• Aurix@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Bruh, if you had invested your school lunch money instead of literally eating it and thus draining it down the toilet, you would have been a millionaire by now. Subscribe for more of my finance tips for just $20 a month.

    • BigBananaDealer@lemm.ee
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      10 months ago

      i was so fucking dumb at 8 years old. instead of buying a house for renting for passive income i bought a 5 dollar guitar hero rock the 80s game on ps2

      • BossDj@lemm.ee
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        10 months ago

        Wait, what did you do with the small million dollar loan from your parents?

    • WeeSheep@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      You had lunch money? I had enough to cover 1 small milk carton a week. I had hunger and no investments.

    • IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      If you mean a small tax per share when purchased then that would be a great idea. Make high frequency trading, that contributes zero to society, unprofitable. It wouldn’t hurt household investors as the tax would be small but it would hurt the assholes who manipulate prices through trading back and forth.

      • lolcatnip@reddthat.com
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        10 months ago

        High frequency trading is fully automated insider trading done in broad daylight, but nothing gets done about it because most people don’t understand what it is. It shouldn’t be taxed; it should be illegal.

        • IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          It’s a long and convoluted route from that to their 401ks not bring as plump as they could be. Indirect robbery of thousands is more palatable than being mugged for a few dollars.

        • Asafum@feddit.nl
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          10 months ago

          I wish I remembered the name of it but there was a really interesting documentary/video about how crazy the rapid trading got, to the point that companies were trying to install systems as close as physically possible to the physical location of the NASDAQ so their requests would have less “travel” time and show up before anyone else.

          Absolute insanity…

          • Copernican@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            Yeah. Didn’t the feds have to regulate that so that it was an equal playing field for transaction latency?

        • Coasting0942@reddthat.com
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          10 months ago

          We’re not asking for 5 minute intervals. Just 1-2 second intervals would stop that automated stuff, or at least diminish it significantly. How about setting it to how long it takes light to go around the world twice +1 second?

    • Boozilla@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Hard agree. Make it impossible to dodge with loopholes for the wealthy. Eliminate capital gains and losses Taxing every trade is the only fair way to do it. And people don’t need shares of stock to live, so it’s not a burden on the poor.

      • Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        10 months ago

        Don’t worry, they’ll raise a panic alarm about how everyone and their brothers retirement pensions are invested in the market, and so “you’ll hurt the poor” will resound, ignoring that a lot of those poor never had a choice to not have their pensions gambled on the fucking market.

        • HappycamperNZ@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          I mean, it does have the potential and God forbid the risks aren’t communicated.

          Low risk retirement plans however should be fine

          • somethingsnappy@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            It still boggles my mind that almost all retirement accounts just blindy add money to the market once or twice every month and it doesn’t even move the needle! If we all knew which days our investments and matches (if you’re lucky) went in, the non-rich could also print their own money! BRB, going to talk with benefits managers that also skim everything.

    • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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      10 months ago

      Abolishing the stock market in general would be nice, or at least moving towards that direction gradually. The wealthy don’t typically get their money from great trading, but parking their money and letting it grow.

      • OldWoodFrame@lemm.ee
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        10 months ago

        The stock market itself isn’t the problem either though, it’s that the wealthy have money and the poor do not. If you want to buy a house and you don’t have the cash for it, you need to borrow from someone…and that means someone who has a lot of money. And you’ll pay interest for the privilege because there is a time value of money. That doesn’t go away without a stock market.

        The real solution is to tax the wealth itself, either directly or through taxing the step-up in value after the owner of a stock dies, or a massively increased estate tax.

        • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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          10 months ago

          The stock market shouldn’t be abolished without also abolishing other aspects of Capitalism, yes. Workers must currently take advantage of everything they can within the current system. However, people should be striving towards worker ownership of the Means of Production, and keeping the stock market would allow Capitalism to resurface.

    • reddig33@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Or, require a stock buyer to hold that stock for 365 days before they can sell it. Then tax the sale.

    • BombOmOm@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      tax. every. trade.

      What is the justification for taxing a trade that lost money? Said person certainly didn’t generate an income from that trade.

      How much would you even tax for a trade that lost money?

      • AllonzeeLV@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        The same justification as when you place a bet on black in vegas, it comes up red, and the house takes all the chips you bet.

        You can call greed “rational self-interest” and gambling “speculative investment” all you like, but trying to change the language doesn’t change the reality.

        When you’re gambling, you might lose, and society shouldn’t subsidize the days you gamble and lose. Only income derived through labor should be truly safe, as labor is useful to civilization, unlike gambling, often with winnings from previous gambling gained using loaded market influence dice and marked insider information cards.

        • Copernican@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Only income derived through labor should be truly safe, as labor is useful to civilization, unlike gambling, often with winnings from previous gambling gained using loaded market influence dice and marked insider information cards.

          AI and Automation is going to destroy these human labor=value claims of classical Marxism even further. The point is you can’t choose not to live in a capitalist society as if you’re an ostrich burying your head in the sand. I invest my retirement and portion of my savings in market index funds because keeping it in a bank will lose value over time due to inflation. Keeping the money I have earned through my labor as cash or in a savings account is pretty much guaranteed to lose value as inflation occurs. There is risk in the market, but I’d hardly call that type of investment gambling.

          There is a reality we live in, and regardless of political beliefs or opinions on labor and capital, you are in capitalism, your participate in capitalism whether you like it or not, so might as well protect yourself and future by playing the game of capitalism to some degree.

          Marx enjoyed the fruits of bourgeois society and participating in fox hunts arranged by Engels. I don’t think it’s a problem to have some irony in fighting the good fight, while investing in a 401k.

          • Illuminostro@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            Fuck Milton Friedman. Fuck him right in his little malignant Leprechaun ass. He’s the inspiration for the Ferengi, did you know?

        • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip
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          10 months ago

          The closest we come to “society” “subsidizing” stock losses is via capital loss deductions. Assuming you aren’t doing particularly crazy tax shenanigans, you are looking at up to 3000 dollars deducted from your taxes per year. For reference, the standard deduction is 13850 for an individual as of 2023.

          But the thing about capital gains and losses are that they are only actually a thing when you cash out of the stock market. This means you are actually encouraged to “sell” your shares in a failing company and use it to invest in a company “on the rise”. Which is actually good.

          What you are proposing would, ironically, mean only the super rich would be able to trade stocks to begin with. And they would only invest in the “guaranteed” companies like MS and the like which would hurt a lot of medium sized companies and workers.

          Also, this all forgets that the vast majority of retirement schemes (even pensions when you look at where the money comes from) are based on investing in stocks. In large part because the idea is to benefit from an overall better economy.

          So yeah… your statement about “betting on black” makes no sense and your proposed solution only hurts all but the super-rich.

          • AllonzeeLV@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            But the thing about capital gains and losses are that they are only actually a thing when you cash out of the stock market.

            Oh hey guys we can’t tax the wealth of the rich because their wealth isn’t in the form of sequential 2 dollar bills and simon didn’t say so it doesn’t count as wealth!

            Of course it helps when Wall Street sends lobbyists to make the tax code work to their advantage.

            We should have a wealth tax on net worth, if they don’t like cashing out stock to pay it, tough. It is completely workable, but since the oligarch class owns our government, don’t worry, it’ll never happen.

            Also this story directly addresses where most of the benefits of this rigged con-game of an economy goes, and most Americans haven’t had significant pensions for a long time.

            • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip
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              10 months ago

              Well, I guess you ARE attempting to solve the problem of corrupt lobbyists. Why pay an org to bribe a politician when you can instead just listen to people arguing for why only the ultra-wealthy who can afford the cost of trading should be able to benefit. What next, punish the tobacco industry by giving every school child a piece of nicorette at lunch?

              That said, I do actually very much agree with a wealth tax, with caveats. First home (which you are already paying property tax on) is exempt. Same with very specific retirement funds. Probably one car per person because that would also predominantly hurt the lower class, although I would probably make it a fuel tax since that would impact climate change AND de-value the resell value of a car collection.

              Because there are solutions and many economists have proposed and studied them. But “We should make stock trading more expensive so only the ultra rich can do it” is not at all a solution.

            • HappycamperNZ@lemmy.world
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              10 months ago

              Following this line of thought - sacrificed alot and you now own a house (shocking in this market I know). Its value goes up 100k in a year due to forces out of your control. You now owe 30k in additional tax.

              Should you now be forced to sell your home if you can’t pay this tax?

              Following it further- you have a bank account. You save 20k. You now have an asset that is increasing in value - do you now owe tax on this?

              There is a bloody good reason taxes are paid when gains are realised, or more accurately when money changes hands.

              • AllonzeeLV@lemmy.world
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                10 months ago

                Easily addressable by making an annual wealth tax have a threshold so it largely effects the economy’s “winners.”

                That’s the point of progressive taxation. The tax code should force the people that benefit the most from society pay the most back into it, as generating great wealth means you utilized a publically educated, pre literate workforce, tore up our roads and infrastructure more, utilized our commons more, etc.

                Hey, here’s a great idea, multiply the median American annual income by the current average lifespan in years, tie the lowest net worth wealth tax bracket to that number, and go up from there. I’ll bet the .1 percent would be really eager to start raising wages then.

                At least the ones that don’t flee because they were never on their nation’s side to begin with.

                • HappycamperNZ@lemmy.world
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                  10 months ago

                  Depends on your definition of tax, and your country.

                  Interest income yes, taxed at the time the gain is realized.

                  We pay rates, which is a tax on the house value to the council for infrastructure (not technically a tax), and many places have capital gains tax where you pay at the time you sell (i.e when the gain is realised).

              • originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com
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                10 months ago

                maybe you should not take such risks in the market if you cant afford the consequences.

                the point here is the entire stock market is not based in reality. its a game that is managed by the very wealthy. we need to remove/reduce the profit motive.

                between the hidden markets, self-governance and millisecond level trading, the entire thing is a casino and peoples lives should not be beholden to it. unfortunately those in charge are forcing everyone to get involved.

                cries in shitty 401k

                • HappycamperNZ@lemmy.world
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                  10 months ago

                  So you’re saying don’t take the risk and buy your own property to live on… just permanently pay rent to someone else?

                  And you are right, the stock market can come down to milliseconds trading… but over the long term gains average. You won’t become a millionaire overnight but nothing stopping you from buying and holding.

              • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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                10 months ago

                No. Primary residences are always protected from tax agents. Nobody is going to be made homeless by a wealth tax. Take your fearmongering elsewhere.

                • BombOmOm@lemmy.world
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                  10 months ago

                  Primary residences are always protected from tax agents.

                  Primary residences are absolutely not protected from tax agents. They can and are sold to cover unpaid taxes. While it is true they don’t do it often and will sieze every other asset you own first, that commonly leads to loosing your home as well. Good luck paying your mortgage when you don’t have a car to drive to work anymore and all the funds in your bank account are frozen.

                  "if you have unpaid taxes, the IRS has the right to seize your home through a tax levy. If the IRS seizes your home for unpaid taxes, it uses the money from the sale to cover the cost of seizing and selling the property. Then, it applies the remainder to your tax bill. You can apply for a refund if there’s any money left. " https://taxcure.com/tax-problems/tax-levy/home-seizure

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Are you thinking it’s a flat tax?

        It would be percentage of the price…

        Buy 10 at $100 and pay 10%, that’s $10.

        Later you sell 10 at $50, that’s $5.

        If it was $200, pay $20.

        Profit or lose, get taxed when you trade.

        It incentives long term holding which is better for the company anyways and stabilizes prices.

        And pretty much elimate all the day trading bullshit that makes companies focus on constantly improving profit margins no matter what the long term repercussions are.

        Companies would want to show sustained long term growth to intice investors who could potentially keep the stock for years.

      • drdiddlybadger@pawb.social
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        10 months ago

        A trade could be taxed based on the value traded. You trade 200 bucks worth of stock should get hit like you’re buying 200 bucks worth of jewelry.

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        10 months ago

        its not the tax mechanisms problem that your market is not based in reality.

        dont like it, dont trade. that is the point.

        im thinkin flat fee/rate. 10$/per. yeah.

  • the_q@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Well of course they do. That’s the whole point of the legal scam of investing. If it benefits regular people it wouldn’t exist.

  • Illegal_Prime@dmv.social
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    10 months ago

    One thing the article doesn’t make super clear to me is if that figure includes investment funds and whatnot, and to what degree. It sounds like it might but elaborated very little beyond a vague statistic.

    • phillaholic@lemm.ee
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      10 months ago

      It is extremely vague, because the top 10% of Americans in net worth are those who have over about $850,000.

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    10 months ago

    Historical data would be great. How was that figure in each previous decade? Isn’t it true that at the peaks this tends to happen, and when we get a stock market downturn, the rich get poor faster then anyone else?

    • Riskable@programming.dev
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      10 months ago

      Even when the stock market crashes the rich don’t get poor. They can seemingly lose ungodly amounts of money exceptionally quickly but even after all that they’ll still be rich because being rich is a comparison: If everyone on a mountain falls down the ones at the top will still be there.

      • fosforus@sopuli.xyz
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        10 months ago

        I mean if we’re talking about top 1% you’re probably right, but I believe in the top 10% there’s a bit of movement. Out from it and in to it from below.

        And there are plenty of examples of people going from being extremely rich to being bankrupt and never recovering. It’s not impossible, but probably requires quite a lot of effort and/or stupidity. For instance, when Iceland went based and let its banks fall, this guy went from being worth $1B to -$750m. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Björgólfur_Guðmundsson

        • Copernican@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          I think I crack the top 10 percent income earner I agree (not sure where I am in the USA net worth wise). I don’t consider myself rich, but that is very much in part because I live in NYC, but if I didn’t live there I probably wouldn’t be 10% earner. A big market change could have very significant impacts on my life, housing, etc. Fuck the 1% percent though.

          One thing I have noticed about folks that talk about income and wealth in my bracket is that they talk about Stock benefits like options, RSU’s, and ESPP as income. When I was making salary and around folks under 75k no one really talked about those types of benefits as income meaningfully (partially because they didn’t get it or didn’t get a significant amount of it). But for those high income earners in the top 10% that factor their stock as part of their income lifestyle, that puts them more at risk for greater income swings in the event of market crashes to a certain degree (assuming job loss doesn’t occur).

    • iknowitwheniseeit@lemmynsfw.com
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      10 months ago

      Click on the link. Literally the first thing in the article is a graph over time.

      tl;dr it was about 80% in 1990, and is now 92.5%. Or alternately, the bottom 90% of the population owned 20% of stock market wealth in 1990, and now they own 7.5%, so around one third as much as a generation ago.

      • fosforus@sopuli.xyz
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        10 months ago

        Yeah, probably, but now you’re talking about top 0.1%, not top 10%. I mean technically the former is also in the latter, but you know.

  • pensivepangolin@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    No no you guys all don’t understand that this is a good thing because… (let me check my notes…) ….uh…hm…derrr…communism.

  • Wrench@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Seems weird to make this assertion, and fail to provide what the total holdings cutoff is to be in the top 10%.

      • Wrench@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Almost like it’s clickbait designed for echo chambers like eattherich.

        Don’t get me wrong, fuck the rich. But bold claims like this need to show their methodology. Hiding it is sus.

        • phillaholic@lemm.ee
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          10 months ago

          “The 1%” is the catchphrase, but that’s only a net worth of about $10 Million. The people they are really mad at are the 0.01% or lower. This article uses 10% which is about $850,000 in net worth.

      • BombOmOm@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        154k is middle class. And everyone in this thread is trying to figure out how to fuck them the hardest.

        • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Then you don’t understand the statistical definition of middle class. According to PEW the bounds in 2021 were 43,000 and 130,000.

          If that sounds like it’s not enough to be financially secure in the modern day… All I have to say is people have been trying to tell everyone.

          That said, yeah of course we’re not trying to eat the merely rich. However the stock market is hardly some big equalizer if it effectively only serves the top ten percent.

  • M0oP0o@mander.xyz
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    10 months ago

    No shit. If someone does not have money they don’t need then they can not buy stocks or any investment.

  • echo@lemmings.world
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    10 months ago

    Is this really a new thing? Haven’t the rich always been the stock-holders?