The worst part about the massive insurance hikes is that that’s without even using it. If you have an incident and have to use the insurance that you’ve paid through the nose for, then it will REALLY go up, or they’ll just drop you entirely. It’s a total racket.

I definitely have more money in 2025 than I did in 2020. I bought a lot of Apple, Amazon, Tesla, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Google. My investment was 2M in 2020, and it is now 8M in 2025.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, 2025 is only two weeks old, so I can’t say anything particularly terrible has happened in that time.

However, I’m a small business owner, and I do believe the economy is a lot worse than is generally reported. I don’t doubt the reports from people here who recently doubled their income and now have a $600K HHI, but I suspect that type of success is limited to a small number of jobs in a small number of industries in the big cities.

I think everyone else is finding things getting harder.

I think this is off by a lot. The economy is way stronger than we think -- Trump will take credit for what I think will be a 2-3 year very strong economy. PP is not wrong on prices but wages have increased by a lot over the last couple of years.

Are you sure PP is not wrong on prices? The same government statisticians that produce numbers saying the economy is great also say that inflation is only at 2.9% - why would that be so devastating to PP? PP must be exaggerating.

That's because when they calculate inflation they strip out everything that actually costs a lot. It's also impossible to factor in the constant tax increases that are occurring everywhere. Insurance, tax, and grocery increases are what is slamming the hardest.

I actually think 2025 is the year when my net worth will go up at least 50%+ as I'm invested aggressively.
I started investing in 2020 and quit my job in May 2024. I have more money in the bank than I had made in 27 years total as a server.
There is no way I would make it right now on my server income as I cannot even get my food budget under control.
I don't see anything keeping up with inflation, but investing.
I do have a option for renting a cheaper apartment in my own building as the students start leaving later in spring.
Cheaper apartment, option of going back to work part time in spring (exercise and all the free food), lower food budget, and investments up should make it a great year for us.

Anonymous wrote:This has all happened to us over the last several years. Home, Car and health insurance go up 10% a year. That is not sustainable. Wages are not anywhere close to keeping pace.

Same for us. Along with large increases in the price of groceries and travel and higher medical and prescription drug costs because it seems like every year our insurance covers even less.

This has all happened to us over the last several years. Home, Car and health insurance go up 10% a year. That is not sustainable. Wages are not anywhere close to keeping pace.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, 2025 is only two weeks old, so I can’t say anything particularly terrible has happened in that time.

However, I’m a small business owner, and I do believe the economy is a lot worse than is generally reported. I don’t doubt the reports from people here who recently doubled their income and now have a $600K HHI, but I suspect that type of success is limited to a small number of jobs in a small number of industries in the big cities.

I think everyone else is finding things getting harder.

I think this is off by a lot. The economy is way stronger than we think -- Trump will take credit for what I think will be a 2-3 year very strong economy. PP is not wrong on prices but wages have increased by a lot over the last couple of years.

Well, the interesting thing about the current moment is that over 150 million people just got the chance to voice their opinion on the matter, so we actually know how the economy is treating them. And they did not say that the economy is "way stronger" than anything. Even Democrat strategist James Carville recently said he was wrong about the election because he neglected his famous mantra: "It's the economy, stupid."

As I said, I'm sure in your bubble (and other bubbles) things are going well—maybe better than ever—but that's not the case for large parts of the country, perhaps even the majority of the country. I am always amazed at the blind spot that your ilk possesses. It's likely why you were so blindsided and distraught on election night.

Not in a bubble. The economy was not the key thing in this election. It was the fact that Harris was not a serious person or candidate. And the people never know the economy until time has passed. Economy was quite strong under GHWB but Clinton potrayed it as weak and people believed. Clinton's great economy was GHWB's. Same at the end of Clinton, the bad economy was his not W's. This time the great economy will look like it is Trump's but it was Biden's.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, 2025 is only two weeks old, so I can’t say anything particularly terrible has happened in that time.

However, I’m a small business owner, and I do believe the economy is a lot worse than is generally reported. I don’t doubt the reports from people here who recently doubled their income and now have a $600K HHI, but I suspect that type of success is limited to a small number of jobs in a small number of industries in the big cities.

I think everyone else is finding things getting harder.

I think this is off by a lot. The economy is way stronger than we think -- Trump will take credit for what I think will be a 2-3 year very strong economy. PP is not wrong on prices but wages have increased by a lot over the last couple of years.

Are you sure PP is not wrong on prices? The same government statisticians that produce numbers saying the economy is great also say that inflation is only at 2.9% - why would that be so devastating to PP? PP must be exaggerating.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, 2025 is only two weeks old, so I can’t say anything particularly terrible has happened in that time.

However, I’m a small business owner, and I do believe the economy is a lot worse than is generally reported. I don’t doubt the reports from people here who recently doubled their income and now have a $600K HHI, but I suspect that type of success is limited to a small number of jobs in a small number of industries in the big cities.

I think everyone else is finding things getting harder.

I think this is off by a lot. The economy is way stronger than we think -- Trump will take credit for what I think will be a 2-3 year very strong economy. PP is not wrong on prices but wages have increased by a lot over the last couple of years.

Well, the interesting thing about the current moment is that over 150 million people just got the chance to voice their opinion on the matter, so we actually know how the economy is treating them. And they did not say that the economy is "way stronger" than anything. Even Democrat strategist James Carville recently said he was wrong about the election because he neglected his famous mantra: "It's the economy, stupid."

As I said, I'm sure in your bubble (and other bubbles) things are going well—maybe better than ever—but that's not the case for large parts of the country, perhaps even the majority of the country. I am always amazed at the blind spot that your ilk possesses. It's likely why you were so blindsided and distraught on election night.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, 2025 is only two weeks old, so I can’t say anything particularly terrible has happened in that time.

However, I’m a small business owner, and I do believe the economy is a lot worse than is generally reported. I don’t doubt the reports from people here who recently doubled their income and now have a $600K HHI, but I suspect that type of success is limited to a small number of jobs in a small number of industries in the big cities.

I think everyone else is finding things getting harder.

I think this is off by a lot. The economy is way stronger than we think -- Trump will take credit for what I think will be a 2-3 year very strong economy. PP is not wrong on prices but wages have increased by a lot over the last couple of years.

Wages have only really increased relative to inflation for the lowest paid workers. For everyone else, wages are at best keeping pace or growing at a slower rate than inflation. Given OP is a homeowner, they’re probably in that second category and seeing their money go a lot less farther than it used to.

No. 2024 was a terrible year. I had serious health problems and also miscarried. I've had 7 pregnancies in my life, and 2 live births to show for them. I hope 2025 is more peaceful. I don't think the financial outlook is that dire, to be honest, OP, and the change of administration isn't going to change anything. Inflation is due to more powerful global forces than what one government can control.

Trump will fix it. Soon he will lower costs on everything and the billionaires will even get a tax break. He promised, stand by.

Anonymous wrote:Well, 2025 is only two weeks old, so I can’t say anything particularly terrible has happened in that time.

However, I’m a small business owner, and I do believe the economy is a lot worse than is generally reported. I don’t doubt the reports from people here who recently doubled their income and now have a $600K HHI, but I suspect that type of success is limited to a small number of jobs in a small number of industries in the big cities.

I think everyone else is finding things getting harder.

I think this is off by a lot. The economy is way stronger than we think -- Trump will take credit for what I think will be a 2-3 year very strong economy. PP is not wrong on prices but wages have increased by a lot over the last couple of years.

Well, 2025 is only two weeks old, so I can’t say anything particularly terrible has happened in that time.

However, I’m a small business owner, and I do believe the economy is a lot worse than is generally reported. I don’t doubt the reports from people here who recently doubled their income and now have a $600K HHI, but I suspect that type of success is limited to a small number of jobs in a small number of industries in the big cities.

I think everyone else is finding things getting harder.

2025 is a terrible year thus far.

* Huge increases to property tax after reassessment (yet again). This is on top of an already increased property tax rate.

* Massive hike to home owner's insurane

* Massive hike to car insurance

* Every single utility has gone up

* Little relief at the grocery store

* Massive increase for our health insurance cost

Meanwhile, our income has gone no where. I just feel like this is death by a thousand cuts. Everyone has their hands trying to grab our money and our income cannot keep up. Sometimes I feel like I want to just completely quit this insane rat race going nowhere, leave the country and live where it costs way less. The squeeze from all sides is getting insane, and it is starting to break me mentally.