5 ms·

> Financial literacy is a gift, and absolutely omitted from standard education, which is unfortunate. With my tinfoil hat on, I feel like that is by design.

tinfoilhatter 1y ago
I don't think you even need to wear a tinfoil hat to reach this conclusion. Knowing about the origins of the modern outcome-based education systems in the West (we borrowed from the Prussian education system which replaced the classical education system based on the Trivium and Quadrivium) I would assert that your claim is spot on.
- internet_points 1y ago
  you should know haha :)
  - tinfoilhatter 1y ago
    I wear it proudly!
nxor 1y ago
How couldn't it be? If the finance industry made things clearer then more people would benefit from it.
alxmdev 1y ago
Probably, because everything would collapse if everyone was an "investor" and fewer people did actual work to keep the world going.
- RealStickman_ 1y ago
  This type of investing isn't about day trading following the latest hype. It's about putting some surplus money to better use for when you need it in 10-20 years.
  - array_key_first 1y ago
    That's even worse, because the entire point of the stock market is supposed to be that investors choose where to put their money based on how the company is performing and what they're saying. I.e., you vote with your wallet, and the market therefore punishes bad behavior and rewards good behavior. If everyone is passively investing, that no longer works. Then it's not even a market. We don't even know, for sure, if that works.
    - RealStickman_ 1y ago
      Investors are obviously bad a choosing where to invest. See any widely overvalued company
      - array_key_first 1y ago
        Right but those wildly overvalued companies become that way because millions of passive investors just mindlessly dump their money into them. If you use big index funds, you're the primary people contributing to Nvidia, Tesla, and openAI. You didn't start it, no, but you certainly propelled that ball forward like a bullet. And, well, that's fine, because we cant expect anyone really to actively invest. The problem is we don't know if this works. This definitely has the potential to blow up. You have to realize that what we're doing here is undermining the stock market at a conceptual level.
    - TeMPOraL 1y ago
      It's gambling and we're already there. Hardly anyone cares about what any company does when investing in it; all that matters is whether it grows and whether you can time a jump elsewhere before it drops.
- koakuma-chan 1y ago
  There are people who don't invest? Do they just keep their retirement savings in cash? I imagine for most people either the government or their employer invests for them.
  - loloquwowndueo 1y ago
    For most people it’s “what retirement savings?”
  - whoooboyy 1y ago
    Incredible HN post. I'm hoping it's because you are from a country where people are generally well taken care of. Yes, there are people who don't invest. Where do they keep their retirement savings? 40-50% of Americans, at least, simply have no retirement savings! Most people in America aren't earning enough to put away a meaningful amount for retirement. It's going to be grim as boomers and millennials hit retirement age and have to keep working.
    - koakuma-chan 1y ago
      And it doesn't occur to them that they will need money when they're old and can't work? Incredible.
      - micromacrofoot 1y ago
        it does but they don't know how to change it
      - pton_xd 1y ago
        They're worried about paying for their next trip to the dentist. Not working when they're old is not in the picture.
      - czottmann 1y ago
        I am very certain it does occur to them but they simply have no financial means to do anything about it. Which must be soul-crushing to them. Rest assured it usually isn't their choice.
- triceratops 1y ago
  If everyone was an "investor" it means they aren't blowing all their spare cash on goods and services. Demand drops and you need fewer people to work to provide said goods and services. It kinda balances out.

tinfoilhatter 1y ago

I don't think you even need to wear a tinfoil hat to reach this conclusion. Knowing about the origins of the modern outcome-based education systems in the West (we borrowed from the Prussian education system which replaced the classical education system based on the Trivium and Quadrivium) I would assert that your claim is spot on.

internet_points 1y ago
you should know haha :)
- tinfoilhatter 1y ago
  I wear it proudly!

nxor 1y ago

How couldn't it be? If the finance industry made things clearer then more people would benefit from it.

alxmdev 1y ago

Probably, because everything would collapse if everyone was an "investor" and fewer people did actual work to keep the world going.

RealStickman_ 1y ago
This type of investing isn't about day trading following the latest hype. It's about putting some surplus money to better use for when you need it in 10-20 years.
- array_key_first 1y ago
  That's even worse, because the entire point of the stock market is supposed to be that investors choose where to put their money based on how the company is performing and what they're saying. I.e., you vote with your wallet, and the market therefore punishes bad behavior and rewards good behavior. If everyone is passively investing, that no longer works. Then it's not even a market. We don't even know, for sure, if that works.
  - RealStickman_ 1y ago
    Investors are obviously bad a choosing where to invest. See any widely overvalued company
    - array_key_first 1y ago
      Right but those wildly overvalued companies become that way because millions of passive investors just mindlessly dump their money into them. If you use big index funds, you're the primary people contributing to Nvidia, Tesla, and openAI. You didn't start it, no, but you certainly propelled that ball forward like a bullet. And, well, that's fine, because we cant expect anyone really to actively invest. The problem is we don't know if this works. This definitely has the potential to blow up. You have to realize that what we're doing here is undermining the stock market at a conceptual level.
  - TeMPOraL 1y ago
    It's gambling and we're already there. Hardly anyone cares about what any company does when investing in it; all that matters is whether it grows and whether you can time a jump elsewhere before it drops.
koakuma-chan 1y ago
There are people who don't invest? Do they just keep their retirement savings in cash? I imagine for most people either the government or their employer invests for them.
- loloquwowndueo 1y ago
  For most people it’s “what retirement savings?”
- whoooboyy 1y ago
  Incredible HN post. I'm hoping it's because you are from a country where people are generally well taken care of. Yes, there are people who don't invest. Where do they keep their retirement savings? 40-50% of Americans, at least, simply have no retirement savings! Most people in America aren't earning enough to put away a meaningful amount for retirement. It's going to be grim as boomers and millennials hit retirement age and have to keep working.
  - koakuma-chan 1y ago
    And it doesn't occur to them that they will need money when they're old and can't work? Incredible.
    - micromacrofoot 1y ago
      it does but they don't know how to change it
    - pton_xd 1y ago
      They're worried about paying for their next trip to the dentist. Not working when they're old is not in the picture.
    - czottmann 1y ago
      I am very certain it does occur to them but they simply have no financial means to do anything about it. Which must be soul-crushing to them. Rest assured it usually isn't their choice.
triceratops 1y ago
If everyone was an "investor" it means they aren't blowing all their spare cash on goods and services. Demand drops and you need fewer people to work to provide said goods and services. It kinda balances out.