Living within your means........

Thank you very much for your service. And thank you for being smart enough to save and invest and be responsible.

Now, for the poster who apparently thought you were getting 15k per month from government retirement, all I can say is "Really?"

 

Great post and congratulations on winning. I worked hard to get where I am but it sounds like you worked even harder. And your route was far smarter; it took me 30 years of working to finally get to where I was comfortable with my progress. Had I gone to college, and I had opportunities to, I could have reached my goals 20 years more quickly. Great choice and great job sticking with it.

But I just want to disagree on one minor issue just for reference and future readers of this thread - and I'd be surprised if you don't somewhat agree: it might not have been equal, but it was 100% fair that you had to work that hard to have what was given to those around you.

I don't want to go off topic into a deep discussion of divorce and commitment, but maybe it wasn't fair that your parents divorced and left you living in poverty but that you had to work your way through school is not unfair at all. What would be unfair is for parents who work hard to give their children a better life having to pay for those children whose parents didn't make the same choices - keep in mind the guy who asked Elizabeth Warren if she was going to reimburse him for his daughter's college costs - which, of course, she was not.

Parents who work hard and acquire wealth - or inherit wealth because their own parents worked hard and acquired wealth - have the right to share their wealth with their children, relieving their children of the struggles that others might have to endure. It's not unfair; it's earned.

On the other hand, your parents, and my parents, had no obligation to pay our way through school. It's not unfair if they chose not to.

 

The notion that our lives and outcomes are the product of our choices and work is not at all clearly untrue. What makes you think that is so? In general, on this forum I think we're discussing life in the United States. We do have some from other places but even in those countries you can get ahead by good choices and hard work. I'm pretty sure we don't have anyone from Sierra Leone on this forum. Nothing in my story was meant to imply that the opportunities of the United States exist everywhere in the world. That's another thread; if you want to start one and post the link, I'll meet you there to discuss this on a more global perspective.

 

You worked hard, but you're were lucky. As a teacher, I ran across a lot of hard working folks who lost their health, or had family members fall ill.

Me? I made money investing before I taught school and never needed my teacher pay. My wife and I are in our 70s, don't collect Social Security, or use Medicare. We live part of the year in Canada, part in the U.S., and travel extensively. Like you, we're lucky.

Although you weren't directing the question to me, my wife and I chose to give back by teaching school, each of us for decades. We learned by example--my two uncles, one a USAF Colonel, the other a USA Major General, and my father-in-law, a USAF Colonel. My father was a Marine in WW2 and came back to design fighter aircraft. My mother was mayor of a small city. All were class acts. They inspired us.

When you teach school, you run across everyone. It reminds you how lucky you are if you have your health and good examples in your family.

 

No we need a government as he is trying to get us back to, one that gets out of our way so we can can take act in and take care of our own self-interest.

 

And, actually, I think the OP wasn't saying he was better because he lives within his means; he was saying to current and future readers of this thread that they would be better if they lived within their means.

 

You should have taught school for a couple of years. You might have learned how lucky you are.

 

I see no evidence Trump is getting back to anything. Take off your rose-colored glasses.

 

A hateful generalization.

 

This may be the best thread to ever appear on PF. Any youngsters on here could learn a lot from it, especially those who think they are entitled to free stuff. Well, get off your ass and go build a great life for yourself by working hard and being responsible - instead of thinking that bernie is gonna give you a red carpet to U t o P i A.

 

That was decided otherwise long ago.

 

If anyone reads the notes from the beginning it was clear what the founding fathers thought of income taxes.

 

I'm happy to let you out of both as long as you agree never to apply for welfare as a senior or use Medicare. Never.

 

Meh, you were just lucky.

I’m kidding of course. I don’t understand why some people can’t see the point you are making. It seems so obvious to those of us who earned what we have.

 

That would be awesome. You run on that platform and I’ll vote for you for President!

 

Unfortunately, we don't share similar opportunities. In fact, upward mobility is much less in this country than our neighbor, Canada, and many European countries.

 

I wonder if he would make that retroactive? Payback with interest at the market increase from then to now?

 

I taught business startups to senior high school students and adults--from an idea, test marketing it, creating a business plan, and obtaining financing. I think $100,000 is a bit hight for people who either don't have the skills to make that much for their own efforts, are prepared to employ others, or have access to significant capital.

That isn't what I saw.

Like a lot of people who think they know, you don't. There's no message like this from liberals (or conservatives). Metaphorically, I taught people to swim who were afraid of the water. Government hired me to do that.

 

The dirty truth is the globalists in both parties have disemboweled Americans and half of us dont have the means to live within.

So we live from bubble to bubble.

There is a crash and burn in our future created as always by the greed of the elites and a complicit govt that allowed the US to turn into oligarchy or fascism.

The gang that tried to pull off the coup against FDR proudly called themselvrs fascists for they believed in oligarchy .

 

I doubt it. When it comes down to brass tacks they wouldn’t let us opt out under any conditions. They need us too much. They just make the offer to try and scare you into willing acceptance of authority. Personal responsibility is a terrifying concept to them. It’s incomprehensible to them the concept isn’t terrifying to others.

 

The absolute failure of the public school system, curriculum and instruction. With all my students, regardless of the course I was teaching, I took at least a class period to set a personal budget for when they graduated (most were grade 12s). I would do one budget on an overhead while they were invited (not required) to do their own. We went down the list of expenses--rent, food, clothing, transportation, tuition, books, health care, entertainment, etc.--and gave them information on what each item would cost in our community. Working backwards to include taxes, we'd come to an hourly pay rate for a 40-hour week. What did they almost always forget to include? Savings. Invariably, what they felt they needed to live on their own was at least $25/hour. I was the only teacher in a school with more than 1200 students to go through a budget with them. Were students interested? You bet. A lot of them were shocked by the numbers. It's part of growing up.

Not me, either.

My budget lesson often went into a second day where I suggested they match their likely income and spending. So, then I'd lead a discussion of what they came up with for priorities.

An absolutely idiotic idea.

 

I'd bet.

 

They'll never give you the option.

 

Agreed.