The Money Mustache Community

Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Investor Alley => Topic started by: A Fella from Stella on July 17, 2019, 07:19:53 PM

Title: Their 401(k) Is Junk and Hardcover Books
Post by: A Fella from Stella on July 17, 2019, 07:19:53 PM
I was at an estate sale where I got a great deal on some dinner plate sets. What amazed me was how many they had, plus hundreds of glasses of all kinds.

Going into the house I saw there were hundreds of hardcover novels. It was a very modest home, but was filled to the brim with so much shit!

And then it hit me: This was their 401(k), and by that I mean that they simply didn't have one, because they frittered away $25 here and $8 there, buying a bunch of crap they didn't need. Commemorative glass sets, another Christmas decoration, the latest book that you read once, and hopefully liked, and then never used again.

I was probably looking at $150,000 in raw capital, and $750,000 if invested.
Title: Re: Their 401(k) Is Junk and Hardcover Books
Post by: PDXTabs on July 17, 2019, 08:19:37 PM
Or they worked too long, had more than enough in their 401k, and spent it all on crap instead of traveling or spending time with friends and family. I know people like that.
Title: Re: Their 401(k) Is Junk and Hardcover Books
Post by: Gronnie on July 17, 2019, 08:40:12 PM
Not sure where you got the idea they had no 401k because they had a bunch of junk.

Yes, they might have had a bigger one, but for all you know they were multi millionaires.
Title: Re: Their 401(k) Is Junk and Hardcover Books
Post by: reeshau on July 18, 2019, 03:27:28 AM
Maybe they bought it all at estate sales at great prices...
Title: Re: Their 401(k) Is Junk and Hardcover Books
Post by: CorpRaider on July 18, 2019, 05:48:18 AM
The modest house may have been more impactful financially than buying books by the truckload.
Title: Re: Their 401(k) Is Junk and Hardcover Books
Post by: harvestbook on July 18, 2019, 11:11:14 AM
Maybe those books gave them a richer life than many of us will ever experience with our piles of hoarded assets...
Title: Re: Their 401(k) Is Junk and Hardcover Books
Post by: A Fella from Stella on July 18, 2019, 11:21:46 AM
Quote from: reeshau on July 18, 2019, 03:27:28 AM
Maybe they bought it all at estate sales at great prices...

Now this, I like.
Title: Re: Their 401(k) Is Junk and Hardcover Books
Post by: A Fella from Stella on July 18, 2019, 11:22:25 AM
Quote from: CorpRaider on July 18, 2019, 05:48:18 AM
The modest house may have been more impactful financially than buying books by the truckload.

Agreed. The clutter might have distracted me while I was just so ready to judge.
Title: Re: Their 401(k) Is Junk and Hardcover Books
Post by: Kronsey on July 18, 2019, 12:07:02 PM
Regardless of if they were well off or didn't have much because they bought a bunch of junk, the fact remains that a "Millionaire is Made Ten Bucks at a Time" - https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/08/01/a-millionaire-is-made-ten-bucks-at-a-time/

Examples like what OP assumed are good reminders that so many who live in absolute abundance never save and build true wealth because they can't say no to advertising.

There are many people in my life like this. Basically everyone in my wife's family. All make good to great livings, but couldn't come up with $5K in a pinch if their life depended on it.

Needs vs Wants - That is the most basic problem that most Americans struggle with.