Wow the lack of financial education in this country is staggering

[Anonymous]

Question for OP, when and where do you expect people in this country to leading financial literacy?

Poverty keeps you in survival mode, and if you are born relatively wealthy, you “pick up things” from the people around you.

[Anonymous]

Banks continue to raise interest rates on everyone because a lot of them default on these loans and other people ended up paying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think most people learn from their parents. My parents were always frugal and good with money. They passed this down. I have done the same.

They were also likely gainfully employed and emphasized work. Having money makes it easy to not be in debt.

Yes, they did. And we all worked jobs starting at age 15. We bought used cars and had no college loans. I did not buy my first new car till I was in my late 30's. And I bought it in cash. And I kept it till the wheels fell off.

[Anonymous]

The gap between rich and poor persists because poor people keep doing the things that made them poor in the first place. And rich people keep doing the things that made them rich in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was watching a show and people were calling in regarding their finances.

This one lady in her 60s wants to buy a home, rolled over negative equity from an old car loan into a new one and she doesn't know how much she owes ...wow just wow

Last year my BIL took out a $150K 30-year home equity loan and used $50K to update his kitchen and the remaining $100K to buy a Tesla Model X. He keeps patting himself on the back: kitchen upgrades always pay off; gets to deduct interest on a “car loan”; will save tons of money on gas and maintenance.

People are stupid. He didn’t even use some of the money to add a Level 2 car charger. lol!

[Anonymous]

A car loan for a 15k used car- yes that’s a need.

Where does one find a reliable $15,000 used car that doesn’t have high mileage and isn’t going to break down frequently or need expensive repairs? No, nobody needs a $50,000 car, but I love how people on this board make it seem like inexpensive, reliable used cars are so easy to find.

[Anonymous]

There is a lot of bragging about net worth here. But income is more important to me. I'd rather have $500k in dependable income than $10 million at risk in the stock market. I'm no where near retirement

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are a consumer society. We consume a lot in this country.

Many of us on this forum who have a lot savings and investments are benefiting from other people doing the spending. Just increase the savings rate by 10% nationally and you will massive changes in the economy

The American economy is built on debt and predation. Once you are stuck in that cycle of debt, it's very hard to get out because structurally you are meant to be kept in that cycle because a lot profit from that.

+1. The system depends on lots of people spending like idiots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a consumer society. We consume a lot in this country.

Many of us on this forum who have a lot savings and investments are benefiting from other people doing the spending. Just increase the savings rate by 10% nationally and you will massive changes in the economy

The American economy is built on debt and predation. Once you are stuck in that cycle of debt, it's very hard to get out because structurally you are meant to be kept in that cycle because a lot profit from that.

+1. The system depends on lots of people spending like idiots.

+2! Imagine if most people learned that they don’t need to buy things to be happy. This country would be finished.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question for OP, when and where do you expect people in this country to leading financial literacy?

Poverty keeps you in survival mode, and if you are born relatively wealthy, you “pick up things” from the people around you.

Spare us the sob stories. The reality is that it is impossible to have an honest discussion about these topics. There are plenty of people who are born poor or LMC and become rich, UMC, or comfortable middle class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who do you know who’s in substantial debt beyond their mortgage? I get that people don’t talk about it but are you?

that’s the thing, you never know. Also you could say i’m in substantial debt because i have a few investment properties. Of course if they were all vacant for a sustained period I’d be screwed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a lot of bragging about net worth here. But income is more important to me. I'd rather have $500k in dependable income than $10 million at risk in the stock market. I'm no where near retirement

Net worth is way better than income. You can have 2 people at the same income and one has made prudent investments and the other just normal savings. Who is better off? Smart people making 250k/yr can be more wealthy than dummies making 500k/yr.

You honestly sound financially illiterate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think most people learn from their parents. My parents were always frugal and good with money. They passed this down. I have done the same.

ditto

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The gap between rich and poor persists because poor people keep doing the things that made them poor in the first place. And rich people keep doing the things that made them rich in the first place.

Oh please. They were born into poverty. They didn’t create it for themselves. Even if you do everything “right” it takes a long time to get out of poverty.

[Anonymous]

Dont the vast majority of americans have less than $200 savings? It's scary!

Especially being such a greedy, capitalist society. People going into crazy debt to lease a bmw but cant afford their rent or groceries.