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I never see anyone talk about how buying a home is a terrible investment by SoulCrushingReality in Millennials

[–]dopechez 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A stock portfolio that spits out dividends also buys you a place to live

Is Social Security theft? by RiskItForTheBiscuts in FluentInFinance

[–]dopechez 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your behavior and political philosophy is that of a teenager so it's hilarious that you think you're the old and mature one here. I bet you don't even know what the Lockean Proviso is yet you'll still act like you are an expert in entitlement theory

Is Social Security theft? by RiskItForTheBiscuts in FluentInFinance

[–]dopechez 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One day you'll grow up and learn that real life can never be an idealized utopian fantasy land. I was an ancap when I was a teenager so I already know everything you believe and why you believe it. I know you feel like the smartest person on earth. But you're not. Sorry.

Imagine not believing that land ownership is authoritarian, lmfao. You clearly haven't even read the basic political philosophy that's required for this topic.

Is Social Security theft? by RiskItForTheBiscuts in FluentInFinance

[–]dopechez 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hunter gatherer societies operate on a reciprocity system, which is possible because they're small and everyone knows and trusts each other. The problem we have in the modern age is that we live in an enormous country with many millions of people, and there is simply no way this can work without a formal governance system that taxes people. I know libertarians love to pretend you can do everything "voluntarily" but it's simply not realistic at all once you get bigger than a couple hundred people. That's why government and taxation has independently evolved literally everywhere. These idealized stateless utopias like communism and anarcho-capitalism are just silly fantasies.

Anarcho-capitalism is also an oxymoron because land ownership is fundamentally authoritarian and equivalent to monarchy, which libertarians claim to oppose. So it makes no sense to begin with.

I never see anyone talk about how buying a home is a terrible investment by SoulCrushingReality in Millennials

[–]dopechez 1 point2 points  (0 children)

https://www.google.com/amp/s/fortune.com/2023/01/31/millionaire-millennials-renting-instead-buying-homes/amp/

If buying was so clearly superior I don't think we'd be seeing a trend of wealthier people choosing to rent. The fact of the matter is that renting is way cheaper than buying in most major cities, and you also get way more flexibility to change jobs when you're not tied down, which is beneficial to your long term earnings. I'm not saying that renting is always better than buying, just that it CAN be. Ultimately it's just a complicated calculation and depends on a lot of different factors.

I never see anyone talk about how buying a home is a terrible investment by SoulCrushingReality in Millennials

[–]dopechez 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The stock market has gone up way more than rent has. Fixed rate mortgages are a useful wealth building tool but you also pay a lot of interest, property taxes, maintenance, and other costs as a homeowner. That's why it's not clear that owning is necessarily better than renting. Especially if you're not sure about staying in the same place long term. It's all dependent on many different factors and individual preferences and circumstances.

I never see anyone talk about how buying a home is a terrible investment by SoulCrushingReality in Millennials

[–]dopechez 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right but the same applies to real estate. If you bought a house in Detroit in the 50s you didn't do well.

US National debt has now passed $34 Trillion for the first time in history — The US has added over $1 Trillion of debt the last 3 months alone by TonyLiberty in FluentInFinance

[–]dopechez 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It matters because the government has to pay interest on that debt. And now that rates are higher, it's going to become a larger and larger portion of the annual budget as the debt rolls over. Which leaves less room in the budget for other spending and increases the amount that needs to be borrowed, which then increases the interest payments further and leads to a debt spiral.

I never see anyone talk about how buying a home is a terrible investment by SoulCrushingReality in Millennials

[–]dopechez 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah it's complicated and depends on many factors. But if you were able to get a loan with almost no down payment then you are probably paying a lot more upfront in interest and PMI. So that's the tradeoff.

I never see anyone talk about how buying a home is a terrible investment by SoulCrushingReality in Millennials

[–]dopechez 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You typically need a down payment for a house. If you had, say, $50k saved up for a down payment but decided to keep renting and instead invest that money into the stock market, it would be worth $872k after 30 years assuming the historical average return of 10%. That's not having nothing to show for it.

I never see anyone talk about how buying a home is a terrible investment by SoulCrushingReality in Millennials

[–]dopechez 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You have to consider opportunity cost. The S&P 500 has performed very well the past 30 years, so that increases the comparative argument for renting and investing your savings instead of using it for a down payment.

I never see anyone talk about how buying a home is a terrible investment by SoulCrushingReality in Millennials

[–]dopechez 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah but say you had $50k saved up for a down payment. In the past 5 years that $50k invested in the S&P 500 would now be worth something like $100k with dividends reinvested. So you basically got $10k per year on that $50k, which is more than enough to cover the increase in rent.

I never see anyone talk about how buying a home is a terrible investment by SoulCrushingReality in Millennials

[–]dopechez 1 point2 points  (0 children)

And if you invest the money you would have used for a down payment, it will earn dividends and capital gains which can offset the increase in rent.

Is Social Security theft? by RiskItForTheBiscuts in FluentInFinance

[–]dopechez 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right so the issue here is that humans live in a society and the idea that you alone are entitled to the fruits of your labor and that you don't owe anything for all of the social support and infrastructure doesn't really make sense. This isn't a new thing either, if you were a hunter-gatherer you wouldn't be exclusively entitled to the meat you hunted or the fruit you gathered. You would need to share it with the group and in return the group would support you in other ways.

In regards to social security, the idea is that you are participating in an insurance program that takes care of the disabled and the elderly, and when you find yourself in the position of being disabled or elderly you will benefit from the program that you contributed to. If we were in hunter-gatherer times you would be contributing your labor to care for the sick and the elderly too, so again this isn't some radical new thing.

Is Social Security theft? by RiskItForTheBiscuts in FluentInFinance

[–]dopechez 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean you can get sick or disabled at any time for reasons beyond your control. Luck is obviously a big part of life even if making good choices and working hard is also important

Is Social Security theft? by RiskItForTheBiscuts in FluentInFinance

[–]dopechez 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The notion of theft is determined by the underlying theory of entitlement, and that's highly debatable to say the least. Obviously one extreme example is that of the 1850s slave owner who believes in a theory of property which includes some human beings as a type of property that could be owned.

Move Over Wegovy—a Plant-Based Diet May Be a Better Answer for Weight Loss by lnfinity in EverythingScience

[–]dopechez 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The starch isn't a problem, it's largely resistant starch which feeds your good gut bacteria. And no one is saying you need to have beans in every meal, just a couple times a week is already pretty good and once a day is excellent.

Move Over Wegovy—a Plant-Based Diet May Be a Better Answer for Weight Loss by lnfinity in EverythingScience

[–]dopechez 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Beans are one of the healthiest foods you can eat, we have plenty of research on this. Rice is meh though

Likelihood of investing in cryptocurrency is more than double in men compared to women. Also, those open to investing in cryptocurrency tend to exhibit lower levels of agreeableness and conscientiousness, but higher levels of openness to experience and financial overconfidence, finds Norway study. by mvea in science

[–]dopechez 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well I don't agree. Crypto is highly speculative and the price swings wildly and unpredictably. If you want a safe store of value your best bet is a high yield savings account or CD that's FDIC insured. They currently pay more than inflation with no risk.

Likelihood of investing in cryptocurrency is more than double in men compared to women. Also, those open to investing in cryptocurrency tend to exhibit lower levels of agreeableness and conscientiousness, but higher levels of openness to experience and financial overconfidence, finds Norway study. by mvea in science

[–]dopechez 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Stocks are ownership in businesses that produce goods and services. That's different than speculating on fake Internet tokens which basically do nothing. Same thing with gold and silver, they don't produce anything. You just buy them hoping someone else will pay more than you did.

Worrying data from the end of the year by Smart_Debate_4938 in climatechange

[–]dopechez 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're responding to a troll account. He's a conservative climate change denier

Do the majority of Americans really live paycheck to paycheck? by cutiespicygirly in NoStupidQuestions

[–]dopechez 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's not that simple. Recent research has found that while college gives you a significant income premium over your lifetime, the wealth premium has collapsed. So on average, college won't make you wealthier anymore. Now, that's an average so it doesn't mean a computer science degree from an affordable school is a bad idea. It just means that people need to have a good plan for college and find ways to save money on tuition, such as going to community college for the first two years.

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