jasonnfree
Gold Member
- May 23, 2012
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Automation will happen with or without increased minimum wage because the cost of the technology is falling rapidity. ATM's have replaced tellers and self checkout in grocery stores have replaced cashiers. This trend will accelerate in the 21st century. Keeping wages low to protect jobs from automation is a fools errand.Guess this becomes a moot issue ... the McDonald's CEO announced that, in response to increased minimum wages, they will be automating the ordering process so that customers can pass their orders directly to the kitchen. This will result in elimination of about 20% of the McDonalds workforce over the next ten years.
(Machines don't ask for raises)
However, as automation eliminates jobs it also creates jobs, usually better jobs. So it's not all bad.
An article in Computer World predicted One in three jobs will be taken by software or robots by 2025.
And.......in time.....a living wage will be paid for fewer and fewer actual hours worked. A 30 hour work week is on the horizon. And with it.....more time for working people to spend with family, pursue other interests
(which will stimulate the economy) and improve their communities.
It's called......wait for it.........progress.
The Asians have it right. You pursue family and other interests at the same time that you are hugely dedicated to your job. This is why it's common to see an Asian that has a degree in engineer, and can play the trumpet or some other instrument.
But Asian do not try and avoid work, to pursue non-work interests, which is exactly why Asian on average have a higher wage, and standard of living, than the so-called white-privileged Americans.
Again, a living wage would result in fewer people earning a wage. So now they have 168 hours to spend with family and 'other interests' a week. OF course they'll be spending it starving or looking for work, unless of course the left allows them to live off the hard work of others.
And contrary to claim, people spending time at home not working, is not a benefit to the economy. And children learning from their parents how to sit at home doing nothing, is not a benefit to family.
Spending more time drinking beer, and yelling at a football game on TV, is not going to result in a massive increase in GDP, or the wealth of the country as a whole.well if people could safely earn 8% they would not invest trillions at one or two and recently in Europe at negative interest.
There is no "safe" investment. All investment has risk.
With risk, comes the rewards. Is there a chance I could lose some money? Sure. In fact I did.
During the 2008 melt down, I lost money on my portfolio. How did I deal with that? I poured as much money as possible, every spare dollar I had, into the stock market, even as it was crashing.
In the first year, I made 28% plus some, on my investment. I almost doubled my money in three years.
Now, allow me to clarify. Because I just said in the prior post, that I made 12% year over year.
That's true. In 2008, I was in a private 401K plan. I did not buy the American Funds mutual fund until 2011. So from 2008, to 2010, I made a massive 28% on my money. From 2011 to today, I've made 12% year over year.
What's my point? If you want the reward of a good return on investments, you have to take the risk.
The reason people buy bonds, and CDs, and money market funds, with absolutely terrible 0.5% interest rates, is because they are trying to avoid all risk.
Avoiding risk, is a great way to go broke. Yeah, $500K invested in sub-1% interest rate bonds, you can't live off that. And many people do that, and that's dumb.
Wisely invest into good mutual funds with long track records, with decent rates of return on your investment, and you'll do fine.
Such a success you are in investing and you still find time to post here amongst us little people. We are honored.
Investing doesn't take a Ph.D. If you can 'work a calculator', you can invest. Call up an investment broker, and have him setup an account. Then automatically draft from your bank account, into your investment with whatever mutual fund you have chosen.
Whether you are honored or not, is fine with me either way. The reason I'm here on this specific thread, is to promote more people being wealthy.
I want everyone to be a millionaire. If even one person reading something I said, starts investing... then that's a win for the entire country.
If everyone were suddenly to become millionaires, prices would adjust upward accordingly.
No one becomes a millionaire 'suddenly', unless they win the lottery, and in those cases, they lose their money just as quickly.
80% of those who win a million dollars or more, end up broke within 10 years. 1/3rd of those, end up filing bankruptcy.
So that is not what I advocate.
But if you save just a mere $100 a month, just $100..... every month... into good quality growth stock mutual funds, from 20 to 65, you will be a millionaire or close to it.
I didn't mean everyone to be a millionaire today. That can't happen, and won't happen. Saving money takes decades of hard work. You start off in life with nothing, and work your way to having something. It's entirely up to you, how you die. Poor impoverished, eating dog food, or rich wealthy and living out the true meaning of the "golden years" of life.
There's little money left over for investing for the average working person who's close to the subsistence level on income the way it is. If there's a downturn in the economy, the guy may lose his job and need that money that he invested, which may have coincidentally happened to lose much of it's value do to the crash. Just saying, since I've seen it happen more than once.