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Sounds like there really is only three options:

1) recession and a reset which is desperately needed
2)hyperinflation and or elevated inflation- rich get richer and things worsen for the average American without assets- house becomes 1 million to 2 million etc.
3) soft landing where prices stop going up but remain elevated- which is the feds dream scenario. This still doesn’t address the gross difference between wages and housing etc.

The Saudis and their OPEC friends agreed to cut oil output, so the global oil prices can go up today by 5% and will soon head to $100 per barrel. The dollar surged to the news, and now the market sees more inflation and more Fed rate hikes. No soft landing for sure, just another step forward on the ledge IMO.

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Home prices are going down the west coast, but going up in the east coast. California is seeing the biggest price drops in the nation, and also the biggest declines in population. Plus they just introduced the 4% mansion (over $5M homes) tax that started yesterday. Some of those homes were about $1M before Covid. Plus a lot of tech layoffs in Silicon Valley area, bringing prices down even further. The rest of the country is still seeing modest to big increases in home values, including my city in the Midwest.
That makes sense. I am on the east coast and I did not get why home price was going up when interest is also going up. Bought last year in July for 280k (brand new-built), and same home selling for 294k now.
 
Home prices are going down the west coast, but going up in the east coast. California is seeing the biggest price drops in the nation, and also the biggest declines in population. Plus they just introduced the 4% mansion (over $5M homes) tax that started yesterday. Some of those homes were about $1M before Covid. Plus a lot of tech layoffs in Silicon Valley area, bringing prices down even further. The rest of the country is still seeing modest to big increases in home values, including my city in the Midwest.
I've been waiting for the home prices in CA to drop so I can jump in and buy another investment property. But I don't see it happening in SoCal....and in other parts of CA. Although it's not as crazy as 2021, it's still a seller market (despite the high interest rates). That's because the number homes that are listed for sale remains very low.

This house was purchased in 2021 for $1.2 million by a group of investors, whom I know through their Youtube channel. It is listed for $3 million. The house has only been in the market for 20 days and it is currently in Escrow. 1055 Blair Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94087 | realtor.com®
 
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I've been waiting for the home prices in CA to drop so I can jump in and buy another investment property. But I don't see it happening in SoCal....and in other parts of CA. Although it's not as crazy as 2021, it's still a seller market (despite the high interest rates). That's because the number homes that are listed for sale remains very low.

This house was purchased in 2021 for $1.2 million by a group of investors, whom I know through their Youtube channel. It is listed for $3 million. The house has only been in the market for 20 days and it is currently in Escrow. 1055 Blair Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94087 | realtor.com®

I don't see it happening to be honest. The fed printed 40% of all dollars in existence in Covid Pandemic. Alot of people with assets (tend to be boomer generation) had their 401k double, their houses double, and their personal portfolio double in the span of 2 years. Think about it- if you have worked since year 2000 and have 2-3 extra homes, 20 years of income into a 401k/personal portfolio and all that doubled if not tripled if not quadruapled- you made bank. My parents (boomers) extra home- according to redfin- quintupled in the span of 10 years.

There's just way to much money floating in the system- and any meaningful dip will be bought by people with cash. The wealth gap gets wider, those with assets profit more, and the rest- well people just gotta live with it. Whether it's renting forever, being in debt forever, buy now pay later forever, who knows.

No wonder nihilism is on the rise, quiet quitting is on the rise and birth rate continues to be on the decline.
 
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I don't see it happening to be honest. The fed printed 40% of all dollars in existence in Covid Pandemic. Alot of people with assets (tend to be boomer generation) had their 401k double, their houses double, and their personal portfolio double in the span of 2 years. Think about it- if you have worked since year 2000 and have 2-3 extra homes, 20 years of income into a 401k/personal portfolio and all that doubled if not tripled if not quadruapled- you made bank. My parents (boomers) extra home- according to redfin- quintupled in the span of 10 years.

There's just way to much money floating in the system- and any meaningful dip will be bought by people with cash. The wealth gap gets wider, those with assets profit more, and the rest- well people just gotta live with it. Whether it's renting forever, being in debt forever, buy now pay later forever, who knows.

No wonder nihilism is on the rise, quiet quitting is on the rise and birth rate continues to be on the decline.
I graduated in 2001 but I had been “broke” for a long time. It took my wife and I 5 years to pay off our student loans. We didn’t start investing in rental properties until 2008. And our rental properties have only appreciated 2X as much in value.....and we are very content with this. Yes, they would be 3-4 times more, if I started investing in the early 2000s. I wished I had the money in the early 2000s….but if I did, I’d probably go out and spent it all on stupid things like most young new college grads, who have very little life experience. I too had very little life experience when I was a young grad.
 
I graduated in 2001 but I had been “broke” for a long time. It took my wife and I 5 years to pay off our student loans. We didn’t start investing in rental properties until 2008. And our rental properties have only appreciated 2X as much in value.....and we are very content with this. Yes, they would be 3-4 times more, if I started investing in the early 2000s. I wished I had the money in the early 2000s….but if I did, I’d probably go out and spent it all on stupid things like most young new college grads, who have very little life experience. I too had very little life experience when I was a young grad.

Yup, I manage some of my parents finances...and they were just average middle class Americans. No doctoral degree- just a simple bachelors in hospital work. Anyways, it's crazy how much they have accumulated since the early-mid 90s, by staying invested in mutual funds and adding paycheck over paycheck without fail. In addition, their houses have accumulated so much wealth.

They always believed in saving/investing/no debt and today they are totally set for retirement.

Regardless- the point is- the past 10-20 years of money printing has given rise to a crazy amount of wealth (aka devaluation of the dollar). Now this current and next generation will have to figure out what to do, because an average middle class salary- isn't going to to go far now- compared to 10-20 years ago.

However, in my point of view- money printing is really the only option now. Inflate your debt by money printing.
 
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Yup, I manage some of my parents finances...and they were just average middle class Americans. No doctoral degree- just a simple bachelors in hospital work. Anyways, it's crazy how much they have accumulated since the early-mid 90s, by staying invested in mutual funds and adding paycheck over paycheck without fail. In addition, their houses have accumulated so much wealth.

They always believed in saving/investing/no debt and today they are totally set for retirement.
It’s definitely easier for our parents to build wealth. Even with the income of less than $30k a year, my parents were able to buy a house, their only house, for $134k. They rented out the other rooms when all of us moved out for colleges. When we graduated, we had to help our parents to pay off their house because they came to this country when they were in their early 50s and didn’t save enough for retirement. When my mom passed away last year, my dad sold the house for $890k. He kept 1/4 of the sold amount and gave 1/4 to each 3 of us, siblings. He currently lives with my sister.

Hopefully, you parents have saved enough and won’t need to sell their houses to fund their retirement….and these houses will eventually belong to you and your siblings.:thumbup:
Regardless- the point is- the past 10-20 years of money printing has given rise to a crazy amount of wealth (aka devaluation of the dollar). Now this current and next generation will have to figure out what to do, because an average middle class salary- isn't going to to go far now- compared to 10-20 years ago.

However, in my point of view- money printing is really the only option now. Inflate your debt by money printing.
I feel really bad for the younger generation. A $100k/year income is no longer impressive. Sadly, there’s nothing these young people can do to stop this inflation money printing madness. The more things the politicians try to do, the more problems they create.....and give their citizens false hopes. Recent and future college grads will have to work harder and longer to save for retirement.

In the past, young people/young college students could afford to take gap years, to switch career (by going back to school and taking out more student loans), and to spend time to enjoy their youth for several years before starting to get more serious about saving for retirement. In other words, there was more wiggle room for mistakes in the past. Now, it is very important for the young 18-19 yo kids to make the right decisions (choosing the right college with low tuition, choosing the right college major, avoid taking gap years etc) as early as possible. It is better to start working and saving early in life….the more years one works, the more money he/she makes and saves.
 
I don't see it happening to be honest. The fed printed 40% of all dollars in existence in Covid Pandemic. Alot of people with assets (tend to be boomer generation) had their 401k double, their houses double, and their personal portfolio double in the span of 2 years. Think about it- if you have worked since year 2000 and have 2-3 extra homes, 20 years of income into a 401k/personal portfolio and all that doubled if not tripled if not quadruapled- you made bank. My parents (boomers) extra home- according to redfin- quintupled in the span of 10 years.

There's just way to much money floating in the system- and any meaningful dip will be bought by people with cash. The wealth gap gets wider, those with assets profit more, and the rest- well people just gotta live with it. Whether it's renting forever, being in debt forever, buy now pay later forever, who knows.

No wonder nihilism is on the rise, quiet quitting is on the rise and birth rate continues to be on the decline.

Inflation is still very sticky. There is a shortage of skilled labor. Shortage of good experience. Shortage of human capital. Our nation exploded with the baby boomers generation because the post world war 2 economy meant there were a lot of people around to build new industries which helped economic growth and prosperity. Those days will not be repeated in current and future economies. The stock market will not perform the way it did the last 4 decades because productivity is not the same as our parents generation.

Young and futures generations have/will have different views of work. They lean more on their parents. Most young adults still LIVE with their parents. About 1 in 3 men between the age of 15-44 today are fathers, while about 50% of females of the same age are mothers. About 30% of men under age 35 are still virgins. There are economic and social reasons of why the birth rates are still declining, and in 15 years (by 2040), nearly 100% of our population growth will rely on immigrants - if we’re lucky. Because this is a global trend. The internet changed humanity’s mindset about life and the need to form families, and recent economic challenges exacerbated the attitude change towards life. Just look at declines in college enrollments, the 10M+ open jobs for the past few years, lack of labor participation, everyone asking for a raise to make ends meet, etc. Its the new normal.

Our society can’t function at elevated debt, elevated inflation, elevated median age, elevated shortages in affordable homes, etc. These economic trends are all happening all at once across the country for the first time in the history of the nation. It’s nice that our parents have nice nest eggs to retire on, but will their kids even get social security benefits when they retire? Unless inheritance and wealth transfer happens in a big way to young generations, most of those kids (now in their 40-50’s) didn’t save nearly the same amount as their parents adjusted for inflation. Specially with future taxes going up. Yes, we have nice and cool things today than 30-40 years ago, but the demand for more innovation and progress will become even more expensive at a time when debt is already servicing most things for consumers. More printed money will be needed to support and fix our economy from current and future cracks, and there are already many in the system today.

America has over 4,300 “banks”, while Canada has about 30. Canada population is about 10% of the US, yet, in America… it’s cool to have multiple credit cards and banks… and debt. Today, about 10% of our banks could be weeks to months away from collapsing due to lack of liquidity and inability to raise money and stay in business with good reserves. That number will likely increase during the age of mobile banking. It can take hours for bank customers to do bank runs on their banks at small and regional banks. As the Fed raises rates higher, which means less demand for lending, it will hit most of our financial institutions margins in a big way. We’re now seeing 5-15% spreads in interest rates for banks to give loans (depending on borrower’s credit); for mortgages, personal loans, small business loans, etc. So we will see less access to capital over the next 6-18 months, which means the economy will start to choke, less growth and bubbles bursting. Small business bankruptcies are already up, which means the commercial real estate industry (specially offices) will have more empty spaces with “for lease” signs. The owners of those properties will not be able to meet their loan obligations; as 1 trillion dollars of debt is due for refinancing this year at a higher interest rates, and another 1 trillion due next year. The CRE market is heading towards a train wreck.

Greedflation is screwing everything and it will only get worse. It’s effecting society’s values, as money continues to become the only motive.
D39-F60-A1-D28-C-47-AD-A1-C9-8-FD5928-A23-B0.jpg

Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/ameri...once-defined-u-s-wsj-norc-poll-finds-df8534cd
 
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It’s definitely easier for our parents to build wealth. Even with the income of less than $30k a year, my parents were able to buy a house, their only house, for $134k. They rented out the other rooms when all of us moved out for colleges. When we graduated, we had to help our parents to pay off their house because they came to this country when they were in their early 50s and didn’t save enough for retirement. When my mom passed away last year, my dad sold the house for $890k. He kept 1/4 of the sold amount and gave 1/4 to each 3 of us, siblings. He currently lives with my sister.

Hopefully, you parents have saved enough and won’t need to sell their houses to fund their retirement….and these houses will eventually belong to you and your siblings.:thumbup:

I feel really bad for the younger generation. A $100k/year income is no longer impressive. Sadly, there’s nothing these young people can do to stop this inflation money printing madness. The more things the politicians try to do, the more problems they create.....and give their citizens false hopes. Recent and future college grads will have to work harder and longer to save for retirement.

In the past, young people/young college students could afford to take gap years, to switch career (by going back to school and taking out more student loans), and to spend time to enjoy their youth for several years before starting to get more serious about saving for retirement. In other words, there was more wiggle room for mistakes in the past. Now, it is very important for the young 18-19 yo kids to make the right decisions (choosing the right college with low tuition, choosing the right college major, avoid taking gap years etc) as early as possible. It is better to start working and saving early in life….the more years one works, the more money he/she makes and saves.

Agree to all this. The best thing you can do now- which sounds crazy spoiled- is buy homes for your children to pass on.
Inflation is still very sticky. There is a shortage of skilled labor. Shortage of good experience. Shortage of human capital. Our nation exploded with the baby boomers generation because the post world war 2 economy meant there were a lot of people around to build new industries which helped economic growth and prosperity. Those days will not be repeated in current and future economies. The stock market will not perform the way it did the last 4 decades because productivity is not the same as our parents generation.

Young and futures generations have/will have different views of work. They lean more on their parents. Most young adults still LIVE with their parents. About 1 in 3 men between the age of 15-44 today are fathers, while about 50% of females of the same age are mothers. About 30% of men under age 35 are still virgins. There are economic and social reasons of why the birth rates are still declining, and in 15 years (by 2040), nearly 100% of our population growth will rely on immigrants - if we’re lucky. Because this is a global trend. The internet changed humanity’s mindset about life and the need to form families, and recent economic challenges exacerbated the attitude change towards life. Just look at declines in college enrollments, the 10M+ open jobs for the past few years, lack of labor participation, everyone asking for a raise to make ends meet, etc. Its the new normal.

Our society can’t function at elevated debt, elevated inflation, elevated median age, elevated shortages in affordable homes, etc. These economic trends are all happening all at once across the country for the first time in the history of the nation. It’s nice that our parents have nice nest eggs to retire on, but will their kids even get social security benefits when they retire? Unless inheritance and wealth transfer happens in a big way to young generations, most of those kids (now in their 40-50’s) didn’t save nearly the same amount as their parents adjusted for inflation. Specially with future taxes going up. Yes, we have nice and cool things today than 30-40 years ago, but the demand for more innovation and progress will become even more expensive at a time when debt is already servicing most things for consumers. More printed money will be needed to support and fix our economy from current and future cracks, and there are already many in the system today.

America has over 4,300 “banks”, while Canada has about 30. Canada population is about 10% of the US, yet, in America… it’s cool to have multiple credit cards and banks… and debt. Today, about 10% of our banks could be weeks to months away from collapsing due to lack of liquidity and inability to raise money and stay in business with good reserves. That number will likely increase during the age of mobile banking. It can take hours for bank customers to do bank runs on their banks at small and regional banks. As the Fed raises rates higher, which means less demand for lending, it will hit most of our financial institutions margins in a big way. We’re now seeing 5-15% spreads in interest rates for banks to give loans (depending on borrower’s credit); for mortgages, personal loans, small business loans, etc. So we will see less access to capital over the next 6-18 months, which means the economy will start to choke, less growth and bubbles bursting. Small business bankruptcies are already up, which means the commercial real estate industry (specially offices) will have more empty spaces with “for lease” signs. The owners of those properties will not be able to meet their loan obligations; as 1 trillion dollars of debt is due for refinancing this year at a higher interest rates, and another 1 trillion due next year. The CRE market is heading towards a train wreck.

Greedflation is screwing everything and it will only get worse. It’s effecting society’s values, as money continues to become the only motive.
D39-F60-A1-D28-C-47-AD-A1-C9-8-FD5928-A23-B0.jpg

Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/americans-pull-back-from-values-that-once-defined-u-s-wsj-norc-poll-finds-df8534cd


100% agree with all the above. My gut tells me that rate cuts are coming along with ubi/stimulus and debt forgiveness. And if you look at how qe plus 2009 gave rise to assets- I think we will see the same thing happen. Never underestimate the govt ability to create money.

But that brings on the discussion of the bric currency and de-dollarization. The thing with that is that it took 30 or so years for the dollar to replace the pound.

Yes time moves faster now with technology but until there is an alternative to the dollar- they can keep printing without repercussion
 
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Agree to all this. The best thing you can do now- which sounds crazy spoiled- is buy homes for your children to pass on.



100% agree with all the above. My gut tells me that rate cuts are coming along with ubi/stimulus and debt forgiveness. And if you look at how qe plus 2009 gave rise to assets- I think we will see the same thing happen. Never underestimate the govt ability to create money.

But that brings on the discussion of the bric currency and de-dollarization. The thing with that is that it took 30 or so years for the dollar to replace the pound.

Yes time moves faster now with technology but until there is an alternative to the dollar- they can keep printing without repercussion

The dollar will not be replaced easily. But it will loose influence and trade participation between other global economies, specially in Asia and the Middle East, who are mostly our allies. China will buy oil from Saudi Arabia in Yuan soon, if not already. India will buy Russian oil through Dubai benchmark, and is starting to trade with other Tiger nations in Asia in Rupees soon. Decades of the USD dominance has peaked, and unfortunately we weaponized the dollar to fight wars, like the current Russian oil and imports ban in place for US and Europe. We don’t have a seat at the OPEC+ table either, because we are more energy independent than we use to be, but changes to global oil demand and prices still hits us at the domestic gas pump. When the dollar is very strong, it hurts the rest of the world, and I think there is a huge appetite for other currencies for goods and services to be traded on globally. It will happen, but to what degree is unknown.
 
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The dollar will not be replaced easily. But it will loose influence and trade participation between other global economies, specially in Asia and the Middle East, who are mostly our allies. China will buy oil from Saudi Arabia in Yuan soon, if not already. India will buy Russian oil through Dubai benchmark, and is starting to trade with other Tiger nations in Asia in Rupees soon. Decades of the USD dominance has peaked, and unfortunately we weaponized the dollar to fight wars, like the current Russian oil and imports ban in place for US and Europe. We don’t have a seat at the OPEC+ table either, because we are more energy independent than we use to be, but changes to global oil demand and prices still hits us at the domestic gas pump. When the dollar is very strong, it hurts the rest of the world, and I think there is a huge appetite for other currencies for goods and services to be traded on globally. It will happen, but to what degree is unknown.

It really feels like the end of an empire. I know the saying- don't bet against america, but I feel like we are really are declining as an overall nation. Look at Great Britain- once the superpower of the world...now nothing. Empires do come and go- look up Ray Dalio the "the changing world order"



Every empire at the end prints money, gets into debt, prints money, and another world order emerges. Interesting times we live in.
 
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It really feels like the end of an empire. I know the saying- don't bet against america, but I feel like we are really are declining as an overall nation. Look at Great Britain- once the superpower of the world...now nothing. Empires do come and go- look up Ray Dalio the "the changing world order"



Every empire at the end prints money, gets into debt, prints money, and another world order emerges. Interesting times we live in.

Got gold?

Too bad I lost whatever I owned in a boating accident…

440A8A13-9C8D-4DBB-8E48-0D7C7E8DCFF6.jpeg


Big Hoss
 
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It really feels like the end of an empire. I know the saying- don't bet against america, but I feel like we are really are declining as an overall nation. Look at Great Britain- once the superpower of the world...now nothing. Empires do come and go- look up Ray Dalio the "the changing world order"



Every empire at the end prints money, gets into debt, prints money, and another world order emerges. Interesting times we live in.

Hmmm, Great Britain empire lasted nearly 400 years, in terms of being a superpower we are maybe 70 years? After WW2. Our time will come but I have a hard time believing we are there, but I could be wrong very wrong. In terms of " BRICS" that conversation has been going on since 2010, and not much came of it.
 
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Hmmm, Great Britain empire lasted nearly 400 years, in terms of being a superpower we are maybe 70 years? After WW2. Our time will come but I have a hard time believing we are there, but I could be wrong very wrong. In terms of " BRICS" that conversation has been going on since 2010, and not much came of it.
Technology has accelerated everything. What used to change years can change in weeks if not days.

Just a generation ago korea and China were literally farming communities and poor poor poor.

Look where they are at today. Making supercomputers surpass us.
 
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All you need to know…


Big Hoss

The world is decoupling at a rapid pace. Globalization is ending and a new Cold War starting. The scale of change is happening at a rapid pace. If anyone follows geopolitics you would be amazed how quickly things are turning.

Regardless I think this decade will be pivotal in how the future plays out
 
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All you need to know…


Big Hoss

By the time that link loaded, we added 1M in additional debt. But the country’s population only grew 1 more person. Insane! I’m still 20-25 yrs from the government’s retirement age. Imagine being born today to these national debt and economic numbers.

 
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The world is decoupling at a rapid pace. Globalization is ending and a new Cold War starting. The scale of change is happening at a rapid pace. If anyone follows geopolitics you would be amazed how quickly things are turning.

Regardless I think this decade will be pivotal in how the future plays out

Well… whatever happens, people under the age 25 will take the full burden in long run. They will own less homes, save less for retirement and hold more debt. The country’s financial and social decision making are mostly in the hands of people who have 5-15 years to live at Congress. The next US president will likely be the oldest ever. I agree, between now and 2030 will be a defining era for the nation.
 
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America be like…

View attachment 369007

But, hey, let’s just keep voting the same people into office! Maybe they’ll get the deck chairs nicely arranged for us while the ship goes down.

Big Hoss

Haha… we’ve been staring at the iceberg for a while now and everyone is wondering why it’s so small above the water.
 
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Hmmm, Great Britain empire lasted nearly 400 years, in terms of being a superpower we are maybe 70 years? After WW2. Our time will come but I have a hard time believing we are there, but I could be wrong very wrong. In terms of " BRICS" that conversation has been going on since 2010, and not much came of it.
Haha… we’ve been staring at the iceberg for a while now and everyone is wondering why it’s so small above the water.

Over the weekend France buddies up with China. China starts their quest for petroyuan with Saudi Arabia. Iran and Saudi are paving the road for diplomacy. Malaysia says usd is useless. While the term brics has been around since 2010… today they are making bigger and more visible moves. Like the war in Ukraine, forging alliances with middle east, belt road initiative, Hong Kong and taiwan.

What I’m getting at time moves fast with todays technology. Great Britain used to sail the seas into countries that could barely harness fire. In addition those trips took many months.

Today it’s a different story. You can fly across the world in a day. And everyone today is pretty much on equal footing.
 
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Over the weekend France buddies up with China. China starts their quest for petroyuan with Saudi Arabia. Iran and Saudi are paving the road for diplomacy. Malaysia says usd is useless. While the term brics has been around since 2010… today they are making bigger and more visible moves. Like the war in Ukraine, forging alliances with middle east, belt road initiative, Hong Kong and taiwan.

What I’m getting at time moves fast with todays technology. Great Britain used to sail the seas into countries that could barely harness fire. In addition those trips took many months.

Today it’s a different story. You can fly across the world in a day. And everyone today is pretty much on equal footing.
The moral of the story is there’s nothing you can do about the national debt…about the weak US dollar. Keep your finances in check and you will be fine.
 
The moral of the story is there’s nothing you can do about the national debt…about the weak US dollar. Keep your finances in check and you will be fine.
Agreed, but being aware of what's going on in the world is how you stay ahead of the curve. Investors that understood what QE meant in 2009...and what "buying" corporate bonds of March of 2020 knows what that meant. The one's that basically went through their day to day life, saving their money in .01% interest rate accounts and <1% bonds basically got screwed. Just look at bitcoin. It was one of the reasons why it was created, and why it was invested in- people saw and understood that paper currency is just gonna get printed and devalued opened at .09 cents in 2010- and look where its at today.

It pays to be aware of what is happening and why interest rates matter, the debt, the printing, etc etc etc.
 
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Agreed, but being aware of what's going on in the world is how you stay ahead of the curve. Investors that understood what QE meant in 2009...and what "buying" corporate bonds of March of 2020 knows what that meant. The one's that basically went through their day to day life, saving their money in .01% interest rate accounts and <1% bonds basically got screwed. Just look at bitcoin. It was one of the reasons why it was created, and why it was invested in- people saw and understood that paper currency is just gonna get printed and devalued opened at .09 cents in 2010- and look where its at today.

It pays to be aware of what is happening and why interest rates matter, the debt, the printing, etc etc etc.
Why worry about things that you that can’t control? Work less and spend more would be irresponsible things to do right now. Based on the current negative trend, one should do the exact opposite….work more, spend less and save for future retirement

To combat the declining US dollars, I just put my money in high yield 4.5-5% CDs (and take the advantage of the rise in interest rate) since I am clueless about stock investments. Once these CD accounts mature, I’ll use all these savings to buy more investment properties and pay them in full.
 
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Why worry about things that you that can’t control? Work less and spend more would be irresponsible things to do right now. Based on the current negative trend, one should do the exact opposite….work more, spend less and save for future retirement

To combat the declining US dollars, I just put my money in high yield 4.5-5% CDs (and take the advantage of the rise in interest rate) since I am clueless about stock investments. Once these CD accounts mature, I’ll use all these savings to buy more investment properties and pay them in full.

I don’t worry about things I can’t control. I look for opportunities to invest and grow wealth- and understanding the overall picture is imperative.

Yes 5% cds are pretty good.
 
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Hmmm, Great Britain empire lasted nearly 400 years, in terms of being a superpower we are maybe 70 years? After WW2. Our time will come but I have a hard time believing we are there, but I could be wrong very wrong. In terms of " BRICS" that conversation has been going on since 2010, and not much came of it.


“Every night I ask myself why all countries have to base their trade on the dollar.” “Why can’t we do trade based on our own currencies?” This drew loud applause from the audience of Brazilian and Chinese dignitaries. “Who was it that decided that the dollar was the currency after the disappearance of the gold standard?” “Why can’t a bank like that of the Brics have a currency to finance trade relations between Brazil and China, between Brazil and other countries?”

Brazils president (latin america's biggest trading partner). Just today 1 hour ago.

Another day, another country questioning the reserve currency. People waking up to see the global dollar hegemony is backed by...nothing but the printing press of the fed (aka digital 1's and 0's). Once we lose that, we lose basically our seat at the superpower table. In addition, have you seen the comparison of traded partner countries? Mapping The World's Trade Domination: USA & China's Clout Since 1980

Yeah times are changing.

400 years? Yeah, that ain't happening. I'm no fan of the brics, but superpowers come and go. And with technology, 400 years would be a blessing. In fact if we were to still be top dog by 2030-40...that would be probably a stretch.
 
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“Every night I ask myself why all countries have to base their trade on the dollar.” “Why can’t we do trade based on our own currencies?” This drew loud applause from the audience of Brazilian and Chinese dignitaries. “Who was it that decided that the dollar was the currency after the disappearance of the gold standard?” “Why can’t a bank like that of the Brics have a currency to finance trade relations between Brazil and China, between Brazil and other countries?”

Brazils president (latin america's biggest trading partner). Just today 1 hour ago.

Another day, another country questioning the reserve currency. People waking up to see the global dollar hegemony is backed by...nothing but the printing press of the fed (aka digital 1's and 0's). Once we lose that, we lose basically our seat at the superpower table. In addition, have you seen the comparison of traded partner countries? Mapping The World's Trade Domination: USA & China's Clout Since 1980

Yeah times are changing.

400 years? Yeah, that ain't happening. I'm no fan of the brics, but superpowers come and go. And with technology, 400 years would be a blessing. In fact if we were to still be top dog by 2030-40...that would be probably a stretch.
I definitely agree with you on the speed of change the days. But Lula is saying the same stuff he said back in the 90s, the guy had always been anti west particular to the US, so his comments are no surprise. I will be curious to see how his term does, the guy has a long history in politics down there involving corruption and this last election was very close. As for China that's a can we been kicking down the road a longtime, Trump finally took it head on, and it looks like he was right. The 2024 election is gonna be critical.
 
Lol. The US dollar continues to gain strength against all major currencies. In theory the digital renmbi could be a threat but despite all the rhetoric towards the US the world trusts China even less. The age old enemy called Russia is getting stomped in Ukraine right now. US has an incredible amount of still untapped natural resources. Continues to drain brains from other countries which keeps the population stable despite worldwide birth rate trend. Leads the world in the most important areas of technology - AI, pharmaceuticals, crypto, and military tech (maybe Israel catching up to the latter). Is home to SpaceX which has made incredible gains in space travel. Is a relatively safe haven for climate change - except Florida which is just an old person reserve anyways. Is able to flex silicon restrictions on China Russia due to close ties to Taiwan in addition to making recent investments in producing chips itself just in case China bombs Taiwan. Japan (third largest economy btw) and South Korea are becoming sleeping giants with close ties to US. Was able to predict and warn about all of Russia's moves in Ukraine indicating a strong spy network improved from the Iraq WMD debacle.
BUT - "tHe uS iS LoSiNg it'S sTaTuS aS a SuPErpOwER".
It's actually pretty sad and ironic that this basically comes from other places trying to mimic Trump tactics like if you say something enough times it will become true but it's actually a complete joke. Yes China has a large population and is making modernization strides but if you spend any real time investigating you'll see from here on they face pretty damn significant hurdles.
 
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Lol. The US dollar continues to gain strength against all major currencies. In theory the digital renmbi could be a threat but despite all the rhetoric towards the US the world trusts China even less. The age old enemy called Russia is getting stomped in Ukraine right now. US has an incredible amount of still untapped natural resources. Continues to drain brains from other countries which keeps the population stable despite worldwide birth rate trend. Leads the world in the most important areas of technology - AI, pharmaceuticals, crypto, and military tech (maybe Israel catching up to the latter). Is home to SpaceX which has made incredible gains in space travel. Is a relatively safe haven for climate change - except Florida which is just an old person reserve anyways. Is able to flex silicon restrictions on China Russia due to close ties to Taiwan in addition to making recent investments in producing chips itself just in case China bombs Taiwan. Japan (third largest economy btw) and South Korea are becoming sleeping giants with close ties to US. Was able to predict and warn about all of Russia's moves in Ukraine indicating a strong spy network improved from the Iraq WMD debacle.
BUT - "tHe uS iS LoSiNg it'S sTaTuS aS a SuPErpOwER".
It's actually pretty sad and ironic that this basically comes from other places trying to mimic Trump tactics like if you say something enough times it will become true but it's actually a complete joke. Yes China has a large population and is making modernization strides but if you spend any real time investigating you'll see from here on they face pretty damn significant hurdles.
I’m pretty sure Musk has flagged your Twitter account as “state-affiliated media.”

Big Hoss
 
Medium sized city in a coastal state. I work 5 days per week. I don’t do anything crazy.
that is excellent compensation, you're making this as an associate or owner?
 
Lol. The US dollar continues to gain strength against all major currencies. In theory the digital renmbi could be a threat but despite all the rhetoric towards the US the world trusts China even less. The age old enemy called Russia is getting stomped in Ukraine right now. US has an incredible amount of still untapped natural resources. Continues to drain brains from other countries which keeps the population stable despite worldwide birth rate trend. Leads the world in the most important areas of technology - AI, pharmaceuticals, crypto, and military tech (maybe Israel catching up to the latter). Is home to SpaceX which has made incredible gains in space travel. Is a relatively safe haven for climate change - except Florida which is just an old person reserve anyways. Is able to flex silicon restrictions on China Russia due to close ties to Taiwan in addition to making recent investments in producing chips itself just in case China bombs Taiwan. Japan (third largest economy btw) and South Korea are becoming sleeping giants with close ties to US. Was able to predict and warn about all of Russia's moves in Ukraine indicating a strong spy network improved from the Iraq WMD debacle.
BUT - "tHe uS iS LoSiNg it'S sTaTuS aS a SuPErpOwER".
It's actually pretty sad and ironic that this basically comes from other places trying to mimic Trump tactics like if you say something enough times it will become true but it's actually a complete joke. Yes China has a large population and is making modernization strides but if you spend any real time investigating you'll see from here on they face pretty damn significant hurdles.

Im as neutral as can be when it comes to politics, but im not blind to see where the us is going. Yes we are currently the best on the block but times are changing.
 
  1. Great Depression (1929-1939): The economic collapse during the Great Depression severely affected the United States, leading many to question its global influence and stability.
  2. Vietnam War (1955-1975): The protracted and unpopular war in Vietnam led to a loss of confidence in American military power and political leadership, as well as social unrest at home.
  3. 1970s economic crisis: A combination of high inflation, high unemployment, and an energy crisis in the 1970s raised concerns about the United States' ability to maintain its global economic dominance.
  4. Post-Cold War (1990s): With the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, some argued that the United States would no longer be as influential without a major global adversary to justify its military and political presence.
  5. 2008 financial crisis: The global financial crisis, which originated in the United States, led to doubts about the country's economic stability and the sustainability of its financial system.
  6. Recent years: In the 21st century, the rise of China as a global economic and political power, along with ongoing domestic issues such as political polarization and socioeconomic inequality, have prompted discussions about the potential decline of American influence on the world stage.

6. Is by far the the silliest. The rise of China = fall of US is such an absurd logical fallacy it's painful. How many times do we parrot competition is good but apparently competing against China is no bueno.

There's also record numbers of people every year trying to get into the US. You have to remove yourself from the hyper polarized politics and click bait media for a second and look objectively.
 
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  1. Great Depression (1929-1939): The economic collapse during the Great Depression severely affected the United States, leading many to question its global influence and stability.
  2. Vietnam War (1955-1975): The protracted and unpopular war in Vietnam led to a loss of confidence in American military power and political leadership, as well as social unrest at home.
  3. 1970s economic crisis: A combination of high inflation, high unemployment, and an energy crisis in the 1970s raised concerns about the United States' ability to maintain its global economic dominance.
  4. Post-Cold War (1990s): With the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, some argued that the United States would no longer be as influential without a major global adversary to justify its military and political presence.
  5. 2008 financial crisis: The global financial crisis, which originated in the United States, led to doubts about the country's economic stability and the sustainability of its financial system.
  6. Recent years: In the 21st century, the rise of China as a global economic and political power, along with ongoing domestic issues such as political polarization and socioeconomic inequality, have prompted discussions about the potential decline of American influence on the world stage.

6. Is by far the the silliest. The rise of China = fall of US is such an absurd logical fallacy it's painful. How many times do we parrot competition is good but apparently competing against China is no bueno.

There's also record numbers of people every year trying to get into the US. You have to remove yourself from the hyper polarized politics and click bait media for a second and look objectively.

I sure hope you are right. I got two kids to put through college and I need time for my retirement to enjoy life.

The last thing I want to see is a sovereign debt crisis along with hyperinflation.
 
The last thing I want to see is a sovereign debt crisis along with hyperinflation.
Good luck with that! The only thing that will stop it is if the Feds start living within their means. And that’s not gonna happen, because they’ve got the meat bots in the country addicted to the handouts. And it’s the handouts that get people elected.

Big Hoss
 
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Good luck with that! The only thing that will stop it is if the Feds start living within their means. And that’s not gonna happen, because they’ve got the meat bots in the country addicted to the handouts. And it’s the handouts that get people elected.

Big Hoss

It’s hard to believe this is just another cycle… that everything will turn out to be ok. I would argue that 08 was really the start of the decline. Bailouts qe zombie corporations crony capitalism etc.

The bubble now is too big to burst so we going hyperinflation. Think about the new average graduate coming out with a bachelors making 50-80k with 100k student loans… and the average house in my neighborhood at 1-1.5 million (and it’s just an average neighborhood) trying to make a 10k monthly payment for 30 years.

Yeah it doesn’t seem hopeful for me here.
 
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It’s hard to believe this is just another cycle… that everything will turn out to be ok. I would argue that 08 was really the start of the decline. Bailouts qe zombie corporations crony capitalism etc.

The bubble now is too big to burst so we going hyperinflation. Think about the new average graduate coming out with a bachelors making 50-80k with 100k student loans… and the average house in my neighborhood at 1-1.5 million (and it’s just an average neighborhood) trying to make a 10k monthly payment for 30 years.

Yeah it doesn’t seem hopeful for me here.
Median student loan debt is $40k, median home price is $450k.

Stop talking in anecdotes and “my neighborhood”. It obviously is not representative and therefore irrelevant when talking about National-level topics.

Inflation is easing (slowly) per almost all economic metrics.

Get out of here with that “hyperinflation” talk with absolutely no legitimate statistics to back up. Stop parroting the fear mongering.
 
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Median student loan debt is $40k, median home price is $450k.

Stop talking in anecdotes and “my neighborhood”. It obviously is not representative and therefore irrelevant when talking about National-level topics.

Inflation is easing (slowly) per almost all economic metrics.

Get out of here with that “hyperinflation” talk with absolutely no legitimate statistics to back up. Stop parroting the fear mongering.

Eh, I graduated in 2010. The cost of living, tuition, housing, cars were much cheaper then now. The past 2 years have accelerated it. If you truely believe the cpi then I got a bridge to sell you.

You can believe whatever data is presented to you, but just look at your balance sheet of assets costs over the past 10 years especially the past 2-3 Covid era and it tells another story.

Not my issue tho, I hedged well against inflation as all my assets increased in value like housing and stocks. Ironically my worst performing asset is prob the dental practice. Stagnant reimbursement and with interest rates high it won’t sell for a lot. Oh well at least it pays the bills and allows me to invest to offset it.
 
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Eh, I graduated in 2010. The cost of living, tuition, housing, cars were much cheaper then now. The past 2 years have accelerated it.

You can believe whatever data is presented to you, but just look at your balance sheet of assets costs over the past 10 years especially the past 2-3 Covid era and it tells another story.

Not my issue tho, I hedged well against inflation as all my assets increased in value like housing and stocks. Ironically my worst performing asset is prob the dental practice. Stagnant reimbursement and with interest rates high it won’t sell for a lot. Oh well at least it pays the bills and allows me to invest to offset it.
Yes, Covid was a major economic disrupter with a subsequent and substantial inflationary period.

Of course things are more expensive than they were in 2010. That’s how global economics usually works. It’s better than the alternative. To be clear, the degree of inflation we’ve had recently is not good. But again, we are now moving in the right direction.

You are correct, anyone can choose to believe anything. That is an ever increasing problem these days. I am talking about the truth, or at least using objective and standard metrics to get closer to the truth.

At this point I’m not even sure if you know what hyperinflation means other than “really high inflation”. It’s probably just a word you heard on your favorite podcast that you like to pepper into conversation to push the illusion of any economic prowess.

Stocks have been just about flat over the past 2 years. Inflation is everyone’s issue for those who use money to live. Including you. But if you really do feel like it’s “not your issue”, then keep quiet and stop clouding the topic with assumptions and presumptions based on your single life’s experience.

Best to stick to dental topics, but probably just clinical if you feel like your practice is your worst performing asset.
 
Median student loan debt is $40k, median home price is $450k.

Stop talking in anecdotes and “my neighborhood”. It obviously is not representative and therefore irrelevant when talking about National-level topics.

Inflation is easing (slowly) per almost all economic metrics.

Get out of here with that “hyperinflation” talk with absolutely no legitimate statistics to back up. Stop parroting the fear mongering.
I don't agree with Thehighwind87 on a lot of things, especially on the "dentistry vs other professions" topic. But I have to agree with him on this one. Our county is heading in the wrong direction. When I graduated in 2001, the national debt was under $3 trillions. Now we are at 31 trillion in debt. The median home price was in the mid 200s and now it is in the mid 400s. Housing affordability is at an all time low.

I feel bad for the younger generation. They will have to work harder than us in order to make up for the decline in the purchasing power. This is why I continue to work hard (despite being debt-free) to save for my kids. I hope that they will have a better lifestyle than what I currently have because they won't have debt + whatever I have now will become theirs.
 
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I don't agree with Thehighwind87 on a lot of things, especially on the "dentistry vs other professions" topic. But I have to agree with him on this one. Our county is heading in the wrong direction. When I graduated in 2001, the national debt was under $3 trillions. Now we are at 31 trillion in debt. The median home price was in the mid 200s and now it is in the mid 400s. Housing affordability is at an all time low.

I feel bad for the younger generation. They will have to work harder than us in order to make up for the decline in the purchasing power. This is why I continue to work hard (despite being debt-free) to save for my kids. I hope that they will have a better lifestyle than what I currently have because they won't have debt + whatever I have now will become theirs.
I agree with mostly everything you said. I was focusing on his wording of “we going hyperinflation”.

There are several pros for the younger generation. But you are right, we will need to work harder (or smarter) than our parents.
 
Where heck do you guys live that the average house in your neighborhood is $1-1.5 million dollars? Of course dentistry is a terrible profession if you live in an area like that. Every professions is a terrible profession in that housing market.

I get not wanting to live in rural Mississippi or rural North Dakota, but there is a whole lot of happy medium between that and what you're describing, and areas where there are likely better patient- to -dentist ratios with houses 1/2 to 1/3 of that price
 
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Where heck do you guys live that the average house in your neighborhood is $1-1.5 million dollars? Of course dentistry is a terrible profession if you live in an area like that. Every professions is a terrible profession in that housing market.

I get not wanting to live in rural Mississippi or rural North Dakota, but there is a whole lot of happy medium between that and what you're describing, and areas where there are likely better patient- to -dentist ratios with houses 1/2 to 1/3 of that price
Houses in my area (just average middle class neighborhood) pre pandemic was around 400-500k. 700-800k was considered a new house with great square footage. Everything on Redfin now is selling for 1 million+ and those that were “newer homes” 1.5+. But sure cpi is “only” 5-6% lol.

I can’t imagine a 10-15k monthly payment for 30 years. Sorta makes you wonder who is buying?
 
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Houses in my area (just average middle class neighborhood) pre pandemic was around 400-500k. 700-800k was considered a new house with great square footage. Everything on Redfin now is selling for 1 million+ and those that were “newer homes” 1.5+. But sure cpi is “only” 5-6% lol.

I can’t imagine a 10-15k monthly payment for 30 years. Sorta makes you wonder who is buying?
The median home price in 2019 was $250k. So again those $400-500k houses were 2x the median pre-pandemic. Not sure if that would be considered average. Maybe for the area? But sounds like an expensive area. Those who can afford it will, those who can’t won’t. Sounds like your practice will become even more valuable due to higher income folk moving in. Must be a fairly desirable area!

Also 20% down on a $1.25 million dollar house with an interest rate of 6% (average now) in an average taxed city/county would have a PMI cost of $8k/month. So again, your numbers seem off.

This all seems to point that you live in area that is an outlier. Stop extrapolating using it as a sole data point.
 
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The median home price in 2019 was $250k. So again those $400-500k houses were 2x the median pre-pandemic. Not sure if that would be considered average. Maybe for the area? But sounds like an expensive area. Those who can afford it will, those who can’t won’t. Sounds like your practice will become even more valuable due to higher income folk moving in. Must be a fairly desirable area!

Also 20% down on a $1.25 million dollar house with an interest rate of 6% (average now) in an average taxed city/county would have a PMI cost of $8k/month. So again, your numbers seem off.

This all seems to point that you live in area that is an outlier. Stop extrapolating using it as a sole data point.

Eh agree to disagree. I don’t think we can come to a agreaable conclusion. Everything that I’ve seen has shown inflation is persistent and will continue to devalue the usd. Let’s just hope there’s some disinflation coming so that the next generation can buy homes. There’s always two trains of thoughts. Best of luck!
 
Houses in my area (just average middle class neighborhood) pre pandemic was around 400-500k. 700-800k was considered a new house with great square footage. Everything on Redfin now is selling for 1 million+ and those that were “newer homes” 1.5+. But sure cpi is “only” 5-6% lol.

I can’t imagine a 10-15k monthly payment for 30 years. Sorta makes you wonder who is buying?
Makes me wonder who is buying too, and who can afford those payments and yet still thinks it's a good idea to live in an area with the cost of living that high
 
Eh agree to disagree. I don’t think we can come to a agreaable conclusion. Everything that I’ve seen has shown inflation is persistent and will continue to devalue the usd. Let’s just hope there’s some disinflation coming so that the next generation can buy homes. There’s always two trains of thoughts. Best of luck!
Persistent inflation =/= hyperinflation.

Inflation is reducing. This is a fact. Yes it’s moving slowly.

The USD has remained strong and gaining (took a dip with the bank crisis). Increasing interest rates will help this.

Your understanding of “inflation bad”, make USD bad” just shows your lack of economic understanding. If you are to “weigh in” on such topics I would implore you to educate yourself first.
 
Do all of you guys live in the bay area, LA, NY, DC, south FL etc...?

We all should move to TX so we can afford a decent place to live in.

 
Do all of you guys live in the bay area, LA, NY, DC, south FL etc...?

We all should move to TX so we can afford a decent place to live in.


I have debated on cashing out and moving to Texas or Georgia. I think if we have 1-2 more years of persistent elevated inflation, then I will. It’s hard to just pick and move.

But yeah I would def go there if I didn’t have roots mortgage practice etc tied down.
 
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Do all of you guys live in the bay area, LA, NY, DC, south FL etc...?

We all should move to TX so we can afford a decent place to live in.

Plenty of room for a good life at a reasonable price outside the top 20 largest metropolitan areas in the country (I know you just cited Houston, but still). I've lived in two of them, and people might be shocked to learn we have Indian food, let alone electricity and running water!
 
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