Margaret Thatcher has died

Well yes there are thousands that aren't, but thousands that are too.

To clarify my view on 'the unwashed' I would say that I don't believe everyone who is unemployed or working class to be deliberately idling their time away or sponging from the system.

I do very much believe that there is a smaller (and growing) subsection of society that does do just that all the same.

I think the majority of people make a different choice, and I do think for many it is a conscious one: They decide to avoid certain topics, surrounding money, debt, savings, retirement etc because it is a scary topic and one that requires a degree of financial savvy. People make the choice not to read the terms on the credit card, or learn about the impact of changing interest rates to a floating rate mortgage.

On the flip side, banks do exploit this and are scum for doing it.

But I remain certain that every day we live someone will throw something in our path to make life hard, it is how we navigate the path that is important, not how windy it has become. Complaining about how someone did this or that isn't going to help you on the path.

Like complaining that Maggie caused all these things, its like sitting on the couch eating pounds of chocolate crying at how fat you are. If you want change then change. That means change yourself.

Now, it could certainly be said that people should be allowed their moment of glutenous satisfaction, but you know its a little irking to read things like 'screw her family, I'm sure they can wash all their tears away with cash' and 'my grandmother killed herself cos of Maggie, I hope she rots' well, she meant something to some people too (actually not me) so I got annoyed by all this nonsense.
 
Guilty as charged. I've got borderline dyscalculus though. So I avoid as much maths as I can.
I don't think miners were doing that though.
 
But your comprehension and analytic skills seem to function well, so if you do suffer from this ailment you should know that you need to find advice from people who do understand it before leaping into a mortgage or putting Christmas presents on the Credit card.

I'd wager that the vast majority of the people who are in debt and who haven't properly saved are in this position because they don't understand the rules of the game.

On the flip side I know many people who save too much and don't leverage debt correctly who also don't fully understand things.

People don't have a burning desire to protect themselves in this aspect, and as such when they get to 50 and find themselves without work they also find themselves with insufficient savings for present day and retirement.
 
Here is a ironic quote from the most famous member of the Republican party.



BTW, I shouldn't need a degree in finance to earn a decent wage, put some money away to retire on and then retire. I have seen my 401k savings devestated twice due to market adjustments. Funny though, the people who ran the 401Ks seem to do pretty good.
 
My approach to debt seems to mainly involve trying to stop my wife from spending money. Cliched I know but true too.
 
Actually, you probably haven't as most 401(k) are offered as funds tracking the market or sectors within it. And the market has rebounded so any loses you felt should have recovered. The only people who really lost out were those who panicked and liquidated at a low. Furthermore if you were continuing contributions during this time you will now have much more in your account since you were buying assets for half their current price.

Though I agree, there are a lot of funds out there with extraordinary management fees, you should consider rolling the 401(k) into a low cost index fund at your first opportunity.

EDIT - you shouldn't need a financial degree for anything, but its not about earning a decent wage, its about understanding what to do with your hard earned money once you have got it.
 
Right here is point I was making. Where does you average working class person, even suit and tie working class learn about stuff like this when you are working 50 hours a week, raising a family, coaching sports, fixing the house and taking care of all the things that living a life requires.

The main beneficiaries of 401k plans are the people who run them and their pet politicians.
 
It's up to that person to balance their life to make time for what is important. For example, if that person is spending 30 minutes on MAP but not 30 minutes on a Financial forum there is an easy solution eh?

But if that person is on MAP and from the good old USA, let me share one financial tip that can help them today (I mean really today only)

April 15th is the deadline for a ROTH IRA for 2012. Anyone, even a person with a company 401K maxed out can contribute to a ROTH IRA, with the following caveats:

1. Salary must be under 110K for singles, 173K for married jointly
2. Contribution limit is 5K per person (married means 2x5K) but you must have earned that from a job last year.
3. You cannot have both a Traditional IRA and a ROTH IRA in the same year.

ROTH IRAs grow tax free, so you get years of compound interest which grows, ideally you will never need to spend the ROTH, it will pass onto your kids as their college fund.

You can open an account up with Vanguard online in 5 minutes, wire money in from Checking and pick from 100 funds with expense ratios between 0.08-0.5%.

A little extra twist - I just did this, didn't have 5K available in checking (times are hard) so sold stock that was losing (down 6K) bought for 16K sold for 10K. Funded 2 accounts.

Because I sold the losing stock I can claim the 6K as a capital loss, providing that I don't buy the same stock again within 1 month inside the ROTH. So I sell the stock, open a ROTH, buy a low cost fund inside the ROTH.

I get 10K growing tax free instead of taxed in my brokerage account.
I get a capital loss harvest of 6K which I can apply to capital gains, or I can claim 3K per year against regular income, effectively lowering my salary and saving me about 1K per year in tax.

Just by making one trade and one asset reallocation I can save 6K in taxes and switch 10K of investments from taxed to tax free.

Sharing this for inspiration should you or others want to do the same. You don't have to put in 5K if you cannot afford it, that is just the max.
 
I was in a fish and chip shop just down from my home the other week. I was getting some food and the guy in front of ordered 3 sausage and a large portion of chips. When his order arrived he asked the guy behind the counter for a few extra chips as they had to go a long way. Well times are hard and I'm sure people are feeling the pinch even here.
As I was doubled parked I needed to move my car in order for anyone to get out. The gentleman skaving (begging) for free chips then got into his brand new Aston Martin to take his ill gotten gains home. Wasn't you was it Matt?
 
Not compared to me but that's a tall task for all but the really handsome x
 
But here you have the information you need (applicable to Americans) and. Person willing to help you understand it.

And your approach, thanked by Mike is 'ooh it's too hard'

Why not read it 5 times, and ask 10 questions rather than making a conscious choice to avoid learning?
 
To be honest I find the concept of avoiding tax by way of clever financial dealings a bit distasteful. Underhand. I don't mind paying tax (so long as that tax is well used, which is another thread entirely).
So long as I have enough to get by I don't mind my tax going to help pay for roads, infrastructure, etc etc.
Jimmy Carr avoided a lot of tax. Quite legally. Probably did all the stuff you're talking about.
Didn't work out for him in the end though. Or maybe it did. He's still got a nice house.

Oh and I'm lazy. Can't be arsed.
 
I fear for the people who may one day ask you for advice. Your grasp of education is almost as staggeringly poor as your understanding of moral-responsibility.

When first years struggle with informal logic I don't patronise them with nonsense like "you're not trying to understand". I break it down further, accept that some people don't grasp formal logic on the same level that others do and proceed under the humane understanding that many people (especially philosophy students who are used to writing essays rather than equations) find modal logic to be extremely intimidating.
 
Matt, while that makes perfect sense to you it is gibberish to me.

I am reasonably well educated and work as a Database Administrator. I understand set theory, Boolean algebra, can program in several languages, know how to administer and tune databases and all that good stuff.

How would you like it is some part of your life was dependent on your skills with relational database design, the advantages of clustered vs. non-clustered indexes and when to denormalize the design for the sake of program performance?

Basic retirement savings should be simple. I put my money in an account, it earns some modest interest and then when I am old enough I can withdraw it.
 
No. I was merely commenting on the nature of minimising tax as a concept.
Not that matt was doing anything underhand per se. Although the phrase "lowering salary" should be ringing alarm bells no?
The whole culture of buy/sell, trading stocks, tax havens, futures, options, funds and all that stuff leaves me cold.
 
Back
Top