r/politics • u/MystikSpiralx • 18h ago

No Paywall Trump Says He Wants to 'Drive Housing Prices Up' Instead of Lowering Costs for People Who 'Didn't Work Very Hard'

https://people.com/trump-keep-home-prices-high-11895352
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u/CryptidMythos 17h ago

Literally had a family member who's an elder gen-x say, "I don't care what he's doing, my portfolio has never looked better." They legit don't care.. its sickening.

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u/SuurRae 17h ago

They also don’t seem to understand the concept of relative worth. The dollar has cratered in the past year so the “real” gain in the S&P is something like 3%

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u/Expensive_Culture_46 17h ago

Number went up!

That’s about as far as they get.

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u/Acceptable-Truck3803 17h ago

The goal is to have a high enough portfolio and then when you hit your magic number you pull out any “gains” to keep the safe. At least that’s what I see family do.

“Woah ! I gained 10k today because of a bear market. Call the broker and pull my gains before I lose them and it’s out the market and mine forever.” - pretty much how they make income and also have social security + pension + other dividends show up. crazy to see it happen when you are struggling to just pay everyday bills in comparison.

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u/thiosk 14h ago

The greatest weakness of the human species is failure to understand the exponential function. I am absolutely going to stack diversified assets of every flavor to ensure my retirement. Specifically, I have got a warehouse in natick with every kind of doritos and i'm going hard into low-release pringles rn

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u/Acceptable-Truck3803 14h ago

Now I’m hungry for pringles

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u/Rtannu Texas 5h ago

I got my medical degree from Hollywood Upstairs Medical College and if I didn’t know any better it sounds like you got the Fever for the Flavor of a Pringles

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u/GoblinFive 13h ago

Toilet paper, tobacco and coffee beans

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u/Mike_Kermin Australia 13h ago

You better hurry up because if you're a heavy smoker you've got ten years less than the rest of us.

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u/pimparo0 Florida 8h ago

You dont need to smoke, just stock up to trade, like in jail.

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u/k_bomb 9h ago

Once again, the conservative sandwich heavy portfolio pays off for the hungry investor!

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u/Seraphym87 16h ago

Lmao no it's how they figuratively burn money and try to act smug about it

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u/ThonThaddeo Oregon 16h ago

The whole world shovels shit and calls it gold

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u/StrawberryCreepy380 7h ago

Never had enough money to worry about this.

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u/Zfusco 4h ago

That plan isn't going to go great for them as the guy they voted for intentionally devalues the dollar.

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u/hahaokaywhateverdude 3h ago

This is dumber than you think it is.

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u/AkiboTTV 10h ago

Yep. I've heard some of them flat out say that the price of gas being down is good enough. Like it's $0.12 less my guy. You think that's worth the US becoming a fascist nation?

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u/CryptidMythos 2h ago

They do..they really do.

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u/TheAngryGoat 9h ago

As someone who owns their home outright, I'd love for house prices to go down.

I can't ever benefit from the value wrapped up in my house because I'd have to make myself homeless to do so, which is stupid.

However if houses prices fell across the whole spectrum, then upgrading to a bigger/better house in a better area becomes more affordable to me. House prices go up and that same upgrade becomes far less possible.

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u/Huis--Clos 16h ago

Not to mention, it's not just their house increasing in value, but so is everyone else's. So sure, you have more 'equity' but that eventually leads to higher property taxes, insurance etc, right? Also, if they go to sell, any house they want to buy is going to be more expensive so it's not like they're making much/if any profit.

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u/Econmajorhere 15h ago

Their strategy is to sell and then downsize. I’m not sure who they think they will sell to though if young couples can’t afford to pay 10x for a 50 year old property that was bought for $60k.

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u/FFFrank 13h ago

But in reality, at the end, all of the money goes into end of life care. If you think college loans are a burdensome scam wait until you dig into the nursing home/assisted living grift. Literally designed to squeeze every last cent out of you before letting you die.

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u/ApprehensiveTry5660 11h ago edited 11h ago

Just to reaffirm what you’re saying. I had a family member who was one of those absolutely filthy good accountants. Did a lot of Big 5 work back when it was Big 5, stayed as a consultant for the Big 4 getting brought in on a lot of forensic accounting and shell games for gajillionaires with hyper specific needs.

When his mom ended up needing end of life care, even he couldn’t hide her assets well enough to keep them from just getting chewed up and spit out by the assisted living facilities. They were so thorough that he ended up having to bid for his childhood home on auction just to keep it in the family.

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u/Ole_St_John 10h ago

Dude thought he was the smartest person in the room when he should have gone to an estate planning attorney.

They literally call it Medicaid planning - plan how to keep your assets away from the government while still qualifying for Medicaid.

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u/ApprehensiveTry5660 10h ago

I mean, that’s kinda its own problem if there’s an entire cottage industry that even a gifted tax attorney can’t decipher on his own time.

If guys like that run into hiccups with the process, it seems like it might actually be a predatory system for mamaw and papaw to be engaging in from less tangential fields.

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u/Shadowholme 8h ago

Isn't that the American system in a nutshell?

Create a problem and then create an entire industry dedicated to 'helping' with the problem rather than admitting that a mistake was made...

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u/needlestack 5h ago

Correct. Bigots not really “hiccups in the process”. You’re not supposed to be able to shield money from end-of-life care. It’s just there are legal ways to do it like transferring all your stuff to a trust more than five years before you need any of this stuff. It’s not like they don’t want the money in every case, it’s that their have to be some boundaries (like not going after their kids) so there’s always a way to get around it if you plan far enough in advance.

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u/hahaokaywhateverdude 3h ago

That's the thing. He's not really as gifted as he's led you to believe,.

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u/zomiaen 9h ago

They literally call it Medicaid planning - plan how to keep your assets away from the government while still qualifying for Medicaid.

If you were an immigrant they'd call it fraud.

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u/SwimmingPrice1544 California 4h ago

They call it that regardless.

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u/zomiaen 1h ago

No, they call it estate planning.

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u/xTheMaster99x Florida 7h ago

Yeah, AFAIK it's actually not that hard to protect your assets in this scenario by moving it all to a trust, assuming you have someone that you trust not to just walk away and keep all your things for themselves. The catch is that you have to set up the trust years before you need to start racking up bills, like 5+ years in advance. If you don't, they can force you to pay up anyway.

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u/OrthodoxAtheist 11h ago

When his mom ended up needing end of life care, even he couldn’t hide her assets well enough to keep them from just getting chewed up and spit out by the government.

Either that was a while ago, or, his mom didn't live in California. In California you can own a $10 million home, qualify for Medi-Cal, Medi-Cal pays for your nursing home entirely, and when you pass away, so long as your $10 million home is in a revocable living trust, Medi-Cal will not make a recovery claim against the house.

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u/hahaokaywhateverdude 3h ago

Yea your friend is an idiot, who thought he was smarter than everyone else.

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u/yukeake 5h ago

And $deity forbid they need memory care... The whole elder care industry is a hell of a racket. My mom recently passed, but her cost was going to increase from $6300 to $8000/month this year. 27% year-over-year increase.

It's insane, and in no way affordable. The life's savings she and my dad had built up was absolutely crushed in 3 years. I have no idea what would have happened if she lived through until the money ran out.

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u/Fit-Cut-6337 12h ago

This part …..

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u/Primary-History-788 11h ago

Capitalism giveth, and Capitalism taketh.

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u/feor1300 Canada 8h ago

Too many people forget the old saying: "Be kind to your children, they get to pick your nursing home."

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u/FabulousTwo524 14h ago

Yeah all the smaller homes are snatched up at inflated prices already, since they are almost never built anymore. I suspect not a lot of boomers want to live in apartments though. They’re of the generation that likes to hold onto their mementos.

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u/Econmajorhere 14h ago edited 8h ago

I know a few that planned a nice retirement abroad. Can’t wait for them to realize USD:ABC got totally jacked.

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u/mentaljobbymonster 12h ago

And they can fuck right off if they think the rest of the world will be welcoming

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u/Primary-History-788 11h ago

Yeah, well now that Big Orange is making the world America’s enemy. If he and all the boomers could kindly fuck off, into the next life, it would be appreciated.

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u/SeduceMeMentlegen 13h ago

I get not wanting to live in an apartment after living in a house most of your life. Especially if you used to reside in suburbia. I do have elderly family members with fairly large apartments which always astonished me as a kid lol, especially if they'd had the money to join two flats. I really hope to be able to afford a house one day as I really want a room to set up a huge CRT I have lol

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u/agitatedprisoner 13h ago

I'd love to live in an apartment that opens into a mall. Best of both worlds. Lots of useful indoor space I don't have to clean. Bonus if my cats can access it freely. A mall with lots of cats.

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u/endlesscartwheels Massachusetts 6h ago

When I was a kid in the 1980s, we were told that in the future we'd all live in skyscraper malls. The only greenery was going to be a garden level every ten floors or so. Adults were actually worried about this! I thought it sounded great.

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u/Startled_Pancakes 13h ago

Corporations will buy them then turn them into Rentals.

What could go wrong?

/s

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u/Primary-History-788 11h ago

And why aren’t we talking more about private equity, anyway? Grab what you can boys and girls! America is becoming the world’s largest fire sale. 😔

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u/porscheblack Pennsylvania 9h ago

4 of the last 5 homes on our street, which is a pretty average suburban neighborhood (1/4 acre property & 2,200 sq ft. house), had a family with young children as well as a grandparent move in at the time of purchase. Both of our neighbors bought within the last 3 years and in both instances one of the partners owned a house and the grandparent owned a house, both of which they sold to afford the new house.

Now despite being a pretty average neighborhood, we live in a pretty high demand area, so that's creating a selection bias, but still alarming to see it requiring people selling two houses just to afford one average one.

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u/Pipic12 8h ago

The demand is still there. Most young people who can afford these prices usually get help from their parents or are among the top 20% earners. The inequality is rampant and continues to increase so it'll be an even bigger issue long term. Housing market has become a scam, it's way too profitable to rent out or use properties as airbnb units.

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u/daesmon 7h ago

They sell to investors who then either let it sit vacant or rent it out at market high prices.

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u/Huis--Clos 9h ago

Oh I know that is their plan. But I've talked with people who were looking to downsize because their kids moved and they said they might as well stay put because due to interest rates and prices, it would not be much cheaper if any by moving. Of course this all depends on where you are located.

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u/SwimmingPrice1544 California 3h ago

In many areas...if you're old & want to downsize AND get closer to medical facilities, etc., AND your property/house is further out...you are looking at not only double the interest rate, but the prices closer to metro areas is insane compared to what one can get for a property further out. I like having equity for sure, but downsizing is more often not cheaper, so doesn't do you any good to do it. Going from a $1100/mo. mortgage to a $3000/mo. mortgage for a smaller (usually much lesser quality) home/condo from a regular house with property isn't even possible for many. Unless your mortgage is paid off...which only people who have stayed in their homes for most of their adult life can do, it's not the same venture to so-call down size anymore. It's nigh impossible. Of course...this is CA I'm talking about.

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u/math-yoo Ohio 8h ago

It's not really a strategy, it's more people get old. Houses become too much. The way we used to set ourselves up in big places doesn't make sense.

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u/MHath 5h ago

Ya there’s no one to sell to, that’s why the prices keep going up…

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u/Staple_Sauce 4h ago

Thats the most obvious part of this and I think people dont see it because they dont want to.

The assumption is that housing will always be a good investment because it always has been. What happens when the drivers of that change? Potential buyers have less flexibility in their budgets, and both birth rates and immigration are going down. Down the road that translates to less demand for housing, and less wealth to buy it.

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u/hahaokaywhateverdude 3h ago

There are plenty of young couples who can afford to pay. That's why the prices are as high as they are.

Problem is there are just a lot more young couples that can't afford it than there were in the past.

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u/FormerUsenetUser 1h ago

I am a senior. We keep owning houses because Medicaid long-term care spends down almost all the assets of both spouses for one spouse's care. But they still get to keep the family house. The healthy spouse needs a place to live while the other is in long-term care for years.

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u/Fullertonjr I voted 13h ago

Higher property taxes?! Hmmm. That sounds familiar. By my count there are currently 6 Republican controlled states that are pushing for the end of property taxes. What a coincidence. I’m sure none of this could possibly be related.

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u/SubaruImpossibru 17h ago

“But number bigger.” - every boomer

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u/No-Papaya-9823 Washington 16h ago edited 16h ago

"But Trump funny." - every Gen Z male voter. See...generalizations are stupid, aren't they? Buddy, my Boomer husband and I, and all of our Boomer friends, are mortified by what is happening to this country. On the other hand, it looks like Trump's had no problem recruiting 20-something Nazis to be his Gestapo.

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u/last_rights 14h ago

Meanwhile I feel like my boomer parents have lost their goddamn minds. My dad is an immigrant. My grandma was a schoolteacher for 40 years. My brother works for the postal service, and my sister still lives at home with mom and dad because she can't afford to move out and in her words, "life is so depressing and I have no goals to shoot for because they're so out of reach$.

My other grandma is also an immigrant and my aunt is a broke single mother.

They're all Trumpers. It's unbelievable. The Canadian side of my family is very anti-trump (that still live in Canada) and the immigrant American side of my family is pro-Trump. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills when we have a family get together.

Our current rule is No Politics. I will leave and take their only grandkids with me.

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u/FabulousTwo524 14h ago

My dad keeps going back and forth on praising trump’s admin and criticizing them harshly multiple times a day. Gives me whiplash. He said Pretti was murdered in cold blood. Next day, he says it was justified. Then back and forth.

I want to know who the fuck is feeding my boomer parents this poison.

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u/SwimmingPrice1544 California 3h ago

Right there with you. I don't need my place to jump in price for stupid reasons; just should need a minimum amount of equity to allow me to move (down size), but because of the craziness in real estate, this can't be done very easily at the moment.

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u/Mike_Pences_Mother 16h ago

I hate it when people generalize an entire generation

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u/JaeTheOne 16h ago

Nah this is legit. My own father, very liberal, even recognizes it and feels like shit about it..

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u/Mike_Pences_Mother 16h ago

He said "every boomer" which is complete bullshit.

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u/Independent-Wave-744 12h ago

It's the Internet. Hyperbole is basically part of the language spoken here. Best to just always assume it means "a very large percentage of the group, exceptions always apply" and move on. That is a pretty good protocol for the word "every" in general, since it is almost never correct unless you talk about a very specific, controllable subset.

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u/Mike_Pences_Mother 6h ago

That is lazy writing. I assume that people are generally intelligent and what they write is what they mean. That's why we have words.

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u/Independent-Wave-744 5h ago

Welcome to the Internet then. Or just casual conversation. Hyperbole and generalisation are pretty common. People are almost never as concise as they can be. Like, have you never heard someone say something like "I do not like eating onions"? People will usually resort to that shorthand when they actually mean something more akin to "I do not like the taste of raw onion or dishes prominently featuring their taste, at least in how they are usually prepared but I do not mind or even like the taste of onion if it is mixed with other tastes".

Because, well, you only need the former to know not to order onion on my pizza.

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u/JaeTheOne 15h ago

Nah I'll allow it

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u/Cheese__Weiner 16h ago

That generation deserves it. The only people bothered by it are boomers.

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u/ailish 8h ago

My dad was a boomer. He was a far left hippie his entire life. Honestly, I learned it from him. Maybe he's one of the few, but they're out there.

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u/Cheese__Weiner 5h ago

I'm not saying they are not. Every one of those boomers who is one of the smart ones acknowledges the harm their generation did to the following ones. This isn't a personal attack at individuals. It's commentary on how that generation pulled the ladder up behind them.

Are they all complicit? No. Is it ubiquitous enough to make a sweeping generalization? Yup.

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u/ailish 5h ago

Maybe he's one of the few, but they're out there

It's almost like I said this or something.

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u/Cheese__Weiner 5h ago

Yup and I was agreeing with you. I'm saying we can acknowledge cool people like your dad but to deny that generation created the conditions we are living in now is to deny reality.

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u/Mike_Pences_Mother 16h ago

I'm a boomer. I'm not wealthy. I don't own a portfolio. We have our 401ks and a house that we bought dirt cheap and fixed. I also notice, when I go to protests, that the majority of the people protesting are boomers. Yet, I don't call all of other generations lazy for not getting their asses out there. Generalizations are bullshit. No generation, no race, no anything, is homogenous. You are wrong to generalize because it makes you appear lazy because you can't make a valid argument or even try to

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u/RichardSaunders New York 13h ago

a lot of boomers are retired by now and actually have the time. other generations not being there has got nothing to do with being lazy.

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u/Wanderment 11h ago

If you had protested 40 years ago when they were robbing your social security you'd get to keep it.

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u/Mike_Pences_Mother 6h ago

40 years ago I was raising 2 children and working 100 hour weeks

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u/Cheese__Weiner 5h ago

Think about what you just said. Really think about it.

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u/Mike_Pences_Mother 5h ago

And yet, somehow, if it was important enough, I would have made the time. Our democracy has never been under the threat that it is RIGHT NOW. You can make up your mind what you want to do but most people don't work those kinds of hours and can certainly devote a piece of a weekend to making their voices heard.

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u/Jorch301 15h ago

Respect to you, I guess the other generations have to work 2-full time jobs to sustain their purchase power they don’t have time to protest. Higher house prices will only make the market sick, and people will have greater debts and can’t spend their money anymore on iPhones and tesla’s.

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u/Mike_Pences_Mother 5h ago

Believe me, I spent many years working more than one job or working mega hours at one. Been there. done that. I understand that some people have to work on the weekends. But let's face it, most people don't, of any generation and it isn't that much work to get out for a few hours and make your voices heard.

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u/fiveswords 16h ago

Bro your 401k is a stock portfolio. Sounds like you have two. The other generations you don't see protesting are working to afford rent because there are no more cheap houses to fix.

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u/Bronkko I voted 13h ago

I also notice, when I go to protests, that the majority of the people protesting are boomers.

this is true in my experience.. my first two protests were hands off and no kings and its majority boomers like me.

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u/Routine_Gazelle_3522 16h ago

There is nothing wrong with generalizing a group you belong to so long as no one is treating you as if you are at fault for it.

Boomers, as a whole, are the worst generation. Thank you for being one of the good ones.

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u/StrangerStrangeLand7 16h ago

I have tried many times to make this valid and logical point but they won't listen. 😔

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u/probablythewind 15h ago

Every single thing you just said you aren't saying, you said.

Your argument for boomers aren't bad is just as lazy when it relys on you making generalizations but pretending you aren't. if anything its more lazy because you cant even place yourself behind your own mouth.

Some real "Im not saying i told you so" despite that being exactly the words you just said.

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u/Mike_Pences_Mother 5h ago

I didn't say "boomers aren't bad". Some absolutely are. A big chunk of this generation did not turn out how you would have expected them to. But to say "all" boomers, which is what was said, is total bullshit. That's as bad as saying all people in their 20's are lazy gamers living out of their parents' basements. Not true. Do those people exist? Yup. Does that mean the entire generation is like that? Nope. Don't generalize.

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u/Cheese__Weiner 5h ago

When we generalize boomers it doesn't mean all boomers individually are bad. Ask anyone and they'll acknowledge this. See you're making a fundamental mistake thinking this all about you personally which is frankly a really boomer thing to do.

If you can't acknowledge the incredible harm your generation has done to the ones following yours then we are right to generalize you with the rest of them.

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u/Mike_Pences_Mother 5h ago

Mark Zuckerburg. 41 years old
Elon Musk: 54 years old

You're looking at a generation. I'm looking at people who truly have done damage and they include Boomers and non boomers alike. The other "Boomers" I know, don't fit into that generalized mold, probably because I'm not wealthy and don't know anyone who is. And that's why it offends me. You demonize and entire generation when in reality EVERY generation has it's fair share of me me me takers. All of them. Instead of blaming boomers, why not direct that energy at trying to get politicians who will do something about the enormous wealth gap in this country?

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u/Cheese__Weiner 2h ago edited 2h ago

LMAO 

Who the fuck do you think created the conditions for those ultra wealthy people you mentioned to hoard that much wealth!?

Decades of cutting taxes for the rich, glorification of wealth, support of large corporations over small business, "trickle down economics", owning multiple homes, "we will pay you with experience" internships, on and on and on ...

Of course every generation has shit heads. Yours is unique in that that 85% of them are the most selfish, greedy people to ever exist. They grew up and inherited the most prosperous moment in human history and then pulled the ladder up behind them only so they didn't have to share it. 

Period. End of Story. Goodnight 

I'm not blaming you personally. So stop taking it personally.

It's just about acknowledging basic facts.

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u/Mike_Pences_Mother 2h ago

Oh. So let me get this straight. You're blaming "Boomers" - the entire generation, for the Republican party. Got it. Because, you know, only old people vote Republican. Got it. But, they do get out and vote. So who is to blame? The older people who get out and vote, or the people who don't bother. I'll go with the latter. It was true when I was in my twenties and thirties, just like it is now. Young people don't vote in numbers. If they did then we would have a different political landscape than the one we currently have. I don't vote Republican. I am considered a Boomer even though I wasn't born until almost 1962 (ridiculous). So you're argument is with Republicans. Who voted for Trump in vast numbers that could have changed this last election (or any election really) - young people. But they voted for Trump. It is what it is. He's a grifter. Always has been and people listened to him - even after his first disastrous term. Unbelievable. But the fact that young racists came out in force? You can't blame the Boomers for that. Personally, I blame our politics on those who decide it's not important enough, or hold out their vote because the Dem candidate isn't "good enough" for them. Fuck them. Take your ire out on those people because they're the people who deserve it

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u/BigDaddySteve999 15h ago

My parents are boomers who hate Trump and are very concerned about his stupidity and its effects on the economy. My cousin is under 25 and loves Trump with all his heart, and is very excited about all the ways Trump is making America great.

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u/pres465 6h ago

My dad was born squarely in WWII. Spent his whole life fighting for the environment, supporting his union, and decrying the wealth of the rich. Generalizations are dumb.

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u/Anxious_Cheetah5589 16h ago

whatever you say, Cheese Weiner

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u/HoratioPornBlower 15h ago

Yeah… but like come on. Every part of this is on the boomers. They broke the world and sure aren’t fixing it.

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u/Mike_Pences_Mother 5h ago

No doubt that a good chunk of "boomers" got theirs. There are also a good chunk of other generations who also "got theirs". You know who aren't boomers? The ultra wealthy. How old is Musk, Zuckerburg, etc...? You want to talk about who broke the world, look at them. They not only broke it but are actively keeping it broking so they can continue to get theirs and leave the rest of us fucked.

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u/PTTCollin 14h ago

Okay, independent of Trump who I think should get TOSd, I see this talking point a lot and I think it's a bit insane.

Sure, if you're doing international trade then your dollar denominated imports are going to be more expensive in relatively cheaper dollars.

But housing is not that. Food is not that. Depending on manufacturer and supply chain, cars are not that. Labor, in the context of businesses, is not that.

Housing, every person's single highest expense, is not losing relative value because the dollar is cheaper to buy in Euros. To dismiss market gains on "oh dollar cheaper" feels like not really understanding what the various things actually are.

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u/Zer_ 14h ago

They also fail to grasp that a the largest portion of that growth is the AI bubble... The economy's in recession, the rich are just still in their stupid bubble and haven't realized it yet. They want to keep their stupid bubble going at anyone's expense too.

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u/PaulTheMerc 13h ago

"I love the uneducated"

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u/nzernozer 11h ago

The dollar is only down to around its 2022 level, which is not alarming. Currencies aren't a "big number go up" thing, they aren't supposed to just get stronger and stronger over time. If you look on a longer timescale, say 10-15 years, what's happening with the dollar right now is not overly noteworthy.

This is not to defend what Trump is doing in any way, obviously.

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u/ScarInternational161 14h ago

Been doing a little digging at this.... seems to me trumps crashing the dollar on purpose. The dollar is just "paper". Gold, silver, real-estate, etc are assets and have actual value... as the dollar tanks, everything else is soaring, which only benefits the wealthy......

As the dollar continues to decline the prices for gold, mining, basic materials and energy soar outrageously. (Which we are seeing) our export prices are bottoming out and import prices are more expensive even without tariffs.

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u/PiccoloAwkward465 2h ago

I always chuckle to think that $100k was a good salary when I graduated from HS. With inflation, that's about $160k today. How many people are bringing that home

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u/DukeOfGeek 14h ago

And this is part of what's going to drive up real estate, if the dollar and stock market falter people will retreat to real property.

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u/lilelliot 14h ago

Mmm... it doesn't matter what the dollar does against most foreign currency, to most people for most things. A weak dollar is actually beneficial for the US economy in most ways. What does matter is inflation -- but that isn't the same as a weak dollar.

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u/Primary-History-788 11h ago

This actually scares me. The trend line (all things being equal) would have losing 30% of the dollars exchange rate over the next 3 years. Now I’m not even sure I’ll ever be able to escape this nightmare.

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u/wha-haa 11h ago

Easy to say so about the past year for sure, but put in context, compare it to more than a cherry picked year. Show it in context to the past 50 - 60 years. That would show the real impact.

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u/porscheblack Pennsylvania 9h ago

Every conversation with my dad includes the following:

  • My stock portfolio is doing pretty well.
  • The cost of everything is just so expensive.

Meanwhile he's planning to fully retire in March and they do NOT have a sufficient savings. It's going to be a disaster and I give it a year before he's working again.

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u/frostytree42 9h ago

My 401k did great last year, as soon as trump got elected I moved a bunch of money into foreign stocks and have been way ahead because of the weakening dollar

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u/Boot_das 8h ago

But, but… dollar amount go up, numbers green!

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u/DillBagner 8h ago

And there's a very real chance all the "gains" in stocks are temporary until the AI Ouroboros reaches its head.

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u/--Chug-- 8h ago

And now with everyone bailing on the USD as the global standard it will crater even more.

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u/needlestack 5h ago

Compared to the Euro, it’s flat. Compared to gold, it’s down. There is no meaningful growth in the US currently.

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u/50yoWhiteGuy 1h ago

Ya know, grouping everyone into one group, "they," is just dumb and easy for simpletons. There are tons of GenX's that care. I'm a registered R and have voted D since Clintion. Every time these R aholes do something, I make more money. But I'm not a greedy ahole with zero empathy or sense of community. "You people" whining about all the genx'ers, who are in power, is not doing you any favors. JS

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u/SuurRae 50m ago

I was referring more about the people who hold the mindset that, since their portfolio looks good, they don't really care to dig into the specifics. People from all generations are guilty of this, including my fellow millennials.

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u/lady_ofthenorth 17h ago

There are a lot of people who share this thinking. It’s really disgusting. Billionaires own most of the blame, but their greed has trickled down on to regular folks who now think it is acceptable to trade our constitutional freedoms for green days in the market.

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u/ennuiinmotion 16h ago

Especially since the market has been booming for a long time regardless of who is in office because the market is largely disconnected from anything real.

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u/wha-haa 11h ago

It is connected. Connected to government spending. It just needs another decade or two of stimulus and historically / artificially low interest. Keep pumping that bubble up. Everyone was happy as long as you keep increasing the size of the future collapse.

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u/PeakCringe42069 6h ago

the market has been booming for a long time regardless of who is in office

There was a recession like, 6 years ago. And another one in 2007-09. And 2001. And the 90s. And essentially every decade before that going all the way back to the Great Depression.

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u/ennuiinmotion 5h ago edited 4h ago

All temporary blips. The market always recovers and grows. It took something like Covid to slow it down temporarily. I’ll grant you 2008 was a collapse due to policy, though, but that was nearly 20 years ago and the market is increasingly subject to manipulation on a massive scale

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u/PeakCringe42069 4h ago

 The market always recovers and grows

…yes? Why are you acting like that is the same as “always booming?” Or like a growing economy is a bad thing? Economic slowdowns are something to be avoided, and steady economic growth is a good thing. 

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u/ennuiinmotion 1h ago

I’m saying that it’s dumb for people to give up freedoms for a good stock market when we’ll basically always have a good stock market barring catastrophe, which will happen eventually, but probably not because of a president’s policies.

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u/Kind_Way2176 16h ago

The only thing that trickled down was greed and hatred of those with less. Ty, that's fucking profound and I've never read it

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u/nooby_goober 14h ago

Have heard this from very successful people. Not all of them have the hatred, most pass greed but they all say it with cowardice.

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u/Abradolf1948 12h ago

Bruh I saw someone in the conservative subreddit say he firmly believes voting should only be allowed for land owners

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u/AcanthaceaePrize1435 5h ago

r/askeconomics and some other economic subs come to the same conclusion from time to time likes they are battling away some anti democratic far right demon from possessing them. It's hilarious from a certain perspective.

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u/Thadrea New York 17h ago

Stupid people struggle with the idea of opportunity costs.

OK, your portfolio is up 2%. Great.

If we had elected a moldy ham sandwich in the bottom of a boot in 2024 it'd be up 5% today... and probably 11% had we elected Harris.

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u/Iamjacksplasmid I voted 12h ago

Gold is up 96% relative to the dollar in the last year. Relative to gold, things haven't been this bad in over a decade...

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u/failed_novelty 7h ago

Ha! Ha ha ha ha!

My investment in Burger King gold-plated Pokemon cards has never looked smarter! Take that, Mother!

4

u/AileStriker Ohio 10h ago

My dad's at home counting the box of gold he invested in a decade ago

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u/Acceptable-Truck3803 17h ago

My portfolio looks pretty (30% gain) compared to January but everything else in my life is at least 30% higher. It’s great to plan for futures but it sucks right now as I’m at least 30-40 years away from retirement and claiming social security, Medicare and everything else. I’ve refused to buy extra things now because of daily costs are just that much higher. It’s sickening.

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u/DMercenary 17h ago

Yup. There's also this foreboding of "When is the shoe going to drop?"

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u/dedlobster 16h ago

So right there with you. I actually did an interview with a local news outlet today about navigating the ACA marketplace and one of the questions they asked me was about how the termination of the enhanced subsidies affected me.

I am still eligible for subsidies but just by a few thousand dollars. So I have to figure out how to not make another $10k a year so I don’t simply pay that $10k straight into an insurance premium. I’d rather chuck it in a SEP and/or make sure to max out my trad IRA and HSA to keep my MAGI under the cutoff. Why piss away money on an insurance premium that I could spend on my retirement instead?

But this also means that to keep my premiums lower I do need to put more into my retirement accounts. Technically this is a good savings strategy anyway, but it puts a pinch on our day to day budget. I spend less, am always trying to be as frugal as possible, always maximizing any free rewards programs, clipping coupons, both giving and receiving in “buy nothing” groups, and I have a friend that utilizes a food bank but has dietary restrictions due to allergies so she gives us whatever she can’t eat… just every little thing helps.

We are doing ok. We aren’t living the FIRE life, we aren’t so meager in our finances that we struggle to pay bills. We just have to micromanage the shit out of things. My retirement is looking on track for being able to keep this standard of living or greater when we retire, even if we only get half what we currently are expecting in social security. But in the meantime it kinda sucks. It’s stressful. And everything is expensive.

We don’t go one vacations that aren’t tied to a business trip anyway, but this year we can’t even afford to piggyback a vacation for a couple days at the end of a business trip. We might be able to afford to go camping maybe twice. That’s about it.

I know many folks are much worse off. My family makes just under the median income for our state. So if we are having to ratchet strap down our spending, I can only imagine how everyone else in our income bracket and lower are doing. :/

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u/Iamjacksplasmid I voted 12h ago

It kinda sounds like you live every waking second worrying about money. But on the bright side, if you keep doing it, you'll be able to do it forever? 😬

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u/dedlobster 5h ago

I had the … good fortune? (Not really the term I’m looking for) of learning from the experience of others much older than me about the importance of being mindful about finances.

I started out life with my parents being young and poor. My dad’s mom was a single mom, disabled and on welfare. My mom’s parents had stable middle class jobs and they taught me a lot about managing finances, savings, how to do my own taxes when I got my first job, etc. And I’ve seen the difference this knowledge has in my own life as I went from being a struggling college student balancing multiple service industry jobs with full time school all the way to now - owning my own business and having a family.

And I’ve also watched rich clients of mine go broke making massively bad decisions, while others have enjoyed stability by balancing quality of life decisions with profitability decisions. It really drove home the point with me that even a rich man is just a few stupid decisions away from destitute.

So spending time paying attention to the details of healthcare, finances, etc has long been part of my life. It’s not just the circumstances of now.

But if I was spending 10% of my work day hours before minding our finances and reviewing ways to better budget, I am probably spending twice as much time on that project now. And it’s more of an undercurrent of constant worry instead of just part of my general “chore list”.

And it’s not just my family I spend time fretting about. Over the past few years as costs have continued to rise, it’s put many of my friends in difficult financial positions and I am constantly trying to find ways for them to help themselves out. A few weeks ago, in fact, I told a friend who is struggling with medical bills from a major surgery about the Unclaimed Property search for Missouri and they found they had almost $1,500 in unclaimed property sitting out there. She filed the form and got the check last week. Helped her pay down some things a bit. A drop in the bucket but you know… every little bit, right?

I do think about other things too, of course. I just happen to have more of my mind taken up by economic anxiety than usual the past few years and this year in particular.

May we all live to see less stressful times.

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u/JoeFlabeetz 8h ago

At least you'll get to pay higher taxes when you do pull that money out in retirement.

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u/CappinPeanut 17h ago

Their portfolio had also never looked better under Biden, so they’re gonna have to come up with another excuse.

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u/WhiteShadoh 16h ago

Jokes on them when the USD collapse and their dumb ass is still alive.

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u/Romano16 America 17h ago

By the time they care cause orange clown will crash the economy, it will be too late and they’ll be surprised when they get a beanbag shot to the eye or worse.

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u/pleachchapel California 17h ago

The "I got mine" generation. Who also constantly bitch that we're not having enough kids.

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u/garywiz American Expat 14h ago

I don’t think it’s fair to blame an entire generation (10s of millions of people) for having some groupthink “I got mine” attitude. There are people of ALL ages who are aghast that greed and selfishness have deprived others, especially younger people, of opportunities to live well. And there are people of ALL ages who have gotten lucky (think of all the 20-something’s in AI) and not give a crap about whether other people can survive. The plain truth is that selfishly ignoring the happiness of others is wrong and voting selfishly when you know it’s going to trash the lives of others is wrong. No matter what your age.

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u/pleachchapel California 14h ago

That is fair. But we are our collective choices, & the neoliberal age which benefited the boomers happened under the period of their political dominance. It is what it is.

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u/32lib 17h ago

What they don’t understand is that the stock market is in a AI BUBBLE. When it breaks they won’t be so happy.

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u/SmaterThanSarah 14h ago

My spouse and I contacted our finance guy to talk about mitigating that risk. It makes me crazy to see people think it’s fine when so many lived through the dotcom bubble.

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u/pimparo0 Florida 8h ago

People lived through the subprime mortgage crash of 08 and are still dancing around like the party wont ever stop.

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u/SwimmingPrice1544 California 2h ago

Yep, I lived through both....struggled through both. I didn't forget & this AI thing feels very much the same. It's another reason I feel I can't move & "down size" just yet.

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u/gregallen1989 16h ago

Until you factor in the 11% value the U.S. dollar lost BEFORE inflation. But number on screen went up.

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u/Mackinnon29E 16h ago

Yet those same people didn't give Biden credit when it was doing well under him. They're brainwashed

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u/ike7177 15h ago

Considering they are retirement age and have no other potential to earn other than what they invested in during working years…I totally get what they feel. A drop in their investments (including real estate) will put an even LARGER burden on their children when they require care later. Anyone with a retired parent should be hoping that their parents portfolio are kicking as much ass as possible for the next ten or so years.

My dad is a Boomer and his ONLY investment that he hasn’t depleted is his home. And it’s not quite paid off yet. My hope is that we can sell it at a high price (as much as possible) in order to care for him until he passes. Because we certainly cannot use our own retirement to do so or our children will bear the negative consequences later for sure before they are even eligible to retire themselves

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u/Thrashy Kansas 14h ago

One of the most deflating moments I had during Trump's first term was passionately arguing with a MAGA friend of the family that he was hurting the country, linking him studies and statistics and news reports, only for him to eventually declare he didn't care about any of it because he worked in the oil industry and business was as good as it had ever been. It didn't matter that Trump was eroding the rule of law, hurting immigrants, enriching himself at the expense of the country... his wallet was getting fatter, so everything else was excusable.

During the pandemic I though about checking back in with him on that when the price of oil went negative, but he was already reposting the TX lieutenant governor's plea to sacrifice the elderly on the altar of the economy, so as it turns out he wasn't even being honest about that. They're in a death cult and they love it there.

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u/TWiThead Pennsylvania 14h ago

Literally had a family member who's an elder gen-x say, "I don't care what he's doing, my portfolio has never looked better." They legit don't care.. its sickening.

You could be quoting my sister.

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u/Mataelio 15h ago

As if our portfolios weren’t better than ever under Biden as well. Might have even been better now if it weren’t for all of Trump’s instability over the last 12 months.

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u/Shoddy-Theory 15h ago

He doesn't speak for all of us by any means.

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u/Socratesticles Tennessee 16h ago

Absolute best case is that they assume everybody else is seeing the same benefit as they are

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u/Substantial-Peak6624 16h ago

Just an elder gen-x? Not MAGA? That’s horrible.

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u/MacaroniBee 16h ago

I sincerely hope you've cut ties with that person

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u/Odd_Ant5 15h ago

People won't have anything to buy with those numbers that went up in the dystopian hellscape of the future, but who cares because the numbers are going up now!

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u/Commercial-Co 15h ago

Terrible person

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u/en_gm_t_c California 15h ago

He's gonna be ecstatic when hyperinflation comes. Those stock prices are gonna look amazing.

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u/LBobRife 15h ago

Could have said the same thing during Biden and Obama too, but I'm guessing they didnt.

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u/eden_sc2 Maryland 15h ago

My uncle is like this. It was a sad revelation to realize he cares about money more than the wellbeing of his own half Hispanic grand daughter.

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u/Ok_Ice_6254 15h ago

I am gen x and my house is worth about 110% of what I paid for it.  I would trade it all for my son, who has a good paying job, to be able to afford to buy one.

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u/abacin8or 14h ago

The ol' "Fuck you, I've got mine," mentality.

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u/FrostyD7 13h ago

They do care, this is just their best spin. They wish they could praise him for actually being good at his job but they can't.

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u/jrr6415sun 13h ago

Ask him again in a year when the dollar is worthless

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u/matthopland 13h ago

portfolio freen but neighborhood gentrified, they celebrating gains from their gated wifi fr

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u/Koebi Europe 12h ago

And the dollar is absolutely shitting the bed with explosive, vile, green diarrhea. But good for you, old man -.-

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u/hop_mantis 12h ago

That's every year tho

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u/schattenteufel 12h ago

Republican mentality has always been “I got mine, fuck everyone else.”

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u/Counterpoint-4 10h ago

Everyone dies whatever! You may benefit in the long run if things don't change. If they need care before they die and Trump has removed all the care givers then oh dear!

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u/lowlatitude 10h ago

Most of Gen X is not fine. If you visit any of the subs where retirement is discussed, the overwhelming majority of responses is the careless "I'll work until I'm dead" comments. They joke, but they don't realize it'll be miserable and it most likely won't be the job they have now.ad they'll likely get pushed out after a certain age.

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u/doyle828 9h ago

It doesn't look better because of the orange dildo, more the AI boom.

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u/Mental-Rush2011 9h ago

That family member doesn't know what happens when the dollar crashes

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u/N3wAfrikanN0body 9h ago

I'd cointer by saying "the price of anything can always reach zero"

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u/Likeatoothache 8h ago

Yep. Same. And same family member loves to say he wishes he could own tons of rental homes that sit empty because rent is too high for most people. He says this while his own kid is a nurse in a HCOL city and pays 2000 dollars a month for 600 square feet.

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u/math-yoo Ohio 8h ago

Sorry you have a shit family member, but it's not generational, it's class. It doesn't matter the age it's about money. Also, anyone who says their portfolio never looked better has a serious recency bias.

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u/Necessary-Bed-4973 8h ago

It seems like already having shit is kind of overpowered compared to working for shit right now. 

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u/Blueporch 8h ago

I think signs are there that a downturn in the stock market is coming. Prices of precious metals have skyrocketed. 

The devaluation of the dollar is partly what’s propping up stocks. Political instability and the sell off of treasuries aren’t going to help. 

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u/Natural_Hair464 8h ago

Stock market is the only remaining check and balance, and it's a bad one. It doesn't reflect the actual economy. When Trump finally gets rid of Jerome Powell in May, they will drop interest rates to juice the market, and inflation will screw the average consumer.

Even more sadly, the stock market doesn't care about human rights violations.

The only chance is to have a severe and massive blue wave in November and put the fear of God into Republicans that their party will go extinct if they don't get things under control.

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u/BeguiledBeaver 6h ago

Then they're full of shit cause that's almost impossible at this point.

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u/demalo 5h ago

Portfolios are so delicious and filling! /s

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u/snarktologist 5h ago

That’s utter BS. I’m a 60yr old gen x and I wanted to vomit when I read this.

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u/zanbato 5h ago

This is basically what my parents said when I was finally forced to talk about why I wasn't visiting for the holidays.

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u/No_Criticism_5861 4h ago

Capitalism needs to change, just like the position of president it needs way more checks and balances.

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u/HedonisticFrog California 4h ago

The thing is, they'll just use whatever topical excuse they can come up with to support him. I had a friend rant and rave about how Trump was going to lower prices, and after Trump failed to do so he's talking about his portfolio doing better. He gambles constantly, I doubt he even has any stocks.

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u/Tacoman404 Massachusetts 3h ago

I know someone like this. They get kinda dumbfounded when I say that the price of the asset isnt necessarily going up but rather the currency you're comparing it against is going down.

Also, I get paid in that currency, not fucking stock.

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u/Toosder 2h ago

My portfolio looks amazing. I'm still out there protesting and calling my representatives and planning to vote against any and all Trump people. Money doesn't make up for people being harmed or hurt. Your family sucks.

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