youbet
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Who does not have access to a good education in the US?
Those who dwell where the public school system sucks and that cannot afford a private education.
Who does not have access to a good education in the US?
Ok, but your fellow mariners who see you on your yacht must have some idea of your wealth, no?Only a very few know my financial situation - no one else would believe it. Some suspect and have made comments, but no one would guess the size of the truth. For some years now, I have carved out and achieved a life situation that is completely different from the one I was destined to lead. The correlation with happiness is loose however (as we know, beyond a certain point....) I had to laugh at something David Lee Roth once said "money may not buy me happiness, but it can buy me a yacht which I can park right next to happiness"
Those who dwell where the public school system sucks and that cannot afford a private education.
Did you see the new, special edition Mustang GTD that Ford announced this week? $300K. If we were younger I told my wife we would get it and store it for the inevitable rise in value, when nostalgia seekers are looking for classic ICE vehicles when they aren't available. But we have the classic dilemma. In our younger days we didn't have the money to do such a thing, while in our older we don't have the time to wait out the likely increase in value.
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a44840269/2025-ford-mustang-gtd-revealed/
well said.Older me now craves simplicity and efficiency. Older me has figured out that money (and the stuff it can buy) doesn't necessarily make you happier, but used properly it can smooth over a great many of life's rough edges. Older me has learned that is its best purpose.
I know EXACTLY what you mean! Ain't that a paradox. Work insanely hard all your life so you can acquire stuff, that turns out you don't really even want. I'm seriously not complaining - I am quite grateful I can "afford" just about anything within reason.
In my early adult years, I was eager to acquire the good stuff to go with the good life and all the markers of success. Now, older me is far more selective. It's not that I'm not willing to spend - it's that far more of my expenditures are on home, services, and experiences - basically things that make my life more comfortable, more secure, and more enjoyable. I have developed a real fear of my possessions owning me, rather than me owning my possessions, perhaps because I've been there, done that a few times.
Older me now craves simplicity and efficiency. Older me has figured out that money (and the stuff it can buy) doesn't necessarily make you happier, but used properly it can smooth over a great many of life's rough edges. Older me has learned that is its best purpose.
Did you see the new, special edition Mustang GTD that Ford announced this week? $300K. If we were younger I told my wife we would get it and store it for the inevitable rise in value, when nostalgia seekers are looking for classic ICE vehicles when they aren't available. But we have the classic dilemma. In our younger days we didn't have the money to do such a thing, while in our older we don't have the time to wait out the likely increase in value.
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a44840269/2025-ford-mustang-gtd-revealed/
While I have a large brokerage account, I also keep my checking account balance fairly low, and I note that it does have a psychological effect on spending.
Having spent a lifetime traversing the terrain between poverty and wealth, I have had the opportunity to make some observations. My thinking on economic mobility (in the U.S.) has evolved greatly during this voyage.
In my ambitious early years, I was super-confident that whatever impediments might get in my way, that I would be able to smash through barriers and succeed regardless. I have largely done so, though it has been much much harder than I could have possibly imagined. Now, looking back on it all, I see that I wove a frighteningly narrow path through many obstacles, any one of which could have represented a permanent setback. Through determination, persistence, and grit I made it through tough times, setbacks, and obstacles.
So, it would be easy for me to sit hear and say that everyone has the ability to "pull themselves up by the bootstraps" or say "opportunity is there for the taking" or some other platitude about how less fortunate only have themselves to blame. Younger me might have said some of those things in the past. And I do wonder, if I had not believed I could make it, would I have even tried. So, that gun-ho thinking served a purpose.
But, older me has come to see the world in a far more nuanced light. There are dark forces like racism, sexism, age-ism, and other -ism's that represent very real, though invisible systemic barriers. If you're not personally affected by any of these -ism's, then you generally don't see them at work - the playing field looks level to you. Why don't these people stop their whining and just do the work like you did. Easy to say after you've won the game.
What I've come to see is that we all start out with different advantages and disadvantages. We tend to discount the advantages (oh that had nothing to do with my success) and focus on the disadvantages, patting ourselves on the back for all that we overcame - with some looking down on those who didn't make it as far as if it is largely their own fault.
Older me, tries to acknowledge just how extraordinarily fortunate I am. Sure, I had a rough beginning, and sure, I worked my butt off, and many a time picked myself up, dusted myself off, and kept plugging away, but I now entertain the possibility that I am supremely fortunate because I was gifted with the strength and ability to do that. That's pure luck - to be born healthy, educated to learn, and raised to aspire.
Anyhow - what I've come to see is the degree to which fortune plays a huge role in our success. Yes, people can do much to help themselves. But, often, if they are not born into the right circumstances, they don't know what they don't know. And our society is geared more towards keeping them ignorant than helping them succeed.
Wow. For $300K I could buy a Z06 Vette AND a couple of entry level Vettes to fill my 3 car garage (I don't actually have such a garage.) Heh, heh, I think I'll just keep my RAV 4 and enjoy the Vettes from afar. YMMV
A Z06 I saw at the dealer yesterday when I was picking up my Bolt was tagged at $146,000.
Having spent a lifetime traversing the terrain between poverty and wealth, I have had the opportunity to make some observations. My thinking on economic mobility (in the U.S.) has evolved greatly during this voyage.
In my ambitious early years, I was super-confident that whatever impediments might get in my way, that I would be able to smash through barriers and succeed regardless. I have largely done so, though it has been much much harder than I could have possibly imagined. Now, looking back on it all, I see that I wove a frighteningly narrow path through many obstacles, any one of which could have represented a permanent setback. Through determination, persistence, and grit I made it through tough times, setbacks, and obstacles.
So, it would be easy for me to sit hear and say that everyone has the ability to "pull themselves up by the bootstraps" or say "opportunity is there for the taking" or some other platitude about how less fortunate only have themselves to blame. Younger me might have said some of those things in the past. And I do wonder, if I had not believed I could make it, would I have even tried. So, that gun-ho thinking served a purpose.
But, older me has come to see the world in a far more nuanced light. There are dark forces like racism, sexism, age-ism, and other -ism's that represent very real, though invisible systemic barriers. If you're not personally affected by any of these -ism's, then you generally don't see them at work - the playing field looks level to you. Why don't these people stop their whining and just do the work like you did. Easy to say after you've won the game.
What I've come to see is that we all start out with different advantages and disadvantages. We tend to discount the advantages (oh that had nothing to do with my success) and focus on the disadvantages, patting ourselves on the back for all that we overcame - with some looking down on those who didn't make it as far as if it is largely their own fault.
Older me, tries to acknowledge just how extraordinarily fortunate I am. Sure, I had a rough beginning, and sure, I worked my butt off, and many a time picked myself up, dusted myself off, and kept plugging away, but I now entertain the possibility that I am supremely fortunate because I was gifted with the strength and ability to do that. That's pure luck - to be born healthy, educated to learn, and raised to aspire.
Anyhow - what I've come to see is the degree to which fortune plays a huge role in our success. Yes, people can do much to help themselves. But, often, if they are not born into the right circumstances, they don't know what they don't know. And our society is geared more towards keeping them ignorant than helping them succeed.
I'm wondering if the decline of the middle class is a bit over-rated? While, people are dropping out of it by becoming poorer, they're also rising above it, by becoming wealthier...
I agree. When we first started budgeting 30 years ago, DW and I agreed to treat our checking account (which we maintain enough to cover our regular bills) as if it had $1,000 less than the balance. This is a "buffer" against overdrawn situations. We track it this way in Quicken - the grand is in a "reserve" account. For example, right now our checking account is "overdrawn" by $10. In truth the balance s $990, but we have do it for so long we still think about being careful to spend until my pension payment hits in a week. Just like my habit of not being able to leave the house without a handkerchief in a pocket, it is a hard one to break .
While I agree with most of this, I believe there is a factor that I have not seen mentioned by name (perhaps it has been alluded to) in this thread. That factor, regardless of whether one feels success is due to talent, luck, where they born, etc., is something that one can control.
The factor: behavior.
I am going to cast it in "wealth" terms. In order to start growing and saving, regardless of where we started in life, we had to choose to behave a certain way, a way that is probably consistent across race, class, etc. spending less than what we made and being disciplined with how we choose to use money are the foundation. Choosing to do those things brings a lot of other related behaviors into play. That is why people can come from different backgrounds and achieve - despite where they started, they pursued those common behaviors.
The lottery winners who find themselves broke after a few years are almost always there not due to bad investments but bad behavior with money. The athletes who go broke get there because of the behavior they chose.
Someone mentioned earlier in the thread how come the immigrants they encountered who started with nothing succeeded, and others did not. I think a factor was the behavior the former group chose.
My point is, you can expose someone to all of the opportunities and tools that exist... but unless you also discuss the behavior necessary to increase the odds of using those opportunities, it will not matter. But - changing one's behavior can be the most difficult thing of all. And unfortunately, in some cases, those wanting to pursue those behaviors are pressured not to do so, for various reasons.
When I have participated in initiatives meant to expand opportunities for others, I always ask "how will this influence their behavior in the long run to truly take advantage of it? Often the response I receive is "we will worry about that later, we just need to get the resources to them". My response, for better or worse, has been "that is like giving someone lottery money and expecting that alone to make them conversant in financial stewardship".