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Very much so, most people have bought into the idea that education is lame and therefor do not apply themselves and let go of their abilities to do things like

Very much so, most people have bought into the idea that education is lame and therefor do not apply themselves and let go of their abilities to do things like mathematics, even simple math in their head. Let a lone being able to discern statistical data. Finances are kept in poor places, such as banks and bitcoin, the stock market instead of better investment strategies like Bonds and ETFs. This allows the rich to eat the poor. As financial knowledge decisions get branded as wall-street-only information, people do not bother to read the details. Even though many brokerage accounts have a $0 minimum with low risk of failure. There has also been a big fall in literacy rates, again ensuring people cannot read the details. Now we are stuck with pearl grippers and hysterics preaching absolute nonsense. Personally it has caused a rift between myself and my parents because they chose to hop on the bandwagon and spread lies. While I believe they are entitled to spread lies, I cannot back the incentive to do so. I can however enable more like minded people who may be uneducated on topics to learn more about brokerage accounts for example, and help alleviate the stigma.

djohnston 2y ago
"Hey, I know your granddad bought the family home with his job at the local grocer, and you need to saddle 100K in student debt just to have a shot of buying a home by the time you're 35, but don't be sad, SP500 is at an all-time high!"
- righthand 2y ago
  Not what I’m suggesting at all. This last December I was talking to a store clerk in Colorado. The store clerk mentioned needing to switch banks because their current bank wasn’t great. I advised instead they look into a Cash Management account at a financial service firm which would give you 5% investment on your money instead of letting it sit in a checking account. Explained that the 5% return was important to helping inflation proof your money on average inflation years. And that you can use it like a checking account, in-fact it was backed by one. You can always move your money back to the bank if dissatisfied. There are obviously more nuanced things to understand such as “cash equivilent bonds/etfs” but that is what they should figure out. It’s about undoing the stigmas not solving the housing crisis. We keep people in the dark with this belief that financial strategies aren’t to be talked about publicly.
  - djohnston 2y ago
    Ah, well that I totally agree with. I think it's a cultural issue in a lot of the West tbh. It is considered impolite or improper to discuss financials with friends, neighbours, even family sometimes. You also see that aversion in Westerners discomfort with bargaining in marketplaces. Like with most of our ills, I blame the British.
  - foldr 2y ago
    Most Americans don't have enough money in reserve for 5% interest on their bank balance to make much of a difference†. If you're living paycheck to paycheck then you spend all of your money before it has a chance to accumulate any interest. I obviously don't know the financial situation of the store clerk you were talking to. But if you are trying to get typical American retail workers excited about 5% interest, you are probably a bit disconnected from the financial reality of their lives. †https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/24/how-much-money-americans-have-in-savings.html https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/24/how-much-money-americans-hav...
    - righthand 2y ago
      I’ve lived paycheck to paycheck and I definitely still had a few dollars to get the ball rolling after each paycheck. Claiming that you can’t is exactly the defeatist attitude that will keep you financially disabled. People with less than $500 can still start gaining that 5% yield, and it is better than the bank taking that 5% and eating it. If you don’t get that 5%, the bank will. Furthermore most people can easily calculate 5% and make the decision themselves if you don’t actively discourage them as your reply suggests. From the article you linked: > This leaves them vulnerable to unexpected expenses, underscoring the importance of having an emergency fund, if they’re able to build one. The rest of the article goes on how to vet yourself to start building an emergency fund. A great emergency fund would be a very liquid, low tax, investment option. Like cash equivalent Bonds and ETFs. If someone has a bank account with $1 it would still be better in a Fidelity Cash Management account gaining a yield than it would be in a bank not gaining at all.
      - WarOnPrivacy 2y ago
AnimalMuppet 2y ago
> Finances are kept in poor places, such as banks and bitcoin, the stock market instead of better investment strategies like Bonds and ETFs. Why do you list stocks in the "poor" places and bonds in the good ones? Why do you see bonds as a better investment than stocks? (Certainly that has not been true historically...)
- kentm 2y ago
  Stocks here almost certainly means stock-picking, vs investing in broad market-tracking funds (ETFs). Historically, people are terrible at picking good stocks and have much better returns investing in ETFs that track things like the S&P500.
- righthand 2y ago
  Stocks will shift on a whim and rely on hype, same as bitcoin. This can cause a total crash and people losing money. Capital earned on stocks is not cash equivalent therefor if the stock goes down, you lose your initial investment. The risk is insanely high. Compared to Tbills and other cash equivalent bonds, if the yield goes down you still have your money. Take a look at what happened just today when the market opened and China released an LLM model, the AI hype market crashed.
  - fragmede 2y ago
    over a large enough time scale, stocks do just fine. if you need to take the money out right this second, yeah, you've a problem, but the SP500 is going to outperform Tbills over a decade. But really, A proper portfolio is going to have a mix of both, as well as other investments, to protect from crashes in one sector.

djohnston 2y ago

"Hey, I know your granddad bought the family home with his job at the local grocer, and you need to saddle 100K in student debt just to have a shot of buying a home by the time you're 35, but don't be sad, SP500 is at an all-time high!"

righthand 2y ago
Not what I’m suggesting at all. This last December I was talking to a store clerk in Colorado. The store clerk mentioned needing to switch banks because their current bank wasn’t great. I advised instead they look into a Cash Management account at a financial service firm which would give you 5% investment on your money instead of letting it sit in a checking account. Explained that the 5% return was important to helping inflation proof your money on average inflation years. And that you can use it like a checking account, in-fact it was backed by one. You can always move your money back to the bank if dissatisfied. There are obviously more nuanced things to understand such as “cash equivilent bonds/etfs” but that is what they should figure out. It’s about undoing the stigmas not solving the housing crisis. We keep people in the dark with this belief that financial strategies aren’t to be talked about publicly.
- djohnston 2y ago
  Ah, well that I totally agree with. I think it's a cultural issue in a lot of the West tbh. It is considered impolite or improper to discuss financials with friends, neighbours, even family sometimes. You also see that aversion in Westerners discomfort with bargaining in marketplaces. Like with most of our ills, I blame the British.
- foldr 2y ago
  Most Americans don't have enough money in reserve for 5% interest on their bank balance to make much of a difference†. If you're living paycheck to paycheck then you spend all of your money before it has a chance to accumulate any interest. I obviously don't know the financial situation of the store clerk you were talking to. But if you are trying to get typical American retail workers excited about 5% interest, you are probably a bit disconnected from the financial reality of their lives. †https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/24/how-much-money-americans-have-in-savings.html https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/24/how-much-money-americans-hav...
  - righthand 2y ago
    I’ve lived paycheck to paycheck and I definitely still had a few dollars to get the ball rolling after each paycheck. Claiming that you can’t is exactly the defeatist attitude that will keep you financially disabled. People with less than $500 can still start gaining that 5% yield, and it is better than the bank taking that 5% and eating it. If you don’t get that 5%, the bank will. Furthermore most people can easily calculate 5% and make the decision themselves if you don’t actively discourage them as your reply suggests. From the article you linked: > This leaves them vulnerable to unexpected expenses, underscoring the importance of having an emergency fund, if they’re able to build one. The rest of the article goes on how to vet yourself to start building an emergency fund. A great emergency fund would be a very liquid, low tax, investment option. Like cash equivalent Bonds and ETFs. If someone has a bank account with $1 it would still be better in a Fidelity Cash Management account gaining a yield than it would be in a bank not gaining at all.
    - WarOnPrivacy 2y ago

AnimalMuppet 2y ago

> Finances are kept in poor places, such as banks and bitcoin, the stock market instead of better investment strategies like Bonds and ETFs. Why do you list stocks in the "poor" places and bonds in the good ones? Why do you see bonds as a better investment than stocks? (Certainly that has not been true historically...)

kentm 2y ago
Stocks here almost certainly means stock-picking, vs investing in broad market-tracking funds (ETFs). Historically, people are terrible at picking good stocks and have much better returns investing in ETFs that track things like the S&P500.
righthand 2y ago
Stocks will shift on a whim and rely on hype, same as bitcoin. This can cause a total crash and people losing money. Capital earned on stocks is not cash equivalent therefor if the stock goes down, you lose your initial investment. The risk is insanely high. Compared to Tbills and other cash equivalent bonds, if the yield goes down you still have your money. Take a look at what happened just today when the market opened and China released an LLM model, the AI hype market crashed.
- fragmede 2y ago
  over a large enough time scale, stocks do just fine. if you need to take the money out right this second, yeah, you've a problem, but the SP500 is going to outperform Tbills over a decade. But really, A proper portfolio is going to have a mix of both, as well as other investments, to protect from crashes in one sector.