Carnegie argued that handing large fortunes to the next generation wasted money, as it was unlikely that descendants would match the exceptional abilities that had created the wealth into which they were born. He also surmised that dynasties harm heirs by robbing their lives of purpose and meaning.
He practiced what he preached and was still actively giving in 1911 after he had already given away 90 percent of his wealth to causes he cared passionately about, especially libraries. As a pioneer of the kind of large-scale American philanthropy now practiced by the likes of Bill Gates and George Soros, he espoused a philosophy that many of today’s billionaires who want to leave their mark through good works are still following.
Apparently its unusual and actually frowned upon to ask the bank to set a much lower credit card limit than you are allowed because it negatively effects your credit score. But I don’t really care if my credit score is trash – I don’t have any plans to borrow money any time in the future and I worry more about fraud then some idiotic number.
Roth IRAs versus Traditional IRAs and Living in New York 🗽
When I first started saving for retirement, outside of my state pension about ten years ago, I opened a Roth IRA and started to maximize it. I was fairly young, and my income was lower as I was not as far along on my career path. When you are younger, and you have 30 plus years for your investments to grow, it seemed like an appropriate way to save. The idear is pay payroll taxes now, pay zero state or federal taxes when you withdraw upon retirement with the Roth.
In most recent years my mind has changed, more into the camp of the traditional IRA. For one, I found myself taking an extended leave from state service, and with so went the more lucrative retirement program and deferred compensation, which you can’t contribute to as a non-state worker. With the state, I did the traditional IRA option with deferred comp and continued to maximize my Roth IRA on the side. My other employer offers a 401K, which I’ve been maximizing, but it’s maximum contribution rate is smaller then the state’s deferred comp plan, so to avoid my taxes going up significantly, I switched over to a traditional IRA option. I already get hit every year from investment income, even if it’s reinvested. Traditional IRAs, let you deduct all contributions immediately, lowering your taxable income but you have to pay taxes when you take money out as you retire.
Part of what made me change my mind from the Roth to the Traditional was I don’t plan to live in New York the whole rest of my life. While New York allows a decent standard deduction on something like $17k when you take retirement income, many other states don’t tax retirement income at all. It’s hard to know how much money I’ll need in retirement at my off-grid property, but even in low property-tax states, there are always expenses for a hobby farm — be it equipment, fuel, vehicles, livestock, feed, minerals, and groceries. Stuff gets used up, has to be replaced. Stuff you spend money on becomes poop, scrap metal or fire in the burn barrel. Tractors and implements are mad expensive. That’s life. But saving on taxes today, means I can invest more today, plus I am spending less money to subsidize the wasteful and abusive New York State government.
The system is constantly conjuring up ways to nickel and dime you. Americans have become incredibly naïve, far too trusting of a system which proves over and over on a daily basis that it most definitely cannot be trusted. Conversely we have become far too cynical of the people, who do heroic things every day. We must reverse this dichotomy. Trust the people, do NOT trust the matrix. Be generous to friends, family, the people and the natural world, but learn to be stingy in your dealings with the system. This is another one of those dogmas which must be examined.
Frugality is a trait and a value as old as time, spiking in certain cultures and generations, living situations and individuals, out of both necessity and outlook. Behaving economically with money or resources has become both a rare virtue — on aspirational blogs like the Frugality or self-help tomes like Your Money or Your Life — and a cultural punchline, good for a joke about hoarders or one’s immigrant family, grandparents who lived through the Great Depression, or good old-fashioned tightwads. "What’s newer, in fact, is the idea that some items are immediately and obviously disposable"
What’s newer, in fact, is the past 70-ish years of American materialism, which birthed the idea that some items are immediately and obviously disposable, or that eating food that you bought and paid for, food made of food, is inherently strange. As a widespread attitude, it’s historically unusual and it may be, at least for now, fading.
Since quarantine started, following the spread of Covid-19, there has been a move away from this culture of waste. This new strain of frugality — call it the novel frugality — is defined by its attachment to this moment and its participants’ motivations. While it might mirror long-held practices (like not throwing away aluminum foil or consciously saving scraps of leftovers to make new meals), its impetus is slightly different.
It takes commitment and time, but you can learn to manage your money even when there's not much of it. Follow these steps to set up a budget if you're broke.
We've discussed how to create a basic, real-world budget, but that advice often doesn't apply when you're struggling to make ends meet. The basic ideas are the same, but your breakdown of spending is probably going to look a bit different, and everyone's situation is going to be unique to them. So here's what you need to do to get back on track.