The Poor the Wealthy and the Middle Class

by Simon 44 Replies latest social current

• 

  Magnum

  Been really busy and haven't had time to post here, but saw this thread and wanted to mention the following.

  About thirty years ago, I was at a house where a death had occurred. A well-known non-JW attorney who lived in the neighborhood had stopped by to offer his condolences. The attorney was offered a meal. I could tell he didn't want to eat there, but was virtually forced to. There was an older JW female there who was trying to impress the attorney with her goody-goodieness. He had his head over his plate taking a bite, and at that point she said in kind of a sarcastic way "and people think that money brings happiness."

  The attorney tilted his head to the right (while still leaned over the plate), and immediately replied "but, it sure does make life easier." The JW was speechless; she thought he was going to agree with her.

  I have never forgotten that. I can see the details vividly in mind right now. I have found his words to be some of the most accurate I've ever heard. I think back over all my years of struggling financially because of being a zealous JW. We always had to make major decisions and about how and when to spend the little money we had. Could we get our shoes fixed? Could we get tires for the car? How much longer could we go without getting dental or medical treatment? Everything was so hard.

  Even now it's hard... all because of not having money. Having money would make our lives vastly easier. Just in the past few months, we had to buy a used vehicle because I work out of town, and my wife was stranded at home with no vehicle (she works from home). We ended up buying a small pickup - a work model, so it has no cruise control. I now drive it to work, and I hate driving the 4hrs each way to work out of town each week because it's a chore without cruise control. I bought an aftermarket one, but so far, have been unsuccessful installing it. Just a little while ago, I called around and couldn't find anybody that will mess with it.

  So, if we had had enough money, we could have bought a truck with cruise control, and just that little thing would make my life a lot easier. I would have the cruise control, and I wouldn't have the frustration of trying to install it.

  P.S. If anybody has had experience installing a Rostra after-market cruise control, please PM me. The instructions are horrendous.
• 

  Brock Talon

  Love it JeffT. Let's collect "Money can't buy happiness..." sayings:

  ---
  

  Money can't buy happiness, but it can rent it.

  Money can't buy happiness, but it can make the down payment.

  Money can't buy happiness, but neither does poverty.

  Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes unhappiness a whole lot more tolerable.

  Money can't buy happiness, unless you know a hooker named "Happiness."

  Money can't buy happiness, said the broke guy eying the plain looking dude with the nice suit, fancy car and beautiful woman on his arm.
  
• 

  titch

  But remember, Brock Talon...according to the fictional Doc Martin...Happiness is over-rated. Best Regards, Everyone.........Titch.
  
• 

  joey jojo

  Its interesting that the bible, especially Proverbs actually extols the virtues of working hard and being wealthy. Nowhere in the bible does it say 'pioneering is the key to success'.

  Instead, Proverbs 13:22 is a really profound verse that recommends the opposite but is yet another verse JW's choose not to live by. It says, 'a good man leaves an inheritance to his grandchildren.'

  If everyone followed this advice they would try their best not to blow every cent on themselves but look to the future and think about how to live up to our responsibilty to make our childrens lives better. It forces you to plan financially and build wealth. It even incentivises parents to stay together through the tough times for the sake of their childrens well being.

  It takes effort to stick to a financial plan, but its not a question of being smart, because if that was the case every stock-broker should be a multi millionaire, which they arent. It actually takes big balls to take a leap and invest, or start a business,and no one knows what tomorrow brings so you have to calculate as best as you can and keep an eye on your investments.

  Wealth doesnt buy happiness but id rather be depressed driving a Porsche than a sh1tbox that breaks down every couple of days.( I dont own a Porsche but you know what I mean)
• 

  road to nowhere

  "While it is true money does not buy happiness, the advantages of poverty have been greatly exaggerated"

  There is a proverb about having neither riches nor poverty. They dont use it. The "poor" pioneers get by on charity, and not WT charity
• 

  GrreatTeacher

  Our friends thought we were crazy when we put $250 a month away for retirement when we were in our early twenties. As a consequence, we didn't always have spare cash to do the fun stuff like concerts or trips with them.

  And we were the first to have bought a house out of our friend group. I was 21 and my husband was 24. I found a first time buyers' program with hardly any money down required. My first mortgage payment was actually a few bucks less than my rent had been! We told our friends and some of them took our advice and bought homes as well. Never really learned whether anybody took our saving for retirement advice, and whoever said it's hard to imagine the power of compound interest if the rewards are 20 years away absolutely hit the nail on the head!

  So, hang out with people who are doing well financially and you will pick up some good information! Hang around people who are living the life you want.

  Also, personal finance has never been part of the high school curriculum, even though it should be! You have to be rabidly curious. I was 20 years old hanging out at the public library reading Forbes magazine. It did NOT make me cool. Not like all those kids going to concerts on the weekend. But, damn it, we're crossing the 50 hurdle and are looking good for retirement. We're on our 2nd house. We have a college aged son and should have college expenses (mine included! Thanks JWs for my late college experience!) and our house paid off well in time for retirement at 62 or 65. We should be able to reduce expenses and so our net retirement income should be about the same as our current income.

  Get a finance guy if you don't splurge on anything else. The younger you do it the better.
• 

  GrreatTeacher

  Also, I read a study a few years ago that found money does indeed buy happiness, but only up to $75,000 annually. After that, happiness doesn't increase at all with additional income.

  I'll have to see if I can find it now.
• 

  Simon

  Also, personal finance has never been part of the high school curriculum, even though it should be!

  This. It's the criminal negligence of the entire "education" industry. They spend untold time teaching kids valueless drivel that will be of zero benefit to them. A hour learning about the key fundamentals of navigating the world of finance would be worth a whole year of all the rest of the subjects combined.

  The vast majority of teaching and education is garbage, and teachers the most overpaid useless child-minders the world has ever known.
• 

  GrreatTeacher

  I didn't get a personal finance class until college. It was an elective I chose and was very useful.

  At the high school level, the closest I've seen is an elective class labeled something like "Living on your Own," but this was directed to the lower half of the intelligence spectrum and was not very comprehensive.

  I guess it is expected that the upper half of the intelligence spectrum will get the information about exponential growth in mathematics class and extrapolate to personal finance from there.

  But, yeah, either have family who can teach you or get it in university is about how it stands right now. That doesn't help the half that probably needs it the most.
• 

  GrreatTeacher

  Magnum, we have owned two stripped out white work trucks and they have been excellent investments. We ran a stripped out white 1998 Ford Ranger until my husband wrecked it. It had 130,000 miles and would've gone a lot longer.

  We then bought a used white 2006 Dodge Ram that is so stripped out it doesn't even have carpet. It has rubber floors so you can squirt the dirt out. It has 180,000 miles and is ending its useful life. It needs a whole new front end and that would cost more than it's worth. It's only used for dump runs.

  Have you tried looking for You Tube videos for cruise control installations? You can find videos on almost anything. When the ignition on the truck got stuck I found a You Tube video that showed how to fix it.

  PS. You want to know the dumbest way to wreck a truck? My husband dropped his morning coffee thermos and it rolled under the brake and clutch. He couldn't stop because the brake was jammed and he hit the side wall of a very tall bridge going about 70 mph. That stopped him and destroyed the truck in the process. He ping ponged off one side of the bridge and then the other before he finally smashed on the drivers side. I got a 6 am phone call that started with, "I'm okay, but. . ." and that's when you know everything is not okay! He nearly flipped the truck over the side of the bridge and died.