I hate the whole publicly traded model of companies. I hate capitalism. But have to engage in trading stocks (I mostly do Mutual Funds and a small quantity of direct stocks) so that my money doesn’t lose value by sitting in a bank or cash.

Same thing with credit cards, don’t like taking loans and getting marked on a centralised list for that but it’s a safer option than using your own money.

Fortunately I don’t do crypto so that’s a plus.

    • TheLepidopterists [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
      7·
      9 months ago

      What’s that have to do with social security?

      debatebro-l

      Love to pretend not to understand the context of my conversations so I can score debate points or something.

      For working class Americans, there are 3 options:

      1. 401k
      2. Try to rely on social security exclusively, in spite of the fact that it’s both insufficient and likely to disappear, realize this is nonsensical and move to 3
      3. Work until you drop dead

      Just want to be sure, you think everyone who isn’t independently wealthy should just do 3), because doing 1) is immoral? Do you feel I’m misrepresenting your position here? It’s easy to get misinterpreted in text so I want to be 100% sure that you’re not saying something else.

      • leftofthat [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
        2·
        9 months ago

        If the only two options for investing are “become a ghoulish rent seeker” or “don’t do that” then yeah that’s where it would come down

        You didn’t mention “become a landlord” as an option. Why not? That’s a perfectly viable path for many working class Americans to retire into.

          • leftofthat [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
            2·
            9 months ago

            What does that even mean? I think people should not invest their money in rent seeking and should put it elsewhere when they can, even if it means receiving less of a return on investment.

            Are we just debating ethics and morality? It’s pretty boring ngl

                • TheLepidopterists [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
                  6·
                  9 months ago

                  So instead of a stock index fund, which is where a pension would have put the money anyways if I were lucky enough to have one, I should give the money directly to the US government to hold onto so they can ensure that they can afford Israel’s bomb budget? That’s way more ethical?

                  EDIT: like the ethics gap is so big that anyone who just puts the money in the stock index instead of choosing to give it to Uncle Sam is a “rent-seeking ghoul” who should “feel dirty?”