@bigseb31213 But as I pointed out at the top of the thread, for pensions (SS) specifically, that is not required or inevitable. The reforms needed to achieve sustainability are modest and don't represent an ever expanding portion of revenue.
@nmewrath@MysterySolvents Is the idea here that their spot on the sidewalk or under an overpass is their home, and it's offensive to imply that it's not?
@AbbyMartin A simpler explanation is that people simply don't want to believe inconvenient but true facts.
And the reason climate change is inconvenient is not due to a nefarious "war economy" that people are "trained to defend". It's because burning FFs is easier than making clean energy.
@extrarawpotato@LinkofSunshine Yes. It would take exactly five years if you accrued the same amount of simple interest every year, but since it is compounding annually, it will take less than that.
Actual time to double is 3.8 years, but you don't need to calculate it to get the right answer
@SamRo They are obviously trying to test whether you understand what inflation and interest rates mean. Not whether you understand that people can have multiple kinds of assets.
@SamRo Part of being an effective test taker is having a sense of what the question author was intending to get at.
With that in mind, it's clear in context that what the person "can afford" is in reference to the assets within the savings account being referenced.
@Audisms There are plenty of parallel circles where everyone in that age group is a yuppie making $90k+ salary with benefits, living in bougie high rises, traveling internationally, saving comfortably for retirement, spending outrageous amounts weekly on dining and entertainment, etc.
@KristySellsLV The measure of median income that was $9,870 in 1970 (median family income) was $105,000 in 2024.
When using a more appropriate inflation-adjustment, $9,870 in 1970 is $66,700 in 2024. It's 59% today.
@JohnRad15 CPI is biased upward because it does not properly account for substitution. PCEPI's chain weighting better reflects actual consumer behavior and is more accurate over long periods of time.
PCEPI also covers a broader set of items so it's more representative
@Intermarket_Dyn@MebFaber The average person doesn't know that real incomes are rising across the income distribution. They think that all economic gains have been captured by the elite.
@zeta_globin You made 3x median income and were paying 40% of the average Seattle rent, of course that's a comfortable position to be in.
Same is true today.