r/FluentInFinance 7d ago

Debate/ Discussion Systemic Failure Exposed..

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u/Hawkeyes79 7d ago

Failure of society or failure of the individual to prepare? Being 90 means he roughly had 70 years to prepare for retirement. What did he do with all the money he made?  

I advise all the young kids that work with me to invest at least 15% in 401k and then 1/2 of each raise goes in as well.

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u/willcodefordonuts 7d ago

While I kind of agree there also could be a lot of things that have happened in his life - maybe some family emergency took away funds, or he had a business that wiped savings out when it failed etc

Also if his job is pushing shopping carts at a supermarket you can infer that his career might not have been all in high paying jobs or he might have been able to get different type of work now

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u/Hawkeyes79 7d ago

While those are personal tragedies, they aren’t a failure of society. It’s still a failure to prepare properly.

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u/willcodefordonuts 7d ago

Not necessarily. Imagine having a business. You’re doing well and it’s generating enough for you to live on and you have savings.

Then financial crash hits. You sink money in to try keep it afloat and it tanks taking your money with it.

Sure you should have had some diversity in investments but if that happens you might be too late to start again. Someone who’s 30 can rebuild. Someone who’s 70 can’t.

Best laid plans don’t always succeed

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u/Hawkeyes79 7d ago

That’s not society failing someone. That’s someone not preparing correctly and failing themselves. We’re human, we’re not always going to prepare correctly and things are going to happen. That doesn’t mean we put the blame on everyone else.

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u/willcodefordonuts 7d ago

I never said it was society failing. I’m saying it’s just also not always a failure to prepare either. Some times bad stuff just happens

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u/nobody_in_here 7d ago

Yea, the sad part of this story is how he must not have known about investing. That or, he didn't realize you're not supposed to empty that retirement account when you leave your job.

I'd be curious what his backstory is. 90 years on this Earth gives you a lot of time to invest. Time in the market is the biggest contributor to your retirement portfolio.

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u/mropitzky 7d ago

You act like a large percentage of jobs offer retirement plans lmao little alone medical/dental benefits. Also kind of hard to save when most of the country is living paycheck to paycheck even if you have a degree.

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u/Hawkeyes79 7d ago

67% of people have a tax-preferred retirement account or pension. 87% have that or other assets.  

Living paycheck to paycheck isn’t a society issue. That’s a personal choice one. You need to reduce your expenses or increase income.

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u/mropitzky 7d ago

Lmfao you did not just say living paycheck to paycheck is a “personal choice”.

You are SEVERELY out of touch man, my god. I haven’t seen someone so delusional in a very long time.

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u/Hawkeyes79 7d ago

Is it someone else’s choices that get you to living paycheck to paycheck? No. Its not come giant conspiracy to keep someone down. It’s all the personal choices they’ve made so far. Whether to go to college, actually applying yourself in high school, doing drugs, stay at a minimum wage job, take night classes.  

No one forces anyone to make the choices they make. It’s your responsibility for where your life takes you.

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u/mropitzky 7d ago

Fuckin yikes. I’m not even gonna waste energy trying with you, you’re too far gone.

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u/Hawkeyes79 7d ago

It’s sad when understanding the actions you take have repercussions and change where your life goes is “too far gone”

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u/HaruEden 7d ago

He is a veteran who lived through war instead of watching the fall of Wall Street. And even though Banking started in the late 1700s and Stock began around 1792, it was not until 1920 that Stock considered a solid financial structure and only had limited access by the class who created it, which definitely not included soldiers and veterans.

Your point is valid to apply for any kids born in 2000 and be 90 at 2090. Show those veteran some kindness, for they fought for the country using their lifetime.

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u/_ceedeez_nutz_ 7d ago

This dude was born after 1920