If inflation is higher than what you can earn from a saving account, then how is it rational to "save" anything? You’ll have a bit bigger number on the account, but in the end you can actually buy less.
You can of course go with more risky placements and hope to go higher than a saving account, but then you have to spend attention on the market circus with additional worrisome mental load that you can actually lose everything.
>If inflation is higher than what you can earn from a saving account, then how is it rational to "save" anything?
general security? You don't need to (nor should you) hoard 10% of your finances for all 40+ years of your career into a low interest savings account. But you do want to keep a decent amount in case of various downturns. a high CoL city where you pay not much more for "things" can help with that.
Can also help pay for an financial advisor who will happily play with the monopoly money for you. Delegation is a great "experience" to consider when comparing costs of living.
No, just VTI and chill, it's the FIRE / Bogleheads model, and it works very well. No one who saves money for retirement should literally be doing so via a savings account. Sadly, not too many people know this then wonder why they're poor when others are rich come retirement age, not understanding the power of compounding in the market.
Where do you learn about these things? Having grown and living in France, I was never given a word about it, not even at university. We are supposed to have state managed retirement plans, but given the shady future of France, I’m starting to wonder what I should do to ensure I can either reach a retirement that also take into account being able to backup my two kids as they grow up.
You can of course go with more risky placements and hope to go higher than a saving account, but then you have to spend attention on the market circus with additional worrisome mental load that you can actually lose everything.