Help me to Understand Non-investors

[Bill Goodland]

One of the things I love about BP is that I think I have finally found a community of like minded individuals. For the longest time I felt like an outsider to the ones around me by always hustling to find a way to find a better job, better opportunities and saving the majority of my money to invest. I feel like I almost assumed that the world had so much competition that if I wasn't doing that, then I would be falling behind. When some of the most financially secure people all utilize stocks, real estate and business to gain real wealth; it just amazes me that there are still so many people with the negative nay-sayer mindset. I've always been fascinated with people and how they think so my question for the BP community is; in your experience, what is the reason for this? Is it because they themselves failed, or have heard of problems or others failing, which leads them to think that will inevitably happen to them? Why would people rather have a savings account than an index fund? Why do you think people think they will feel free and liberated from a job that traps them into the poor dad cycle? I understand many people are perfectly happy going to work everyday and not being motivated by money, but what blows my mind is why people are so quick to want things and complain about where they are in life, but don't ever follow the rather simple success blueprints that have been around for ages. Does society condition the average american to have a phobia of risk and buy before we earn? Or is it something innate that just needs to overcame to break out of living in the average box we're told to fit in?

[Jay Hinrichs]

family life plays a big part in this thought process.

think of the threads that say my sig other won't let me invest.

pay check, home at 5 for dinner,  kids soccer game on sat.

and make no mistake about it.. real estate is RISKY .. many people lose their butts at it.

You just don't see those folks posting about it on BP.. what you see here is every one posting

their success stories not their failures.. ( some do but not many)

Like when their tenant trash's their rental and 5 years of cash flow went poof...

or flipper lost 30k on a flip.  That sort of thing