Owning capital is a skill

[timtofly]

Ceri & Alexa are no replacement for human servants.

No, but they may be the masters soon.

 

[Old Hippy]

I'd rather have a dishwasher than a scullery maid. If Upstairs, Downstairs is any indication, they are always getting into mischief.

that's because they want a dishwasher and clothes dryer what do you expect its the 1900's

 

[Traitorfish]

You can't **** your dishwasher.

There's almost certainly a subreddit proving otherwise.

 

[El_Machinae]

Huh? I'm not following since the trust fund is a creditor to the US Treasury just as the Japanese or any other investor is. As they exhaust their $2 trillion'ish treasury holdings the trust fund will eventually become pay as you go.

We can play it backwards, with a forward-paying debt program. An unschool immigrant comes here and works. He pays taxes. And his kids get to go to school. He's down money, and his kids benefit. When his kids grow up, they pay taxes, so other kids get to go to school. But they already benefited from the program - their schooling was already paid for. Once it gets going, it's sustainable in perpetuity (assuming spherical, frictionless kids, of course). Only the original payer didn't benefit from the program.

SS is the opposite, but you have to also remember that government spending is of benefit to the economy. And not because of demand-side stimulus. But because governments spend on the supply-side too. So, the Boomers were taxed. A small portion of that money went to the Silent Generation (who also benefited, no doubt). And the rest of that money that they were taxed went to the Boomers in the form of spending on them. And, as the Trust Fund diminishes, a greater and greater portion of the SS tax that your kids pay doesn't go onto spending on themselves. It goes into the spending desires of Boomers.

 

[Whomp]

You're mistaken. It is a savings plan not a spending plan hence the varied IRR's. The trust fund was a pay-go system prior to 1983 and has been in surplus until 2010. It will become pay-go again when the investments are exhausted unless changes are made and adjust actuarially.

 

[El_Machinae]

.... what do you think happened to every single dollar taken out of a paycheck in the 80s?

 

[Whomp]

Not much different than any other pension program. Some was distributed and the rest was invested.

 

[Birdjaguar]

.... what do you think happened to every single dollar taken out of a paycheck in the 80s?

I don't think dollar for dollar accountability is the best approach. On my left, the government takes my taxes/SS dollars and for all practical purposes, it is gone. On my right hand the government dispenses dollars in lots of ways, some of which come back to me. As long as it keeps dispensing dollars, whose they were is of no consequence. The consequences come when the government makes significant changes in the dispensing allocation such that people feel they are not getting what they expected.

 

[Disgustipated]

The number one factor which predicts whether a person will be financially successful is not intelligence, or work ethic, or education. It the parents' income level.

I think it's discipline. It's how I've been able to save the amount I have, and also how I can maintain my weight despite my love of cookies. Most people lack this one skill. On a side note, I think most poor people are poor not because they are stupid, but because they lack discipline. Willpower is a trait most people do not have. One I do have. See: The Mischel experiments.

 

[cardgame]

I think it's discipline. It's how I've been able to save the amount I have, and also how I can maintain my weight despite my love of cookies. Most people lack this one skill. On a side note, I think most poor people are poor not because they are stupid, but because they lack discipline. Willpower is a trait most people do not have. One I do have. See: The Mischel experiments.

That's a good analogy, actually. I can maintain my weight despite eating nothing but cookies. Most people lack this metabolism, through no fault of their own. But I was born with it and therefore can do what I want.

 

[Narz]

That's a good analogy, actually. I can maintain my weight despite eating nothing but cookies. Most people lack this metabolism, through no fault of their own. But I was born with it and therefore can do what I want.

Well an unhealthy diet will catch up with you eventually even if you don't get fat.