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this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2023
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politics
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Who’s it getting better for? Wall Street? Prices on shit keeps fucking going up. My paycheck ain’t.
Yeah, according to a Federal Reserve survey from earlier this year "only 63% of adults surveyed said they would cover an unexpected $400 expense using cash or its equivalent, down from 68% the year before. Many noted they would lean on credit cards or family members to manage such a bill. About 13% said they wouldn’t be able to cover such an expense by any means."
Upper middle class and above households have been doing great, but everyone else is in a bad way and getting worse.
Real wages are up in the last two years the largest amount in nearly five decades. Rent costs are down year over year for two and a half years straight. Employment is up, new jobless claims are down, both while hours worked is down. Inflation continues to revert to the mean.
If it doesn’t seem good for you, you’re either an extreme outlier or are just denying reality.
Source: Trust me bro.
Rent costs are down? Where??? What's a "real wage"? Do you have anything to back any of this up or are we just guessing?
Probably just cherry-picked data, tbh.
The wage increases haven't kept up with inflation so people aren't feeling it.
You have no idea what you are talking about. Rent has more than doubled. I know people living in shitty 1 bedroom apartments who pay more than twice what I pay for my mortgage on a fairly average house.
Data is data my dude. Get your head out of the sand.
You should try looking at it some time. An apartment that was $700 5 years ago is now around $2000 in my area. And this is a low cost of living area where people aren't exactly desperate to live.
If you live in LA, rent only goes up.
A retirement account, stocks, or a pension are all just money on paper. Yeah, it's nice to see that number go up, but you either have to wait years to see it, or have to pay taxes once you get there, or both.
Not dismissing the effect that Biden has had on the economy, in spite of Republican fuckery. But it's a mistake to point at the Stock Market and tell people who can't pay their bills now that its all OK.
Not at all, all I'm saying is that most people look at the money they make as "take-home pay", where they don't even see the taxes until it's time to file. While when they look at their 401k nest egg, it's the opposite: they will owe the money when they cash out, and it will be invisible until then.
Oh yeah, those stocks are going to really help me pay for my grocery bill which has nearly doubled, or the massive increases in rent that just keep going up.
Maybe people can't afford stocks when wages are suppressed and they're struggling to pay for rent and food. Maybe stocks shouldn't exist when their only purpose is to extract wealth from the working class. 🤷♀️
I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that wealthy parasites have been spending decades siphoning money away from the working class, suppression unions, and propagandizing working people against their interests. No, it's because us poors choose to waste money on trying to stay alive instead of throwing it away by gambling it into the stock market. You nailed it, champ.
I'm sure your mother knows all about bad decisions, having chosen to give birth to you.
Once again, how is that helping me with rent and grocery bills? Once I sell the stocks I don't have them anymore, yet expenses keep on going up.
I didn't have any fucking money back then either!
Ah, so not me then
So, for old people it's fucking wonderful.
Completely convinced you're just trolling, now
Is that going to prove that everyone above 22 has stocks and a pension? That 90% stat is also bullshit. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2022/08/who-has-retirement-accounts.html
What financial situation? Are you responding to the wrong person? Do you think you're talking to someone who's complaining about being poor? You may have me confused for someone else.
Now, about that claim that over 90% of people are comfy enough to have retirement plans, Mr Troll...
I'll never be able to retire. I'll be taking out the 9mm plan when I'm too old to work.
Nobody has money for that either. Our healthcare system is abysmal. Another thing corporations have robbed us of. Universal healthcare.
I'm 31 with no degree and no retirement savings. I'm doomed and therapy isn't going to help with that.
Lose the defeatist attitude . You're only 31 years old. You've got over three decades to save for retirement and you don't need a degree to get places in life. Start saving now, even if it's a tiny amount. Just be consistent and increase contributions as you get raises or better opportunity. It adds up and having something is a lot better than having nothing. Don't give up before you get started.
Eating cat food is better than starving, sure, but I'd rather just save myself the trouble with the 9mm retirement package.
I can't save money. I'm spinning my wheels paycheck-to-paycheck, I have no life, I have no friends, I almost fucking died when I collapsed at work from heat exhaustion, the climate is getting more extreme every damn year, everything is too expensive and only getting more expensive, I live in hell and I am sick and FUCKING tired of Dems telling me my shitty fucking life is worth living.
Why the fuck can't you ever acknowledge that life is hard for people? Why do you have to belittle our suffering and tell us we're worried about nothing and that if we really tried we could make our lives worth living? Is this funny to you? Do you like to make me angry?
Maybe I won't make it to 65! Maybe they'll make it illegal to be trans in my shithole state and I'll be retiring early.
Life is hard, it's always been hard. Some of the problems we face today may be new but having to push forward and survive despite adversity is certainly not. Throwing in the towel and giving up because of the problems you face today and the problems you "might" face tomorrow is not the way to live.
You can overcome, you can save, you can improve your life and it can be worth living even if it feels absolutely impossible right now. People tell you this because it's true, because they've been through hard times, they've battled depression, and they've come out the other side with an appreciation and love for life despite it all.
I encourage you to seek support, there are many people out there who are currently going through and have gone through similar struggles. I wish you the best of luck and hope you get through this and can share you story with others one day.
Wtf is wrong with you
Survivorship bias.
The people who went through hard times and came out the other side are the ones that are still alive. Millions don't. They just die, either because the literally can't afford to live or because they decide to make it quick with a gun or an overdose. You're discounting all the many many people who have died and just focusing on the lucky ones.
Also? I need to make something clear.
I don't want to die I don't want to die fuck fuck fuck I don't want to die! Stop fucking telling me to seek therapy for depression, I'm not depressed I'm absolutely terrified!
You think you're giving some kind of sage advice from personal experience, but all I hear is "your problems aren't a big deal, I would know, so suck it up buttercup!" It's degrading, demeaning, and infuriating! You're basically telling me I'm a stupid child that doesn't know how good I have it and hasn't grown up enough to overcome her problems with hard work and gumption.
I am a fully grown adult and I know how hopeless my life is. I can't save money, don't you fucking dare tell me I can, I've done my finances and went over the numbers enough times to know its absolutely hopeless. Therapy isn't going to make the numbers different, so stop dismissing my legitimate material fears. Stop gaslighting me and telling me my problems aren't real.
You are a bad person.
Clearly my post did not come across the right way. I was just trying to offer encouragement, not belittle you.
You completely dismissed their statements and ignored their legitimate complaints. That is... that can only be belittling.
How many 9mm's does that cost?
Those things are very important, but unless you have some significant dividends, I don't think they help people with the level of price increase that we see right now.