"Old White Men?" That's me,I guess

[Amethyst]

My parents taught me to respect spiders, and not pick one up, but I don't kill them. If there are spiders in the house, that means there are bugs in the house, so I'll go after those. Actually I rather like seeing the occasional wolf spider in the basement. She's keeping down the crickets and other insect destroyers of human belongings.

I So I had to figure it out for myself. (Except the spiders... still hate those buggers!). .

 

[Lucantes]

My parents taught me to respect spiders, and not pick one up, but I don't kill them. If there are spiders in the house, that means there are bugs in the house, so I'll go after those. Actually I rather like seeing the occasional wolf spider in the basement. She's keeping down the crickets and other insect destroyers of human belongings.

+1 Now if I could just get my wife to understand this.
I am not a spider lover or anything, it is just that I would rather have a spider around as I know it will be eating bugs.
My wife insists on a Death To All Bugs policy.
They really only bother me if they get in the way of the TV, or if they actually bite me.

 

[Amethyst]

Get in the way of the TV? You must be talking about Texas spiders (heck, they get so aggressive, some of them run for president!), or those giant crablike ones they have in Iraq. I am only nonchalant about East Coast spiders....

+1 Now if I could just get my wife to understand this.
I am not a spider lover or anything, it is just that I would rather have a spider around as I know it will be eating bugs.
My wife insists on a Death To All Bugs policy.
They really only bother me if they get in the way of the TV, or if they actually bite me.

 

[athena53]

I see a lot of FB posts about how the system is rigged, only the rich benefit from Wall Street, etc. For some people I think it's an easy rationalization for not saving.

 

[Lucantes]

Get in the way of the TV? You must be talking about Texas spiders (heck, they get so aggressive, some of them run for president!), or those giant crablike ones they have in Iraq. I am only nonchalant about East Coast spiders....

Just realized I wasn't very clear in my post. It isn't the spiders that get in the way of the TV, just random flying bugs occasionally, like a stray mosquito and such.
Haven't seen a very large spider around my place ever, but my buddy sent some pictures of a camel spider that greeted him in his bathroom one morning and that was pretty large...for a spider anyways.

 

[bUU]

I see a lot of FB posts about how the system is rigged, only the rich benefit from Wall Street, etc. For some people I think it's an easy rationalization for not saving.

The reality is that both can be true, and both are indeed true, each to a certain extent. No one's excuses are valid, not that of those who can save but don't, and not that of those who work against society making up for how much the system is rigged.

 

[HFWR]

The "system" was, is, and always will be, rigged...

 

[bUU]

Which is often used as an excuse for the systems' inadequacies, when those inadequacies are highlighted by those who elect not to play by the system's rules because they feel the system is rigged. There are no easy answers.

 

[papadad111]

I teach in the finance department part time at a top 20 MBA program that is full of aspiring millennials.

This semester, I piloted a (free) course in personal finance. It has been eye opening to say the least for both students and their instructor. I hope to make it a mainstay of our curriculum.

There is a complete lack of investment and personal finance awareness even by "top mba talent".

Most students are late 20's or early 30's. They score highly on GMAT and A's in class but basic personal finance is another story.

It's simply not taught anywhere. I am their first exposure. Basic questions on 401k etc. Poor financial role model Parents and or parents not being armed with helping them is also a common theme.

They will graduate with a top 20 MBA and enter the work force in about a month - great to reach them now.

Must say, it's my complete and utter privilege to arm them with investing and personal financial knowledge. I'm not a sales person trying to hawk some fund. It's the best thing / most rewarding thing I've ever done in my life in so far as giving back to society.

 

[Lucantes]

The "system" was, is, and always will be, rigged...

+1
But of course even though this is true, and always has been, it doesn't stop all of us lil' fish also being able to win at it. Everyone that I have ever heard of that sticks to easy and simple LBYM principles (nothing draconian) and safely participates in the US markets (slow and steady wins the race, nothing exotic) has come out fine, barring some massive unforeseen event that they couldn't of predicted or prevented anyways.