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From your post. Unless I'm reading this incorrectly, you imply that people don't understand how to determine the best method of buying a house? Or perhaps understand how the many varied mortgages work? Am I wrong?
that's correct... they aren't aware... notice I didn't say not intelligent enough... they are not aware of some of the pitfalls in buying a house and how to avoid them. I was recently in a room of about 20 local business owners when a mortgage broker was explaining some of these things... most of the people in the room were not aware of the nuances... and these are intelligent people who run their own businesses.
you're not reading my posts and getting ridiculous now...
see ya
I hear you about becoming disillusioned... I was never a fan of politics... but it has definitely deteriorated dramatically since 2000.
I didn't say that.
There is a difference between having the knowledge and that knowledge being difficult to understand. What I said is most don't have the knowledge.
Good example is buying a house. It's not hard to do if you trust your real estate agent, loan officer, title company, etc... and sometimes you can. But let's take loan officers. I remember one telling me a few years back when I was checking into refi rates that I should get a ARM... that "rates would not go up". That was bad advice... I knew better, but I'll bet he sold alot of people on that. How many get sucked into negative amortization loans? How many understand the advantages of paying points vs having the fees rolling into other costs? I had company try to put in a 5 year prepayment penalty... I caught it and had it changed to a much shorter period. Many don't even know to ask about it. I know alot of intelligent business folks who don't understand the nuances of mortgage banking.
and, I'll bet those who claim here that it's used daily in their business don't do the calculations themselves and most likely use some software specifically developed to do it for them.
it's just one example and that's the whole point... knowledge... how many have enough knowledge to intelligently invest for their own retirement?
You tell me...
at the place I worked there was no "production process" so it didn't apply.
the catch is there is an income cap... see... even you don't know it all. I opened a Roth IRA and after a couple years went over the income cap without knowing it and got dinged.
yeah, for hard science I'm sure it's more used... but even among them... how many actually use it in their daily jobs! and how many business majors or even economic majors do?
oh do tell... give is an example lol
the only time I've seen someone solve an advanced math problem that way was observing a carpenter work. it was a trig problem and he solved it without ever having even graduated high school much less taken trig.
IMO it's really a academic snobbery thing
most of those applications are for hard science... no doubt it's used extensively for that. I'd still like to hear the specifics of how calculus is used dialy for running your business... if it is, you should be able to give me the gist of it off the top of your head... gosh, because you use it daily right!
in my last job I worked with a guy who had a degree in physics from MIT. His job was to write the formulae for calculating cash flows to predict value of mortgage servicing rights. He said he really didn't use that much advanced math for our model.
Again, it's not used as widely in business as you are suggesting and is certainly not required for business programming. And that was my original point.
why do you consistently leave off links?
but is it used widely in business? As I said, it wasn't in the inventory control system I worked on. give me the gist of it... I'm curious.
Roth IRAs have other catches too... I made that mistake myself. You over simplify the ease of investing for retirement.
still sad that 34% are that ill informed or just plain stupid
I sure hope the majority of americans are now paying attention! If so, the elections this year should stir things up....
but alas, we forget that diebold hasn't been taken care of... GOP still controls them.... so maybe not...
I keep saying that should be number one priority because if our votes aren't counted correctly, we don't have a vote
steal a TV you're in big trouble... steal billions and you're exempt
yup... yet again!
that's one of the reasons I had to put a few people on ignore... just not worth trying to debate with those who, at this point in the game, can't see what's going on... definitely stuck on stupid as you say
there you go... now when the midwest is hit by a major earthquake, he'll be able to say they were all forewarned and should have known to buy earthquake insurance and therefore don't deserve a dime of his tax money!
more proof that Bush lies... more proof that he and his admin are incompetant.
it's hard to believe anyone still tries to defend him
and didn't they write that check even after discrepancies were found? talk about highway robbery. Some people just don't have their priorities straight.
exactly... neither of us knows the exact number... how do you measure attitude? I suggest your bent on things is a reflection of your own mind.
it'd be curious about the details of that. For about 4 years I was a programmer on the Inventory Control system for GTE of CA... no calculus there.
and I thought being civilized meant banding together, working together and having compassion for the less fortunate.
Guess public schools need to teach Compassion 101 right along with Balancing Your Checkbook 101 lol
but you have to break the cycle of those who don't know... whose parents didn't know... public education is a start.
you often insinuate that people are just looking for handouts... I'm sure with a small minority that is true... but sometimes it's a lack of knowledge, skill or opportunity
... listening to the still, small
voice
intuition... collective unconscious...
how do they know that they should say "no thanks" without some sort of knowledge about the subject. They depend on banks to guide them... just as many depend on doctors to be experts in their health... and lawyers to be expect on the law. We can't expect ever person to be so knowledgeable in these subjects as to completely avoid all the pitfalls... there has to be some accountability when the "experts" take advantage of people.
You do as well, I'm sure. You just don't realize it.
Math was my best subject in school and took the most advance classes offered at my high school. In college I took calculus, physics and chemistry for fun... so when I say I don't use it for programming, I know what I'm talking about.
just curious... how often do you use that calculus in the course of running your business?
Part of the reason for the dip is that Americans who own homes felt more wealthy in recent years given the huge increases in home values.
and let's not forget the mortgage banking industry that is encouraging folks to take cash out of thier homes or sucker them into negative amortization loans. Every day I hear that crap on the radio... almost every day I get a fake check in the mail from someone trying to get me to take cash out of my house.
I think you're right about that.
exactly :)
and learn the pitfalls of credit cards, mortgage loans, etc...
Sometimes I think school programs focus too much on the abstract and not enough on the practical... those tools that kids will need for life. First and foremost are basic reading, writing and arithmatic. And I don't think we're doing such a great job on those areas. Beyond that, I've always felt that there should be at least two general tracks... one for college bound intellectual types and another geared more towards preparing kids for trades and every day living.
But to be more specific, is Algebra really necessary? IMO, no and I'll tell you why. Computer programming is a perfect example. For a degree you are (or at least used to be) required to take up through at least Calculus (which I have). In my over 25 years of business programming, I never needed to use anything but basic math... nothing more complicated than percentages or ratios. It's really a crock that higher math is needed for more programming jobs... the opposite is true.
I'd like to see personal money management and financial planning taught in public schools... last I checked they don't.
I think our disconnect is that you are looking completely logically at the problem and the numbers... while I'm trying to factor in human nature and a bit of reality.
...but the simple truth is that for the majority of people investing that money (even in CD's) would've provided much more than Social Security ever will.
except that in the act of giving them control over that money, would most people then choose something as conservative as CDs? All you have to do is look at iHub and the popularity of pennies and even sub pennies to have a clue that many wouldn't.
Sure others, like yourself, would do much better managing it directly. And I'd like to think I would at this point in my life, but 20-30 years ago I wouldn't have had a clue what to do...
Bush job rating falls to all-time low: poll
Mon Feb 27, 11:52 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush's job rating has fallen to an all-time low of 34 percent, amid strong opposition to the Dubai Ports World deal and increasing pessimism over the war in Iraq, according to a CBS News poll released on Monday.
Bush's overall job approval fell eight points from 42 percent last month. Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they disapproved of Bush's performance on the job, the poll found.
Bush's previous low job approval rating of 35 percent came last October, a month after Hurricane Katrina laid waste to the Gulf Coast and shortly after the U.S. death toll in Iraq reached the 2,000 mark, CBS said.
Long among his strongest suits, ratings for Bush's handling of Iraq fell to a new low of 30 percent, down from 37 percent in January, the poll found.
In addition, 62 percent of Americans said they think U.S. efforts to bring stability and order to Iraq were going badly compared with 36 percent who said things were going well.
In recent days, the Bush administration has faced increasing sectarian violence and fears of civil war in Iraq as well as strong bipartisan congressional opposition to a deal allowing an Arab state-owned company to operate six key U.S. ports.
According to the poll, 70 percent believe the Dubai Ports World transaction should not be allowed to go through while only 21 percent did not see the ports deal as a problem.
One surprising bright spot for the administration in the polls was that Americans appeared ready to move on after Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting accident. Seventy-six percent said it was understandable that the accident could happen.
However media coverage of the accident may have made the public's generally negative view of Cheney a bit more so, CBS said. The poll found that 46 percent hold a negative view of Cheney and 18 percent hold a favorable view, down from a 23 percent favorable rating in January.
The telephone poll of 1,018 adults was conducted February 22-26 and had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060228/pl_nm/bush_poll_dc
I'm not arguing against that... people "should" do what you are saying. You keep ignoring my point... which is social security is a safety net for those who can't or even don't.
I've read that the average baby boomer has saved much less than your $450K... so in your mind are they all just out of luck? let em starve? work till they drop?
excellent point...
a stitch in time saves nine
I saw that in the news :(
... good for big business and friends of this administration