Current Events > My girlfriends family has never invested anything and it blows my mind

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Her parent are almost 70 and their whole life they worked and her dad is semi retired still working. They apparently barely have anything saved in bank savings.

I asked about Stocks or buying, property, investing in anything even gold and she was like they never did that in their whole life.

Can someone explain to me how this happens?? How the hell does a working man just live his life for like 68 years and not put his money in anything except bills and sometimes a little in a bank savings account? Like wtf

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I expect they never earned enough to put something aside.

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Investing just isnt for everyone \_()_/

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More common than you think. Usually comes from a lack of education on that topic - don't take for granted how easy and free our access to information is now. Before the late 90s people just accepted that you learned whatever was directly taught to you and little else.

Secondly I would caution you don't assume too much about their circumstances. Might have had a big disaster or family blowout 10-20 years ago that wrecked them financially.

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Ilishe posted...

I expect they never earned enough to put something aside.

You can literally buy some stocks for like $1-3 in the 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s that are worth like 100x now so for the price of a dumb Big Mac a week you can basically invest for retirement and stuff in a fund

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Lots of people don't know how to do it or have the extra money to do so. I'm in the opposite position here. I'm baffled at people who can't understand people who haven't invested. I've seen that sort of thinking going around here and the internet. Kinda sounds like a privilege sort of thing. Lots of people live paycheck to paycheck as well.

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Southernfatman posted...

Lots of people don't know how to do it or have the extra money to do so. I'm in the opposite position here. I'm baffled at people who can't understand people who haven't invested. I've seen that sort of thinking going around here and the internet. Kinda sounds like a privilege sort of thing. Lots of people live paycheck to paycheck as well.

people can live paycheck to paycheck but will grab a couple Coca Colas or fast food or buy something dumb during the week. That same amount can be put in weekly/monthly for 10-20 years and have a massive outcome

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Poverty. Plenty of people don't make enough to afford the luxury of putting something aside every paycheck.

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How do you invest in gold

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HellsingOrg posted...

I asked about Stocks or buying, property, investing in anything even gold and she was like they never did that in their whole life.

Someone didn't grow up poor. That shit is a privilege.

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Where exactly would they have gone to invest pre internet?

Especially if they didnt live in a city?

I remember back in the 90s people saying they had stock in ibm or Microsoft and the general responses were along the lines of look at mr wall st.


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Alteres posted...

Where exactly would they have gone to invest pre internet?

Especially if they didnt live in a city?

I remember back in the 90s people saying they had stock in ibm or Microsoft and the general responses were along the lines of look at mr wall st.

You do know banks offered that since like the 80s right?

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Some people are happy with the amount of money they have and arent obsessed with always wanting more.

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my dad goes out and buys a Starbucks coffee every day for $7 Thats $210 every month.

Hes not well off financially, but I always tell him that if he would just stop buying coffee from Starbucks he could afford to buy like 2 shares of Starbucks stock every month.

Im pretty sure Starbucks is a dividend stock too.

Fuck gamefaqs.

Wow, point is more barriers to investing much less information widely available.

(that wasnt directed at you, site just ate my very long reply)

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SaquonDaGod posted...

my dad goes out and buys a Starbucks coffee every day for $7 Thats $210 every month.

Hes not well off financially, but I always tell him that if he would just stop buying coffee from Starbucks he could afford to buy like 2 shares of Starbucks stock every month.

Im pretty sure Starbucks is a dividend stock too.

Tf coffee is he paying $7 for
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g980 posted...

Tf coffee is he paying $7 for

I dont fucking know.. I use K-Cups.

My uncle and his family have been living in rental apartments for the last 20+ years

its baffling

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I mean back in the day many places offered good pensions so people didnt have to invest for retirement. Doesnt sound like that is the case here though.
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LastTomorrow posted...

How do you invest in gold

I assume you simply buy gold bars and stow them away in deposit boxes.

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Poverty or knowing that in the end you will end up the states problem majority of the time. They can get health insurance and social security now to manage their living situation. Eventually theyll end up in a nursing home. Theres no point in saving unless youve got a high wage job.

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This is the most stuck up nerd sounding topic ever.....

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Our generation is changing that. Everyone is investing. So I dunno what to expect tbh.

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mattymad posted...

And yes, those magic self projecting stocks that were so obvious to buy.

Let's ignore the other 90% that didn't.

And the fact that $1-3 back then had more purchasing power than it does now.

Remember, the generation before us was able to work a minimum wage job and still buy a house, go to college, and have a family.
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Didn't investing used to require commission fees when you want to buy stocks?

The idea of commission free trading seems more like a modern method. Why invest 50 bucks when you were going to pay like a seven dollar fee to buy or something like that?

Also could people really just go to a trader and just invest 50 bucks? Wasn't there a minimum you had to invest? Also I think investing used to be more of a well off person kinda of a thing. You can't get rich off a 50 buck investment or even make a good chunk of change unless you hit it big with some sort of high flying stock. So I think people didn't value investing as much especially when things were a lot more affordable to the point where a decent job could get you a house and a car pretty easily.

Today, it is easier to invest through apps with small deposits but in the past, there were no apps for that.

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pinky0926 posted...

Before the late 90s people just accepted that you learned whatever was directly taught to you and little else.

its not like books and colleges didnt exist.

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SwordMaster13X posted...

Didn't investing used to require commission fees when you want to buy stocks?

The idea of commission free trading seems more like a modern method. Why invest 50 bucks when you were going to pay like a seven dollar fee to buy or something like that?

Also could people really just go to a trader and just invest 50 bucks? Wasn't there a minimum you had to invest? Also I think investing used to be more of a well off person kinda of a thing. You can't get rich off a 50 buck investment or even make a good chunk of change unless you hit it big with some sort of high flying stock. So I think people didn't value investing as much especially when things were a lot more affordable to the point where a decent job could get you a house and a car pretty easily.

Today, it is easier to invest through apps with small deposits but in the past, there were no apps for that.

SO you literally just answered your own question. Unless you worked in finance, no one was really taught how to proper invest your money for your retirement.

Unless their job set up a pension or 401k for them, many boomers have little to no savings investments, because you were basically taught "go to work, get your paycheck, put it in the bank, and enjoy your .2% interest."

They all basically are relying on their Social Security payments, and Government assistance for their healthcare.

Thankfully, my mother worked in the banking industry for 35 years, and invested hers and my father's income well enough that they were both retired before they were 60.

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jon1012 posted...

its not like books and colleges didnt exist.

Yes but there was undoubtedly more barriers to it.

Consider something as simple as nutrition advice. You can now watch as many youtube videos as you have time for to collect enough information from as many different sources on nutrition to become pretty well informed in a matter of days.

Comparatively, what if you bought one book, and it was $50, and it was full of nonsense?


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At first I thought you meant they didnt invest and kept it all cash or liquid. But youre saying no savings no investments. Thats messed up and the government needs to help them

HellsingOrg posted...

You can literally buy some stocks for like $1-3 in the 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s that are worth like 100x now so for the price of a dumb Big Mac a week you can basically invest for retirement and stuff in a fund

How much money do you actually expect someone to realistically make off a $3 investment

Tc really needs to check his privilege

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