The reality is the top let's say 10% in net worth are completely reliant on the rest to over consume. If every American had the same frugal lifestyle where they invest more and spend less, the economy would crash hard and it would be devastating.

Anonymous wrote:Diversify. Putting it all in the stock market is a sure way to lose everything eventually.

Also, don't have it all digitized. That can be wiped out with the stroke of a key or a virus program/hacker.

Why, the stock market has only gone up over the long term?

Wild investing advice on dcum.

Diversify. Putting it all in the stock market is a sure way to lose everything eventually.

Also, don't have it all digitized. That can be wiped out with the stroke of a key or a virus program/hacker.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who invest are actually fewer than you think.

It doesn't feel like it though. I think investing is not longer that "secret" recipe to wealth in the long term that only a few know about. I drive for Uber and the other me and my customer we were discussing about the stock indexes we are investing in. I never graduated HS, I am 36 and recently discovered the benefits of investing. The lady I was driving was 49 and she said she heard about it from a Christian podcast she was listening to.

Correct.
The most recent available data, from 2025 and 2024, indicate that approximately 62% of Americans own stock, either directly or indirectly through mutual funds or retirement accounts. This figure represents the highest level of stock ownership since before the 2008 Great Recession.

Anonymous wrote:This is just strange.

You don’t need to “consume from savings” until you have a major event (house down payment, college funding, retirement).

What do I not get here?

Some people put money away for what's considered regular expenses. This is one of the reason many Americans cant't cover a $1000 emergency expense. They will put money in savings and then use that saving to pay for food, gas, electric etc. essentially many Americans are using savings as a checking account.

I think that’s normal. We invest 30% of gross per month, spend 20% pay tax almost half our gross income. 😅 we are high income w2 earner. So our tax is very brutal

No. Most people use up all their money and even borrow more.
A lot of small investors, like myself, were never the biggest spenders. Investing and all surrounding it is more exciting than shopping. I'm so glad for the shoppers.
The money you invest in company stock is being used to make money by the company, the bank, and who knows who else. The money in your savings is being used to make more money unless it's under mattress.

This is just strange.

You don’t need to “consume from savings” until you have a major event (house down payment, college funding, retirement).

What do I not get here?

^^PP here consuming from savings not investments*

Anonymous wrote:"If we invest far more than we save then wouldn't that mean we will be consuming less?"

What?

OP is assuming that people are consuming from their investments which is not necessarily wrong. A lot of Americans basically save and then from that saving they tackle their "wants" and not necessarily "needs". We have a very poor financial education in this country and part of it is the fact that we have an extremely high consumption rate. In fact our economy relies so much on consumption that if we start consuming less as a nation it will have a big impact on our economy.

Anonymous wrote:People who invest are actually fewer than you think.

It doesn't feel like it though. I think investing is not longer that "secret" recipe to wealth in the long term that only a few know about. I drive for Uber and the other me and my customer we were discussing about the stock indexes we are investing in. I never graduated HS, I am 36 and recently discovered the benefits of investing. The lady I was driving was 49 and she said she heard about it from a Christian podcast she was listening to.

"If we invest far more than we save then wouldn't that mean we will be consuming less?"

What?

People who invest are actually fewer than you think.

Are we investing too much? I feel like everyone is investing which is great. I wonder sometimes where is all this money going? If we invest far more than we save then wouldn't that mean we will be consuming less? And if we consume less what's the point of investing in products and services that people are not going to buy?