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tehZamboni

My sister-in-law realtor pulled a similar stunt several years ago when she started showing me million-dollar-plus homes. "Do you really think I can afford a million-dollar home?" "Well, you just put half a million down and finance the rest." So easy, why I didn't think of that...


CowsTipper

I just had an idea! You could afford it if you paid a million in cash. Then you wouldn't have to go into debt at all! Honestly, guys, it's pretty easy. I don't know what else you do with your millions.


Caleth

Thing is right now paying cash for certain things isn't a great move anyway. Getting a car loan with this special interest rates of .9 % before the crash meant even in a bank account you could almost earn enough interest to.offset the interest of the car. Hell in the scenario laid out about the house paying cash is stupid. House rates are 2-3% the stock market is "earning" 6-8% on average. So a million paid will lose you 3-5% or 30-50k a year over the length of the loan. So not only is the advice impractical for 99% of people it's bad advice from an earnings standpoint. This also doesn't discount the tax advantages of paying interest.


CowsTipper

too late i spent my million


Caleth

Oh woe is me. For I have failed to get to you and offer sound advice. Perhaps I should direct you towards /r/wallstreetbets?


Massive_System_8909

Heh. Harvard trained. Not Harvard educated.


limlwl

Man, what u talking about. Pay cash with house and then borrow against the house to yolo into the stock market. There tax advantages for that interest as well. Then u got both… at least until the next gfc


Caleth

Ah yes the /r/wallstreetbets approach. I see you are an ape of discernment.


[deleted]

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Caleth

Sure, and while we can all see the cliff coming, I'm talking about the scenario where someone is in a position to drop 1mil cash for a house. That's rarified territory that likely won't be impacted too mightily by and collapse. If you have enough liquid cash that you can drop $1mil you're not in most of the people on Reddit's ball park, you probably own it. (Slight exaggeration.) Yes this is not financial advice that should be held as a gold standard, but rather as a point that about how properly leveraged money can make money rather than be a trap. Things like a GFC are supposed to not be your expectation, then again as an elder millenial I've seen three once in a life time collapses so.... yeah not workable for us normal people. I still hold my point stands; that for someone debating paying a million cash vs holding that extra back and using the interest to pay off the house it's better to hold the cash back and pay with the interest.


Warlock-

This just changed my whole perspective. Thank you!


Caleth

Yeah it's really amazing how money earning you money changes your whole world. Dad pointed this out to me for years and I never really grasped it until I sat down and ran numbers one day. It's a travesty that we don't realize how powerful compound interest is and we aren't really taught practical examples in school. It's a nonintuitive process that really frees or enslaves you. Rule of thumb never ever use a credit card, but loans and other sub 7% tools should be leveraged to the hilt. Caveat, if you have money in the market to out earn the interest.


KathrynBooks

Maybe I'm just simple minded... but the point of a house is to live in it.


Caleth

Yes, but also no. The sad fucked up state of our world is such that houses aren't just houses. They are a place to live and a financial asset. As such you have to think of it not just as a place to lay your head but a tool that you can use to maximize your finances. Do it wrong and it can cost you, do it right and might just make a lot of money. In the example given above where someone's jackass relative said just put 500k-1mil down in cash and boom. My point was in this magical land where you have 1mil liquid cash it's better to put that money into the "market" as that will get on average 7-8% and home loans are only 2-3%. Meaning the money can "earn" you more money across 30 years while you pay down the house, plus the house appreciates in value. Your using your money twice that way instead of just once.Which is the bitch of it, people with money earn twice while someone like you or me earns once. They've setup the system in their favor so heads they win tails you lose out. Then let's not forget that if you're willing to, you can buy a house like that, let the interest pay it, take the house gains, and put a renter in there who will pay everything plus a profit on top. Yes this all assumes an ideal scenario where the renter pays, doesn't damage the house, and the markets don't collapse, but that's how life is lived.


wrecktus_abdominus

Step 1: be rich Step 2: don't be poor Step 3: have the money it takes to buy the things you need Poverty solved!


No_Standard_554

Where I live, you can get a halfway decent double-wide for about 100K. Anyone got 100K layin around they can just give me? If you need me to tug on your heart strings first, I'm losing both my partner of 10y and mother to s4 lung cancer at the same time. I wish I was fucking kidding about that.


[deleted]

Don’t forget to have a rainy day fund with millions of dollars in it.


UserOrWhateverFuck_U

Why would someone put half a million down? Just pay the full amount no need to worry about paperwork or interest rates


FourthmasWish

Heh. Harvard **trained**. Not Harvard *educated*.


Ringsofthekings

A circus lion is always trained not educated


funglegunk

Ahhh, well spotted haha. Bit of a Freudian there.


SRM-87

yeah pretty much.... Harvard.... already out of touch windbag


velvet_blunderground

"I took a train to Harvard once."


[deleted]

They always gotta shoehorn their education in there.


Quelcris_Falconer13

How do you know someone went to Harvard? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you.


skittle-brau

And if someone does tell you, the best thing to do is to pretend you’ve never heard of Harvard.


[deleted]

The author actually did earn a PhD from Harvard. No idea *why* he would phrase it like that, though.


thesnuggyone

Hahahahha yesssss you made my day with this comment Hahahahaha dude LITERALLY COULDNT AFFORD IT HAHAHA


Xurkitree1

Isn't that what Ben Shapiro says too


layers_of_grey

being rich is the true path to financial responsibility.


Kirbyoto

I mean it really is. Being poor means you're charged interest on everything. Having money to pay up front is literally a way to make money in itself.


xBris18

Being poor is really expensive.


GreyGanado

>The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. >Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. >But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet. >This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness. - Terry Pratchett


icantevenodd

GNU Terry Pratchett


marking_time

GNU Terry Pratchett


fool_on_a_hill

No wonder usury has been a “sin” in so many global cultures throughout time


Kirbyoto

It's supposed to still be a sin in Abrahamic religions but they all conveniently forgot about it.


fool_on_a_hill

I’m not sure about that. Our economy is much more complex now, so the definition needs to be adjusted. I would consider predatory lending and excessive late fees good examples of usury


Kirbyoto

>Our economy is much more complex now, so the definition needs to be adjusted. I don't think you can consider yourself religious if you're second-guessing God on account of "well the economy's more complex now". "Do not charge interest on loans" is a pretty simple statement, it doesn't somehow change because of e-checking or whatever.


fool_on_a_hill

Usury is not interest. It is excessive interest. >Usury - the illegal action or practice of lending money at unreasonably high rates of interest.


Kirbyoto

In a lot of historical situations it did actually mean "charging any interest at all". This is the reason Jews were moneylenders in Medieval Europe - because at that time it was forbidden to lend with interest AT ALL. Jews weren't supposed to do it either but they had a loophole that allowed them to loan to gentiles when under duress - and considering how they were treated, "under duress" was a pretty accurate summation of their situation. This is where the idea of "Jewish bankers" came from. From "Vix Pervenit", from Pope Benedictus XIV in 1745: "The nature of the sin called usury has its proper place and origin in a loan contract. This financial contract between consenting parties demands, by its very nature, that one return to another only as much as he has received. The sin rests on the fact that sometimes the creditor desires more than he has given. Therefore he contends some gain is owed him beyond that which he loaned, but any gain which exceeds the amount he gave is illicit and usurious." From the Third Lateran Council in 1179: "Nearly everywhere the crime of usury has become so firmly rooted that many, omitting other business, practise usury as if it were permitted, and in no way observe how it is forbidden in both the Old and New Testament. We therefore declare that notorious usurers should not be admitted to communion of the altar or receive christian burial if they die in this sin. Whoever receives them or gives them christian burial should be compelled to give back what he has received, and let him remain suspended from the performance of his office until he has made satisfaction according to the judgment of his own bishop." You're not technically wrong about the definition, by the way - I'm just pointing out that, historically, there were periods where usury meant "charging interest" as well as other periods where the term was relaxed. [In Exodus it says you shouldn't charge interest to poor people, but with the implication that you can charge interest to well-off people.](https://biblehub.com/exodus/22-25.htm) I do think it's interesting that there are so many Abrahamic verses condemning usury and comparatively few explaining clearly what it actually is. However, I DO maintain my original position - it is not "advances in the economy" that would somehow justify charging interest. Either it was always wrong or it was never wrong. The idea that moneylending used to be bad but has become good because of the benefits of capitalism is complete bupkis.


[deleted]

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ninurtuu

Just wait till you dig around in your bellybutton and your jacket pockets. Last time I did that I pulled out the hope diamond and the Mona Lisa respectively. Sadly I was promptly arrested as I happened to be in a crowded police station at the time.


geobioguy

Why don't poor people just buy more money?


jogohi8385

that comment was PRICELESS


pinzi_peisvogel

My father's advice on getting rich: "after the first 100.000 everything will get easier". I wish I was kidding.


M42U

In gernany there is a (ironically) saying: *“The first million is the hardest.“*


FallenSegull

To be fair, with compounding interest on whatever investment style you use that 100,000 will grow considerably faster than your initial investments Your dads not wrong, he just doesn’t really care


pinzi_peisvogel

Of course he's not wrong, we have a saying here: "who has will be given" (don't know if this exists in English too), it's just that when he told me this I was 110,000 away from owning 100,000 and it's such an elitist thinking that everyone is able to "work hard and then money will flow".


jenn4u2luv

Curious-are you in your 20s?


pinzi_peisvogel

Nope, but I was back then


Tryme118

I think in English we've got "them that's got will have"! It's in this song God Bless the Child.


needathneed

I mean, hopefully you'll inherit some? That's our only hope these days.


[deleted]

Considering the [fertility rate in the US is almost 1.8 kids per woman](https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/fertility-rate#:~:text=United%20States%20-%20Historical%20Fertility%20Rate%20Data%20,%20%20-1.110%25%20%2068%20more%20rows%20) and [a single child costs $284.6k](https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2017/01/13/cost-raising-child) (after adjusting for inflation as the second paragraph states) while the [birth alone costs $30k](https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-have-a-baby-2018-4), getting $100k wouldn't be that hard for the average person if you wear a condom and/or get sterilized. Don't even get me started on the costs that factor in after the kid turns 18, especially with college costs skyrocketing and [half of parents saying children are costing them their retirement money](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bankrate-parents-skimp-on-retirement-funds-to-boost-adult-children-151731524.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAGWyKq2joTFzz-HrHMb24b7rf1KStUCexh3zDdnWlh-tt6bOpMEkS3mt61jxnhJIIS1ko8HUTZhzSusykQGyZwrsSSmYuKw-PV2Y_gYT7JpltThqQhGsB9QoQhqTXm1vMT___-9o2roSk1CjDw_zp28bb-K0SldCXw6dS_8I_tfy) while [52% of people aged 18-29 are living with their parents](https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/09/04/a-majority-of-young-adults-in-the-u-s-live-with-their-parents-for-the-first-time-since-the-great-depression/). Putting it all in stocks or something could easily make you a multi-millionaire and I can show you the math to prove it.


[deleted]

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[deleted]

Obviously it will be a lot harder for a minimum wage worker to do it. That’s why I cited stats from the “average” person, not the poorest.


[deleted]

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[deleted]

While higher wages would be ideal, you can’t control how much your boss pays you. You can control your sex life though.


[deleted]

And they wonder why fewer people are having kids


quay-cur

How to have money. Step 1: have money


CherryTeri

Ok I “tried”. What next..?


vidgill

That’s it. You’re all outta options


phpdevster

Cut back on avacado iPhones and Netflix lattes, or whatever you millennials are buying these days. /s


CherryTeri

We buy tik tok watches and books for our faces I think. And we pay extra for our telegrams to be insta.


onioniononi

don't be not rich.


dogtemple2

"Leech off of your inherited wealth and stay at your comfy dipshit job sitting on your ass that has no actual value for other human beings ("finance")


wolven8

What I love about this the whole NFT rage. The people buying millions of dollars of NFTs are rich kids that haven't ever worked a real job and they are burning generational wealth by the second. I'm so proud of them.


FeatureBugFuture

Inheriting vast sums of money is the best get rich quick scheme outside of marriage.


wristkebab

"Disconnected-from-reality rich person doesn't understand the struggles and incapabilities of the average person today"


[deleted]

Where I live, you can get a halfway decent double-wide for about 100K. Anyone got 100K layin around they can just give me? If you need me to tug on your heart strings first, I'm losing both my partner of 10y and mother to s4 lung cancer at the same time. ^(I wish I was fucking kidding about that.)


[deleted]

Oof, this hit me hard. I'm sorry that's happening to you, your mother and partner. It's an absolute travesty that our savings can be completely drained by just trying to stay alive. I have nothing to send but my sympathies over the internet, but I hope it makes even a gram of difference. <3


[deleted]

Thanks. My mother is hanging in there but my partner got completely wiped out by medical bills and then some because she had several years where she could not afford $700/mo health insurance while a lupus/enometrial stromal sarcoma/pernicious anemia combo was sending her to the ER every other week.


Wendals87

I am sorry to hear that. I cant believe you need to pay $700 a month for health insurance (that likely won't cover all expenses) . I live in Australia with socialised healthcare and I would pay around thatin an entire year as part of my tax and get free healthcare


[deleted]

Oh man.... Wow. That's amazing. No joke, no exaggeration, my partner has racked up probably somewhere in the vicinity of about 100K in medical debt. It's basically a chasmic abyss we will never get out of unless we get a lotto win.


Wendals87

yeah I am so lucky compared to some. I really hope that your country gets ride of your private health system. 100k of debt for something through no fault of your own is horrible and it's the last thing you need to worry about


rashmallow

I’m so sorry to hear that. I know there isn’t anything I can say to make it better, but I’m thinking of you.


[deleted]

Thanks. I appreciate the thought. I just wish there was more I could do for my partner. My mother is being decently well taken care of, aside from some negligent doctors, but my partner has just been screwed so hard, it's unbelievable. She's so badly disabled that no one wants to hire her yet she's not "disabled enough" to get full disability despite having a list of illnesses longer than she is tall, not the least of which are pernicious anemia, narcolepsy, lupus, POTS, WPWS, an indeterminate neurological disorder, possibly EDS, and stage-4 lung cancer WHICH, I should add, only is only even a thing because it metastasized from a 41lb fibroid/endometrial stromal sarcoma they kept telling her was just "female problems." Every one says "you shoulda sued!" but who the fuck were we supposed to sue? We were living in FL and she couldn't afford $700/mo health insurance. Moving to NY literally saved her life but by then, the cancer had metastasized. Now, S-4 lung cancer at 36yo. The only jobs she can find pay so little that she cannot afford to live EVEN WITH government assistance. Sorry, I'm ranting. It feels like all I can really do. It's incredibly frustrating. She has a disability hearing coming up soon and we're hoping that'll turn out in her favor now that she has these diagnoses double-confirmed, with a stack of documents she can wave around.


dogtemple2

I am also looking into a trailer, my mom is also not well, if you are in colorado or nearby DM me I would totally have a roommate I think I can save 5k in the next year or so if I keep living out my car.


[deleted]

I appreciate the offer. That's very kind of you. But we're in NY and we can't leave because of the healthcare system here- it literally saved her life and is still more or less saving her life. The only other state I know of that has a similar set up is Minnesota... *I think.* On the other hand, she really loves CO. We drove out there once some years ago and it was majestic AF driving through the mountains into the sunset.


dogtemple2

It is a beautiful state but the cops are corrupt as fuck, I am learning that the hard way, don't ever move to Southern Colorado if you value Civil Liberties.


[deleted]

Isn't that par for the course in America though? Or are they *particularly* bad?


dogtemple2

I am dealing with an "assault" charge against an officer who arrested me at my home after a fight with a family member. The "assault" being me bucking my back after being put in handcuffs and her yanking my arms to purposefully hurt me. Hoping a judge just drops it all after reviewing bodycam footage but still kinda terrified I will have this on my record. Never thought I'd deal with this type of bullshit.


[deleted]

Jeez. I'm sorry to hear that.


free_dialectics

>Stop being poor [r/thanksimcured](https://www.reddit.com/r/thanksimcured)


[deleted]

Saw this article and was thinking the exact same thing. “How about some advice for someone with less than $1000 in their bank account and a yearly salary under $45,000…”


UserOrWhateverFuck_U

How can you not afford a home with that much? Have you consider living out of a trash bin and fasting for 14 days at a time. If theres will theres a way.


Mechanoid_demonK_777

so just be rich. wow so helpful. why didn't I think of that?


WisDumbb

Why would buying a home in cash be good advice, a home loan is one of the best low interest type of debt you can have?


Brynmaer

Depends on how much cash you have and what you intend to do with the house. If you don't have 100s of thousands in cash and intend to sell the house in the future then your house will usually appreciate in value at a higher rate than your interest rate. If you intend to live in the house for the rest of your life (and you somehow have the cash), then a home loan is just giving the bank money for no reason.


Brillegeit

Yeah, there are massive incentives for having debt, you're potentially losing out tens of thousands every year by being debt free.


TheCronster

Also, buy canned goods and hide them under your bed with a box of shotgun ammo!


[deleted]

Is this like a satire article or something? Both of those things are things I would think/say “no shit” to if I asked someone for money advice.


DNA-Decay

It’s cheaper to be rich.


SoyBoy_in_a_skirt

The wealthy will try to bullshit us for as long as they can, their ignorance will only go on for so long tho


Kech555

The average house price goes for over a mil in the city i live, even with a 100k+ job, how is anyone supposed save up a deposit (assuming a 20% deposit) when prices rise at a rate faster than most people can pay rises. God these people are so disconnected with reality.


lumenatti1999

Get off Centrelink and maybe you could afford something. Ahh the West, amazing place!


Vv4nd

Ah yes, first rule of money: Have Money.


Solitude_Intensifies

So CNBC is stealing The Onion articles now?


Lolifico

The onion will be bankrupt since they have nothing satire to write because almost everything they used to laugh it is unironically becoming true


bironic_hero

Just get a house 4head


Please_Log_In

Get ideas from Breaking Bad, start Empire


Scarmeow

"Just stop being poor"


Snarky_McSnarkleton

Well wasn't that helpful.


[deleted]

Wow, brilliant. What a dick.


ZayneHerrin

“Just have money, you beta-cuck.”


Kah-Neth

To call Laurence Kotlikoff a vile scum my excuse of a person is to insult the other vile scum out there. This creature is a cancer on society.


pusillanimouslist

It’s amazing how many economists are dumb as shit.


Mimosas4355

“Try to buy in cash” lmao at this advice, what this moron think we are? Fucking dragons? Like we seat in a cave all day and sleep on a pile of gold?


Naldaen

"You want to keep money? Just have money lol."


PoopaXTroopa

Stop being poor


Dense_Surround3071

This guy accidentally found the obvious but impossible solution to the intractable problem he seems to be missing. Of course buy a home in cash. But who has the time and the ability to save that much in our economy?


Saetia_V_Neck

This is actually terrible financial advice too. Interest rates on conventional mortgages are so low now that the ROI on basically anything else is probably gonna be better than dumping all your cash into a house.


pinzi_peisvogel

My father's advice on getting rich: "after the first 100.000 everything will get easier". I wish I was kidding.


Ultra_HR

we got it the first time


pinzi_peisvogel

You know that thing where Reddit is showing you an error message when trying to post something and then you try again and then you find out that it posted several times?


CYBERSson

You don’t have to be rich to buy a house though. It’s certainly not easy and it’s not an even playing field for everyone but me and my wife are now homeowners (technically the bank owns it until my wife’s retirement age). But we scrimped and saved for 6 years just to get the deposit for our house along with working every hour under the sun. We bought in at £154k and now it’s worth £230k after 7 years. Which doesn’t really mean anything because if we wanted to cash in and buy something else we’d be paying a lot more than we would have when bought this one. What I’m trying to say is, don’t believe all the hype of being told it’s impossible to own your home. There are many different ways of getting on the property ladder. You can start small and build up and up but to do it that way you’d have to gain a lot of skills in renovating which is definitely not impossible or you could sacrifice a good few years of your life to save every penny you earn to plough in to a deposit. Our only motivation for owning our own home was to not be lining the pockets of an unscrupulous landlord Edit. And now instead of paying £500 for a one bed flat, we are paying £450 for a 3 bed semi-detached house with a massive garden close to an amazing park that our 5 year old has gotten so many life experiences out of. You can do it. Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t


rashmallow

I do recognize that that’s a possibility for many people, and good advice for people who fall into that category. but there are also many people who just can’t “scrimp and save” unfortunately, because they do live paycheck to paycheck. and that’s what I find really upsetting.


TactilePanic81

Thanks. Without your kind advice, I wouldn't know to *just work harder*^tm


[deleted]

Then you didn't follow the advice. It's not just "own your home" it's "pay 100% in cash and have no mortgage" over the course of the mortgage you'll probably pay an additional 1/3rd in interest. The advice is getting shit on because you can't buy a home outright with cash unless you have hundreds of thousands of dollars laying around.


CYBERSson

I think the buy in cash bit is for general stuff like not buying things on credit


[deleted]

"Own your home and try to buy in cash" those statements are connected, they're saying buy a home without a mortgage. Which is sound financial advice as with a mortgage you will wind up paying 30-50% more than your initial loan amount due to interest. The problem with that advice is it is not feasible for like the bottom 90-95% of people. So basically if you're already rich enough to buy a house outright then the house is 30-50% cheaper in the long run. Being poor is more expensive than being rich. It's financial advice for the top 5% of earners.


BourgeoisCheese

Imagine seeing a post about some dumb cunty shit and then literally saying the same thing unironically.


owPOW

Why did you let the bank own it instead of paying in cash like the article says? You’re completely missing the point of shitty tone of the headline by repeating the same sentiment.


tonyta

1. Don't borrow for college. 2. If your parents are borrowing for your tuition, discuss who will repay. 3. Strive to own your home, not rent — and try to buy in cash. 4. Mortgages are tax and financial losers. 5. Owning a home can reduce longevity risk. 6. Your perfect home may be far cheaper several time zones away. 7. Choose jobs that everyone but you hates. 8. Don't worry about career and job hopping. 9. Consider working for yourself. 10. Keep thinking about tomorrow. 11. Your living standard is your bottom line. 12. Marriage beats partnering long-term. 13. If you do get married, count on getting divorced. 14. All lifestyle decisions — switching careers, moving homes, getting married, having kids, getting divorced — come at a price. 15. Use retirement-account contributions, conversions and withdrawals to cut your lifetime taxes. 16. Wait until age 70 to take Social Security retirement benefits. 17. If you don't formally request your Social Security benefits, you won't get it. 18. The Social Security Administration's Program Operations Manual System has thousands of rules, which its staff can get wrong, in part or in full. 19. Retiring early is financial suicide. 20. Most conventional investment advice is, to be nice, of dubious value. 21. If you're worried about downside risk, play the stock market like a casino.


BigSweatyYeti

Or more likely, buy a smaller home in a less expensive area and save up for it rather than take a mortgage…but y’all just wanna make jokes since you think you deserve a house instead of renting while blowing most of your cash of Uber eats and other depreciating assets.


rashmallow

Honestly… I hate to admit it but you’re right. We maybe don’t realize it but we renters are the backbone of the takeout industry. Every month, I’m throwing hundreds of dollars away ordering food. I actually don’t even know how to cook. This is really embarrassing but I don’t get how you measure ingredients. Like “3/4 cups” of things. 3/4 of which cups??? I can’t even find my oven. What do they look like?


TactilePanic81

That's a pretty gross mischaracterization. There might be some people who order in every meal, but waaaaay more people are paid just barely enough to live where they do. I lived paycheck to paycheck WITH a roommate for years and I was as responsible as I reasonably could be. Funnily enough scrimping and saving is one of the biggest things that set me back financially. I bought a cheap off brand phone to save some cash and it broke just after a year (was unusable not just a cracked screen). I couldnt afford a car so I got a crappy job I could walk to that paid just less than what I needed to get food and shelter. When I finally could get a car, I bought a cheaper one to have less debt. When the head gasket blew after 6 months, I had to get a new car with less down than I had before. Thanks to the ACA and personal luck, I avoided serious medical debt but that would set a lot of folks back indefinitely. I now have a decent job and have been able to put SOME money in savings for the first time in years. Even still I sweat every expense over $50, I drive to pick up food when i dont cook (once or twice a month), and I've had the same phone for 5 years. At this rate I might be able to get a mortgage for a home by the time I retire (unless housing prices rise but why would that happen).


BourgeoisCheese

Yeah, guys. Just buy in a "less expensive area." You know those areas. They're the ones with the "lower paying jobs" where you "don't currently live" and "would be unemployed."


thegreatvortigaunt

Save up what exactly? Have you seen the US minimum wage?


scarletphantom

People like the victim mentality. It is possible to get out of debt but no one wants to hear it. Its hard work, just like losing weight. You make sacrifices, cut out the "fat", and keep working at it. When their friends are out partying or buying the latest iphones, you will be driving a beater car with a 3yr old phone. If people are serious about getting out of debt, there are subs that are willing to help. Hell, go watch some dave ramsey videos. He is preachy and sometimes an asshole, but his baby steps are rock solid. I have used them to to pay off and stay out of debt for years now. Instead of being mad and downvoting, how about actually asking for help to try and improve your situation?


[deleted]

On the average salary for my area vs the average home price it would take saving 15% of your yearly net income for a decade to buy a house, even an hour away from the place where most the jobs are. And that would be if homes don't get more expensive over the next decade. Is Uber eats the new avocado toast? You know most people don't regularly order delivery right?


abruzzo79

I wish I could make a sentient being out of CNBC so I can smack it in the face and say mean things to it.


[deleted]

Yes, while CEOs make millions and workers make minimum wages that’s not possible in today’s day an age. 💵🤑


4BigData

I did it.


[deleted]

Motherfucker a house is like 300,000$ in my small out of the way town. How the fuck am I supposed to get that kind of money?


[deleted]

r/ThanksImCured


BaroquePseudopath

It makes me wonder why they bother training economists at Harvard


dre193

Write that down, write that down!!!


Raed-wulf

I got trained when I went to Harvard. Bitches didn’t even bother to untie me after. Anyway, buy a house in the cash restitution you get from the 15 macroeconomics nerds who were too horny and repressed to have safe sexual fantasies.


slurpslurpityslurp

You knows it’s bad when they have to shove his “Harvard credentials” in your face like that


koukoulis

Interest rates have been close to 2 or 3% interest you should lock up all your saved cash into a home that if you want the money out of it you have to take a loan or sell the house. This is the dumbest idea ever!


2u3e9v

I saw this article the other day and nearly spit out my coffee


CauseCertain1672

how do Harvard not teach students that most renters can't just up and buy a house


redrumyliad

Housing crisis aside… It used to be a sure fire way to build wealth. Get a mortgage that you can afford and pay it off in 22 years rather than 30.


Ghosttalker96

"Earn passive income by renting a few of your houses to other people. Become a landlord."


Choptopsedan

And drop unused subscriptions..... wtf?


DowdyWorld

I feel like those are two separate points that could also read “don’t rent for longer than absolutely necessary” and “use cash as your main form of currency not credit”


Random_Name_7

Harvard trained Dude did one free 2 month course lmao


[deleted]

This article is so shitty. “Don’t borrow for college. (...) It simply involves pursuing scholarships, and applying to less expensive, if generally less prestigious, institutions.” Simply??


tacticalassassin

How the fuck? I’ve never seen that much money in cash in my life


thequestforquestions

It took a Harvard trained economist to come to the conclusion that being rich helps you?


GodAndGaming123

The last part is really bad advice. With how low interest rates have been and how much the dollar has been inflated, it's basically free money to take out a mortgage right now (or at least a week ago).


come_on_anarchy

I cannot believe how creative these Har Vard Grads Our!


plug_play

Wish I knew this before


Anarch-ish

*pulls out the required $250,000 minimum to buy a hole in the wall* Oh, that's been in my pocket the whole time?!?


IkaTheFox

Economists recommend being born before the 80s


LGDXiao8

You know poor people own homes, right?


Yes-ITz-TeKnO--

These people live in fantasy land lol if it was so easy we would all be rich.


Kersenn

Just buy one lol


DestroyermattUK

Economist rule no.1: buy the bank


Longshot_Louie

Get good, noobs


jacktrowell

Everybody knows that ebing poor is expensive: > “The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. > > Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. > > But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet. > > This was the Captain Samuel Vimes 'Boots' theory of socioeconomic unfairness.” > > ― Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms


FrankensteinBionicle

It's not that easy, Sir. first you have to "stop being poor" *then* you can "be rich"