[dragontamer]

Not all poor are stupid, but many stupid people are poor because of their financial decisions.

For example: I have a friend who has bought at least 5 new cars in the past year despite making less than a third of my income. He has no self control and just wants the latest and greatest.

My group of friends all roll our eyes collectively whenever this person starts talking about a new car. Just on schedule, roughly 1.5 years after the last car.

But hey, at least this person has a job these days. There was a time where he was unemployed and still was pulling these shenanigans.

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On the other hand: I had a great talk with a nice old lady the other day about reducing risks by making a bond ladder. She didn't know the term was called bond ladder, but she's been using CDs and other instruments (not equities) to build up her savings while reducing interest rate risks.

I know she's poorer than me, based on how she scoffed at the amount of years I thought it'd take to save up for various purchases (car, house, etc. etc.) near the end of the discussion. (Talking exact numbers is a faux pas and I didn't mean to. But if I say something like "and I think my new $20k car will take 1 year of savings", the reaction of myself, as well as the other person, will set the expectations of income innately) But she was clearly highly financially literate, maybe a bit lower on the risk spectrum than I'd personally be, but she'd hold her side of the conversation about equities, bonds, CDs, and other instruments.

[jakelazaroff]

Some people struggle because they make poor financial decisions, sure, but I’d bet that’s the exception rather than the rule. There’s a post about being poor(ish) that’s shown up on HN a few times [1]. I think far more people in that situation are financially savvy, acutely aware of the pros and cons of their limited options, simply because there’s so little margin for error.

[1] https://residentcontrarian.substack.com/p/on-the-experience-...

[selimthegrim]

I mean CD ladders were not a bad idea in the era of nontrivial interest rates...

[dragontamer]

Yeah, given her age and the time period she lived in, it certainly was a workable strategy. She was clearly retired at this point and was proud of her nest-egg and was willing to talk to me about it ("impart her wisdom"), which I definitely appreciated.

It really wasn't until the end of the discussion when I appreciated how different our income levels were. A lesson I'll remember later: its easy to forget income levels, as well as assume other people's income levels based off of conversation topics. Something I'll work on in the future.