Does it matter if you have more than the average person* if your house is effectively over quicksand?
Most Americans have more than the average person planetwide, but we’re one job loss away from being homeless. There’s no real stability in the job world, so our lives are mostly relying on luck**.
I’m paranoid about this type of thing, so I:
Live in a cheap house - purchase price about 60% of what the bank would have approved.
Drive an old car. I bought it in 2012 with a low-interest loan. No car payment since 2017.
Save aggressively. Max retirement accounts and keep up a healthy emergency cushion.
*I’m taking “average person” here to mean “has more wealth than 50% of people on Earth” (wow, such a high bar!)
**Not entirely luck, but I’ve read too many “lost my job in tech to layoffs in 2023/2024 and am now homeless” accounts to believe in any guarantees in the American economy.
And I’m not even convinced taking yourself as an example is representative of the average American since you own a home and have a retirement fund. Regardless, Americans these days lead very stressful lives because we all get pitted against each other in a gambling ring. You draw one bad hand and your life is effectively ruined. I’m not sure if you can even compare that to life in the global south where there’s more of a quiet resignation to the first hand you’re dealt in life.
Oh, I’m nowhere near average in this respect. Believe me, I know I’m tremendously privileged to have the level of stability that I do.
The point I was trying to make is, even with the relative stability I do have, I’ll still lose my house if I lose my job and can’t find another one quickly enough.
Does it matter if you have more than the average person* if your house is effectively over quicksand?
Most Americans have more than the average person planetwide, but we’re one job loss away from being homeless. There’s no real stability in the job world, so our lives are mostly relying on luck**.
I’m paranoid about this type of thing, so I:
*I’m taking “average person” here to mean “has more wealth than 50% of people on Earth” (wow, such a high bar!)
**Not entirely luck, but I’ve read too many “lost my job in tech to layoffs in 2023/2024 and am now homeless” accounts to believe in any guarantees in the American economy.
And I’m not even convinced taking yourself as an example is representative of the average American since you own a home and have a retirement fund. Regardless, Americans these days lead very stressful lives because we all get pitted against each other in a gambling ring. You draw one bad hand and your life is effectively ruined. I’m not sure if you can even compare that to life in the global south where there’s more of a quiet resignation to the first hand you’re dealt in life.
Oh, I’m nowhere near average in this respect. Believe me, I know I’m tremendously privileged to have the level of stability that I do.
The point I was trying to make is, even with the relative stability I do have, I’ll still lose my house if I lose my job and can’t find another one quickly enough.