Psychology per se isn't actionable, and so, numerous threads about emotional things, have been closed. Without disrespecting the mods or the thematic concept behind this forum, I want to pose the question: assuming that we can do so, without acrimony or personal attacks, could we open-up, the psychology of money, as a worthwhile topic?
Example: so-and-so laments having missed out on the housing boom over the past 5 years. The question wasn't about how to buy real estate, or cumulative gains in real estate vs. stocks, but how might one cope emotionally, upon beholding, that one's friends had bought houses 5 years ago, and had done well... whereas the OP, had not. To my knowledge, the thread never got out of hand, but was closed, because it wasn't actionable.
Another example was a fellow considering very early retirement, and wondering, if so doing, would strain family relationships. The discussion went along lines, of "what's the meaning of work", and whether our culture imposes some imperative to be gainfully employed, even if one is already independently wealthy. This one admittedly had some friction, but assuming that the caustic bits could be excised, it would seem, that to discuss the Western (we'll call it that) work ethic, vis-à-vis FIRE, has... merit.
TLDR: ought we to accept threads and themes that aren't about what to do with one's money in a literal sense, but are more about how we feel, what we fear, what we envy and so on? Or was this tried before, and went badly?
Example: so-and-so laments having missed out on the housing boom over the past 5 years. The question wasn't about how to buy real estate, or cumulative gains in real estate vs. stocks, but how might one cope emotionally, upon beholding, that one's friends had bought houses 5 years ago, and had done well... whereas the OP, had not. To my knowledge, the thread never got out of hand, but was closed, because it wasn't actionable.
Another example was a fellow considering very early retirement, and wondering, if so doing, would strain family relationships. The discussion went along lines, of "what's the meaning of work", and whether our culture imposes some imperative to be gainfully employed, even if one is already independently wealthy. This one admittedly had some friction, but assuming that the caustic bits could be excised, it would seem, that to discuss the Western (we'll call it that) work ethic, vis-à-vis FIRE, has... merit.
TLDR: ought we to accept threads and themes that aren't about what to do with one's money in a literal sense, but are more about how we feel, what we fear, what we envy and so on? Or was this tried before, and went badly?
Statistics: Posted by unwitting_gulag — Tue Jul 16, 2024 2:40 pm