Are you better off today than you were two years ago?

[WuWei]

The question is, are you better off the 1 Jan 2020.

[SixFoot]

[WuWei]

[Samm]

@BraveGear

You have neither gained nor lost money in the market until you sell the asset. Until that time it’s just numbers on a computer and not money in your pocket.

For example, I have a neighbor that recently retired from teaching and received nearly $100,000 from the Florida Drop system. The money was then invested into equities and has since lost (on paper) around 20% of it’s value. If the market trend continues down, it’s going to get much worse for everyone.

I’m not understanding your point. My IRA (which is only about 20% stocks) has a calculated value at the end of every business day. Stocks also have a calculated value, throughout the business day. My mandatory minimum disbursement is calculated on the calculated value on Dec. 31 of each year.

Also, Lib’s seem hyper focused on the market and completely ignore the cost of gas, food, heating and cooling expense, airfare, and just over all inflation.

Ask the next guy you see filling up at the gas station if he’s better off and see what he tells you.

I don’t need to ask. Just the look on his face tells the story,

[Samm]

@W_and_C

@Samm

@W_and_C

@Samm

Making more money isn’t everything either …

Also true.

Actually I’d even say overall it’s not a huge part of the entire picture.

People have personal lives, mental and physical health, career paths although that usually coincides with money. Keeping oneself in good physical shape through diet and exercise is super important, IMO.

Yes, and between COVID, the Biden economy, and the winds of war in Europe, you would be hard pressed to find anyone who is better off today than two years ago, unless they were personally experiencing a really bad time in their lives two years ago. All of the general factors are worse today than they were then.

I don’t really agree. But if someone insists they are worse off, I’m not going to question them. They know their life and I know mine.

Do you agree that finding someone who feels they are better off today than they were two years ago is rare?

Most likely, if you do find somebody who processes that opinion, they either had a particularly bad thing going on then (like maybe a spouse or close friend or relative dying of COVID) or they have just gotten used to their deteriorated situation,

[BraveGear]

The value you see calculated every day is just on paper, or perhaps electronic. Unless you cash it out you have not made any actual gains. What is there today could disappear in a flash tomorrow. It’s not a gain or loss until it is realized.

[Samm]

@BraveGear

The value you see calculated every day is just on paper, or perhaps electronic. Unless you cash it out you have not made any actual gains. What is there today could disappear in a flash tomorrow. It’s not a gain or loss until it is realized.

Of course it’s not tangible, but it is still “The Value.” The same is true for the numbers in your bank account or credit card statement. It’s the way personal liquid assets are recorded and managed, and how you measure your financial worth. I’m not following the point of your logic.

[zantax]

@Samm

@W_and_C

@Samm

Making more money isn’t everything either …

Also true.

Actually I’d even say overall it’s not a huge part of the entire picture.

People have personal lives, mental and physical health, career paths although that usually coincides with money. Keeping oneself in good physical shape through diet and exercise is super important, IMO.

Yes, and between COVID, the Biden economy, and the winds of war in Europe, you would be hard pressed to find anyone who is better off today than two years ago, unless they were personally experiencing a really bad time in their lives two years ago. All of the general factors are worse today than they were then.

See mental health issues, overdose, addiction and alcoholism skyrocketing.

[zantax]

@Samm

@BraveGear

The value you see calculated every day is just on paper, or perhaps electronic. Unless you cash it out you have not made any actual gains. What is there today could disappear in a flash tomorrow. It’s not a gain or loss until it is realized.

Of course it’s not tangible, but it is still “The Value.” The same is true for the numbers in your bank account or credit card statement. It’s the way personal liquid assets are recorded and managed, and how you measure your financial worth. I’m not following the point of your logic.

Semantics, a lot of those words definitions vary by context. I place value on a higher number in my portfolio but it’s is not realized value. I can also leverage it before it’s realized. Which is another kind of value. Or show it to a girl which is another. But I guess that falls under leveraging lol.

[Samm]

Well then, is your leverage greater or less than it was two years ago? The OP question was about better or worse, not the monetized value of wealth.

[BraveGear]

Being “better off” isn’t always about the perceived dollar value you have now. You are most likely worse off today than you were at the beginning of the year and the market is still going down.

So, what do you do? Do you ride it out and hope it doesn’t go lower? Do you get out of the market and into fixed investments or even gold? There is more uncertainty now than there was under President Trump when things were going well, the nation was optimistic about the future and our economy was sound.

Now, our nation is more divided than it has ever been in my lifetime and I’m no spring chicken. There is uncertainty about food, uncertainty about gas, uncertainty about the future of the country for my children and grandchildren, uncertainty about domestic unrest, and even the possibility of a major war.

To me, that’s not being better off but maybe you don’t see things that way and that’s O.K.

[W_and_C]

@Samm

@W_and_C

@Samm

@W_and_C

@Samm

Making more money isn’t everything either …

Also true.

Actually I’d even say overall it’s not a huge part of the entire picture.

People have personal lives, mental and physical health, career paths although that usually coincides with money. Keeping oneself in good physical shape through diet and exercise is super important, IMO.

Yes, and between COVID, the Biden economy, and the winds of war in Europe, you would be hard pressed to find anyone who is better off today than two years ago, unless they were personally experiencing a really bad time in their lives two years ago. All of the general factors are worse today than they were then.

I don’t really agree. But if someone insists they are worse off, I’m not going to question them. They know their life and I know mine.

Do you agree that finding someone who feels they are better off today than they were two years ago is rare?

Most likely, if you do find somebody who processes that opinion, they either had a particularly bad thing going on then (like maybe a spouse or close friend or relative dying of COVID) or they have just gotten used to their deteriorated situation,

No, I don’t agree. Two years ago (late of June 2020) most people were still social distancing, many businesses had gone under , vaccines weren’t here, George Floyd protests were ongoing and we already mentioned what the market was.

[Samm]

@BraveGear

Being “better off” isn’t always about the perceived dollar value you have now. You are most likely worse off today than you were at the beginning of the year and the market is still going down.

So, what do you do? Do you ride it out and hope it doesn’t go lower? Do you get out of the market and into fixed investments or even gold? There is more uncertainty now than there was under President Trump when things were going well, the nation was optimistic about the future and our economy was sound.

Now, our nation is more divided than it has ever been in my lifetime and I’m no spring chicken. There is uncertainty about food, uncertainty about gas, uncertainty about the future of the country for my children and grandchildren, uncertainty about domestic unrest, and even the possibility of a major war.

To me, that’s not being better off but maybe you don’t see things that way and that’s O.K.

I can’t tell … are you arguing with me or agreeing?

[Samm]

@W_and_C

@Samm

@W_and_C

@Samm

@W_and_C

@Samm

Making more money isn’t everything either …

Also true.

Actually I’d even say overall it’s not a huge part of the entire picture.

People have personal lives, mental and physical health, career paths although that usually coincides with money. Keeping oneself in good physical shape through diet and exercise is super important, IMO.

Yes, and between COVID, the Biden economy, and the winds of war in Europe, you would be hard pressed to find anyone who is better off today than two years ago, unless they were personally experiencing a really bad time in their lives two years ago. All of the general factors are worse today than they were then.

I don’t really agree. But if someone insists they are worse off, I’m not going to question them. They know their life and I know mine.

Do you agree that finding someone who feels they are better off today than they were two years ago is rare?

Most likely, if you do find somebody who processes that opinion, they either had a particularly bad thing going on then (like maybe a spouse or close friend or relative dying of COVID) or they have just gotten used to their deteriorated situation,

No, I don’t agree. Two years ago (late of June 2020) most people were still social distancing, many businesses had gone under , vaccines weren’t here, George Floyd protests were ongoing and we already mentioned what the market was.

Complacency and resignation are not the same as “doing better.”

[BraveGear]

All those things are true, but we have since learned that masks were useless, social distancing was a joke, and the vaccine caused more harm than good. We learned that the Taliban were now well armed at our expense, that Americans can be abandoned in a hostile country by our government, and that we no longer are energy independent. We also learned a great deal about the depth of corruption in or federal government and just how deep the “Deep State” really is.

There are a lot of people that believe this country is in deep do-do.

You may see it differently. .

[zantax]

@Samm

Well then, is your leverage greater or less than it was two years ago? The OP question was about better or worse, not the monetized value of wealth.

Everyone but billionaires got reamed. You have to account for most inflation being permanent and apply the cost over your lifetime.

[W_and_C]

@Samm

Complacency and resignation are not the same as “doing better.”

Complacency and resignation towards what ? I just named specific things that were happening in late June of 2020 that I believe almost everyone would agree that we do not want to go back to.

[W_and_C]

@BraveGear

All those things are true, but we have since learned that masks were useless, social distancing was a joke, and the vaccine caused more harm than good. We learned that the Taliban were now well armed at our expense, that Americans can be abandoned in a hostile country by our government, and that we no longer are energy independent. We also learned a great deal about the depth of corruption in or federal government and just how deep the “Deep State” really is.

There are a lot of people that believe this country is in deep do-do.

You may see it differently. .

I agree with some but not all of that. Well, I guess speaking for myself only, I am better off. June of 2020 was not particularly great.

[BraveGear]

I think everyone that responded looked at the question differently. Most focused only on money while the intent of the question was for an overall assessment. That certainly includes your savings but also expenses and the impact on budget, and a sense of tranquility you get from living in a free and sane society.

I’m not trying to make this a Left vs. Right thing but just an outlet to express opinions.

[Samm]

@W_and_C

@Samm

Complacency and resignation are not the same as “doing better.”

Complacency and resignation towards what? I just named specific things that were happening in late June of 2020 that I believe almost everyone would agree that we do not want to go back to.

Towards Covid for one. We don’t have the option to go back there … we are still there.