One of the things that's been on my mind lately reading some of the stories of people investing is just how far away monetary goals are for even above average income earners. Pay off your debts? Good luck. Afford a down payment on a house? Ha! Enough money to protect from a medical disaster? Lol. Enough to retire? Who even expects to be able to retire anymore? They're all just like pipe dreams at this point. Even the original investor DFV is renting while 50k in, but would need 200k+ to seriously bid on a house in his area. It's a form of alienation that makes someone look at their (incredibly well off) bank account and think 5k, 10k, 20k are all good to be pushed out. The normal goals that would keep people grounded with their money are so far off and so aspirational, to even people with great jobs no less, that it's just not a meaningful incentive to a lot of people. And that really applies across a big swath of income earners.
Even beyond the gross inequality we live in it's a feeling doubly hammered in by mostly stagnant wages. If you can't reasonably save towards something now, there's a good chance you won't ever be able to and may even just see that goal slip further and further away.
For all the writers and stuff shrieking about how it's an irresponsible way to spend money... what the hell else do you expect people to do? All the responsible things are unobtainable for most people in modern day society.
One of the things that's been on my mind lately reading some of the stories of people investing is just how far away monetary goals are for even above average income earners. Pay off your debts? Good luck. Afford a down payment on a house? Ha! Enough money to protect from a medical disaster? Lol. Enough to retire? Who even expects to be able to retire anymore? They're all just like pipe dreams at this point. Even the original investor DFV is renting while 50k in, but would need 200k+ to seriously bid on a house in his area. It's a form of alienation that makes someone look at their (incredibly well off) bank account and think 5k, 10k, 20k are all good to be pushed out. The normal goals that would keep people grounded with their money are so far off and so aspirational, to even people with great jobs no less, that it's just not a meaningful incentive to a lot of people. And that really applies across a big swath of income earners.
Even beyond the gross inequality we live in it's a feeling doubly hammered in by mostly stagnant wages. If you can't reasonably save towards something now, there's a good chance you won't ever be able to and may even just see that goal slip further and further away.
For all the writers and stuff shrieking about how it's an irresponsible way to spend money... what the hell else do you expect people to do? All the responsible things are unobtainable for most people in modern day society.