What is your perception of wealth?

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Fat_Bulldog
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Re: What is your perception of wealth?

Post by Fat_Bulldog »

Popeye_Card wrote:
MAGA wrote:My parents probably still make around $3-400k annually. Seeing their savings and checking account statement they accidentally left on their counter totally changed my perception of wealth. I had more than they do making a fraction of their income and being half their age. Stupidly expensive habits have turned what should be wealthy people (I think) into people with high spending power but nothing to their name. Listening to Dave Ramsey's podcast showed me this isn't uncommon. Which makes me sad because I know people making $12 an hour who would totally change their life if they made $18.

Easy come easy go, I guess.
I think everyone needs to come to their own conclusion on if being "wealthy" is a goal for them or not. There's a case to be made for enjoying your life while you're young.

Given, I think everyone should evaluate if the money they spend is truly making them happy. But I'm not a huge proponent of scrimping and saving every penny just so that you're "wealthy" later in life.
I have very similar thinking. Enjoy life while it's here and guaranteed. And, life is only guaranteed in the current moment.

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Jocephus
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Re: What is your perception of wealth?

Post by Jocephus »

G. Keenan wrote:
Jocephus wrote:i'm poor and gonna be worse off than my parents, will work 30 mores years in a [expletive], redundant job (if i'm lucky!) and die a sad terrible alone pathetic death when i'm found being picked apart by my cats a few days later. I am going nowhere. This place... is like... the hospital where I was born, my house, my old age home, and my... graveyard... for my bones.
You need to shake things up homie. Why not move somewhere new?
yeah probably but it's complicated or difficult or whatever. plus if i revealed here it's just ammunition for maga to make fun of me. that said, i know i'm better off than a lot of people. way better off but i feel stagnant, unimportant, replaceable, invisible. i think one thing i've always struggled with is that i'm *not* somebody/something like i had always thought. not that i'd be famous but i'd have "something" worthy of a tip of the cap. maybe that's my own fault for having/wanting certain expectations or being sold a false narrative and believing it. of course it depends on what you put in, and we can always do more but just seems like there's always barriers, real or imagined. i understand thats part of life though. i really struggled with this feeling in my 20s and got real depressed and was on medication. i've accepted the reality in my 30s and am fine with it but often feel disengaged and i'm just waiting out these next 30 years and hoping i can retire without having to work.

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wart57
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Re: What is your perception of wealth?

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[expletive], I am 48, Have 4 daughters under 12 years old. I will never retire.

I will be here forever - they will wheel me away from my desk after I die.

I am strangely ok with that. I was always told I would never amount to anything, and I have succeeded at that.

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MAGA
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Re: What is your perception of wealth?

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I know those feelings all too well. There are way too many capable people (MAGAchuds even) who never find their calling for whatever reason. They get by but struggle with fulfillment because they know they're capable of more. I'm one of those people too.

I always thought the sort of people drawn to message boards were those who had things to say, but don't have those around them to hear them or see their insight. Whether it's a lack of Cardinals fans in their life due to geography or informed political talk. Good luck finding the level of discourse in the politics forum anywhere in your "real" life.

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wart57
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Re: What is your perception of wealth?

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I work to live, I don't live to work.

We get by ok.

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MrCrowesGarden
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Re: What is your perception of wealth?

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Jocephus wrote:i'm poor and gonna be worse off than my parents, will work 30 mores years in a [expletive], redundant job (if i'm lucky!) and die a sad terrible alone pathetic death when i'm found being picked apart by my cats a few days later. I am going nowhere. This place... is like... the hospital where I was born, my house, my old age home, and my... graveyard... for my bones.
I feel a lot like this too. Getting slammed with a hospital visit over the summer didn't help.

I know it's not a lot but I've started this year just saving $60 from every paycheck. Of course all this really means is that if i forgo most or all of the things in life that I find enjoyable, I'll have $1200 to my name in 2020.

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MAGA
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Re: What is your perception of wealth?

Post by MAGA »

Instead of surfing on GRB, you can dedicate every free minute of time to slaving on Mechanical Turk tasks via amazon for $3.50 an hour.

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Jocephus
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Re: What is your perception of wealth?

Post by Jocephus »

MrCrowesGarden wrote:
Jocephus wrote:i'm poor and gonna be worse off than my parents, will work 30 mores years in a [expletive], redundant job (if i'm lucky!) and die a sad terrible alone pathetic death when i'm found being picked apart by my cats a few days later. I am going nowhere. This place... is like... the hospital where I was born, my house, my old age home, and my... graveyard... for my bones.
I feel a lot like this too. Getting slammed with a hospital visit over the summer didn't help.
i went to the hospital on valentines day 2017 because i thought i was having heart issues. i went to the ER because they always say don't [expletive] with the heart. all the tests came back fine. then i get a $1000 hospital bill even with my health insurance and if you don't pay it off immediately or enroll in their plan then they hand you over to debt collectors. it was terrifying. so i was spending an additional 80 month (that i don't have) to pay it off. i ended up dipping into my savings to just pay it off the remaining in a lump sum but man i get why people hate health care in this country and it made me really hate it too (and i realize my experience was minor compared to some). the whole episode was one reason i realized i need to change my health habits (and again, i got clean results back) but i knew i'd be [expletive] if anything truly serious came up. and here's an example of how much [expletive] health care is in this country. i'd been a 20 dollar copay for a long time. then a few years back it got bumped up to 40. but i would go to my doctor for a checkup or whatever and juts pay 20 and no one ever said anything. never got a bill for an extra 20, was never stopped by the receptionist at the counter to say "oh your plan says its 40", etc. it's all a big scam. they just want your money. and don't get me started on all the damn medication commercials. it's disgusting how *everything* has to be based on a profit margin. (i went off course a bit).

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MrCrowesGarden
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Re: What is your perception of wealth?

Post by MrCrowesGarden »

Jocephus wrote:
MrCrowesGarden wrote:
Jocephus wrote:i'm poor and gonna be worse off than my parents, will work 30 mores years in a [expletive], redundant job (if i'm lucky!) and die a sad terrible alone pathetic death when i'm found being picked apart by my cats a few days later. I am going nowhere. This place... is like... the hospital where I was born, my house, my old age home, and my... graveyard... for my bones.
I feel a lot like this too. Getting slammed with a hospital visit over the summer didn't help.
i went to the hospital on valentines day 2017 because i thought i was having heart issues. i went to the ER because they always say don't [expletive] with the heart. all the tests came back fine. then i get a $1000 hospital bill even with my health insurance and if you don't pay it off immediately or enroll in their plan then they hand you over to debt collectors. it was terrifying. so i was spending an additional 80 month (that i don't have) to pay it off. i ended up dipping into my savings to just pay it off the remaining in a lump sum but man i get why people hate health care in this country and it made me really hate it too (and i realize my experience was minor compared to some). the whole episode was one reason i realized i need to change my health habits (and again, i got clean results back) but i knew i'd be [expletive] if anything truly serious came up. and here's an example of how much [expletive] health care is in this country. i'd been a 20 dollar copay for a long time. then a few years back it got bumped up to 40. but i would go to my doctor for a checkup or whatever and juts pay 20 and no one ever said anything. never got a bill for an extra 20, was never stopped by the receptionist at the counter to say "oh your plan says its 40", etc. it's all a big scam. they just want your money. and don't get me started on all the damn medication commercials. it's disgusting how *everything* has to be based on a profit margin. (i went off course a bit).

I had a gallbladder attack this summer (which is absolutely the worst pain I've been in in my life). Knew I'd have medical bills but holy [expletive] they are a pain-- get a bill from the hospital which is separate than the bill from the surgeon which is separate from the bill for the anesthesiologist even though you kind of need all [expletive] three. Have basically no savings because I've been trying to clean up some of my wife's poor financial history... and all of this coming about two months after putting a new roof and windows on the house. All happened when I was basically the healthiest I've been since high school at least. My insurance didn't even cover half of the anesthesiology bill but now have that one paid off because of two HSA payments. Still have hospital and surgeon which is about $150/month. I'm sure I could get at least one paid off with my tax return, but I'd rather use that to establish a savings account or pay off some credit card debt.

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Tim
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Re: What is your perception of wealth?

Post by Tim »

You may not like Dave Ramsey's politics or his religious point of view, but he really did help me understand fiances quite a bit better. I figure you guys are much more financially literate than I am as I never stepped foot in the business building while in college, but the idea of saving a thousand for emergencies, attacking debt, then a larger emergency fund has helped my wife and I get started. We saved a ton of money with his envelope method. He also makes good recommendations on how to view life insurance.

I am also cognizant that we've got a few legs up on most folks with our professions, but that wasn't the case when I was a resident.

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