Anyone else feeling guilty about how easy it is to make money?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We bought our house in 2017 and secured a 2.85% 30 year rate and the home has appreciated by close to 1 million.
Our 401k/Retirement Roth/Equity account has appreciated by a couple of millions, and our retirements are fully funded even under conservative assumptions.
Not even 40 yet and we are close to being financially independent despite having two kids in private schools and some nice cars and plenty of vacations. Something has to give right? This doesn't seem normal.

Nobody likes people who brag

[Anonymous]

Agree with PP. Don’t brag so much.

This is around the age when illness, divorce, and mid-life malaise can take people by surprise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Uh oh…posts like these signal a top.

How many people made similar comments in 1999 (just buy pets.com and ride it to the moon) or 2006 (my 5 homes with $0 down and NINJA mortgages are worth millions).

and what makes you think that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Uh oh…posts like these signal a top.

How many people made similar comments in 1999 (just buy pets.com and ride it to the moon) or 2006 (my 5 homes with $0 down and NINJA mortgages are worth millions).

and what makes you think that?

It's the classic story of 1929 when the shoeshine guy was telling their client how easy it was to make money in the market and how much they owned stocks on margin.

When people like to brag "how easy" it is to make money in the market, is when the market sinks its teeth into you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Uh oh…posts like these signal a top.

How many people made similar comments in 1999 (just buy pets.com and ride it to the moon) or 2006 (my 5 homes with $0 down and NINJA mortgages are worth millions).

and what makes you think that?

It's the classic story of 1929 when the shoeshine guy was telling their client how easy it was to make money in the market and how much they owned stocks on margin.

When people like to brag "how easy" it is to make money in the market, is when the market sinks its teeth into you.

ok, but that was also back when we were on the gold standard, so deflationary collapse "could" still happen? Now we just have fiat and if things ever go south, the fed will just print up a few more trillion.

[Anonymous]

You sound like a child of extreme privilege. You never know what can be on the horizon when you are your age - job loss, illness, divorce, another Great Recession- you name it. Until you experience a big painful disruption you are living in lala land.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Uh oh…posts like these signal a top.

How many people made similar comments in 1999 (just buy pets.com and ride it to the moon) or 2006 (my 5 homes with $0 down and NINJA mortgages are worth millions).

and what makes you think that?

It's the classic story of 1929 when the shoeshine guy was telling their client how easy it was to make money in the market and how much they owned stocks on margin.

When people like to brag "how easy" it is to make money in the market, is when the market sinks its teeth into you.

ok, but that was also back when we were on the gold standard, so deflationary collapse "could" still happen? Now we just have fiat and if things ever go south, the fed will just print up a few more trillion.

Well, we had significant market crashes in 1999 and 2008...so, I am not saying the market crash leads to a great depression (although, we came pretty close in 2008), but it did result in a lot of companies going bankrupt and shareholders losing 100% of their investments.

[Anonymous]

Not guilty, but I do feel incredibly thankful. I was lucky enough to have bought some real estate as soon as I was a working adult and built a small portfolio that shot up over the last few years. I was also lucky enough to have made a decent enough income to pour some into the stock market as well at a good time. I try to pay it forward some.

[Anonymous]

Op, I am not sure your math adds up without family help. Either way good for you....

Please watch how you talk in front of your kids because I hate having to talk to my kids how we are more than comfortable and value different things than living in a McMansion and conspicuous consumption. But if that makes you proud, you do you. Leave us out of it.

[Anonymous]

+1 on the math suggesting some family contribution. If house appreciated by $1M in 7 years, it was probably close to a $2M purchase, and OP isn’t even 40 so would have been just past 30 when they bought. And if investments appreciated by a couple million in the same time period, there was cash to spare.

No judgment from me, OP, just a caution about how you behave/talk about it. This is the anonymous internet so it’s fine, but play it cool with your friends and kids.

[Anonymous]

Real talk, I’m less embarrassed of how “easy” it is now, and more jealous of how easy it was a half generation above me. I barely got to ride the stock market of 2009-2020, because for the early part I was paying off student loans. Whereas I know law firm partners who graduated law school in 2001-03 ish, and just started to make real money in those recession years, and now not only their savings but their incomes are flourishing.

[Anonymous]

As a person who has seen their modest income decrease precipitously as I modify my work schedule to care for my special needs child can I just say f*#% you very much.