Why do so many people who *could* invest a meaningful proportion of their income actually choose to spend virtually all...

Why do so many people who *could* invest a meaningful proportion of their income actually choose to spend virtually all of their money on consumer goods and rent?

I'm not talking about people who make barely enough to scrape by; people who have no capacity to save - I mean people who are comfortably middle class, especially those without children, who could afford to invest perhaps 20% of their annual net income, but who choose instead to spend it on extravagant entertainment, luxury cars, expensive vacations and so on - often while making little or no contribution for their retirement, or for a future in which they will likely find it harder / impossible to find paid employment.

It seems not only reckless to just spend everything that you've got coming in without making adequate provision for the future, but also just plain weird, given how many people proclaim a desire to give up their work and do what they want with their time. If they really do want to do that, it seems obvious that they should be building up a portfolio of income-generating assets that will make it possible; instead, they're choosing to just buy lottery tickets and hope that one day their numbers come up, all the while throwing away their ability to pursue a realistic method of obtaining financial independence.

What gives, Veeky Forums?

It's because 80% of people can't do hs algebra

Short-term gratification is funner and more immediate(duh) that long-term gratification.

"Yeah I guess I COULD have a nice safety net in 20 years... but this new macbook looks much more enticing"

Fpbp.

There's also the massive effect of social influence.

Take here, for example. Most of us probably wouldn't have ever bothered with memes like cryptocurrency but, well, that other guy sounds really hyped about this one and Pandacoin/Blackcoin/Trumpcoin could go to the moon!

With normies the social pressures are conspicuous consumption and jokes about never being able to retire. You get people spending 105% of their income because it's a normie meme.

a lot of people just want to enjoy their money

Some people literally don't give a fuck user.

they bought into the consumerist meme

Are you guys retarded? It's because the average middle class family will not have enough money to make worthwhile profits.

The only ones who can make useful profits are the 1%. I don't understand why millionaires don't better invest their money, they can make serious cash in a decent amount of time. Middle class however will make next to nothing.

Habit

Lifestyle inflation

Its human nature to take now not wait

Don't be stupid, the middle class is more than capable of becoming a millionaire (as implied by you to be the 1%) if they save and invest wisely.

>Millionaire Next Door

No they can't. What's with you guys and the "just invest bro!"

I promise you the average middle class home owner could not get to 100k total revenue from investing within 10-20 years

Most people spend all their money on rent out of necessity, not because they choose to. Housing has become ridiculously unaffordable for everyone who isn't in the upper class.

People are stupid who would've guessed. Are seriously asking this question, or are you making a statement in the form of a question?

Television has imbued them with a sense of entitlement.

They are entitled to a "nice" house
They are entitled to "nice" cars
They are entitled to vacations and luxuries
And the money thing will just work out on it's own, if not someone must be screwing them out of their god given right to own all kinds of expensive shit.

>I'll just live like a poorfag so I'll have tons of money when I'm an old, senile, man who can't enjoy life!

it's like they want to live while they are still young and life is still exciting and full of possibilities or something

Or you could start up your own company

No long-term vision, bad at money and math, instant gratification trumping future income security, etc.
It's pretty obvious it's a combination of very basic stuff.

Let's not forget, that both extremes are bad. Money is a tool, it needs to be spent and used. Stockpiling money as an end in itself is silly and harmful to the economy at large. There needs to be cashflow and turn-over - money needs to be put back into business cycle of the real economy. The ones who use most of their money on consumption are the ones keeping the economy alive and providing jobs for everyone else.
In the end - if you're happy, it's fine to save little. It's a personal choice.

I'm at the other end of the spectrum. Frugality runs in my family and I can't get over it...

The lottery thing I don't get myself. That's just basic fucking math. The house always wins - gambling is retarded and degenerate.

I explicitly stated in the post that I was only talking about people who *can* afford to invest their income, not people who don't do it because they can't.

Did you even read it all before posting?

>tfw broke uni student
>two friends get 70k a year jobs right out of college
>both go out and buy 35k cars immediately
>won't buy anything cool just gay shit

Because they want to enjoy life while theyre young. You can save up all you want and "invest" but if you end up losing your health at lets say 40-45 years old no frugality will help you get back those years you couldve used to actually enjoy life.

Sure, you need some reserves and perhaps you can invest a portion as well but first and foremost you should do the things you really want to do in life (unless you really cant afford it) before you hit 40 and perhaps even before you get kids.

Trust me, my mom and dad went full retard on frugality and saved up around 8 million euros while barely having fun. Now my dad's ill and theyll never be able to do anything with their money.

And no I dont really care about the fact that I'll inherit the money as I'll probaby be old as fuck myself by then. I just wish they had enjoyed life more when they still could.

Good for them. I hope they like cars and enjoy driving them.