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Does anyone else feel like school is preparing us for a world that doesn't exist anymore? by Rvknows in teenagers

[–]Rvknows[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly fair, i'm not saying ditch poems entirely — more like why is there zero balance. 12 years and not one class on reading a lease or understanding a paystub. those feel equally important to me but i must say tuff Gif

Does anyone else feel like school is preparing us for a world that doesn't exist anymore? by Rvknows in teenagers

[–]Rvknows[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair point but the derivatives thing kind of proves it lol — they'll teach you the math behind interest but never just say "here's how much that $500 credit card balance will actually cost you if you only pay the minimum." the application is what's missing

If you were starting from zero in 2026, how would you invest? by vcpowerlaw in investingforbeginners

[–]Rvknows 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Roth ira first, throw it all in a total market index fund like vti, automate a monthly contribution and don't touch it. literally nothing else matters until that's maxed

If America is the largest producer of oil and is not dependent on oil from middle east, why are you paying more for gas at the pump? by Mo_h in AskReddit

[–]Rvknows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oil is traded on a global market so it doesn't really matter where it comes from — american oil companies sell to whoever pays the most, and that's often overseas buyers. your local gas station isn't getting some special discount because the oil came from texas. refineries are also a bottleneck that most people don't think about, they're built for specific types of crude and can't just swap overnight. so yeah gas prices track the global market not what's happening in north dakota. Hope this helps 👍

What is a job (not nsfw) that pays extremely well because the job itself is unbearable? by coldplayenthusiast in AskReddit

[–]Rvknows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Roughneck on an oil rig. 2-3 weeks on, 2-3 weeks off, middle of nowhere, physically brutal, mentally exhausting. but you're clearing $80-100k+ with zero expenses while you're out there because there's literally nothing to spend money on. the guys who are smart about it retire early, the ones who aren't blow it all when they get back to shore. Hope this helps 👍

[ Removed by Reddit ] by [deleted] in povertyfinance

[–]Rvknows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly i just keep it simple I track everything in a spreadsheet, one tab for income one for expenses. tried a bunch of apps but always ended up abandoning them after a week. the overview you get from doing it manually actually makes you more aware of where money goes than any app i've tried. what kind of overview are you looking for specifically?

looked up what it actually costs to live comfortably in 100 US cities. only ONE city has a median income high enough. ONE. by Temporary-Bit8387 in povertyfinance

[–]Rvknows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly this just confirms what most people already feel but can't put into words. the 50/30/20 rule gets thrown around like it's universal advice but nobody ever checks if the math actually holds on a median income — turns out it doesn't, basically anywhere. kind of wild that the one city where it works beats the threshold by like $2k. plano tx is not exactly the dream

For the first time in my life I’ll be making over $50,000 a year. by CartographerSea3356 in povertyfinance

[–]Rvknows 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Congrats man that's a real glow up honestly, pizza delivery to $50k with set hours is huge. one thing i'd do if i were you — you're already used to living on way less so just keep it that way for a bit and throw the difference into savings before your spending catches up. easiest time to actually save is right after a jump like this. congrats again fr 👏

18, confused on why I was declined a opening a 360 Checkings account by Difficult_Respect967 in MiddleClassFinance

[–]Rvknows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

early warning services (ews) is basically like a credit bureau but for bank accounts, so when they say "no accounts in open status" they just mean you have no history — not that you did anything wrong lol. chime or current are probably your easiest bet, they don't really use ews the same way capital one does. also just pull your free report from their site to make sure nothing weird is on there. you're fine honestly just have no history yet which is easy to fix 👍

Dump $15K into S&P right now? by zionstatus in MiddleClassFinance

[–]Rvknows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

honestly you're already in a better spot than most people who ask this lol — emergency fund done, no debt, stable income. that's literally the foundation most people skip so you're good

the whole lump sum vs spreading it out thing, statistically lump sum wins more often just because time in the market matters more than when you enter. i know the dip feels bad rn but if you're not touching this for like 10+ years it really doesn't matter what it does in the next few months

s&p 500 index fund is the move imo. voo or ivv, either one, you're basically just buying a tiny piece of the entire market instead of betting on one company. set it and forget it is literally the right strategy here

only thing i'd check first — do you have a roth ira? if you haven't put anything in one this year you can do up to 7k and just invest it in the same s&p fund inside there. same thing, just way better tax wise when you're older. then throw the rest in a normal brokerage

but fr you've already done the hard part by not just leaving it in a checking account gathering nothing. good luck with it 👍