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"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

"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
      > 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. 2010s were a decade of paycheck to paycheck years for me+kids. We frequently ate plain white rice (only) because there wasn't enough money for a can of beans. Or 1 onion. Sometimes I couldn't swing a bag of rice. The kids had a couple of regular meals when school was in session. I suggest your circumstances aren't as universal as they may seem to you.
      - righthand 2y ago
        And you didn’t have a bank account with money in it? Did you cash your paychecks at a check cashing service (giving them a cut?) and spend all the cash? What were your expenses during that time that ate all your paycheck? Surely not just rice. That comment was directed at the previous poster’s remark than since 60% of Americans have $500 or less in their bank account that must mean all 60% have no money to save and that my advice was bad. That is the defeatist attitude. I’m definitely not insisting that some portion aren’t entirely living paycheck to paycheck. The point of my comments is to acknowledge that people should seek out return for their money instead of keeping it in a bank. Not to squabble over who is worse off.
- dinkumthinkum 2y ago
  Respectfully, this shows more how you see unmoored from reality than it does that you are mathematically superior to the plebes. You think the 5% is going to have any success significant effect on the store clerk that is not making much and has to spend the majority of his/her money, living paycheck-to-paycheck? It’s peanuts. It doesn’t inflation proof their money, let’s be honest and not smug about it. I’m sure the people you are interacting with are not totally unaware of the benefit of saving money. The “poors” aren’t all that stupid.
  - righthand 2y ago
    Wow. I didn’t say that at all. I think the smug people here are those telling me I can’t give advice and help make a difference how I see fit. That passing information is somehow abusive? Get bent.
  - fragmede 2y ago
    Not all of them, sure, but there's a lot of money being spent on lottery tickets and scratchers and $700 shoes and other nonsense that doesn't make sense to me. Caleb Hammer on YouTube interviews people with really bad spending habits for his Financial Audit channel and it really seems like, sorry to say, that some of them really are stupid.

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
    > 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. 2010s were a decade of paycheck to paycheck years for me+kids. We frequently ate plain white rice (only) because there wasn't enough money for a can of beans. Or 1 onion. Sometimes I couldn't swing a bag of rice. The kids had a couple of regular meals when school was in session. I suggest your circumstances aren't as universal as they may seem to you.
    - righthand 2y ago
      And you didn’t have a bank account with money in it? Did you cash your paychecks at a check cashing service (giving them a cut?) and spend all the cash? What were your expenses during that time that ate all your paycheck? Surely not just rice. That comment was directed at the previous poster’s remark than since 60% of Americans have $500 or less in their bank account that must mean all 60% have no money to save and that my advice was bad. That is the defeatist attitude. I’m definitely not insisting that some portion aren’t entirely living paycheck to paycheck. The point of my comments is to acknowledge that people should seek out return for their money instead of keeping it in a bank. Not to squabble over who is worse off.
dinkumthinkum 2y ago
Respectfully, this shows more how you see unmoored from reality than it does that you are mathematically superior to the plebes. You think the 5% is going to have any success significant effect on the store clerk that is not making much and has to spend the majority of his/her money, living paycheck-to-paycheck? It’s peanuts. It doesn’t inflation proof their money, let’s be honest and not smug about it. I’m sure the people you are interacting with are not totally unaware of the benefit of saving money. The “poors” aren’t all that stupid.
- righthand 2y ago
  Wow. I didn’t say that at all. I think the smug people here are those telling me I can’t give advice and help make a difference how I see fit. That passing information is somehow abusive? Get bent.
- fragmede 2y ago
  Not all of them, sure, but there's a lot of money being spent on lottery tickets and scratchers and $700 shoes and other nonsense that doesn't make sense to me. Caleb Hammer on YouTube interviews people with really bad spending habits for his Financial Audit channel and it really seems like, sorry to say, that some of them really are stupid.