• hark@lemmy.world
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    20 hours ago

    This is always the advice given by the “experts” during retirement “workshops”. Have money and invest as much as you can into broad diversified funds. That the market will always grow in the long run because it has so far is taken as almost a guarantee, yet every one of these workshops will include a disclaimer of “Past performance is not indicative of future results”. At some point I feel like there’s going to a massive rug pull as the rich encourage everyone to put as much money as they can into the system so the rich can use it as exit liquidity. What’s even better is that with retirement accounts, you’re not allowed to pull out your money until decades into the future without massive penalties, and any changes in your allocations take at least a day to be made. Meanwhile the ultrawealthy have sub-millisecond algorithms at their disposal.

    I’m sure when the great rug pull happens, every genius that espoused the common advice will come out and claim that obviously it wasn’t sustainable (like the tech bubble or countless other bubbles) and repeat the magic words “Past performance is not indicative of future results”, then they’ll all suggest some other investment vehicle and that’ll become the new common knowledge advice that everyone should follow until that also becomes unsustainable.

    No thanks, I’ll just do the company match for a guaranteed pay amount and enjoy the rest of my money while I’m young, instead of stashing it away and hoping it doesn’t get fucked with in the decades before I can draw from it penalty-free and maybe having a decent chunk of money when I’m old and less capable of enjoying it.

    • Kanda@reddthat.com
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      6 hours ago

      You probably should stash some away for when unexpected things happen. Unless you want to be that guy who always tries to pay expenses with credit card debt

  • ch00f@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Pretty dangerous for a vampire to invest in a market that’s only open during the day.

  • Frozengyro@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    That’s a very good estimate of what it would be worth today, assuming they average a modest 6.5% return rate.

  • Kalkaline @leminal.space
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    2 days ago

    I get the joke, I get why it’s difficult to save money too, but you should understand compound interest and how it works before you get buried in debt that you can’t pay off and have to push retirement savings back by decades. You should understand why our society has run away winners and then everyone else. A big part of that is understanding compound interest.

    • Donkter@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      I understand compound interest and how it works. If I invest money now, the interest I earn compounds on my accumulated interest on top of the initial investment. It’s not a very difficult or esoteric concept.

      What now? Do I get a pony?

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      you should understand compound interest and how it works before you get buried in debt that you can’t pay off

      When incomes are stagnant and interest is variable and inflation drives expenses upward, this is theoretically good advice but practically useless.

      What do you tell the kid who can’t afford college without taking out a 7-10% APY loan? Is risk you’re taking on a degree worth the benefit of joining the professional class? Impossible to say under current conditions.

      What do you tell the young adult choosing between renting an overpriced apartment or taking out a six-figure loan to buy an old home in a bad part of town? Is the 6% mortgage rate going to get better or worse in another ten years? Is the local job market going to improve or collapse?

      What do you tell the middle aged man faced with an insurance company rejecting his claim on a critical pharmaceutical? Do you go out of pocket and cut into your savings? Or do you try and make it without the meds and hope you don’t destroy your chances at a comfortable retirement?

      All the math teaches you is that risks exist. They keep you clear of a few truly awful choices, but they don’t do anything to guarantee your success. There is no correct play in a game that is stacked against you.

    • thedirtyknapkin@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      doesn’t matter if I understand that when rent has going up $100/year for the last 4 years and now consumes 99% of my income leaving me deciding between rent, food, and electricity. none of that matters when i have negative money to invest with and no debt.

      • Kalkaline @leminal.space
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        2 days ago

        It matters to the extent that there is a whole class of people who don’t have to worry about that stuff that think you’re not paying enough taxes and could use less of YOUR social security when retirement comes.

    • theUwUhugger@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      I really really don’t think its going to make that much difference on the few thousand bucks you realistically have!

      If you want to invest long term, put it into google/apple… stock! In fact open.ai is trying to convert to for profit, their stock is also going to go wild!