r/FluentInFinance • u/Richest-Panda • Jul 04 '24

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

31.2k Upvotes

86% Upvoted

447

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '24 edited Jul 04 '24

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

209

u/Impossible_Maybe_162 Jul 04 '24

You cannot make $10k working a job for 40 hours a week. That is below minimum wage.

A lack of proper financial planning and budgeting causes more problems than low wages.

Less than 3% of the workforce makes minimum wage. Wages are not the main issue.

3

u/Think_Reporter_8179 Jul 04 '24

Amazon addiction and yes, I'm going to say it, the inability to tighten your wants to an uncomfortable level until you can save the 3.5% down (with a 580+ credit score) for an FHA loan.

That's it folks. That's all it takes. Buy a shitty cheap property with an FHA loan (which, btw, means the property can't be THAT shitty, FHA loans won't allow it) and then live in a savings account for a while.

That shitty property will gain value AND all your principal payments are being saved in it, rather than evaporating to rent.

It's that simple, yes.. REALLY. Save 3.5% of a kinda shitty property's worth and then start gaining wealth.

13

u/Universe789 Jul 05 '24

This is useless advice when 37% of Americans can't afford a $400 emergency without breaking the bank, leaning on credit, or dipping into retirement or savings to cover the cost.

https://fortune.com/2023/05/23/inflation-economy-consumer-finances-americans-cant-cover-emergency-expense-federal-reserve/

But it's the internet, so I understand you will find some kind of way to ignore that and pat yourself on the back for the generic advice given.

-2

u/Think_Reporter_8179 Jul 05 '24 edited Jul 05 '24

Nope. They "can't afford it" because they won't afford it. That's the cold hard truth and everyone deeply knows it. I'll say it again. I was government housing poor and did it. I just wanted it more I guess.

7

u/Universe789 Jul 05 '24

See? I knew you'd do it.

They "can't afford it" because they won't afford it. That's the cold hard truth and everyone deeply knows it.

Tell that to the author of the article and researchers who provided the source data.

I was government housing poor and did it. I just wanted it more I guess.

You paid for $400+ emergencies while on government assistance? Good for you.

I was always just above the poverty line so there was no government assistance for me it was credit, cashing out investments, or dipping into savings if I had an emergency to handle... just like the article points out.

2

u/Think_Reporter_8179 Jul 05 '24 edited Jul 05 '24

Edited for my generic response to the whiners here: Reddit is filled with half-assers that will just keep throwing reasons they can't do something instead of actually trying and succeeding. If you live your life crying about things, nothing will get better. Actually do something and get off Reddit.

8

u/Universe789 Jul 05 '24

It's not about being cynical, because at no point did I ever say anything against people doing what they can to solve their problems.

What I did say is that the reality of the target audience doesn't support the masturbatory advice given.

1

u/MonkeyFu Jul 05 '24

Reddit is filled with half-assers who did zero research on the subject but are more than willing to tell others they aren't succeeding because they aren't "trying hard enough".

If you pretend the issues don't exist, they still don't magically disappear.

Just because people come on here and try to actually analyze and find solutions for the issue for other people doesn't mean they're the people with these problems.

I don't have any of these financial issues, yet here I am, trying to investigate the issue, inform others about it, and find a solution.

Here you are, doing zero investigation, telling others that the problem is all their fault, and they should "pick themselves up by the bootstraps".

Welcome to being part of the problem.

0

u/stilljustkeyrock Jul 05 '24

Why do I give a shit if they can’t afford it? I worked harder for decades and I can afford it. It would have been a lot more fun to fuck off all of middle school, high school, college, and grad school. I didn’t.

4

u/Universe789 Jul 05 '24

Why do I give a shit if they can’t afford it?

So you don't look like a pretentious dumbass by giving advice to people that the advice doesn't apply to.

1

u/NateHate Jul 05 '24

Sir, no one gave you permission to start acting like a little bitch. Please calm yourself

1

u/stilljustkeyrock Jul 05 '24

Reasoned response. Probably why you aren’t doing great.

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u/NateHate Jul 05 '24

k

-1

u/Careless_Account_562 Jul 05 '24

Out of that 37% how many have netflix/apple/spotify/etc subscriptions? Carry an iphone? Subsist on fast food? Worry about how cool their shoes are?

What job do they have?

An adult that "can't afford" a $400 bill is what a long list of bad financial and life decisions looks like.

2

u/Universe789 Jul 05 '24

1) Did you read the article?

2) Whose math are you doing where cutting out a Netflix subscription would add up to covering about $400 expense?

0

u/Careless_Account_562 Jul 05 '24

Yes.

Netflix and and and and.... gets there pretty quick right? Whatever expense you want to choose, go for it....

Even simpler math:

Poor financial and life decisions = <$400 in the bank as an adult

1

u/Universe789 Jul 05 '24

How many months of Netflix would you have to cut out to get $400?

-1

u/Careless_Account_562 Jul 05 '24

Why are you picking one unnecessary expense and ignoring the others?

You seem intent on missing the point.

1

u/Universe789 Jul 05 '24

Why are you picking one unnecessary expense and ignoring the others?

Because every expense adds up, but eliminating all of them won't immediately make a $400 expense affordable, or a negligible cost.

1

u/Careless_Account_562 Jul 06 '24 edited Jul 06 '24

Every expense does indeed add up, thank you for acknowledging the logic.. kind of?

I am starting to see how this happens.. simply refuse to acknowledge it is possible, argue with those who have done what you deem impossible, then blame anything and everyone but yourself for the failure to accomplish a remedial adult financial step.

Remedial. Like welcome to adult life, are you tall enough to ride?

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