Americans Are Still Spending Like There’s No Tomorrow | Hacker News Reader

Americans Are Still Spending Like There’s No Tomorrow

wsj.com

Well, with the constant enshittification of literally everything, this might actually be a sound strategy. Buy everything you can today, because the only thing available tomorrow will be way worse.

I took the opposite approach and used the pandemic as a great way to save. No eating out, no going out for drinks, zero travel... I saved a lot, and paid a lot of debt down. I'm continuing some of these trends still. I do not eat out as much as I did pre-pandemic, I haven't traveled much, etc.

Unfortunately you still lost 35% of your purchasing power unless you put it in the market

Of course! A large portion of it went into the market, with great returns. Maxed out 401k, IRA, paid off my school loans, etc. Pandemic time was sweet financially, honestly.

I started earning during the pandemic and had a sweet life. There was no place to spend money other than buying stuff from Amazon, and streaming subscriptions. I saved a lot and expected my life to be this easy, always.

Then came late 2021 and 2022. I wouldn’t understand the hole in my pocket and failed to save even okay amounts.

I got in touch with seniors, asked dad, and read up on financial hanits and markets, and I am slowly on the track to becoming a financially responsible adult. In the last 4-5 months, I have saved well.

Now I wish I had saved much more during the pandemic years. Life was sweet and easy then. Could save so much even after spending a lot.

If you had negative networth you came out ahead

And if you put it into the market today they can help you lose the rest. Better late than never!

To be fair, at this rate, there probably is no tomorrow...

You jest but I’ve lately been wondering if the current optimal strategy is to wait out the seemingly 10ish or fewer years to human-supplanting AI living on a tropical island and partying it up, since all the possible outcomes post singularity are extreme (extinction, dystopia, utopia).

I think this is what they call a doomsday cult..

My point is, this would leave you in a really bad position if it turns out after 10 years nothing really happened

Well yeah that's why I'm still toiling away in the digital salt mines

s/Spending/Stocking Up/

I suppose the title is apropos. Some of us remember how bad logistics were during the pandemic. It probably won't be much better should bigger events start popping off. A large amount of products are manufactured outside of the US and re-shoring will take a bit of time. I see no issue with stocking up on things that may not be available.

My priority has been water storage, freeze dried foods and most notably freeze dried coffee!

Considering the article mentions large/"splurge" purchases and travel, I doubt that the majority of this is to be accounted for prepping for an economic collapse.

I doubt that the majority of this is to be accounted for prepping for an economic collapse.

I think it can be. People already have all their toilet paper and paper towels. Only half kidding. If something is about to go down they may not be able to buy those splurge items for several years or longer and they certainly would not be able to travel. So getting that out of the way now makes a lot of sense to me. Risky but it makes sense. Risky in that one may be stuck wherever they traveled and may not have access to their money.

Spending is what you do in an inflationary environment. There are 2 reasons for that:

1 all the basics cost more

2 any savings will get depreciated quickly though inflation so your ability to save is limited

From earth to handbags and back to earth.

Americans play an interesting roll as the global consumer to keep this game of musical chairs going.

I think climate anxiety has a lot to do with continued spending. People aren't having kids, or having much long-term goals, _because_ they don't know how the society and the world would look like in 50 years. So why not just live in the moment?

There isn't any real value to putting money into a 401k if you don't think the infrastructure to support it will be there when you get to your 60s.

I'm moving forward having elective and prophylactic medical procedures in the next few years instead of the next few decades so they can happen while I have access to such high quality healthcare.

Lasik and lense replacement seem like an example of what to prioritize bc glasses and contacts have such a long supply chain.

It isn't quite "prepper" bad, but my generation isn't planning on the time of plenty lasting.

Smart. Pull forward any future needs to the present if possible, because the future is too uncertain to be confident needs will go fulfilled then.

> There isn't any real value to putting money into a 401k if you don't think the infrastructure to support it will be there when you get to your 60s.

I thought that way when I was young too...then I learned how funds-matching and compound interest works.

Always save for retirement. You don't get a second chance to do it.

The math gets a bit weirder if you think the country whose currency you're stockpiling may cease to exist. Obviously that's extreme, but I can understand those thinking about it these days - the US doesn't really seem to be in the business of solving problems anymore.

> I thought that way when I was young too...then I learned how funds-matching and compound interest works.

I know very well how they work. It still isn't worth the penalties. There are better investments that can get more effectively leveraged sooner, while there are still things to spend it on. All evidence is that the next 30+ years are kinda going to suck, buy personal infrastructure, invest in your health, enjoy access to global travel while they are things you can spend money on.

You won't even have the cash to burn to keep you warm if you leave it in a 401k forever.

I wonder how widespread climate anxiety is. I thought it was pretty fringe (though I think I'm quite afflicted with it myself), but I have seen surveys that show it is actually rather pervasive amongst younger people.

https://archive.ph/fkNeb

It is a Taylor Swift economy.

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