My boomer-minded mother still has the idea in her head that you can "save money" in this day and age. I'm just like "let me know when money printer stops going brrrrrrrrrrrrr".
Now, I grant you, I lived like a fucking hobo. I save over 50% of my income, but I assure you that that in and of itself is a fucking superpower.
The world is a lot easier place to live in when you've saved a vast amount of money and then wield it as a bludgeon at stupid problems. "Fuck You Money" isn't an amount, it's a lifestyle choice. I don't have an 11 figure bank account, but I just dropped 4 figures on a car repair for my family friend because I can do that. That comes from the savings I've made. What could have cost him his fucking career, now is a temporary set-back. Because I can wield money like a sledgehammer but only because I've stored it like I'm stockpiling ammo. In fact, Metro 2033 (Ammo as Currency) is actually a useful comparison, because that's the kind of decision you actually have to make. Live below your means and save your money because it's a super-power. On that note, I've even started becoming the personal money-lender to friends and family (who I know will pay me back with interest) rather then them dealing with the banks.
"What about inflation, Gizortnik?"
All the same thing, but I'm buying assets: precious metals, and maybe weapons. What's the difference, really? They are both stores of potential energy to be transformed into kinetic energy when time is of the essence. When I'm saving over 50% of my income, week after week, I know that there's a swath I just won't spend the entire year. Anything I'm not spending for, like, 5 years, goes into assets.
I'm well aware of the increased cost of living, and I'm aware that the savings' purchasing power is being depleted. But that's why chunks are going into assets. That's why I have a swathe of liquid currency I can wield as a weapon, and then another portion locked into assets that will counter inflation. I may also need to find a new job, and I'm using the depletion of my wages as justification for a raise, and finding a new job if I can't get one.
Anyone can do it. Yes, anyone. Even you. Don't let the banks lie to you, it's a trap to control your spending and keep your savings low.
"Gizortnik, you fucking jewish subverter, did you steal this strategy from the jews?"
Well, um, maybe a little. It's also stolen from the overseas Chinese! Look, it fucking works, okay? Just trust me on this: read Thomas Sowell's "Migrations and Cultures". This shit works.
I didn't spend any metals yet. That was cash. I keep a pile of cash and a pile of metal. Like I said, the logic is that I'm keeping the metal for something like 5 years before I ever spend it.
I have to admit I'm the same "Oh, but I have X in my bank account!"
Sure ... 1 year from now I will still have X in my bank account. But I cannot buy the stuff I could buy 1 year ago for X.
But I still haven't really understood / internalized it. There's the small part in my brain going "But what if you're wrong!" So be nice to your mom for falling into the same trap. It's hard to escape.
The US citizen is just a cash cow for the Industrial Military Complex since the end of the WWII: Vietnam, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine... And it won't stop, there is always other war "for Democracy" somewhere, somehow...
Its hilarious that we had to beg our government for 1 or 2 stimulus checks.. but they willy nilly give out money to other countries lol. I hate subsidizing shit, but maybe they can subsidize electricity or gas to bring down prices?? You know... spend money on US citizens??? Everyone fucking uses electricity from ceo of amazon to a janitor.
It's like we're trying to repeat Reagan's cold war strategy against the Soviets by outspending them. So far Putin is ignoring us and pushing ahead as planned. Not sure how long that's sustainable though, for either side.
All that money is being printed.
Put your money in assets.
My boomer-minded mother still has the idea in her head that you can "save money" in this day and age. I'm just like "let me know when money printer stops going brrrrrrrrrrrrr".
You can. I did.
Now, I grant you, I lived like a fucking hobo. I save over 50% of my income, but I assure you that that in and of itself is a fucking superpower.
The world is a lot easier place to live in when you've saved a vast amount of money and then wield it as a bludgeon at stupid problems. "Fuck You Money" isn't an amount, it's a lifestyle choice. I don't have an 11 figure bank account, but I just dropped 4 figures on a car repair for my family friend because I can do that. That comes from the savings I've made. What could have cost him his fucking career, now is a temporary set-back. Because I can wield money like a sledgehammer but only because I've stored it like I'm stockpiling ammo. In fact, Metro 2033 (Ammo as Currency) is actually a useful comparison, because that's the kind of decision you actually have to make. Live below your means and save your money because it's a super-power. On that note, I've even started becoming the personal money-lender to friends and family (who I know will pay me back with interest) rather then them dealing with the banks.
"What about inflation, Gizortnik?"
All the same thing, but I'm buying assets: precious metals, and maybe weapons. What's the difference, really? They are both stores of potential energy to be transformed into kinetic energy when time is of the essence. When I'm saving over 50% of my income, week after week, I know that there's a swath I just won't spend the entire year. Anything I'm not spending for, like, 5 years, goes into assets.
I'm well aware of the increased cost of living, and I'm aware that the savings' purchasing power is being depleted. But that's why chunks are going into assets. That's why I have a swathe of liquid currency I can wield as a weapon, and then another portion locked into assets that will counter inflation. I may also need to find a new job, and I'm using the depletion of my wages as justification for a raise, and finding a new job if I can't get one.
Anyone can do it. Yes, anyone. Even you. Don't let the banks lie to you, it's a trap to control your spending and keep your savings low.
"Gizortnik, you fucking jewish subverter, did you steal this strategy from the jews?"
Well, um, maybe a little. It's also stolen from the overseas Chinese! Look, it fucking works, okay? Just trust me on this: read Thomas Sowell's "Migrations and Cultures". This shit works.
How much did you lose in the conversion?
How do you mean? Buying metals? I don't have a loss until I sell, but at this moment I'm up, let's call it for the sake of privacy, a paycheck.
The conversion must have costed, unless I missed that the repair shop accept gold now.
I didn't spend any metals yet. That was cash. I keep a pile of cash and a pile of metal. Like I said, the logic is that I'm keeping the metal for something like 5 years before I ever spend it.
Oh, forgot about cash reserve, my bad.
I have to admit I'm the same "Oh, but I have X in my bank account!"
Sure ... 1 year from now I will still have X in my bank account. But I cannot buy the stuff I could buy 1 year ago for X.
But I still haven't really understood / internalized it. There's the small part in my brain going "But what if you're wrong!" So be nice to your mom for falling into the same trap. It's hard to escape.
The Russian people will still end up in Russia.
But we blew $100bn (and counting)
Can't they just buy both Russia and the Ukraine at this point? It'd honestly be cheaper.
Literally what they're trying to do
The US citizen is just a cash cow for the Industrial Military Complex since the end of the WWII: Vietnam, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine... And it won't stop, there is always other war "for Democracy" somewhere, somehow...
Its hilarious that we had to beg our government for 1 or 2 stimulus checks.. but they willy nilly give out money to other countries lol. I hate subsidizing shit, but maybe they can subsidize electricity or gas to bring down prices?? You know... spend money on US citizens??? Everyone fucking uses electricity from ceo of amazon to a janitor.
It's like we're trying to repeat Reagan's cold war strategy against the Soviets by outspending them. So far Putin is ignoring us and pushing ahead as planned. Not sure how long that's sustainable though, for either side.
An appropriate time for the "$3B can solve world hunger" meme.
We're totally not at war with Russia. No sir, no way.
And those are outdated numbers, too. But it's an illustrative graph.