Marketing and the Shopping Conspiracy - Documentary

I would not say that the wealth of Americans is impressive.

The consumption is impressive.

The expectation for what a lifestyle should be is impressive.

The actual wealth is very different than the consumption.
it was tongue in cheek...
 
Travelling to Europe, some of these countries which may seem like a paradise to live in, are actually dirt poor by our standards. The average monthly wage in Greece is $800, so many people don't work or care about their jobs. No wonder you can't get good service anywhere lol.
It's actually nearly double that.
Greece suffers from an aging and declining population since few can afford to marry and have kids on the around $1500.00 average monthly income.
 
In high school, I took a class called: Consumer Economics .... teacher was Mr. Cotter.
Best class I ever

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The wealth of the Americans is impressive - all these large vehicles, fashionable clothing, large homes and conspicuous consumption is the envy of the world. We have managed to borrow and spend without any repercussions for the first time ever in human history thanks to the financial whizzes.
The DESIRE to appear wealthy is impressive. That's far different from actually having wealth.
 
Exactly!
Spend less than you make and always remain employed and you'll always have money.
Has worked well for us.
Spending everything you earn to support a lifestyle and turning down opportunities that you consider beneath you is a recipe for financial failure.
Having money left over each month is the goal and avoiding the trap of seeking that perfect position is a key factor in that.
Doesn't mean you can't splurge, but you have to decide what you want to splurge on.
For us, it's long been travel and theater, not crap food eaten out or carried home, or vastly overpriced NFL tickets.
 
Pay yourself 1st. 401K, nice Mutual, pay extra into your mortgage.
What you make is important, what you do with it is more important.

My best money is my oldest money.
I used to be in dire straits. I can tell you it is whole lot better to be able to give a little than to need a little. I've been on both sides of that equation.

The quality of personal finance acumen in so many others scares me.
 
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It's actually nearly double that.
Greece suffers from an aging and declining population since few can afford to marry and have kids on the around $1500.00 average monthly income.
Greece (and much, or most, of the rest of Europe, and many other developed countries) is experiencing a demographic crisis, with the traditional population pyramid morphing into a beehive before it becomes an inverted pyramid.

That, combined with early-retirement opportunities and generous public social programs, has resulted in too few taxpayers for the number of people collecting benefits. It's an unsustainable situation.
 
Greece (and much, or most, of the rest of Europe, and many other developed countries) is experiencing a demographic crisis, with the traditional population pyramid morphing into a beehive before it becomes an inverted pyramid.

That, combined with early-retirement opportunities and generous public social programs, has resulted in too few taxpayers for the number of people collecting benefits. It's an unsustainable situation.
An aging and declining population is a reality throughout the developed world, fueled largely by persistent below replacement level birth rates.
The only developed countries where you don't see this are those that have had significant immigration, like our own, but even here median age has increased considerably over the past forty years, by about nine years.
IOW, we're on the same track but not yet as far along as many other developed countries.
 
Well I think the USA is in for a SHOCK in about 4-6 months when all the crops that didn't get harvested and beef cows that aren't taken care from farms going under because of NO HELP. We all could/would/will be in trouble. But not the super rich with their tax cuts. They'll just by whatever they need elsewhere, or fly to France for breakfast.
So when you are wrong in 4-6 months will you return to this thread and admit it?

Use the system. Don’t break the law.

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I had a nice discussion with our credit union teller mainly about saving money. I was depositing a check from my scrap gold buyer. She knows. But she says the obstacle is her husband. I could not help her there other than start squirreling away $5-$10-$20-$50 at a pop then talk with him, and ease him into it before just showing him the balance.

There was no one in line.

She said if she saved some money and he sees it, then he would immediately go buy something.

Therein lies the problem. TV - Netflix included bears a substantial amount of the blame for this need for instant gratification
 
Well interesting topic, my comments might be understood or not understood. First of all everybody in my age group all they talk about is leaving hordes of money and homes to their kids and grandkids.

I'm really concerned about the handout effect where you're not helping people your diminishing their skills to make a life for themselves.
Too many people here in California specifically come to this state for our handouts! Too many people come to the US with the mindset of I can come here with zero and get state and federal assistance.

Too many kids around today that I am aware of through friends and families that are pompous snot nose brats that are waiting for handouts from parents and that's all they talk about, not to mention their free ride through college.

Every commercial on TV is a new truck or a new car or some type of pharmaceutical drug for quick gratification. Yes quick gratification seems to be the trend here in SoCal for a long time now.

As it turns out most things that are around me I can live without; without emotional reaction to jump out and go buy it.

Free enterprise is just that, so everybody has the right to make choices, but if you're uneducated about your own emotional state of mind and you are looking for quick gratification because it makes you feel good or you're spouse is giving pressure to have that Cadillac Escalade, then you can expect to get what you get.

I personally feel it's pretty simple, just train yourself to look at what you need and what you don't need, form follows function; and you just might have a few nuggets left at the end of the month.
Just my two cents here
 
Well I think the USA is in for a SHOCK in about 4-6 months when all the crops that didn't get harvested and beef cows that aren't taken care from farms going under because of NO HELP. We all could/would/will be in trouble. But not the super rich with their tax cuts. They'll just by whatever they need elsewhere, or fly to France for breakfast.
So for the before the past 4 years with the 10+ million folks streaming acrosss the river, what were we doing for the crop harvests and beef processing?
 
So when you are wrong in 4-6 months will you return to this thread and admit it?

Use the system. Don’t break the law.

————————————————

I had a nice discussion with our credit union teller mainly about saving money. I was depositing a check from my scrap gold buyer. She knows. But she says the obstacle is her husband. I could not help her there other than start squirreling away $5-$10-$20-$50 at a pop then talk with him, and ease him into it before just showing him the balance.

There was no one in line.

She said if she saved some money and he sees it, then he would immediately go buy something.

Therein lies the problem. TV - Netflix included bears a substantial amount of the blame for this need for instant gratification
This next generation expecting instant gratification also thinks anything can be done job wise. It’s amazing , they don’t question or think out, knock down why not like older generations but instead get it done in working world.
 
I help a lot of young people when it comes to cars.

You would be surprised how many people under 30 contact me. Either because of the Long-Term Quality Index site, or they find an article I write that's still high up on Google searches.

Most listen. Many don't. Even fewer do research after I help them. Reliance on phones and social media has destroyed an awareness of enthusiast forums for specific models.

The majority of the time they have been burned on a car and have too little money to buy a car outright.

Out of that grouping about two-thirds of them are too stubborn to understand that with no familiarity with cars, they would be better off financing an unpopular and reliable car.

I tell them about older Mitsubishis and models no longer made in the USA. They shovel up the same Internet driven manure that is, "Thou hast to get a Toyota or Honda!"

The ones that listen always have my personal phone number if they need guidance. The ones that don't listen spin off into the hopeless abyss of misinformation that is YouTube.
 
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