Who needs retirement when you can buy an asset that loses value over time?

Honestly what does retirement planning in America even look like anymore? The next five-ten years are looking to be extremely volatile both financially and politically. It almost feels more risky stockpiling a currency that may lose significant value or even devalue entirely if shit falls apart and/or global war breaks out.
You can't eat your 401k, buy Mountain House foods by the bucket like your racist uncle! Or something.
- Same as every other time in the US's existence.
  Invest in an index fund, let money sit. Repeat.
  The US has been through turmoil before. Nearly every country in the world has had similar experiences. Unless you think the concept of capitalism is ending, just prepare for the future the way that's been done for the last 100 years.
  
  Personally I pulled everything out of index funds right before the market tanked. I know trying to time the market is a fool's errand, but it was so obvious that the US was about to shit the bed.
  Now if that money to will be worth anything in a few years I have no idea. If we pull through I will reinvest. I'm literally thinking about buying gold, something that I thought was stupid just a short time ago.
  I have no illusions about the intrinsic value of gold, but I read that JP Morgan Chase flew $4 billion in gold to their vault in NYC a month ago. Other big banks are doing the same.
  Fuck the big banks, don't get me wrong, but they know about risk and hedging.
- If your retirement window is 5 years, you're probably very very fucked.
  If it's 10 years, as long as you're assuming social security is going to contribute $0, you're probably still pretty fucked.
  15 years? Maybe, but at that point that whole global climate change thing we're ignoring is going to start getting more serious, so I'd wager on fucked.
  20? Please, you're already in the trenches of the Water Wars, so your retirement plan is machine gun when you go over the top, sorry.
  Basically retirement is going to be you dying once your insurance lapses and someone coming along later to pick your corpse up and billing your family for doing so.
  (I'd love to be proven wrong, but 'What's the worst most awful thing that could possibly happen' seems to be the right choice these days.)
- I'm looking to invest in hesco and fiocchi
- Secure a source of nitrogen for an asphyxiation booth.
  
  Or just run a hose from the tailpipe of the old ford truck. Dave's right again.
- Offshore accounts if you're in the targeted groups. Probably gonna want to diversify, buy some Canadian, Australian, and European stocks as well
- Every day my investment portfolio is losing between $1000-$10000. I wish he'd just fuck off for a week (well or forever) and not screw with anything, but alas that is his plan.
  I cashed out some stock that seemed extra volatile: Ford, some tech stocks, and anything travel related. I opened a CD with the proceeds, and I'll just sit on it for a year until things hopefully calm down. Interest rates on CDs are around 4% if you shop around. It's not the best return, but it's better than getting completely pummelled in the stock market.
  All in all that wasn't a ton of money and my 401ks aren't worth touching until things get crazier, so basically I'm just holding the line and trying to save a few profits where possible. Gold is probably a good idea, but I'm not a very sophisticated trader.
  I think him simultaneously ruining the stock market and dismantling social security might just jostle people enough to wake up and pay attention.

This is clearly photoshopped as a joke. Why is everyone taking it seriously lmao
- It's Lemmy, it's what we do.
  It's not even a new joke.
  
  It’s Lemmy, it’s what we do.
  Immediately made me think of this hahaha
- My first thought was 'fake account' but i'd believe it to be a photoshopped graphic as well.

An old ford truck may not be such a bad investment as we transition into an apocalyptic hellscape society.

I know he was always a Fox News "bootstraps" type, but did Dave Ramsey just give up all appearances of offering "good" PF advice? Wtaf, this is so bad
- It looks like it was shopped and is something some boomer would blindly repost.
- As a broke kid whose parents thought it would be a good investment, I assure you dude has always been a fucking grifter praying on poverty-stricken Christian families. His advice (read: worthless fiscal platitudes) are like the thoughts and prayers of financial planning... I have literally hundreds of thousands of dollars of bills for chemo we couldn't even fathom affording while he was dying as my only inheritance to attest to this.
  I'm sorry, imo if you're making a living off of what amounts to a MLM-esque program offering financial 'guidance' to people making sub-federal poverty line wages that includes an entire unit on trading stocks then at best you're an idiot and at worst you're... Well, Dave Ramsey, apparently.
- His advice was always bad.
  Somehow, and I don't get how, he got a reputation for "common sense" financial stuff.
  He always was the 10%-to-the-church type which is just braindead if you're financially strapped: the Jeeesus can live without your money, but your family probably can't.
  Also he's a sexist, homophobic and probably racist piece of shit (since those come in threes) so really, no reason to do anything other than pretend he doesn't exist and try to save cult members.

The value of almost any car travels in a bell curve. They're worth a lot when new, next to nothing in 15-20 years or so, then, when most of them have been scrapped, they start to come up in value.
A 20-30 year old truck, particularly one in good condition, will almost certainly be increasing in value, and you can drive it around.
Although a better option would be a nineties Hilux.
- No offense, but I feel like if this is true at all, it's likely still at the very least misleading... I can't think of really any secondary sales markets in which the most important determination of value isn't one thing: Condition. (I'm sure there are plenty of arguments to be made for it to be trumped by rarity, but... Let's be realistic here - unless you're an archeologist it doesn't matter how well the pot's glaze holds its finish, if it amounts to nothing more than a few shards in the end, it's not going to be quite as awe inspiring as one perhaps more worn yet still intact.)
  So, yeah, sure, your 30 year old vehicle could appreciate... Assuming you've managed to keep it in something near showroom condition, it hasn't suffered any major accidental/structural damage, and you not only did all the required/recommended services in a timely manner but also kept the records to prove it. (It also certainly wouldn't hurt you if that particular make/model ceased production, by any means, either, obviously.)
  But I sincerely doubt your F-350 with X00k miles on it that needs a new motor mount and only has 2 knobs left on the console is gonna beat a decent, stable, and well managed index fund investment of the same amount. I'm more than willing to admit my mistake(s) if someone has evidence to the contrary, but I feel like this is another one of those lies 'temporarily embarrassed millionaires' tell themselves when they kick the can a bit further down the road of their inevitable prodigious wealth. 😋
  
  You're both right.
  Most of the time condition is the determining factor, but there are cars that even absolutely fucked, the value is in the vin number. You can cut away 90% of the chassis and body, replace it with steel and patch panels from lesser models, source an engine and an interior and "ship of thesius" yourself a "Genuine" 69 R/T Charger.
  Also, you're disregarding the sweat equity equation. Basic spares and repair parts are usually pretty cheap, wiring and mechanical on an old truck is pretty damn simple and bodywork is reasonably easy to learn and do quite affordably if they are smart about it and have the time to put in.
  Restoration shops do manage to stay in business because sometimes people want the car they lusted after when they were 16,the kids have grown up and moved out and they have money... condition is less important then.
  
  So I bought a Challenger R/T with 14k miles on it five years ago. Just that bit of driving in less than a year brought the price down $10k from new. I have put almost 70k miles on it, and it's now worth $4k more than I paid for it.
  For real, if you can get an old Ford truck from the nineties in good condition with low mileage it is probably a better investment than a 4% 401k match. My next door neighbor picked up a decent 90s Toyota truck that had been sitting in a barn for $1000. He is a mechanic so there's that, but I thought he made an excellent purchase. So what if it's missing some clear coat and has rust spots in non-critical locations on the body?
  Do not buy a new car, ever! Currently having this argument with my wife.
  
  I strongly encourage you to look up the current price of a Hilux or Supra from the nineties.
  Also, stop taking jokes so seriously.
- That's not a bell curve. Maybe some kind of beta, but the beta distribution only exists from 0 to 1, it's cannot deal with infinite ranges. You can né thinking on something that starts as an exponential distribution curve, but growths at the end, but I have never found that kind of curve on my studies.
  
  Upside down bell curve, if you must. Kinda.
  The point is, the value will bottom out at some point, then, due to scarcity, will slowly start to climb. So, if you "buy the dip", and especially if you pick the right vehicle, it absolutely will go up in value.

Is this real?
- No.