Yea fuck living anywhere in Latin America long term. Corruption is something you can work with, even advantageous at times. But that whole region has a proclivity for violence that you dont see in for instance corrupt SEA countries. I think when your ancestors played basket ball with human heads it leaves its mark on the gene pool.

I made 70k gross. I payed 34k in income taxes. So, you think after it’s all said and done with bills, car payment, insurance. Food, gas, etc there’s virtually nothing left. I also have no children, which hopefully I have that luxury one day.

It’s time to take this shit back goyims.

Quote:scotian Wrote:

Cali, Colombia on the other hand I’d be more worried about as it is quite violent there but if you can afford a car then it would be ok living in some of the suburbs which are pretty chill.

I felt pretty safe in Cali too actually. It is not as safe as Mérida but it is certainly not St. Louis, Missouri either. In Cali, there are certain areas which are a bit rough (areas we might call the "ghetto" in the US) but most of the city is pretty much fine and I walked around alone various parts of the city at every hour of the night an early morning and hung out outside at night with other people (bringing a table outside onto the sidewalk at night to just sit and hang out with friends and neighbors is normal in Colombia). Pretty much any place where you are actually going to go is generally safe as the ghettos are out of the way and typically not near anything important so you would have no reason to go near them. Just walking with good posture and a sense of purpose will generally make you look like a tough local and keep any potentially nefarious person from targeting you.

Quote:MrLemon Wrote:

I have a buddy who is dual citizen Mexican. Upper class Mexican. I quizzed him about this because I have a few other friends who are expats. He said it was still very violent and even Mexicans are quite unhappy, so he felt many potential expats were putting too rosy a picture on it. "If you get in legal trouble in the US, well at least you know the ropes. In Mexico, it's all very corrupt."

So I'm cautious, but still interested. It's such a shame Argentina has been such a basket case economically. If there is anyplace I feel is closest geographically and culturally, it's there. Brazil maybe.

The messed up parts of Mexico are generally in the northern provinces. The closer you get to the US border, the more messed up things tend to get with the sole possible exception being Monterey which is said to be very safe and, curiously, is also said to be the whitest major city in Mexico so, if you are a white guy, you likely won't stand out there as you would in Chiapas for example. I say this because being "upper class" in Mexico almost invariably means being white or at least being whiter than most of the population and Monterey is one of Mexico's most economically stable and prosperous cities despite its being in the far north near the US border surrounded by the most dangerous towns and regions in Mexico.

As for corruption and danger in general, it is very dependent on what region in Mexico you are in as certain regions are almost autonomous and function differently from the rest of the country. Yucatan is one of those regions and that is why Yucatan is probably the safest province in the whole country. Chiapas is also pretty autonomous and runs differently but not the way that Yucatan runs. Chiapas is more tribal. I've heard that you can go there and have a great time if you respect the local customs but that, if you don't, you might have a bad time.

Argentina is more than an economic basket case unfortunately. They seem to be going full feminist. A couple of Argentine news stories relating to that have popped up on the forum already. Not sure how Uruguay is fairing in that regard but I do know that Uruguay is on the expensive side for Latin America and it is the most atheistic country in all of the Americas, including North America (meaning a large percentage of the population is Atheist), so you are unlikely to find traditional girls there but could have a decent shot at getting easy bangs with girls who would essentially be the same sort you would find in Argentina.

As for places that are similar to Argentina but less economically unstable, you might be interested in Paraguay as the capital, Asuncion, sits exactly on the border with Argentina. The south of Brazil around Sao Paulo is also not vastly different from Argentina in terms of climate and culture from what I understand but it is the most expensive region in Brazil as far as I can tell. Chile is culturally very similar to Argentina from what I have gathered though it is on the pricier side like Uruguay. If you want a cheap nearby country which is similar but with decent economic prospects and safety, I suggest looking into Paraguay.

Quote:Trumpian Wrote:

Yea fuck living anywhere in Latin America long term. Corruption is something you can work with, even advantageous at times. But that whole region has a proclivity for violence that you dont see in for instance corrupt SEA countries. I think when your ancestors played basket ball with human heads it leaves its mark on the gene pool.

It depends entirely on where specifically you go. Uruguay is likely less corrupt than the US but Mexico is obviously far more so on a national federal level even if Yucatan and Mérida are probably less corrupt than most of the US on a provincial and city level. The ancestry situation varies greatly by region, even within the same country, as well. For example, Uruguay and Argentina are almost entirely white and homogenous, more so than even many European countries at this point, whereas Guyana is mostly Indian (dot, not feather) and black. In Brazil, the northern provinces tend to have a more black population and be poorer whereas the southern provinces in and around Sao Paulo tend to have a more white population (most of the Japanese Brazilians live in the south as well) and be far richer. The safety situation varied greatly too with some cities being mostly pretty ratchet but others like Florianópolis probably being safer than most major cities in the US. Like if you were moving to the US, it is good not to consider the country only so much as the city and region within the country where you are likely to be spending the majority of your time. because that is the only city or region that will really matter to you.

SEA is certainly another region where you are unlikely to encounter violent crime unless you specifically go looking for it or go out of your way to bring yourself closer to it, such as by getting involved with hard drugs.

Another thing to consider is which countries are getting worse (although they might be better now, they may not be soon) and which countries are getting better (though they may be worse now, they may be better soon).

Quote: (12-30-2018 01:00 PM)MrLemon Wrote:  

30 years ago, when I was 30, I could:

-Rent a nice 2 br apartment for $400, rent a room in a 4 br house with 2 other guys for $200. Now the same apt is $1500.

-Buy a corolla for $4,500 brand new. Now it's $16K.

-Buy a house in LA for $80k. Now $800k.

Starting wage out of college was $40k.

We could get married, have a decent girl who maybe worked part time, make $60k a year and raise a family just fine.

I registered just to respond to this absolute nonsense.
All you people just accepted this crazy idiot at face value

30 years ago was 1989.

A 1989 Corolla MSRP was $10k
Not the fantasy land price of $4k.

2BR apt for $400 in 1989?
Average rent in NYC in the 1980s was $1700

Starting salary? Overall, from 1960 through 2015, the inflation-adjusted average starting salary for a new bachelor’s degree graduate increased by 5.9 percent.


Raise a family on $60k in 1990?
Not really.

Quote: (01-07-2019 06:27 AM)Trumpian Wrote:  

Yea fuck living anywhere in Latin America long term. Corruption is something you can work with, even advantageous at times. But that whole region has a proclivity for violence that you dont see in for instance corrupt SEA countries. I think when your ancestors played basket ball with human heads it leaves its mark on the gene pool.

If only we had a "Prime Directive" on our Earth. In Star Trek - they have strict rules not to interfere with pre-warp civilizations. Europeans should had left the Americas and Africa alone until they invented steel weapons.

The problems of Africa and especially the Americas was most of the locals were bronze age or stone age and then suddenly uplifted into the modern age without the corresponding social development. It's no coincidence that Japan (which had higher literacy than a lot of Europe and high levels of metallurgy) westernized before most of Asia or even large African countries like Ethiopia.

Genius, broheim.

It's the effect of "publicly-traded" companies as well. Now those same CEO's and boards are incentivized to pillage and cannibalize their customers. Curious where you perceive China's main thrusts to be? I'm seeing it in the "green" industry, education, and electrical components. You?

Quote: (12-30-2018 01:00 PM)MrLemon Wrote:  

Hate to pull the old age card again on you guys, but I want to give you some historical perspective. I hope you think about this because it's quite important and religiously ignored by the press. When it comes to this topic, you guys are so utterly bamboozled. We have tricked you and like fucking chumps, you keep falling for it.

Let me give you the reality so you can stop being chumps:

30 years ago, when I was 30, I could:

-Rent a nice 2 br apartment for $400, rent a room in a 4 br house with 2 other guys for $200. Now the same apt is $1500.

-Buy a corolla for $4,500 brand new. Now it's $16K.

-Buy a house in LA for $80k. Now $800k.

-Get health insurance for $100/mo any time. For a family, $300mo. Now it's quadruple that.

Every single major expense in this nation has quadrupled in the last 30 years

But you think I made 1/3 the money? Nope. With no college degree, I could make 10 bucks an hour with health insurance. Starting wage out of college was $40k. Today, you guys are STILL making only maybe $12-15 with no degree and starting $ 50k with degree.

You are making 25% more, at best, than we did in 1990, but you pay 400% more.

Let's not quibble the numbers guys. Women like to quibble about this bullshit, so they can shoot down the argument. Don't tell me "oh, my brother in law's uncle is making $70/hour in the oil field". The point is, the vast majority of american citizens, male or female, are making 1/3 what we did 30 years ago. You guys banter and quibble about "people lacking financial responsibiilty". That is such utter horseshit. Do you have any idea how financially irresponsible my generation was? Jesus H. Christ. You guys are frugal little churchmice compared to me and mine. We worked half as many hours as you did, we sat on our asses smoking dope and playing Pong all afternoon, we went to colleges that let us fuck around. Anybody could get into a top college with a 3.0 grade point average.

We could get married, have a decent girl who maybe worked part time, make $60k a year and raise a family just fine.

Your generation works twice as hard as we ever did and you are barely making it because you're getting paid ONE THIRD what we did, per hour, adjusted for real costs.

ONE THIRD.

How can anybody in America live on ONE THIRD what their parents made?

THEY CAN'T.

How are they going to save for retirement, buy houses, or have kids?

THEY WON'T.

Where is all that money going?
What do we do?
How do we fix this?

Heres' why all this happened:

My generation has INFLATED THE FUCK out of every single thing in this country and the Chinese, Indian, and globalist billionaires have bought out all the major assets and are draining off TRILLIONS of dollars into their swiss bank accounts. The USA is one big fat dairy cow for the world, and every other nation, especially the crafty Chinese, are draining the fuck out of us, and we are standing here like a stupid fucking bovine idiots, letting our nation be drained. The UK and Germany aren't far behind because they have been stupid enough to follow our lead. Why do you think the Chinese economy has grown from $300B to $12T in that past 30 years? It's not because they are geniuses. They have been draining the life's blood of the biggest economy in the world and WE HAVE LET THEM.

The economists who advocate so relentlessly are not only paid off by the big globalist companies, they are also using ancient theories that are WRONG. Free trade works great when you have two nations like England and France who are trading by sailing ships in the 1800s. But in today's world, with giant container ships, the internet, and giant robotic-factory-equipped nations like China and the US, the US has an average of $60/hour employees and China (or Vietnam, or whatever) has $5/hour employees, "free trade" is an unmitigated destruction, a tidal wave of destruction. Within 20 years the combination of "free trade" and "the internet" will be recognized as the greatest economic calamity every to befall a major nation, a perfect storm of economic transfer from rich US citizens to poor Chinese and Indian citizens.

This is why, if Donald Trump was revealed as the antichrist tomorrow, I'd still vote for him. Because he is the only powerful person who is admitting to this and fighting to stop the bloodletting. It may be far too late. We have so many blood draining catheters inserted into our vital organs as a nation, we literally may no be able to tear them out without dying in the process. We have so many of our citizens who are on the Chinese payroll (including the entire Democratic party and all Democrat congressional members).

You watch that show "Man in the High Castle" about the Nazis taking over the US? We are living that already, except it's not the Nazis. We are already slaves to a foreign master. It's all happening in plain sight and nobody is bothering to talk about it.

All of you are the slaves.

It's really just the same as communism.

Quote: (12-30-2018 01:35 AM)Delta Wrote:  

I have to go against the grain on this one; the main issue here is people spending like fucking morons. I constantly witness people who are far from rich drop lots of money on totally unnecessary things, presumably for the perceived status boost.

You don't need to attend college at some mediocre $60k/yr private school. You don't need a $40k performance car, and you sure as hell don't need to keep getting a new one every few years. You don't need to "treat yourself" to meals at fancy restaurants. You don't need to pay $300+ a night to stay at luxury resorts when you travel. You don't need to drop triple figures on shots at the bar every weekend. Guys, you don't need $200 LeBron sneakers when you fucking suck at basketball anyway, and girls, no one's fucking impressed by your overpriced $200 heels that were made in the same Indonesian sweatshop alongside the Walmart brand.

I respect people's right to spend their money how they choose, but when I see people pissing their money away on stuff like this and then whining about how hard it is to save and how the 'system' or whoever else is fucking them over, I just think of them as pathetic dumbasses and have no sympathy.

I live on my own in a very expensive part of the country. I eat out all the time. I go out with friends. I go on dates. I travel. I do not deprive myself of anything. And yet I spend way less in a year than the average person earns, because I don't spend status dollars. I only spend on things that are worth it from a utility perspective. It really isn't hard at all.

Your grandparents made ends meet on one salary BECAUSE THEY WERE FUCKING CHEAP by today's standards. Have you guys never spent time around old people? Those motherfuckers would rather take a bullet to the kneecap than blow $30 on artisanal cheese.

Stop romanticizing the past. No generation ever had it easy. Get yourself out of the pointless status-signalling arms race and you'll find that building up savings really isn't that difficult.

Thank you. It fucking kills me as well as I see all the money wasted while at the same time people bitching about how they have none. I have an old phone, buy probably half of my stuff used, don't own a car, and somehow, I can readily take years off work whenever I want.

It's basically never been easier or cheaper in the history of humanity to live. People love to rip on how wages are stagnant, or how efficiency was supposed to reduce us to 10 hour work weeks. Tell you what. Live like the average person did 60 years ago. Live in a place 1/3rd the average one today, no TV(maybe a radio), no cell phone, no overseas travel, maybe a car, never eat out and maybe even tend a small garden. Tally up what all that costs and let me know. I can almost assure you it can be had for below the poverty line. But living like that wasn't poverty in 1960, why is it now?

People say wages are stagnant for 30 years, but the world as a whole, physically has more and fancier stuff than the world did in 1988. So where is it? To my point above living standards have skyrocketed, so that a part, but not only it. Not sure if (((((The Jooooooooooos!)) have been mentioned yet so lets just preempt that, but the fact is that income inequality has increased dramatically, and it's the owners of companies and assets that have done well. In the 50s it was the glory days for unskilled labour. Now it's not. Part of the blame lies with people making poor decisions, driven by emotion and wildly optimistic assumptions. It's easy to say women are a slave to their emotions and try to avoid responsibility. I would say that it true for the majority of people period. Sell someone enough rope to hang themselves, tell them it's cool and financially wise. Then buy your rope back for 10 cents on the dollar from their estate.

Uni is crazy expensive in the US, and job prospects are shit with your 250k shit degree? Well then why the fuck are people jumping hand over fist to get in and pay for some stupid private school with loans, when they know the vast majority of others already have degrees, and also can't find jobs? Walking to China worked out great for Marco Polo. Maybe if I do the same I can share similar success? Sounds like something Zoidberg would say.

Finance has so many parallels to women it's uncanny. Look at what the people with money do, then copy it. Ignore people who are well meaning but ignorant at best (parents, guidance counselors), or self serving at worst (credit cards telling your it's financially prudent to get a 20% loan to buy Retirement savings). So people take advice from some cute 26yo at the bank selling something and up to her ass in student debt herself, and think they're being smart by taking out as huge of a mortgage as they can since housing only goes up. Maybe look to the real wealth, and see that they only have a tiny fraction in RE, and the majority in financial assets.

It's not as bad as many people make it out, but if you're in a shitty situation and clearly on the bad side of a deal, then figure out how to get on the other one. Bank fucking you with fees and mortgage interest? Sounds like you want to be in the position of the bank then. Start buying shares, do everything the same, then next year you'll have more. That shit snowballs. I think Einstein said that compound interest was the most powerful force in the world, and it either fucks you, or you do the fucking. (paraphrased)

I like your term status dollars. I always thought of it in a different term, but similar. Buying absolute vs relative assets. Absolute is like a TV, no one else gives a shit if I buy one, and it has value regardless of where I am. A car has an absolute value of ~$2.5-5k. Gets me around as well as the Lambo, but new enough that I won't be pestered by constant issues. Relative is waterfront property (or the Lambo). It's value is almost wholly derived by other people wanting it then and there, and not having it. Spending for status is literally throwing money away to show off. Oh you wanted to feel like a prince? Cool. I want to be as rich as one. Maybe when 10k actually falls into the noise spectrum of my net worth I'll spring for the bottle service.

I do think it's much harder for millenials than it ever was for the Boomers. Just because we have more technology doesn't mean we are more "wealthy", what joo told you that?

My Boomer parents lived of one (my Mums) wage, we had 2 holidays a year abroad and drove nice BMW's and a classic car on the weekends. Owned their house outright at 45 and had the possibility to afford a beach house for the summer. This is completely unthinkable now, no matter how many iPhones and Netflix subs you refuse to have.

Reality is reality, just because you are a boomer and you had it easy, doesn't mean it is easy for your kids or grandkids (if you're lucky to not have made your millenial kids LGBTQRS already)

The globalists are winning. They're calling it the "redistribution of wealth". How much of their wealth you think they are "redistributing"?

Quote: (12-30-2018 01:00 PM)MrLemon Wrote:  

Hate to pull the old age card again on you guys, but I want to give you some historical perspective. I hope you think about this because it's quite important and religiously ignored by the press. When it comes to this topic, you guys are so utterly bamboozled. We have tricked you and like fucking chumps, you keep falling for it.

Let me give you the reality so you can stop being chumps:

30 years ago, when I was 30, I could:

-Rent a nice 2 br apartment for $400, rent a room in a 4 br house with 2 other guys for $200. Now the same apt is $1500.

-Buy a corolla for $4,500 brand new. Now it's $16K.

-Buy a house in LA for $80k. Now $800k.

-Get health insurance for $100/mo any time. For a family, $300mo. Now it's quadruple that.

Every single major expense in this nation has quadrupled in the last 30 years

But you think I made 1/3 the money? Nope. With no college degree, I could make 10 bucks an hour with health insurance. Starting wage out of college was $40k. Today, you guys are STILL making only maybe $12-15 with no degree and starting $ 50k with degree.

You are making 25% more, at best, than we did in 1990, but you pay 400% more.

Let's not quibble the numbers guys. Women like to quibble about this bullshit, so they can shoot down the argument. Don't tell me "oh, my brother in law's uncle is making $70/hour in the oil field". The point is, the vast majority of american citizens, male or female, are making 1/3 what we did 30 years ago. You guys banter and quibble about "people lacking financial responsibiilty". That is such utter horseshit. Do you have any idea how financially irresponsible my generation was? Jesus H. Christ. You guys are frugal little churchmice compared to me and mine. We worked half as many hours as you did, we sat on our asses smoking dope and playing Pong all afternoon, we went to colleges that let us fuck around. Anybody could get into a top college with a 3.0 grade point average.

We could get married, have a decent girl who maybe worked part time, make $60k a year and raise a family just fine.

Your generation works twice as hard as we ever did and you are barely making it because you're getting paid ONE THIRD what we did, per hour, adjusted for real costs.

ONE THIRD.

How can anybody in America live on ONE THIRD what their parents made?

THEY CAN'T.

How are they going to save for retirement, buy houses, or have kids?

THEY WON'T.

Where is all that money going?
What do we do?
How do we fix this?

Heres' why all this happened:

My generation has INFLATED THE FUCK out of every single thing in this country and the Chinese, Indian, and globalist billionaires have bought out all the major assets and are draining off TRILLIONS of dollars into their swiss bank accounts. The USA is one big fat dairy cow for the world, and every other nation, especially the crafty Chinese, are draining the fuck out of us, and we are standing here like a stupid fucking bovine idiots, letting our nation be drained. The UK and Germany aren't far behind because they have been stupid enough to follow our lead. Why do you think the Chinese economy has grown from $300B to $12T in that past 30 years? It's not because they are geniuses. They have been draining the life's blood of the biggest economy in the world and WE HAVE LET THEM.

The economists who advocate so relentlessly are not only paid off by the big globalist companies, they are also using ancient theories that are WRONG. Free trade works great when you have two nations like England and France who are trading by sailing ships in the 1800s. But in today's world, with giant container ships, the internet, and giant robotic-factory-equipped nations like China and the US, the US has an average of $60/hour employees and China (or Vietnam, or whatever) has $5/hour employees, "free trade" is an unmitigated destruction, a tidal wave of destruction. Within 20 years the combination of "free trade" and "the internet" will be recognized as the greatest economic calamity every to befall a major nation, a perfect storm of economic transfer from rich US citizens to poor Chinese and Indian citizens.

This is why, if Donald Trump was revealed as the antichrist tomorrow, I'd still vote for him. Because he is the only powerful person who is admitting to this and fighting to stop the bloodletting. It may be far too late. We have so many blood draining catheters inserted into our vital organs as a nation, we literally may no be able to tear them out without dying in the process. We have so many of our citizens who are on the Chinese payroll (including the entire Democratic party and all Democrat congressional members).

You watch that show "Man in the High Castle" about the Nazis taking over the US? We are living that already, except it's not the Nazis. We are already slaves to a foreign master. It's all happening in plain sight and nobody is bothering to talk about it.

All of you are the slaves.

When I got to this post I decided that I was done here. There is really nothing else to add. This is harsh, and it adds to the animus that exists for my generation but for the most part it is a hot branding iron of truth. I would just like to add a little of my own. This forum skews towards the ages of 18-40 with some exceptions. Most younger men don't realize how American standards of living boomed in the post WWII era. The average household literally doubled its income levels even when factoring for inflation. Nixon taking us off the Breton Woods agreement in 1971, and savage recessions in 1974-75 and 1981-83 were a one two three punch that the American economy has yet to recover from. Couple that with more women in the work force, the opening up of China and other factors that MrLemon so clearly described and here we are. Young men I feel your anger, pain and frustration. You are in a very rigged game. Don't ever stop fighting and striving but be aware of this reality.

Quote: (01-08-2019 05:39 AM)Seadog Wrote:  

Quote: (12-30-2018 01:35 AM)Delta Wrote:  

I have to go against the grain on this one; the main issue here is people spending like fucking morons. I constantly witness people who are far from rich drop lots of money on totally unnecessary things, presumably for the perceived status boost.

You don't need to attend college at some mediocre $60k/yr private school. You don't need a $40k performance car, and you sure as hell don't need to keep getting a new one every few years. You don't need to "treat yourself" to meals at fancy restaurants. You don't need to pay $300+ a night to stay at luxury resorts when you travel. You don't need to drop triple figures on shots at the bar every weekend. Guys, you don't need $200 LeBron sneakers when you fucking suck at basketball anyway, and girls, no one's fucking impressed by your overpriced $200 heels that were made in the same Indonesian sweatshop alongside the Walmart brand.

I respect people's right to spend their money how they choose, but when I see people pissing their money away on stuff like this and then whining about how hard it is to save and how the 'system' or whoever else is fucking them over, I just think of them as pathetic dumbasses and have no sympathy.

I live on my own in a very expensive part of the country. I eat out all the time. I go out with friends. I go on dates. I travel. I do not deprive myself of anything. And yet I spend way less in a year than the average person earns, because I don't spend status dollars. I only spend on things that are worth it from a utility perspective. It really isn't hard at all.

Your grandparents made ends meet on one salary BECAUSE THEY WERE FUCKING CHEAP by today's standards. Have you guys never spent time around old people? Those motherfuckers would rather take a bullet to the kneecap than blow $30 on artisanal cheese.

Stop romanticizing the past. No generation ever had it easy. Get yourself out of the pointless status-signalling arms race and you'll find that building up savings really isn't that difficult.

Thank you. It fucking kills me as well as I see all the money wasted while at the same time people bitching about how they have none. I have an old phone, buy probably half of my stuff used, don't own a car, and somehow, I can readily take years off work whenever I want.

It's basically never been easier or cheaper in the history of humanity to live. People love to rip on how wages are stagnant, or how efficiency was supposed to reduce us to 10 hour work weeks. Tell you what. Live like the average person did 60 years ago. Live in a place 1/3rd the average one today, no TV(maybe a radio), no cell phone, no overseas travel, maybe a car, never eat out and maybe even tend a small garden. Tally up what all that costs and let me know. I can almost assure you it can be had for below the poverty line. But living like that wasn't poverty in 1960, why is it now?

People say wages are stagnant for 30 years, but the world as a whole, physically has more and fancier stuff than the world did in 1988. So where is it? To my point above living standards have skyrocketed, so that a part, but not only it. Not sure if (((((The Jooooooooooos!)) have been mentioned yet so lets just preempt that, but the fact is that income inequality has increased dramatically, and it's the owners of companies and assets that have done well. In the 50s it was the glory days for unskilled labour. Now it's not. Part of the blame lies with people making poor decisions, driven by emotion and wildly optimistic assumptions. It's easy to say women are a slave to their emotions and try to avoid responsibility. I would say that it true for the majority of people period. Sell someone enough rope to hang themselves, tell them it's cool and financially wise. Then buy your rope back for 10 cents on the dollar from their estate.

Uni is crazy expensive in the US, and job prospects are shit with your 250k shit degree? Well then why the fuck are people jumping hand over fist to get in and pay for some stupid private school with loans, when they know the vast majority of others already have degrees, and also can't find jobs? Walking to China worked out great for Marco Polo. Maybe if I do the same I can share similar success? Sounds like something Zoidberg would say.

Finance has so many parallels to women it's uncanny. Look at what the people with money do, then copy it. Ignore people who are well meaning but ignorant at best (parents, guidance counselors), or self serving at worst (credit cards telling your it's financially prudent to get a 20% loan to buy Retirement savings). So people take advice from some cute 26yo at the bank selling something and up to her ass in student debt herself, and think they're being smart by taking out as huge of a mortgage as they can since housing only goes up. Maybe look to the real wealth, and see that they only have a tiny fraction in RE, and the majority in financial assets.

It's not as bad as many people make it out, but if you're in a shitty situation and clearly on the bad side of a deal, then figure out how to get on the other one. Bank fucking you with fees and mortgage interest? Sounds like you want to be in the position of the bank then. Start buying shares, do everything the same, then next year you'll have more. That shit snowballs. I think Einstein said that compound interest was the most powerful force in the world, and it either fucks you, or you do the fucking. (paraphrased)

I like your term status dollars. I always thought of it in a different term, but similar. Buying absolute vs relative assets. Absolute is like a TV, no one else gives a shit if I buy one, and it has value regardless of where I am. A car has an absolute value of ~$2.5-5k. Gets me around as well as the Lambo, but new enough that I won't be pestered by constant issues. Relative is waterfront property (or the Lambo). It's value is almost wholly derived by other people wanting it then and there, and not having it. Spending for status is literally throwing money away to show off. Oh you wanted to feel like a prince? Cool. I want to be as rich as one. Maybe when 10k actually falls into the noise spectrum of my net worth I'll spring for the bottle service.

Great post. I make shit money but can be comfortable on $2000-2500 a month (and try, and usually am able to, keep it to $2000 or less if possible.) All told I'm several thousand a year higher than paycheck to paycheck, and I would hope I'm one of the lesser paid members here. You need to be some thousands in the green for car crapping out and other emergencies which can and will happen.

Some luxuries I don't have include wi-fi (I tap into the wi-fi at my apartment complex, thanks to being near a lounge for residents) gym (I use the well equipped gym at the apartment complex, been going 3 times a week other than while injured since I moved in and haven't maxed out yet) high end phone (smart phones from 2 or 3 years ago are more than adequate) etc. Basically I spend like I'm poor (because I don't make much and hate debt.)

I hope to have kids so I'm completing my education in my trade to have a full license.

I had a lifestyle like that in my 20s. It's pretty ok because at least a lot of people in their 20s are living that way.

But man the social pressure rears on you hard if you're in your 30s or 40s and still living in a studio (and unmarried) eating rice cooker meals and stealing wifi from neighbors.

Quote: (01-07-2019 06:27 AM)Trumpian Wrote:  

Yea fuck living anywhere in Latin America long term. Corruption is something you can work with, even advantageous at times. But that whole region has a proclivity for violence that you dont see in for instance corrupt SEA countries. I think when your ancestors played basket ball with human heads it leaves its mark on the gene pool.

What Latin America and Africans needs:





Did a post on human domestication that can be searched up on this forum

Western Europeans are getting screwed as well. Insanely expensive housing, ever decreasing salaries, ever increasing taxes, pension age about to be raised to 70 pretty much everywhere soon, everybody over-educated and soon employers will probably demand PhDs for entry level STEM jobs because why not... and of course you'll have to appease man hating HR harpies and blue pill cucks that'll be your managers.

The alternatively is just chilling on welfare but if you're white, aren't cunning and haven't lawyered up they'll bully you into submission forcing you to into an Amazon warehouse job or homelessness. You'll also live among cavemen gangbanger type dregs who rob and beat up people out of boredom and to feel less like a loser.

It's all increasingly moving to communism and in Europe there isn't really much of a way out and there isn't an easy loophole anymore like moving to eastern Europe to have a better life (a studio apartment in central Prague easily costs you 200k USD for example).

Ethnic Chinese are milking South East Asia dry and costs of living are also dramatically increasing, but the anger won't turn against them as they're well connected but against "rich" whitey instead who gets "suicided" or straight up murdered on the down low.

I have no idea about South America but it never struck me as a safe and sound place. Poor third world people will always prey on whitey when the going gets tough and you aren't dressing or acting like a lower middle class local.

Chances are Europe will go full communism while America will go full Mexico with gated communities and whatnot.

Either way, it's way easier and cheaper to own your own real estate in the US than in Europe. Getting a small condo in a gated community is no problem in Vegas for 100k while in a major euro city you're looking at 200k USD pretty much everywhere these days if you don't want to be in a building with white trash or a shitty area.

Quote: (01-10-2019 03:27 PM)AsiaBaller Wrote:  

Western Europeans are getting screwed as well. Insanely expensive housing, ever decreasing salaries, ever increasing taxes, pension age about to be raised to 70 pretty much everywhere soon, everybody over-educated and soon employers will probably demand PhDs for entry level STEM jobs because why not... and of course you'll have to appease man hating HR harpies and blue pill cucks that'll be your managers.

The alternatively is just chilling on welfare but if you're white, aren't cunning and haven't lawyered up they'll bully you into submission forcing you to into an Amazon warehouse job or homelessness. You'll also live among cavemen gangbanger type dregs who rob and beat up people out of boredom and to feel less like a loser.

It's all increasingly moving to communism and in Europe there isn't really much of a way out and there isn't an easy loophole anymore like moving to eastern Europe to have a better life (a studio apartment in central Prague easily costs you 200k USD for example).

Ethnic Chinese are milking South East Asia dry and costs of living are also dramatically increasing, but the anger won't turn against them as they're well connected but against "rich" whitey instead who gets "suicided" or straight up murdered on the down low.

I have no idea about South America but it never struck me as a safe and sound place. Poor third world people will always prey on whitey when the going gets tough and you aren't dressing or acting like a lower middle class local.

Chances are Europe will go full communism while America will go full Mexico with gated communities and whatnot.

Either way, it's way easier and cheaper to own your own real estate in the US than in Europe. Getting a small condo in a gated community is no problem in Vegas for 100k while in a major euro city you're looking at 200k USD pretty much everywhere these days if you don't want to be in a building with white trash or a shitty area.

Good post. This has been my suspicion...it's worse off in Europe. My Brit friends especially want to come to the US or Canada just because it sucks less. I don't remember where but I read a post about Germany...sounded pretty bad for young folk.

I wouldn't really call Britain a bad lifestyle. Before 2010 their currency exchange rate was 2:1 to the US dollar. So they were always spending like Kings when I saw them in other European countries. The EU also meant they could move around with ease. But sure being a homebody in Texas or Wisconsin USA is overall cheaper than in the UK I guess.

Probably the worst western country to live in these days is probably New Zealand: screwed over by lower salaries, fairly high underemployment, Polynesian gangs are starting to catch up with the Afro-American ones and even flying to Bali will set you back a fair amount of coin. Probably just that migration treaty between AUS / NZL is the only reason why we don't see mass suicides in NZL rivaling Japan or Korea.

Quote: (01-10-2019 10:52 PM)BaatumMania Wrote:  

I wouldn't really call Britain a bad lifestyle. Before 2010 their currency exchange rate was 2:1 to the US dollar. So they were always spending like Kings when I saw them in other European countries. The EU also meant they could move around with ease. But sure being a homebody in Texas or Wisconsin USA is overall cheaper than in the UK I guess.

Probably the worst western country to live in these days is probably New Zealand: screwed over by lower salaries, fairly high underemployment, Polynesian gangs are starting to catch up with the Afro-American ones and even flying to Bali will set you back a fair amount of coin. Probably just that migration treaty between AUS / NZL is the only reason why we don't see mass suicides in NZL rivaling Japan or Korea.

Housing in the UK is absolute gutter tier quality if you aren't rich. if you aren't spending half a million USD in London or the same 200k as everywhere else in Europe in second tier cities for a newly built place you'll freeze your ass off and all the plumbing and appliances will have issues.

Most younger guys don't even have the money to rent one of those shitty places to begin with though and live in shared housing most of their 20s which pretty much primes you for corporate rat race slavery and NPC thinking (got to be a good slave otherwise I'll share housing for the rest of my life with random people...).

Quote: (01-11-2019 05:03 AM)AsiaBaller Wrote:  

Housing in the UK is absolute gutter tier quality if you aren't rich. if you aren't spending half a million USD in London or the same 200k as everywhere else in Europe in second tier cities for a newly built place you'll freeze your ass off and all the plumbing and appliances will have issues.

Typical prices that Australians and Canadians have paid for years (even more in places like Vancouver / Toronto / Sydney) and yet salaries are lower than UK after adjusting for exchange rate. Also the heat in Australia is way worse and Canada is a frozen tundra except for a small area on the west coast. So really English people cannot really cry about their lifestyle when other Anglophone countries are doing worse.

People spend like morons. Its as simple as that.

Coffee every day, eating out, buying drinks at the bar, this stuff alone can easily cost $500+ a month that could be saved.

Then you have idiots who travel and blow thousands a year on flights/hotels/experiences.

Then there’s people who buy ridiculously expensive clothes at msrp.

Then there’s expensive cars, houses, etc.. doesn’t surprise me one bit.

I make $100k (single) and pocket about $2k/month living in a downtown chicago highrise. This is after taxes, insurance, and 401k.

Quote: (01-11-2019 10:45 AM)tugofpeace Wrote:  

Then you have idiots who travel and blow thousands a year on flights/hotels/experiences.

Seems like a shot across the bows to vast majority of members in the Travel section

You guys cannot compare Western and especially US living with South America, Africa or other developing places.

The comparison for the West should be the 1950s to 1980s where everyone had a job, the living standards were high, real estate was cheap and affordable, education almost free. Those boons were fought for and won by the Western people after centuries and decades of arduous combat against their own and hostile 666elite666.

Now since the end 1970s or 1990s in other countries those accomplishments are being wiped out by corporate favoring globalism, climate scam taxes, mass migration that undercuts and destroys the wage structure etc.

And you haven't seen anything yet. The globalist Agenda 21 predicts and plans much much greater austerity when most people cannot and should not afford meat, can't travel, can't live in the countryside, can barely afford Netflix and video games at home with your insect protein pizza.

Sure - it's possible to still accumulate wealth so long as they have not rolled out the credit system that deletes your account to zero after each week (also in the plans). And the West is still much better than other dysfunctional shitholes in the world, but this is not the issue here.

As for paycheck to paycheck - this was likely true in the US in the best days of the 1960s - it's more connected to advance planning and such. Some Western countries are saving more and being more frugal like the Germans and Japanese, other people have more thrifty mentalities like Americans or Russians who like to spend - but those matters are frankly not important when cumulative economical behavioral patterns are concerned. I would even wager that a more consumerist culture like Russia or the US is better for the economy - especially when the 1% spends it all on expensive overpaid butlers, security guards and golden palace McMansions, (Russia now - US in the past) then it helps more people than if the multimillionaire lives a minimalist existence (Germany, Denmark). Large savings that are not pooled back into the economy by the 0,1%+ are decreasing the velocity of money and making the 99% much much poorer than if they would hire 30 people to scratch their nuts.

Either way - things are going to get much tougher in the West, don't expect things to continue on the same mode. Best option is to reach the upper class if possible or become content with a monk-like austere existence.

Quote: (01-12-2019 06:10 AM)KYT88 Wrote:  

Quote: (01-11-2019 10:45 AM)tugofpeace Wrote:  

Then you have idiots who travel and blow thousands a year on flights/hotels/experiences.

Seems like a shot across the bows to vast majority of members in the Travel section

And he thinks Chicago is a typical place or nice place in USA even though it's pushing 2nd or even 3rd world at times.

Quote: (01-11-2019 10:45 AM)tugofpeace Wrote:  

People spend like morons. Its as simple as that.

Coffee every day, eating out, buying drinks at the bar, this stuff alone can easily cost $500+ a month that could be saved.

Then you have idiots who travel and blow thousands a year on flights/hotels/experiences.

Then there’s people who buy ridiculously expensive clothes at msrp.

Then there’s expensive cars, houses, etc.. doesn’t surprise me one bit.

I make $100k (single) and pocket about $2k/month living in a downtown chicago highrise. This is after taxes, insurance, and 401k.

The millennial obsession with traveling is definitely out of hand (especially for women). It's great if you can afford it, but doing an international trip every year when you make 70k is pretty dumb. Retirement isn't even going to be possible for the majority of this age cohort.

Quote: (01-12-2019 08:24 AM)Thomas Jackson Wrote:  

The millennial obsession with traveling is definitely out of hand (especially for women). It's great if you can afford it, but doing an international trip every year when you make 70k is pretty dumb. Retirement isn't even going to be possible for the majority of this age cohort.

I am one of those creeps who follows instagram THOTS. It's amazing how many of these 20-25 year olds post pictures in bali, thailand, and whatever other 3rd world country they are being a ho in at any given time. All while they all live in trendy, expensive big cities working as servers, personal trainers, hair/nail techs, and regularly advertise the MLM-scheme they have been sucked into.

@Day Game Bang

Baltimore living wise isn't as bad as it use to be 10-15 years ago. You have some nice livable neighborhoods in Canton, Fed Hill, Fells Point, Mt. Vernon, and Roland Park will make you forget you're even in Baltimore. The job market is relatively strong compared to many other cities and cost of living isn't that high.

I lived there for many years, not saying I would live there again--for me it more of an issue of politics of Maryland.

---------

As for 40% living paycheck, who really knows what the true number is, but I do think a significant percentage of Americans really do live paycheck to paycheck. There was a study done that a majority could not handle a $3k emergency. Saving habits are bad here.