual funds and a few individual stocks are up almost 34%. This doesn't count dividends, which I automatically plow back in to purchasing more shares, and which have basically added ~12% to the overall value of my portfolio. Any idiot with $1000 could start doing the same thing I did. Sign up with an online broker, and pick an S&P 500 index fund to dump some money into. If you can afford a little more, put some of it into a reputable small cap mutual fund.

true_religion 15y ago

Isn't this pretty hard? Most assets depreciate. Here's a non-exhaustive list: furniture, kitchen supplies, food, electronics, and vehicles. It seems like it'd be hard if you're poor to avoid having a large chunk of your income go towards things that depreciate immediately you touch them.

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
jdludlow 15y ago
It isn't easy, but it pays off. I slept on my floor for 2 years after I got a job as an engineer at IBM. The overall point is this. If you say that you're poor, but you have a cable connection, TV, cell phone, data plan, multiple cars on finance, large student loans for that lib arts degree, and eat out at restaurants, then you're poor by choice. It's fixable via a change in priorities. I'm not claiming that everyone is in this situation, but many people fall squarely into this bucket.

clarebear 15y ago

What can a normal person buy right now that appreciates in value at any reasonable rate? Not savings accounts, not stocks (on average), not houses... Most of us don't have the money or connections to invest anything other than some time in hits-driven businesses like startups.

nknight 15y ago
> not stocks (on average) ??? My (non-retirement) portfolio began with $1000 weeks before the 2008 crash. Despite the horrific timing, those shares are now up 6%. Overall (with continued intermittent investments and zero attempt to time the market, though a couple times I got a little lucky), my shares in a couple mutual funds and a few individual stocks are up almost 34%. This doesn't count dividends, which I automatically plow back in to purchasing more shares, and which have basically added ~12% to the overall value of my portfolio. Any idiot with $1000 could start doing the same thing I did. Sign up with an online broker, and pick an S&P 500 index fund to dump some money into. If you can afford a little more, put some of it into a reputable small cap mutual fund.