Pie Pie Pie

[Worldtraveller]

It's hard to believe but I do believe the facts. It is sad.

My mom is living on the income of her net worth because she and my dad saved as if it was still the great depression. She is in assisted living. If she spends $120k per year and lives to be 100 years old, she is 83, she would still pass on to me almost $3 million.

Now I am just an industry analyst at a consulting company. But after over 30 years my wife and I have saved also as if it was still the great depression. I could retire tomorrow, live at my own current income adjusted for inflation, and still have $2.5 million if I live to be 100 years old.

Add to that the growth of my mother's money when I inherit it assuming she lives to 100 years old, my net worth when I am 100 years old would be almost $11 million.

If my mom died tomorrow my net worth would be over $5 million now, excluding my house, and almost $20 million when I'm 100 years old, still deducting my current income adjusted for inflation, today.

That doesn't feel right to me. I believe that there should be a wealth tax over some value and I also believe that there should be universal health care for all, paid by taxes, and no out of pocket costs for anyone.

Ya. Call me a rich socialist if you want but the system is rigged for the rich.

By your own telling, you and your parents were disciplined enough to put aside money for the future instead of spending it today. Why should you, your parents, or anyone else, be punished for that?

Why is paying your fair share considered 'punishment?'

Yes, please do elaborate.

I have no problem with much of what's left being taxed (hell, I don't have kids anyway) and used for the greater good. Of course, I don't really trust the government to use it for the greater good anymore, they'll just add it to the ridiculous military budget. So I plan on setting up a trust for some kind of low income tuition assistance or donating to a similar existing fund in my will.

 

[TSwizzle]

Ever notice, there's no place to park?

I notice lots of things, like dozens of drug addled wasters camped out under freeway overpasses, dozens of broken down RVs and vehicles with unemployable occupants and I notice the constant harassment outside the grocery store by pan handlers who will "work for food". I notice the stench of urine in downtown San Diego near Petco Park where the homeless piss and shit in the planters with impunity. And I also notice that the high rise building across the street from Petco offer two bedroom apartments starting at about $1.2m.

If you've got an extra room, you rent it.

Well yes, this I also notice. In my area the zoning has allowed detached garage structures in single family homes to be converted to ADU (additional dwelling units) AKA, granny flats. This is apparently to help alleviate the "housing crisis". I don't know if it has alleviated the "housing crisis" any but it has had a noticeable effect on traffic and of course parking.

It's my opinion, if you're a new immigrant from a country starved of opportunity and you come to America, you see more of the opportunity here. My immigrant ex spent about 25 years working retail. My immigrant ex spent about 25 years working retail. She started as a store greeter and retired as the manager of that same large department store.

The opportunities are thinning out, particularly in retail. Now your friend can work two shifts a Bezos' gulag and rise up to something, I don't know what the career path is for a warehouse worker.

In retirement, she now babysits five toddlers and probably makes a good bit more than she did in retail. Her one complaint, which I've heard from others, is she wishes she could get one of her family from back home over here to help because she is tired of the lazy Americans she has to hire.

I think it is safe to assume these lazy Americans are all white ? Jeezus christ it's fucking tedious.

If we grew up in a comfortable easy life, I think many of us expected our adult life to be much the same. Well, that and we've all been trained to spend our piece of the pie on a mountain of shit we don't need. To buy all the house we can afford instead of all the house we need. To have many credit cards and pay the minimum on all of them. My parents would never spend the way I do. Frivolous shit was for Christmas and birthdays and that's it. Going out to eat was once or twice a month. I see household items over my 85 year old mother's house I seen there as a kid. I'm talking steak knives, the wicker laundry basket, and even the heating pad I used as a kid with an earache.

This sounds like a you problem. Get a grip and don't buy shit you can't afford and don't need.

 

[TV and credit cards]

In retirement, she now babysits five toddlers and probably makes a good bit more than she did in retail. Her one complaint, which I've heard from others, is she wishes she could get one of her family from back home over here to help because she is tired of the lazy Americans she has to hire.

I think it is safe to assume these lazy Americans are all white ? Jeezus christ it's fucking tedious.

If we grew up in a comfortable easy life, I think many of us expected our adult life to be much the same. Well, that and we've all been trained to spend our piece of the pie on a mountain of shit we don't need. To buy all the house we can afford instead of all the house we need. To have many credit cards and pay the minimum on all of them. My parents would never spend the way I do. Frivolous shit was for Christmas and birthdays and that's it. Going out to eat was once or twice a month. I see household items over my 85 year old mother's house I seen there as a kid. I'm talking steak knives, the wicker laundry basket, and even the heating pad I used as a kid with an earache.

This sounds like a you problem. Get a grip and don't buy shit you can't afford and don't need.

All white? I intentionally omitted that as I am not sure about the three different assistants my ex hired and fired. I also had a rather conservative friend who ran a night time cleaning service at mostly the biotech firms there. He claimed he tried and tried to hire Americans. I had seen some of his employees and knew them to be of various racial backgrounds. He had too many problems with them showing up late, high, drunk, or not at all. That problem and with how particular biotechs are about cleanliness, he had to resort to hiring illegal immigrants. His livelihood depended on it.

I don’t have a problem. America has a problem. It doesn’t take a whole lot of searching to find data on American debt and savings.

 

[ZiprHead]

All white? I intentionally omitted that as I am not sure about the three different assistants my ex hired and fired. I also had a rather conservative friend who ran a night time cleaning service at mostly the biotech firms there. He claimed he tried and tried to hire Americans. I had seen some of his employees and knew them to be of various racial backgrounds. He had too many problems with them showing up late, high, drunk, or not at all. That problem and with how particular biotechs are about cleanliness, he had to resort to hiring illegal immigrants. His livelihood depended on it.

I don’t have a problem. America has a problem. It doesn’t take a whole lot of searching to find data on American debt and savings.

When you pay dreg wages, don't be surprised when you get dreg employees.

 

[TSwizzle]

All white? I intentionally omitted that as I am not sure about the three different assistants my ex hired and fired. I also had a rather conservative friend who ran a night time cleaning service at mostly the biotech firms there. He claimed he tried and tried to hire Americans. I had seen some of his employees and knew them to be of various racial backgrounds. He had too many problems with them showing up late, high, drunk, or not at all. That problem and with how particular biotechs are about cleanliness, he had to resort to hiring illegal immigrants. His livelihood depended on it.

It's not helpful to state that Americans are by and large "too lazy". In general, you get the quality of employee the wages offered will attract. (pay peanuts and you get monkeys). The company I used to work for had similar problems with hispanic (American) employees for their warehouse. They'd show up for two weeks, get paid, 8/10 would skip a couple of days while they went out on the lash and the other two we never saw again. They were replaced with cousins or nephews of the employees that remained.

I don’t have a problem. America has a problem. It doesn’t take a whole lot of searching to find data on American debt and savings.

I agree it's a huge, chronic problem. But I disagree Americans are "trained" that way. I think too many Americans struggle just for the basics, a roof over their head, food and medical. I'm not convinced the vast majority squander their money on frivolous shit, I really believe they just don't have a lot of disposable income to save. But I also know a few people that stretch themselves, have too much house, fancy car etc. One of my friends couldn't come over to my house because she didn't have enough money to put gas in her car, she's in her 60's ffs.

But I am mystified as to who is buying $1.2M apartments in Downtown San Diego and what their jobs are.