I don't get it.
Their family helped a lot but they're still self made ?
61% of Americans are still living paycheck to paycheck
- Thread starter ipatent
- Start date
Their family helped a lot but they're still self made ?
That's the point. They don't realize the advantages that their family's money and connections gave them. For example, I met a guy whose job was traveling the USA looking for private investments for his employer, a billionaire. He went on to explain how he was a self-made success. He even paid back his father all the money that his father has paid for his college and MBA. I said nothing, but marveled that this was the first person that I known whose father had enough cash to pay for his entire college years.
Ah, got it, thanks.
Yeah, that's , well, one of ,,those" blind spots.
I guess there is a law or term to describe it, something like Pareto or Murphy.
https://www.elitetrader.com/et/threads/a-self-made-man-myth-or-reality.360542/
Last edited:
Number one predictor of success is being raised by two parents. Highest median income by race is Asian. I've never seen a homeless Asian. That's a statement about culture, not race. Asians also have the highest percentage of two parent households.
Maybe I wasn't clear. They benefit if they have debt on their assets. They don't benefit if they are holding other peoples debt on other peoples assets. Like if I loaned you $50k, I now hold a note which you pay interest on every month. That note is an asset, but if there is high inflation, the buying power of what you pay back could end up being less than I loaned to you so I would lose.
My dad did a funny thing for me. He said he would pay for it, and then the day when tuition was due for my first year, he said no and told me to pay rent or get out. Fun times.
If you hold a $250,000 mortgage or a $20,000 loan on your boat. Now inflation is higher. How do you benefit from the inflation? If those assets have a total value of $500,000 nominal value, it drops in real value net of inflation.
So how rich people benefits from high inflation??
No question that culture and associated pressures have much to do about "success" expectations, which is why suicide rates among children are highest in Asia, Korea and Japan in particular.
There aren't many homeless Asian in the US because of family structures in which all members live in the same household and thus take care of the elderly and family members with mental or physical disorders. The few that are homeless are usually without family and suffering from mental problems and substance abuse, as is the case for most homeless people.
Double income is the predictor of better chance of rising out of poverty, not that of being raised by a man and a woman.
First generation immigrants of poor countries are the most likely to rise out of the original condition when they arrived. The struggle to come and their drive to built a sense of safety and stability is a major motivator. In some cultures where education is seen as the key elevator to a better life (Asian, Jews,..) the parent's lives are dedicated to work to get their kids through college. The kids in turn become the parents retirement security while working hard to get their kids to better colleges and reach the middle class, and the cycle continues through multiple generations.
Amun Ra is correct. When inflation is high you want to owe as much as possible so that you are repaying the loan with cheaper money. This assumes that your income and assets will increase in proportion to the inflation rate. There are a lot of seniors still paying down the mortgage on their home that they for bought $200K 20 years ago that is now worth $500K.