ElectricRCAircraftGuy
commented
1 year ago Posted to LinkedIn just now: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/gabriel-staples_blue-collar-vs-white-collar-mentalities-on-activity-7001066969034629120-hta-?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
Blue collar vs white collar mentalities on finances
- These are some concepts I've been thinking about for about 5 years now. Whether you make $200/month or $200k/month, you can and should and must invest. Just start by opening a SoFi account and setting up $1/week automatic purchases into VOOG. It'll keep you from being homeless someday.
Blue Collar:
- Spend less money to have more money
- Work really hard to have money
- Put your savings in a savings account (makes 0.01% interest to 3% annual interest; $25/month --> $18k to $50k in 60 years ☹️)
- College is a waste of your life; engineers are idiots anyway [definitely has some truth to it]; go get a job and make money now
- Investing is like gambling; and/or: I don't have time for investing; and/or: I don't want to learn about the stock market; and/or: the stock market is for rich people [Wrong! Investing is for everybody. It can be done with as little as $1/month].
- If investing, sell your shares when the stock market dips ["run" in the same direction the crowd is running].
White Collar:
- Make more money to have more money
- Work really hard to have money which you use to make you more money (money makes money)
- Put your savings in an S&P500-tracking mutual fund or ETF (makes 10% on average over 14+ year cycles; $25/month --> $1.2M in 60 years! 😊)
- College:
- White collar: you have to go to college!
- Gold collar (better): college is most likely useful; but, if not, drop out and go start a business anyway
- Investing is critical.
- If investing, buy more shares when the stock market dips ["run" in the opposite direction as the crowd, for they know this is how the rich become really rich].
College is actually a really big topic. There are a lot of nuances to it that would require a lot more discussion, such as the value of a prestigious school (it has huge value in networking and being scouted for top tech jobs), the value of internships (they are critical), the value of personal projects (they make you an engineer, for instance, NOT your engineering classes!), the value of slowing down to understand (5-6 years understanding your material is better than 4 years of crushing through it), learning to lead and influence your school peers and partners is just as important as (or more important than) learning the equations and completing the project, etc.
You are at McDonald's as a family and you receive the wrong order: they put mustard on your burger when you said no mustard. What do you do? If you are a kid, what do your parents make you do?
Blue collar teachings say: "suck it up. Be grateful for what you have. Just eat it and be thankful you have a burger at all." This teaching focuses on gratitude and humility and not being wasteful.
White collar teachings say: "go to the counter and ask for a new burger. They didn't give you what you ordered. Ask them to make it again." This teaching focuses on contractual relationships and fulfilling one's contractual obligation (they contracted with you to provide a certain good at a certain cost, and they didn't fulfill their end of the contract and provide you with what was ordered). It teaches conflict resolution be confronting the conflict rather than avoiding it.
Which teaching is better? I think it depends. It depends on which teaching and skill you are lacking. If you already know how to be humble and grateful and do without, then not learning how to confront this conflict is a HUGE disservice. You will be less likely to navigate conflicts successfully throughout your life. Conversely, if your kid is a spoiled rich brat who gets whatever he wants, they should learn the blue collar teaching and learn to do without. But, even more valuable is to learn to deal with conflict respectfully. So, I guess I've changed my mind: so long as you have learned the blue collar teaching, the white collar one is better. It is a higher plain of learning and will lead to greater success.