Wheelbarrow money
I must be the biggest sucker in America. I was taught to save my money ever since first grade when those of us with the means deposited 50 cents per month in a savings account on which we received 5 1/2% interest. The interest rate never changed. So I’ve been a lifelong saver and haven’t owed anybody any money since we paid off our house 30 years ago. We have one credit card and pay it off in full every month.
I’ve never been unemployed, and I’m still working at 70. My wife started as a cashier in a grocery store when she was 16 and spent 30 years in that capacity. She can outwork an entire county road crew. We’ve never owned more than two vehicles at a time, had no car payments and drove our rigs until the wheels fell off. So we thought we had enough money saved in case we both require long-term care in our golden years, but currently we are being paid three tenths of one percent on CDs, which is well below the fake inflation rate. Now our hard-earned wealth is being devalued by the same government who encouraged us to save it.
Compare our financial plan to that of a friend we’ve known for 40 years. Starting from nothing, he now owns 28 rental houses and several apartment buildings. He’d buy a house, build up some equity and use that to borrow enough for a down payment on another house. Our friend never saved a penny and just used OPM (other people’s money) to buy California real estate. He doesn’t play in other fields, about which he knows nothing, so he never sent his money to the Big Casino on Wall Street. Despite being 80, he’s still doing it, and with today’s Fed rate at effectively zero, he’s buying more real estate than ever, which he’ll pass down to his son. Although he’s a paper gazillionaire, his liquid assets consist of two gold teeth. He told me that a couple years ago, a thief broke into his house and started searching for money, and he got up and started searching with him.
So tell me, who’s been the investment ignoramus?
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