[ExI] Single Payer Healthcare

[Dylan Distasio]

I'm speaking of the US here, but much of it has been applicable in many
other parts of the world.  There has been an absolutely spectacular
opportunity to own US equities since the financial crisis, and there has
never been a time to do so in such a cheap manner using low commissions and
index fund ETFs with close to zero fees.  There have also been plenty of
high quality companies yielding upwards of 4% in dividends alone throughout
this time period.  Bonds have also returned tremendous amounts of
appreciation over most of this time period (I'm not talking about buying
treasuries to hold until maturity, I'm speaking to capital appreciation in
them).

Robofirms like Betterment combine extremely low management fees with fully
automated investing and tax harvesting using low cost ETFs.   They remove
the excuse of claiming ignorance of how to invest.  A new account can be
opened in 5 minutes, funded, and put on autopilot.

There has been a ton of opportunity (which I believe will continue barring
an unforeseen 5 sigma event) to build up a cushion over time using
equities.  People who refuse to invest in appreciating assets are always
going to be behind the eight ball.

Ridiculously low interest rates have been available to consumers to
purchase or refinance homes.

Credit has still been easily available in the credit card space at very low
rates especially for balance transfers.

The stock market is at new highs, and most economic indicators in the US
are still quite strong/positive.

The stagnation of wages has been a much larger problem for a very long time
for many working class American families, and many of them don't trust the
stock market after the last financial crisis.  I'm not saying all of them
have the cash to spare to invest, but even putting some in on a regular
basis will grow it significantly.  If/when wages pick up, that is one of
the first things they should be doing with the difference.

Sorry, this was a bit of an aside, but I don't believe interest rates were
an unavoidable problem for anyone outside of insurance companies and others
like them that depend on investing policy premiums.  Not putting money into
equities and leaving some of it there regardless of age is one of the
quickest ways to the poor house.  Appreciating assets are key to long term
financial survival.

On Fri, Mar 31, 2017 at 9:03 PM, Mirco Romanato <painlord2k at libero.it>
wrote:

> Il 29/03/2017 11:32, BillK ha scritto:
>
> > No, Spike. It's not bad music that is causing the increase in US white
> > middle-aged suicides.
>
> It is the Federal reserve policy of low interests rates killing their
> savings.
> In the past, funds would have generated 7% return yearly, to pay lavish
> retirements checks.
> Today, with ~0% interest rate for the banks (but not for the normal
> people) people is unable to pay their house, maintain it, pay their
> college debts, pay their cars and have a family.
>
> You can not fix with healthcare the fact people is unable to buy a
> decent house; people is forced to work long hours to get enough money to
> just survive.
>
> What could be the average lifespan for a people with a mean 1500$ in
> their bank accounts. They live hand to mouth and the healthcare can not
> fix that.
>
> The ACA just made the system untenable for the majority of people,
> imposing even more inefficiencies.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > The cause is that the part of the US outside the cities has seen their
> > lives steadily get worse for eight years and they are in despair.
> >
> > <https://www.buzzfeed.com/matthewzeitlin/deaths-of-
> despair-white-working-class-americans-are-dying>
> >
>
> --
> Mirco Romanato
>
> --
> Mirco Romanato
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>
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