'Investor literacy' = Big hoax

[Andreuccio]

Re: 'Investor literacy' = Big hoax

Well, my friends aren't the inner city ghetto punks.

Um, no, of course not. Didn't need to imply they were. What I meant was that there's an interesting parallel, (at least to me, maybe not to you), between the decisions these "inner city ghetto punks" are making and the decisions your 20-ish, relatively intelligent and well educated worker friends are making.

One "ghetto punk" deciding to do stupid things because he sees no future is troublesome. A generation of "ghetto punks" doing stupid things crashes the system.

One 20 something buying crap from China instead of saving: he lives on dog food when he's 70. A generation buying crap and not saving: we all work for the Chinese overlords (or something).

I'm just curious what the cumulative impact of your friends' decisions will be.

[GRG55]

Re: 'Investor literacy' = Big hoax

Um, no, of course not. Didn't need to imply they were. What I meant was that there's an interesting parallel, (at least to me, maybe not to you), between the decisions these "inner city ghetto punks" are making and the decisions your 20-ish, relatively intelligent and well educated worker friends are making.

One "ghetto punk" deciding to do stupid things because he sees no future is troublesome. A generation of "ghetto punks" doing stupid things crashes the system.

One 20 something buying crap from China instead of saving: he lives on dog food when he's 70. A generation buying crap and not saving: we all work for the Chinese overlords (or something).

I'm just curious what the cumulative impact of your friends' decisions will be.

Well let's take a metalman style stab at answering this question:

no savings ethic = no family safety net
no savings ethic = no personal source of future pension income
no savings ethic = more "government should take care of me" attitudes
no savings ethic = more votes for politicians promising entitlement programs
no savings ethic = even better, "I should work for the government" because they have secure taxpayer funded pensions and benefits

Frankly, sounds like us Baby Boomers actually... :eek:

[ASH]

Re: 'Investor literacy' = Big hoax

About school debt for engineers and scientists...

As a scientist or engineer, you pay the same as everybody else for undergrad. So, you may indeed rack up huge debt in your first 4 years.

However, unlike business, law, or the medical professions, graduate programs in science and engineering (Ph.D. level, not masters) are typically free -- and even pay a modest stipend.

Now, unfortunately, a Ph.D. in electrical engineering or physics doesn't mean you'll be earning lawyer/doctor money -- but you will be earning pretty good money. So, as far as professional education goes, the sciences or engineering are a great deal.

[Andreuccio]

Re: 'Investor literacy' = Big hoax

Well let's take a metalman style stab at answering this question:

no savings ethic = no family safety net
no savings ethic = no personal source of future pension income
no savings ethic = more "government should take care of me" attitudes
no savings ethic = more votes for politicians promising entitlement programs
no savings ethic = even better, "I should work for the government" because they have secure taxpayer funded pensions and benefits

Frankly, sounds like us Baby Boomers actually... :eek:

Too true.

[jimmygu3]

Re: 'investor literacy' = a big hoax

In standard iTulip fashion, I start with the data and follow where it leads. As I'm sure you have noticed, my view is that ideology gets in the way of understanding.

Many years ago a US-based international writer's group organized a worldwide writer's conference. One of the topics of the agenda was international standards of compensation: How much should writers be paid?

One of the European delegates admitted difficulty with the question, "In my country, a great writer seeks to be rewarded with the love and respect of his countrymen. How can money possibly compare in valuable to that?"

Money has become the measure of success in the US whereas in many societies it is one of several measures of success. Americans have a great deal of difficulty understanding this and also why so many Europeans are not eager to emulate this aspect of US society, although many Asian societies, especially Chinese, are similar in this respect.

This reminded me of a sketch from the funniest show ever, Mr. Show with Bob & David. Worthington's Law: More Money = Better Than.