return2ozmaWhy do Americans pretend they're not broke when most Americans are in debt?
RhynoplazHow else are we supposed to know who’s better than who?
I thought you guys used race and gender for that?
Mayor PoopingtonOh that too. We make sure to remind the poor white folk they are still better than rich black people
You said people and folk, but I think you meant men.
infinitevalenceIts implied.
My apologies. In my attempt to be horrifically racist, I forgot to also be sexist. It won’t happen again.
God damn lazy modern bigots. Back in my day there was a word for people like you, but using it will get me banned on half the fediverse.
NotyouAs President Lyndon B(ig dick) Johnson once said
“If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
The Jones’s are a bunch of chatty kathy pricks.
Yeah, but they have a hot tub.
I mean, I have a hot tub. Granted, it been sitting on its side for about 5 years, the critters have claimed it as their own and now live inside, and the siding is rotted to hell, but it’s there.
Sounds to me like the critters are the Jones’s now!
With a star on your belly.
I mean honestly some should not be. There is this guy that talks about california real estate on over ten million dollar properties were the person has problems with other debt to. I mean the down payment has to be a mill or more. If I had financial means like that I would be debt free.
There is deff high income people who suck at budgetting. But fast majority of pay to pay check crowd are objectively poor.
60% of americans live pay check to pay check. I would say like 10% of them people who can't manage money.
No part of my education included basic personal finances. My son is now in high school and also reports the same.
I don't know any regime funded school where that's the norm tbh why would regime educated you on how to fight the power structure?
Financial literacy is a family affair. I am assuming bulk are educating your son about it.
CarbonIceDragonIm not sure that financial literacy can really be called fighting the power structure tbh. Like, sure, certain companies that make money off debt might make less off you, but for a person that isnt rich, the money saved is gonna end up spent on something else at some point, so every other company except the ones selling debt benefit from you not being in it. If anything, citizenry that are so broke that they cant buy things and struggle to survive are less able to contribute to a consumer economy and might require the government either spend more money on social services so that they can keep stable enough to work, or spend more money on policing to deal with the increase in crime that comes with desperation.
The power structure is the not the government... Government is the tool used by the power structure to impose its will on the working people.
The people who own the country want everyone dirty poor so they can easily exploit them. If the middle class has to pay for the food stamps and section 8, even better win win.
Look at the national debt. Where do you think that money went?
Unfortunately financial responsibility are not taught in school. Hell finance isn’t even taught unless you’re going to business school and that doesn’t even necessarily cover skills like budgeting.
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/keep+up+appearances
Sometimes people attack weaknesses. This is a defense mechanism. Also it's better for mental health to focus on what you do have, rather than what you don't. That doesn't mean you're not trying to meet genuine needs. It just means learning what are genuine needs and addressing that, while also noting "I have food and shelter, that's a great thing!" Especially when so many don't.
talI mean, it depends on what you mean by that. Anyone who has a credit card is going to have debt, just by virtue of needing to pay the bill.
But if you mean “most Americans have a negative net worth” — taking into account assets and debts — most Americans have a positive net worth.
kiplinger.com/…/average-net-worth-by-age-how-do-y…
The median net worth of all Americans in 2022 was $192,900.
「黃家駒 Wong Ka Kui」 | (aka: 鳳凰院 凶真 Hououin Kyouma)Oops, dad got sick, time to sell the house
You have a house?
undefinedRight? Who the fuck has a house?
ℕ𝕖𝕞𝕠I do, but I bought it used.
I know you’re joking but I’d much rather buy a very used house than a house made today. At least in the US seems like houses from 20-40 years ago are solid but everything made in the last 5-10 years absolute paper mache dog shit.
I don’t, my parents do.
I call bullshit on that $192k average. They’re including people worth hundreds of billions in net worth which is going to skew the average way higher than it really is.
TIL that for my age bracket, apparently I suck.
Yeah, but if you were younger than 35 in 2022, your net worth was 39,000 USD. It was already brutal, since society expects people to own, or at least rent, homes in their twenties. Now, I haven’t heard about things shaping up for younger people (quite the contrary), Trump’s dollars are less biggy and the clocking bomb in the form of inflation, they all paint a gloomy picture.
$192,900
How much of an average house is that?
About ⅖
Credit cards don't have to mean debt if you pay them off before the intrest applies. That's how you use them responsibly. Many don't.
It’s debt regardless of whether or not one pays interest. Debt isn’t linked to interest. Just means that you have an obligation to pay money to someone.
EDIT: Though in fairness, if one never actually uses a credit card at all, then one never takes out debt, so I suppose it’s probably better to say “if one has a credit card that one uses”.
EDIT2: Though all this is not to diminish your point that not carrying credit card debt from month to month is generally a pretty good rule to live by.
Here in Australia if you have a credit card with a parenting balance of $0, and a maximum limit of $10k, that actually acts as $10k of debt when you go to take out any loans etc.
I’d be interested to see the median net worth after removing the top 1%, but I can’t be bothered to Google it atm …
It’d have an effect, but not a large one — that’s why one uses median, rather than mean.
In a country where personal identity is 90% shaped by politics and consumerism makes seeming poor like herpes.
Normies just reacting to their environment
The thing about it... Anyone can pretend to be rich for a year or two but math will math eventually.
Mister NeonI blame that predestination bullshit that’s in the country’s DNA. If you’re rich it must mean God loves you and if you’re poor that’s due to your sins.
BroadfernPuritanism meets prosperity gospel. The original Jesus would get crucified all over again if he set foot in this hellhole.
Not enough people talk about this. This attitude is rampant in the Republican party and no one says a word about it
Not even Republicans
We have a very materialistic and consumeristic culture and we shame the poor.
Or more specifically, we are ashamed when we can’t afford things we need. We are saturated by right-wing propaganda that says if you don’t succeed, it’s your fault. So, like abuse victims, we internalize the shame of what is done to us.
It’s a message tailored so we don’t question the rich, and as an added benefit to them, trains the poor to not seek government systemic solutions to the inequality that creates their poverty.
Homeless people are more financially rich than most of this country.
Do you see the problem yet
It’s actually curious to read this comment while several others state how they could manage to pay their debt, but they choose to be in debt because it’s somehow convenient for them. I believe them, it’s just curious because anyone could say the same.
dandelionare you talking about the comment mentioning it makes financial sense to not pay off their mortgage?
Part of that has to do with how our economy is built around credit cards and debt itself. They don’t want you to fully pay off your credit card debt, and will reduce the amount you can borrow if you do. And if you try to opt out of the debt system entirely, it hurts you as well because you have no credit score from the credit card companies and no history of paying off you debt on time, which hurts your chances to get things like loans and mortgages. I hate debt, and ran into this issue the first time I went to buy a car because I had always used debit cards to buy stuff. Despite the cards being Visa cards that just got paid off immediately by charging my bank account instead of being paid off over time, I didn’t have any debt history as a result and had to have somebody cosign my car loan to vouch for me that I’d actually pay the loan.
and will reduce the amount you can borrow if you do.
This is not true.
I am absolutely beyond broke on paper. My debts are well into the six figures and my bank account is in the low five figures.
I’m in my 40s and have a whopping $15k for retirement and no assets.
It’s pretty awesome.
I’ve been there. It sucks. But it was possible for me to get out. It took years. Be careful, and be ready to catch any luck that might come your way.
That's all we can do here. Sadly only some of us will be reak out.
But if everyone did their best, it would deny owners so. i profit at least.
I had $17k in the 401k when I was laid off from my last job - it had been twice that but there was that big collapse. Raised a lot of kids and couldn’t put much away. Always something but never much. That was in my 40s.
I am dug out now, mostly, in my 50s, not to the point I think I’ll retire but oh my God when I look at the difference between them and now it’s crazy, there is so much more.
I just want to say, don’t give up hope. I would never have dreamed that this would turn around and it did. And the kids grew up too.
Raised a lot of kids and couldn't put much away.
And this is why people are not having kids.
Of you are normie. It should be really just 1 if youust breed and any extra depends on financial ability
Oh, sorry, I haven’t given up hope. It was sort of said with…a laugh. I do have some investments I’ve made as of late that are looking like they could pay off big…we’ll see. Either way, I still sleep okay at night and I have a roof over my head so I can’t complain.
I believe it’s partially because the national debt has always been high and keeps getting higher. It’s been a little while since I checked or heard anything about it, but it got a lot of press time in the 2010’s. I feel like that affected how americans view debt. I’ve also heard the financial advice espoused by banks “it’s financially healthy to have some debt, it helps you build credit”. Which is partially a crock of shit and regardless of the veracity of that statement, it mostly leads to people digging a hole they can’t get out of.
jordanlundI mean, yeah, I have a mortgage that will outlive me, but I still have money coming in.
Hey, it’s the land of Hollywood. If anyone in the world is good in pretending, it’s them.