My parents are Group A. I guess I’m second generation Group A. Not blue collar and I don’t consider our profession “working class”. Still ingrained to live well within my means but privileged to have more means than my parents did at my age. 
I remember about 40 years ago, my parents went to an auction because a piece of furniture that had belonged to my mom’s grandmother was up for sale and she wanted it.
It’s something you might find in a museum. Lots of advertising and folks came in from out of state with trailers. My dad paid twice what he was hoping to buy it for - and I’m certain it was a struggle to afford - but mom wanted it and mom was getting it. I guess I come by it honestly. 
that was an episode of Cosby (but for a painting)
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Invisalign. It was a $6k purchase and probably will never really be “worth” it or pay for itself in any way.
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I bought rock climbing shoes for about $200 a couple years ago instead of renting them for about $15 from the gear store.
I hadn’t climbed in 15 years, and haven’t since.
oh I’m thinking about getting veneers, that will be expensive.
My teeth are naturally straight, but they get stained, and I don’t like whitening because they’re sensitive.
I want freakishly white teeth.
Now that we know you are not an actuary, much is explained. I’ll attempt to speak your language.
“Whiles I am a beggar, I will rail and say there is no sin but to be rich; and being rich, my virtue then shall be to say there is no vice but beggary.”
—Bastard, The Life and Death of King John, Act 2 Scene 1
Shakespeare clearly understood that we adapt our views to fit our finances.
What does being an actuary have to do with any of this?
Or not being an actuary.
:squintyeyes:
Don’t be offended. It just makes more sense now that we understand where you are coming from is not where we are coming from.
Actuaries spend years-some of us have spent decades- learning and practicing the concepts of financial mathematics. That kind of effort instills within us a fundamental respect for the work that a dollar can accomplish. Yes, it can be spent but it can be spent only once. But it can be saved, and we study and marvel at the power of compound interest. Or it can be invested and we can delight in the quintessential comparison of risk and its dance partner called reward. We don’t merely jam numbers into tables. No, we approach a blank spreadsheet as the sculptor approaches the clay. Phrases like “return on capital”, “cost-benefit analysis”, and “maximizing value” underlie the core of our thoughts and our dreams. Those words represent the foundation of lifetimes built on creating and defending wealth, helping our policyholders in their hour of need, and representing the interests of our shareholders and stakeholders. We use those words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline! You and we are cut from different cloth. We have volunteered for an excruciating career path that forces upon us many years of self-study and self sacrifice and testing. The preservation of capital is drilled into us. It pervades our psyches. It’s in every fiber of our being.
this description of me as an actuary kind of exhausts me. i think i’m ready to retire upon reading that.
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I fully understand the actuary ethos. I know and work with plenty of them.
And just because I’m not an actuary, doesn’t mean I do not understand finance or the risk/reward culture that goes along with it. Actuaries don’t have a monopoly on financial acumen. And don’t give me this martyr crap about “excruciating career path[s]” and “years of self-study and self sacrifice [sic]…”
I know what under accumulators and prodigious accumulators are. To me, those are fancy terms for spenders vs savers.
Please don’t talk to me like I’m a moron. And you don’t know my full financial situation. Plus, did I ever say if I was a saver or spender either (with the exception of my rock climbing shoes)?
And you are making a punchline out of the spenders.
There are pros and cons to both sides. The downside to spending is that there is less left at the end. But, on the flip side, they tend to enjoy their lives, buying things and having experiences while they are young enough to enjoy them (it tough to enjoy the sport of downhill skiing–not an inexpensive endeavor–at the age of 70 in retirement). Savers know there’s something to enjoy at the end, but, too often, those savers are not used to parting with their coin and are more adverse to spending in their later years.
I know many actuaries are frugal by nature, there’s a whole genre of shoe-staring jokes here and on the old AO. But I’m sure there are profligate actuaries, too. Do you condescend to them also?
And, when you see my ex-boss driving in his BMW while wearing his bespoke suit and his Oliver Peoples sunglasses you can dismiss him as an under accumulator because his car costs more per pound than yours. But then again, you can follow him to his extremely nice house and help him manage the other four profitable businesses he owns. (I know this because I’ve seen the Schedule C’s and K1’s).
Yeah this was similar. Except instead of bidding against each other my mom was saying “Stop!!!” but he got it for her.
Eh, it’s too pension-focused. It doesn’t resonate very much with me, just kind of snuck in a “helping our policyholders in their hour of need” to make it more generally applicable
Fact check, true.
I’m technically an actuary, but wasn’t really a fan of the blanket generalization/stereotyping of actuaries either. Not sure if a positive stereotype is much better than a negative one. You have to live up to the expectations as a result.
Clearly we need someone to come in here to start claiming to have vastly more wealth than the typical actuary. And ideally he’ll have some pompous accent and enjoy aquatic jewelry.
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um, we had one of those on the ao years ago. he also was a self-proclaimed sex god, shebapoe/MattTheSkywalker. he left.
oh, you meant that other guy who is back here. well, he is an actuary. sheba isn’t.
I think Normal Dan was thinking of someone else, but I kent quite recall jas who he is referring to.
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