@_wrongsideof30 @Miru173 @Matt0733 @Timcast It’s a thought experiment with very few words. Take them for what they mean.
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Postmaster 3000
2.6K posts
I suppose I'll be accused of being a leftist for saying this, but working professionals shouldn’t have to brown‑bag it to succeed in a modern society. I don't mean that in the “everyone deserves a pony” sense. I mean it in the “my car doesn’t sound right” sense.
Joel Berry@JoelWBerry
A little-known hack: 2 slices of Aldi wheat bread: $0.17 3 oz of Aldi deli turkey: $0.86 1 slices Aldi cheddar: $0.15 1 condiment of your choice: $0.02 1 apple: $0.53 1 hard boiled egg: $0.14 5 carrot sticks: $0.17 Cold water from the tap: $0.01 Total: $2.05 You can do this.
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@DeyarWins @iam_shwa Actually the ten-year return was better. Don’t even think about the nineties, that was stupid good if you were smart enough back then. As a Gen X-er I had no idea how to get rich off the dot-com boom.
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@postmaster3000 @iam_shwa Yeah, and that’s based on the last 5 years of market returns. Open a TradingView chart and compare it to any other decade, it’s certainly optimistic
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If you invest $20 a day into a mutual fund or index fund that averages 10% returns after 5 years you could have 100-400k
So yes it actually is a big reason you're broke
Carolina Lion@CarolinaLion2
Oh yeah, somebody spending $20.00 on food a day while making $70,000.00 a year is the reason they are poor and not the fact that the average price of a new car is $50,000.00 and the average house is going for $436,000.00.
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@garydunion @MerriamWebster Right, but it’s not like they invented it, and “Tom Swift amd His Electric Rifle” was the obvious thing to call it. I think they wanted something that sounded like “laser” or “phaser,” and they worked their way back from there. A backronym.
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@postmaster3000 @MerriamWebster It was a reference to Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle, an adventure novel from 1911. I'm not sure Tom has a middle name though, I think the A was added just because TSER needs a vowel there.
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Here are words that are actually acronyms
BASE jumping
Building, Antenna, Span, Earth
CAPTCHA
Completely Automatic Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart
Taser
Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle
SIM card
Subscriber Identity Module
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@Docquistador @HankVenture5 Yeah so are you voting for more, or less, government spending? Because all of that is government spending.
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@HankVenture5 Pretty crazy getting shit on by boomers because 20% of my age group is retarded when I just spent the last 6 years watching my tax $ go to:
Lockdown PPP fraud
Welfare
Welfare fraud
DEI initiatives
Ukraine
Somali fraud
Israel
Jewish welfare fraud
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We've all had fun today making fun of young people crying about how hard it is to make it on a $70K salary when Uber Eats is $28.
I have to admit, it's hilarious.
What won't be hilarious is when the GOP fails to deliver something tangible to them and they turn to socialism.
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@brain_breaker_ Bro you are working so hard at this, I hope it pays off.
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If you could have ONE of the previous cars you've owned back in your possession, in NEW condition, which would you choose?
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@herosnvrdie69 What if I told you that poor families have been eating much cheaper food than that, and many still do? What if i told you that some people earn less than minimum wage and still find a way to support their families and even send money to their parents?
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If my whole family ate sandwiches for every meal 3 times a day only our grocery bill would still be 800 dollars a month. To follow budgeting guidelines, I would need to make 64,000 dollars a year…to afford to only eat sandwiches. You can’t budget your way out of poverty.
Joel Berry@JoelWBerry
A little-known hack: 2 slices of Aldi wheat bread: $0.17 3 oz of Aldi deli turkey: $0.86 1 slices Aldi cheddar: $0.15 1 condiment of your choice: $0.02 1 apple: $0.53 1 hard boiled egg: $0.14 5 carrot sticks: $0.17 Cold water from the tap: $0.01 Total: $2.05 You can do this.
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@BrassKickerMFG @nazbowling102 @mrworldwide949 I will also tell you from personal life experience, nobody earning minimum wage back then also owned a house or paid for other people to cook their food on a daily basis.
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@postmaster3000 @nazbowling102 @mrworldwide949 Keep in mind that federal minimum wage in 1975 was the equivalent of $13 so almost double what it currently is today.
So yes I would say that boomers were making more money for low skilled no experience jobs than people are today.
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Notice how Joel's response to rising food prices is to give personal financial advice? This is because conservatives are are incapable of conceptualizing a society, they can only conceive problems on a personal level.
Joel Berry@JoelWBerry
A little-known hack: 2 slices of Aldi wheat bread: $0.17 3 oz of Aldi deli turkey: $0.86 1 slices Aldi cheddar: $0.15 1 condiment of your choice: $0.02 1 apple: $0.53 1 hard boiled egg: $0.14 5 carrot sticks: $0.17 Cold water from the tap: $0.01 Total: $2.05 You can do this.
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@grok @DeyarWins @iam_shwa What would be the future value of a $20/day investment in VFIAX over 5 years? What is the after-tax proceeds assuming a median AGI?
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**For Vanguard 500 Index Fund (VFIAX) as of 4/30/2026 (tracks S&P 500 closely):**
- **5-year annualized return**: 13.09%
- **10-year annualized return**: 15.22%
- **20-year annualized return** (S&P 500): ~10.8%
These are total returns (including dividends). Past performance doesn't guarantee future results—markets fluctuate. Data from Vanguard and S&P sources.
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@AndToddsaid Tradespeople have been eating out of lunch boxes for literally centuries. The ones where i live eat from a taco truck if they didn’t being their own lunch. The taco truck charges $3 per taco.
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If you think it’s normal or acceptable that tradespeople, clerks, laborers, and professionals can’t afford a prepared midday meal while also trying to save money and improve their position, you’ve absorbed a warped idea of how civilization works.
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@BrassKickerMFG @nazbowling102 @mrworldwide949 In my city, the lowest listing for“Bell Attendant” pays $14/hr but yeah I grant you that Nashville can be cheaper.
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@BrassKickerMFG @nazbowling102 @mrworldwide949 Show me a minimum wage job posting on indeed.com. You’ll have to go to a small town where the cost of lunch is far, far less than $28.
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@stelzner_n1150 I’m a Gen-Xer in the 98th income percentile. Today, I had instant ramen and a can of tuna for lunch.
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A Chipotle burrito costs $15. Ground beef is $7 a pound. Inflation is financially crippling Gen Z.
Once again, an out-of-touch rich boomer is lecturing young people.
Mikli@CryptoMikli
Kevin O’Leary says Gen Z is financially cooked when people making $70K a year are spending $28 on lunch
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@BrassKickerMFG @nazbowling102 @mrworldwide949 Yes and there are literally no minimum wage jobs posted in my city.
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@catholicbob @Zacbunchanumbrs That was literally the two numbers that sparked this debate.
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@Zacbunchanumbrs Nobody making $70k/year is spending $27k/year on lunch.
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Boomers are doing their level best today to prove to Millennials and Gen-Z how woefully out of touch they are. The latest is about how kids these days are eating $30 lunches every day. Now I don’t know if it’s true that kids are spending $30/day for lunch (I’m doubtful), but I will note that $30 is basically lunch for 2 at a fast food joint. It’s not a steak at Outback. The problem isn’t that kids are spending too much on lunch, it’s that lunch costs too much. Everything costs too much. Eating PB&J everyday doesn’t help with the cost of gas, healthcare, or paying back student loans. There is no empathy.
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