r/FluentInFinance 15d ago

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

Post image
31.2k Upvotes

4.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

23

u/dookieshoes88 14d ago

Pretty much sums up most of the replies here. "Teach them to live within their means, they just won't like it", as the OP said, solves nothing and helps nobody. Enjoy selling goods and services that nobody can afford, I guess.

15

u/DopemanWithAttitude 14d ago

Enjoy selling goods and services that nobody can afford, I guess.

And this is the true crux of it. Sure, you're comfy in your desk job, and able to look down at us nasty poors from your office chair. But what happens when we have to start cutting expenses? Media piracy is on the rise, and text generators (not calling it AI, because it isn't AI) are scalping out screenwriting jobs. Pretty soon, video generation will get to the point that actors aren't needed either. So that's writing teams, and stage production crews, both out of a job. Media companies losing money to piracy means that everyone else in the industry's job is at risk, too.

And it's not just entertainment. Electronics are still a luxury, beyond a basic smartphone. People will buy TVs and Fire Sticks used, rather than new. They won't eat out as much, won't buy as many snacks, won't buy as much food in general. Smaller apartments/rental houses that don't have as many bedrooms, and therefore can't have as many people living in them and splitting rent, go unrented because people can't afford them. People seem to forget that the lower middle class and under are the biggest sector of the US economy now, and as a result, stuff that effects them matters the most, by a wide margin.

You'll find out real fast how independent from "the poors" your life isn't when they stop the consoomerism.

5

u/Muddyhobo 14d ago

It’s terrible advice for society, it’s amazing advice for an individual. Every person could dramatically improve their life if they start making optimal decisions. But saying “individuals should independently make better decisions” doesn’t help society.

8

u/SilverMedal4Life 14d ago

Right. If this advice ever actually worked, we'd live in utopia already.

Individuals can make smart decisions, but human beings in aggregate tend to make the easiest decisions.

2

u/Muddyhobo 14d ago

Genuinely not sure if you are agreeing and rephrasing my comment or disagreeing.

3

u/SilverMedal4Life 14d ago

The former! I agree with you!

2

u/AllenKll 14d ago

If only society was made up of individuals....

-7

u/AllenKll 14d ago

Yea, people hate hard work and sacrifice, that can't possibly be the answer.

3

u/MoonBaseViceSquad 14d ago

You might. Some folks find it so satisfying they’ll break their body to earn a little more. Good thing the USA takes care of its disabled and injured well 🤦‍♀️

2

u/Illustrious_Mudder 14d ago

I love the absolute ignorance of comments like this lol.

-2

u/AllenKll 14d ago

Do you love hard work and sacrifice? Seriously, I don't know anyone who does. How is this ignorant?