Why So Many Americans Are Broke

[Contrarian Expatriate]

Neal Gabler is a successful writer, lecturer full-time resident of the esteemed Hamptons of New York, ostensibly intelligent, yet he's broke. He wrote a now famous article on the subject, The Secret Shame of the American Middle Class. PBS did a piece on Gabler where he broke open the silence on this phenomenon:



So where did Gabler go wrong? There really is no mystery.

He's Married. - By now, most on the forum know that I am philosophically against the modern concept of marriage. Once you marry, you essentially take on the role of financial slave to a wife and her offspring. This is no secret. But I list this factor first because by marrying, Gabler ceded his role as master of his own universe and surfed through the whims of the three women in his life to his detriment.

Remember, women do not view money in the same way that men view it. Men see money as the result of toil, labor, hard work, or savvy investing. Women see money as a resource that a good man is supposed to provide, come hell or high water. Even Gabler admits that his biggest regret is the impact his being broke has on his wife. I would bet that she never let's him forget that they are broke so that figures prominantly in his regret.

Let's take a look at some of Gabler's missteps:

His Biggest Financial Investment Was His Home. - The American housing industry does a masterful job duping people into buying their residences. Real Estate guru Grant Cardone, business guru James Altucher, and myself all eschew purchasing a home as a residence in favor of high end renting. Home purchases should be restricted to investment properties that pay you each month and result in an eventual large capital gain that does not require you to move.

Cardone goes into a little bit of why "The American Dream" practice is simply a marketing ploy by banks to get people to spend against their interest. But he only touches upon the tip of the iceberg.

Gabler basically put all of his eggs into the basket of his home only to see the housing crash kill his net worth from which he never recovered. His home is now deteriorating and will likely be demolished instead of sold. Many Americans continue to do this and they wonder why they are forever broke.

He Raised Two Children (both daughters). - Buy most accounts of economists, it costs $250,000 to raise a child from birth to age 21, more if they are female.

He Sent Both Daughters to "Expensive" Universities. - Gabler admitted that he "sent" what were likely his spoiled and entitled daughters to expense universities. You might be thinking that Gabler made the choice to send them to universities, but when your world is 3 screeching, entitled females who see you as a money tree, I don't think that is much of a choice at all.

So yes, Gabler followed the life script that most Americans are duped into following. As men who seek better for ourselves than the status quo, examine what you think about the following and if you really want them:

-A wife who does not view money as a finite resource and the result of your focused effort and labor.
-Children who are entitled and seduced by mass media and peer pressure to sap your wealth.
-Buying a home to live in instead of renting where you want and buying investment properties which pay you each month.
-Spending what should be your retirement kitty on university tuition, room, and board for entitled children.
-Choosing to live in the most expensive areas of the most expensive regions of the world when it is not necessary.
-Falling prey to that wealth-sucking notion of The American Dream which is nothing but early 20th century marketing for "Buy crap you don't need."

Don't let yourself become Neal Gabler......

[Neo]

The most useful piece of learning for the uses of life is to unlearn what is untrue.
– Antisthenes

A great number of things we have learned and been taught are nothing but scams and hoaxes. That is a truth I used to try to share with many people, only to face ridicule and scorn. Now I just keep my mouth shut. No reason to enter into arguments with people who hate me for expressing myself.

Thank you, CE, for posting this valuable information from the cited sources.

[Cornfed]

The thing is that many human men want more in life than affirmative action sinecures and hedonism. They want meaningful participation in a community of their compatriots and to transmit their genes and culture to future generations as they were transmitted to them, which would entail a wife and children. In non-genocidal societies this is generally financially rewarded. Of course in the current dystopia the OP is largely correct, but this is not a desirable situation.

[Contrarian Expatriate]

The thing is that many human men want more in life than affirmative action sinecures and hedonism. They want meaningful participation in a community of their compatriots and to transmit their genes and culture to future generations as they were transmitted to them, which would entail a wife and children. In non-genocidal societies this is generally financially rewarded. Of course in the current dystopia the OP is largely correct, but this is not a desirable situation.

The thing is this topic is for men who have the ability to better make strategic financial decisions that ensure prosperity, especially towards the latter portion of their lives. Given the myriad life struggles you've described on this forum there is no question why this topic would be essentially Greek to you. However, intelligent people can actually relate where you simply cannot, even if they disagree.

[Ghost]

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[Contrarian Expatriate]

That the system acts as a wealth transfer from men to women without women having any obligations belies the truth that being broke (and worse) is the future for most.

Correct, but I am convinced this is partially due to human nature. But the sad part of this guy’s existence is that he is not only blind to this reality, but he most laments the parasitic wife’s material deprivation more than anything.

His is a good example of how husbands are UNWITTINGLY made into slaves via marriage.
He certainly remains unaware.

[jamesbond]

Buy most accounts of economists, it costs $250,000 to raise a child from birth to age 21, more if they are female.

This is true, studies have shown that it does cost $250,000 to raise a child from birth to age 21 (or maybe even just age 18). That is one of the main reasons I don't want to have children it's just too damn expensive.

Then you throw in college, paying for your daughters wedding, etc. and the costs of having children are just astronomical.

[Zambales]

A friend of mine who I've known for the past twenty years has a couple of daughters and he's estimated that it'll cost him close to the price of a house to get them married off. He runs his own small business, works over 100 hours per week and I've never known him to have a vacation.

I kind of feel sorry for him in a way because he's been manipulated into this lifestyle but then again he can come across smug and cocky at times by pretending to know more about how to lead your life than you do.

[Contrarian Expatriate]

Buy most accounts of economists, it costs $250,000 to raise a child from birth to age 21, more if they are female.

This is true, studies have shown that it does cost $250,000 to raise a child from birth to age 21 (or maybe even just age 18). That is one of the main reasons I don't want to have children it's just too damn expensive.

Then you throw in college, paying for your daughters wedding, etc. and the costs of having children are just astronomical.

If most single men were given this choice of 1) having children at the cost of $250,000 each or 2) staying childless and retiring early with the resultant extra personal wealth, I am certain all but a scant few would choose the latter. But because having children is so propagandized through culture, mass media, and social pressure, and religious faith many men opt for the former. More and more are living to regret that decision.

Oddly, I have been warned all my adult life (usually by females) that when I was as old as I am now, I would deeply regret not having a wife and children. However, I have never regretted it at all. I still have the opportunity presently to go that route, but I am still reticent and I lean against it due to the huge sacrifices in time, expense, and freedom required to do it adequately.

This is just one more example of the social programming directed against men and their individual interests.

[Shemp]

Having children doesn't have to be so expensive. The main thing to understand is that children is women's business, not men's. A man should always be prepared to abandon his children if the wife acts up. The best approach is to treat the wife like a whore who gets paid when she provides regular sex, and then she can use this money to support her children (not YOUR children, HER children). In many parts of the world, that is possible, but not the USA or Europe because of child support laws and common law marriage.

Hasidic Jews and polygamist Mormons manage to scam the system so as to have big families and still do well financially. First, they aren't officially married, so the women can go on welfare. Two women sometimes mutially give their children up for adoption, then take the others children as foster parents, at least on the books, so they really clean up with welfare. All kinds of other schemes. All this depends on the women playing according to rules, which requires constant brainwashing by the men. A truly exhausting life for these men, IMO.

[Contrarian Expatriate]

Having children doesn't have to be so expensive.

I agree in that American parents overspend on "extras" when they have the means (and sometimes when they do not). Series of special lessons (Martial arts, music, dance, etc), sports team participation, bigger homes to provide separate rooms, summer camps, private schools, college funds, cars, etc all drive up the costs. In Eastern Europe, much of that stuff is dirt cheap or very nearly free.

American parents also tend to purchase homes beyond their affordability to get access to the right neighborhood schools which is likely the single biggest expense that comes from parenting in the USA.

[Cornfed]

American parents also tend to purchase homes beyond their affordability to get access to the right neighborhood schools which is likely the single biggest expense that comes from parenting in the USA.

They have to separate themselves from blacks somehow.

[Neo]

A man could always just homeschool his children, where available, and just help his children start a business. Also, no reason to pay for a wedding at all. Expensive schooling and weddings are personal choices, just like the decision to buy a Bentley instead of a Honda.

[CannedHam]

Raising kids doesn't have to be expensive. But many Americans are retards and can't put things into perspective.

1. You don't need a f***ing 3500sq ft McMansion to raise a family of 4. You also don't need 4 cars. You don't need a 6 bedroom house with a master bedroom, a bedroom for each kid, a game room, a crafts room, a guest room, finished basement, huge yard, etc. Buy a small 3br townhouse in a good area.

2. Don't buy a house in a "cool hip" area in a large city that will have you paying $10k/year per child for K-12 private school because the inner city public schools are shit. A buddy of mine paid a large premium for a house in a hipster part of Chicago and is now paying $17k/year to send both of his kids to private schools because the local public school is a f***ing warzone ghetto.

3. Push your kids to go to 2 years of community college then 2 years of state school, if they want any parental support. You wanna go to Blue River College to study Art at $65k/year? Great, you're on your f***ing own. Want to get a bachelor's in accounting or engineering at the local state school? Okay, I'll help out.

4. DON'T f***ing WASTE MONEY ON SPORTS. The amount parents spend nowadays on their kid's sport activities is amazing. I work with a woman who has spent $15-30k/year on her daughter's figure skating, which includes travel, clinics, coaches, tournaments, camps, equipment etc. and the woman is flat out broke. And just to make things even more hilarious, her daughter became a total fatass and gave up skating in college anyways. And don't give me the BS about your kid "getting a full ride" because of a sports scholarship. It's insanely difficult to get. If they're a college athlete then they will probably suck at academics due to time constraints. And frankly you can just save the money you'd spend on sports and pay for your kids college outright.

5. Don't overspend on extras like expensive camps, lavish vacations when kids are small (they won't give a f**k and would probably rather be playing video games at home), lavish weddings. and so on.

Look at how kids were raised in the 60s-90s and compare that to what's going on nowadays. My dad was raised in a 3 bedroom house for a total of 6 people (parents + kids) and they only had one car. 90% of my dad's free time was spent playing outside, riding his bike, going to the park, going to the library, occasionally some movies or visits to the museum, and so on. Kids were in good shape so little was spent going to the doctor (unlike the fat f***s that pass for "kids" nowadays). Public schools were excellent and rigorous (unlike the f***ing joke they are now). Colleges were better run, more spartan, and less bloated, making education a lot cheaper.

[Contrarian Expatriate]

You absolutely nailed it @CannedHam. Why most conventional people can't get their heads around this I simply do not know.