Is it? Is it sad? There was a time within living memory where the basics of personal finance were taught and it was strongly implied throughout that additional education on the topic was a must-have for any functional adult. At what point did personal accountability go out the window here?
When we replaced pensions for most workers and required them all to become direct market participants without teaching people the basics of how the markets work.
My grandmother taught home economics for her whole career including personal finance and I assure you she doesn’t know what a short squeeze is. My grandfather probably didn’t pay a bill or make a budget his entire life, but his heirs are still getting payouts from his benefits.
For that matter most of the tech workers I’ve worked with don’t understand how many of their benefits work either (e.g rsu, HSA, backdoor Roth’s, etc). How many startups out there are pitching options as major components of their compensation without even giving their employees the information needed to price them?
I think there is a ton of good about moving away from patriarchal relationships between employee benefits and employment, but it’s not at all surprising that it’s had the repercussion that people unprepared for it have been dumped in the deep end. And that it’s deeper than ever and they are drowning.
I don't disagree with anything you've said here, every point you've made is solid and I couldn't agree more. Where I think we disagree is on the concept of personal responsibility. I maintain that it is every adult's responsibility to acquire whatever information they need to make informed decisions regarding their personal finance. If they opt not to for whatever reason that is absolutely a personal choice they've made. I reject any notion that having exercised their personal agency in this decision they are then victims later when poor outcomes manifest. Investing in an uneducated fashion is the very definition of fucking around, and I'm not prepared to offer up my feels when someone finds out.
