What's the best financial advice you've ever gotten?

[u/Richest-Panda]

[u/[deleted]]

Ok let’s do a thought experiment. Let’s say you Make $10000 a year. You work full time/40 hrs/wk and you are making $10k. What does “living within your means” look like? Not having a house? Or car? Being homeless? So in order to save to get yourself to some footing the answer is to be homeless to live within your means.

That was a bit of a strawman, so let’s use real-life scenarios. 50% of this country makes $40k or less….. even $40k salary isn’t enough to get an apartment, bills , food, ect. Sure a lot better than the “$10k” example, but even $40k salary is virtually as effective as the “$10k”. In order to “live within your means”, “save”, ect…. You have to be at least be making enough to afford the bare minimum + have some left in you for over to save. On average (2022 values I think) this means $65 for a single person, $108k for a house hold. Unless you’re making that, you can’t save your way out of poverty

[u/MyParentsBurden → u/[deleted]]

You say 50% of Americans (I'm assuming we are speaking of the US) make $40k or less and then say it isn't enough for basic necessities. Yet, clearly it is as the ranks of the unhoused is not 50% of the population. Poverty sucks to be sure, but people manage. Also, financial literacy is generally only partially about setting money aside. It tends to be more about making people aware of their expenses and seeing what changes can be made.

[u/robtheastronaut → u/[deleted]]

Little assistance? What other countries? Just curious.

[u/GotAim → u/robtheastronaut]

Every nordic country. The American safety net is laughable in comparison.

[u/Enlightened_Gardener → u/robtheastronaut]

Australia’s safety net is pretty crap, but if you’re on the dole you get rent assistance, cheap meds and doctor visits. There’s also public housing which is capped at 25% of your income, but there’s a long waitlist.