[programminggeek]

It is worth listening to the Dave Ramsey podcast just to understand how people spend their money foolishly. Yes, there is bad luck and lack of opportunity, and there is also boatloads of foolish spending and borrowing too.

There are plenty of people who could build wealth on the average salary in the US if they were on a budget, were reasonably frugal, and in general lived like our grandparents did say 1950-1970 or so.

[arisAlexis]

while I was putting aside at work 25% of a very good salary most of my peers with higher salaries spent it all on luxury until huge layoffs came. No luck involved there

[simonh]

A colleague remortgaged his house when prices went up and spent 30k on a new car and big holiday. A few years later the housing market crashed and he had to sell his house because he got a new job in another city, saddling him with crippling debt. Ouch.

I have relatives on one side of my family who are all on relatively low incomes, but they make terrible financial decisions. When my uncle retired he sold his house, moved into a bungalow and gave the difference in price to his sons. They all had mortgages and children, but instead of saving it they all spent big on new cars and big holidays. It seems to be a bit of a pattern. My wife and I are considerably better off, but in many ways we live far more careful and frugal lives.