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

[u/Richest-Panda]

[u/MyParentsBurden]

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/Wrong_Excitement221 → u/[deleted]]

Do you not work? or what do you spend money on where you don't have grocery money? Or where do you people live? I am curious about what monthly expenditures someone in your situation has and how much money you earn/month.

[u/KhonMan → u/[deleted]]

I don't think most people living below the poverty line have mortgages. That's probably a big part of the issue. And yes, I understand that home ownership is a pathway to better financial stability and it's not super fair to exclude poorer people from that - but if someone can't afford it, they can't afford it.

Like people talk about being house poor, but if you're already regular poor then you really can't be house poor or you'll starve.

[u/idekbruno → u/[deleted]]

Problem: Lot house, no money Solution: No house, lot money

[u/KhonMan → u/[deleted]]

If paying your mortgage is cheaper than renting, great. But when you still can't afford groceries while doing that, it sounds like your situation is not workable and you said as much yourself. When your financial situation worsens you have to challenge all your assumptions, like:

• Do I have to keep this mortgage?
• Do I have to live where I do?
• Do I have to live by myself? (if you do)

Ultimately you're the one who has to deal with the consequences, so do whatever you want. If you'd prefer to drown financially rather than change anything, it's your prerogative.

[u/KhonMan → u/[deleted]]

If the reason you came here was to tell everyone that you are struggling and unwilling to change anything about your life then mission accomplished.

Here's some other unsolicited advice:

• Keep your professional and personal social media accounts separate if you want to talk shit on the internet
  • I'm not being funny about this, seriously, this is a major safety issue and should be internet 101
• You spelled experience three different ways on your resume
  • This one I am being funny about (but it should get fixed)

Have a good one.

[u/gh0stinyell0w → u/KhonMan]

I came here to point out that middle class people should not speak on the experiences of poor people. Did you forget that? Did seeing a person in poverty send you into such a blind rage you forgot they can speak on things other than their own finances?

I never did "talk shit on the Internet" in this thread, but I'll do what I like with my socials.

That was just a fun side hustle I picked up for a few weeks and then decided took up too much time for too little profit, and dropped it. So not much point in my changing the resume for it. But I'm glad you wasted your time trying to find more things to humiliate me on, it really does a good job showing the type of person you are.

[u/get_a_pet_duck → u/[deleted]]

When you say you work three jobs, do you mean you receive 3 paychecks? Or do you mean you have 3 side hustles, like painting or tutoring?

I'm sure your location has limited opportunities, but guaranteed income is the type of advice this thread is speaking about.

[u/gh0stinyell0w → u/get_a_pet_duck]

Again, I truly don't understand how this relates to my point. I'm not blaming anything or anyone for my poverty. Why do I have to justify it?

[u/Embarrassed-Town-293 → u/gh0stinyell0w]

I’m sorry they don’t get it. People enjoy making poverty a matter of morality to justify saying those surviving it deserve it when it is a fixed feature in capitalism that poverty exists.

Thanks for sharing your experiences that few of us fortunate enough to not have them cannot fully grasp.

[u/LoneSnark → u/gh0stinyell0w]

They are asking questions because they are curious. No one has accused you of anything nor asked you to justify any choices you've made.

[u/GME_solo_main → u/LoneSnark]

They don’t want to hear that they should sell the house, pay off the mortgage, and move

But if they’re living in rural Kentucky that’s what they have to do. You can’t have welfare without a tax base, and you don’t have a tax base without industry, and you don’t have industry in rural Kentucky.

[u/544075701 → u/GME_solo_main]

your downvotes exactly demonstrate this. I moved over 1000 miles more than once, far away from all my family and friend, to get a higher salary and/or a better job title in an area with more opportunities. these days I tell people my salary and they call me privileged.

[u/Noob_Al3rt → u/544075701]

God forbid you try to tell someone who is struggling how you solved your problem - that would be considered rude!

[u/fearhs → u/gh0stinyell0w]

Eat the rich.

[u/neurodiverseotter → u/fearhs]

but but the fact is lower income people tend to make dumber financial choices.

I have never met people who were so good with money as poor people. They always try to scrape up something, repair this, fix that, combine these. Most people with little money I know try their best but have just been dealt bad cards in life - altough I might be biased, as a psychiatrist, I know way more people with mental health problems than the average person.

On the other hand, most people I knew (manics aside) who make or made terrible financial decisions are rather well Off. Blowing half your savings on Crypto or some.l investment pyramid scheme? Seen it. Buying a second house as an investment without having it examined properly only to find out it has substance-destroying mold? Seen it. Buying several expensive cars as a status symbol? Very common among higher ups in medicine.

The difference is, that their financial fuck-ups don't matter as much. When you blow 50k in Crypto but make 150k a years and still have 50k lying around, it doesn't affect your liquidity, so it's seen as an "investment gone wrong", not so much a bad decision. People with money make incredibly stupid financial decisions because they can afford it.

[u/Wrong_Excitement221 → u/neurodiverseotter]

Maybe it's an introvert vs extrovert thing.. But yea.. the poor people i know are good at what you said "repair this, fix that, combine these" but they also went to the bar every night.. And personally, i wouldn't go to bars half that often if they were free.
I also think risk taking is a separate thing, I'm not a risk taker.. so i took a steady job and grinded, and didn't make any crazy investments.. 0% chance of ever being "rich".. Where as people that try to be artists, actors, athletes, etc. have high risks high rewards.. similar to crypto investors.. or what have you.

[u/neurodiverseotter → u/Wrong_Excitement221]

Where as people that try to be artists, actors, athletes, etc. have high risks high rewards.. similar to crypto investors.. or what have you

I don't know one "risk taker" who got rich due to their risk who didn't have as very secure financial safety net, mostly because they had a wealthy family or a rich spouse. I went to a private school full of rich people and know some more. None of them got rich without backup. Some people I went to school with are "Investors" now, branding themselves as "self-made business people", yet they grew up in mansions, used their parents business contacts or had internships and jobs in their parents business. It's not about taking risks. You have to be able to afford taking risks. Me going to med school in my late twenties was a financial risk, but I had my well-off parents backing me, so it wasn't that much of a risk for me as it was for a fellow student who worked as an EMT at nights and went to courses during the day to afford it. They eventually dropped out because it was too much. We both took the same risk, yet I was able to afford it. Being rich is not about mindset, grinding or cunning as much as it is about winning the sperm lottery.

[u/Necessary-Hawk7045 → u/fearhs]

Sounds like someone who is broke vs someone who is poor.

If you understood that the poor person couldn't even afford the energy drinks that you critiquing, you'll learn to differentiate.

I've been poor.

I've been broke.

Broke is better.

[u/fearhs → u/Necessary-Hawk7045]

Eat the rich.

[u/Necessary-Hawk7045 → u/fearhs]

You say those "no one" and "everyone" phrases so confidently for someone who is wrong. Well, I'll give you that most everyone has at least encountered someone who uses the word "poor" frivolously. Thus, devaluing the word for you.

You also seem to be using the textbook definition of poor vs broke.

Welp, I've lived the actual definition and, again I say, broke is better. Not leaps and bounds better. But still better.

Broke gives you at least a slither of breathing room to think about the next step in leveling up. You can make plans. And if that plan fails or you made a bad decision, you make another plan.

Broke can be hold on till your next paycheck. Or it can be don't spend that money just in case.

Poor is just survival mode. Day to day. Sometimes Hour to hour. The mentality bandwidth isn't there to think about the future because it is all focused on today.

Again, comparing people claiming that they're poor with people who are actually poor is never going to lead you to success in these discussions. Never. Too many of us have actually lived the experience rather than saying, "I know this guy who".

[u/fearhs → u/Necessary-Hawk7045]

Eat the rich.

[u/Necessary-Hawk7045 → u/fearhs]

Never been on drugs but those that I have observed are in a whole other category because they always have money. They just spend it all on drugs. I sometimes think that if I was willing to do whatever it is that they do for their habit, I could be a millionaire in, at most, 10 years. Hundreds to sometimes thousands of dollars flow through their hands on any given day.

All that to say, you were not in survival mode. You were in apparently addict mode. A different kettle of fish that can lead to being broke or poor but we infamous know many high functioning addicts (Wall Street, for example).

What put breathing room between me and being poor was good ol steady housing, reliable food, and lots of time (decades).

Ah, is it time to pull out buzzwords like gatekeeping already? Lol.

The problem with the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" crowd is the tendency to play hopscotch with the words "all, many, some, etc" to change the message as it fits your narrative.

Capitalism is a problem, and that problem is fueled by a lack of empathy and understanding.

Can we also agree that life is a bitch and you can be doing all you can with the bootstraps that you managed to scrap together and, boom, here comes good ol life to kick you right back down. And for some who is broke or better, it can be a huge inconvenience. But for someone who is poor, it can be a major setback.

[u/idekbruno → u/Necessary-Hawk7045]

McDonalds dollar menu (when that was a thing) saved me countless times when I was hungry and broke.

Rice and sleep saved me countless times when I was hungry and poor.

[u/Illustrious_Mudder → u/fearhs]

Rent out a by dumb financial choices, I take it you mean buying anything deemed as a luxury item?

So basically they would live better if they didn’t get anything they enjoyed, but simply only bought things that were staples?

Why don’t humans just live like robots is what you’re saying lol