“Financial literacy” is victim blaming. Our economic system doesn’t need to be this complicated. You’re forced to invest or else your savings are destroyed by inflation. But these investments all involve trusting various institutions, and you have no way of knowing which ones are safe. Oh and don’t put it all in one place; you need to find multiple solutions. By the time you’re old or disabled, it’s your fault you’re in this mess.
Our economy is essentially forcing the public at gunpoint to make a prediction about topics they know nothing about. It’s a design not for the humans who exist, but for perfectly informed spheres.
Index investing really isn’t complicated. I have a seven figure portfolio that’s almost entirely composed of 3 funds (VTI, VXUS, BND), all in Vanguard. Anyone who tells you that you need a complicated portfolio to get rich is either ignorant or trying to sell you something. Look up “bogleheads investment strategy” if you want to learn more.
Vanguard is too big to fail. I hate that term, because it has a history of being used by CEOs to mean “please bail us out for our stupidity”, but it’s absolutely true in this case. If Vanguard goes under, literally the entire US financial sector is going with it, and you’ll have a whole lot more to worry about than retirement savings.
I share your distrust, and I’m still pissed that there weren’t more serious consequences for banks after the 2008 bailouts, but that literally can’t happen with Vanguard. Vanguard has over 10 trillion dollars in assets under management. The entire US budget for 2024 was 7 trillion. The only way the government could bail them out is printing trillions of dollars, which will lead to hyperinflation, and nobody wins in that scenario.
“Financial literacy” is victim blaming. Our economic system doesn’t need to be this complicated. You’re forced to invest or else your savings are destroyed by inflation. But these investments all involve trusting various institutions, and you have no way of knowing which ones are safe. Oh and don’t put it all in one place; you need to find multiple solutions. By the time you’re old or disabled, it’s your fault you’re in this mess.
Our economy is essentially forcing the public at gunpoint to make a prediction about topics they know nothing about. It’s a design not for the humans who exist, but for perfectly informed spheres.
Index investing really isn’t complicated. I have a seven figure portfolio that’s almost entirely composed of 3 funds (VTI, VXUS, BND), all in Vanguard. Anyone who tells you that you need a complicated portfolio to get rich is either ignorant or trying to sell you something. Look up “bogleheads investment strategy” if you want to learn more.
In a few years: “Well, it’s his own fault for putting it all in Vanguard.”
Vanguard is too big to fail. I hate that term, because it has a history of being used by CEOs to mean “please bail us out for our stupidity”, but it’s absolutely true in this case. If Vanguard goes under, literally the entire US financial sector is going with it, and you’ll have a whole lot more to worry about than retirement savings.
They’ll find a way to protect the financial sector but not you personally. Sorry, it’s necessary for economic stability.
I share your distrust, and I’m still pissed that there weren’t more serious consequences for banks after the 2008 bailouts, but that literally can’t happen with Vanguard. Vanguard has over 10 trillion dollars in assets under management. The entire US budget for 2024 was 7 trillion. The only way the government could bail them out is printing trillions of dollars, which will lead to hyperinflation, and nobody wins in that scenario.