/biz/ - Business & Finance

>>12415534
>and why do people have this opinion that buying shit with money you don't actually have is somehow a required part of being a functioning adult? Debt isn't a good thing.
Troll or retard

>>12415534
And before anyone says:
>hurrrrr durrrrr no you didn't pay cash, where'd you get that much cash
I'm a sailor. We have the option to get our payoff in cash, which I almost always do. I usually leave the ship with about $30,000 in my sea bag, not counting the checks I mail home.
>hurrrrr you have to go through banks and real estate agents to buy a house
No you don't. I bought my 10 acres of land directly from a guy that had owned it for 50+ years. Gave him a briefcase with $90,000 in it.


I feel like people are brainwashed or something by the banks into believing that you absolutely HAVE to have debt as an adult, it's completely untrue. I always try to keep at least 10-15% of my wealth in the form of precious metals as well so I actually have real money as opposed to toilet paper that the government tells me is worth what they say it's worth.

of course, you don't have to use credit. but, if you want to get more credit, then using credit is a good way to get it.

>>12415542
Please explain to me how debt is good? I'm not being a smartass, I guess I was just never apparently taught why this is supposedly true in school. I've gotten by just fine for 10 years without ever spending a dime that I didn't physically have in my possession.

If someone could give me a good reason as to why I should in-debt myself to an usurer, I might consider doing it. But usually people just do what you just did and tell me I'm stupid while they're struggling to pay off their high-interest student loans and aren't allowed to move because they owe money to the banks.

people are habituated to use credit cards. On the other hand, it's a credit economy and you will find literally 0 businesses beyond a mom and pop shop getting buy with 0 leverage.
go look up money supply, it's how our economy works.

>>12415595
I mean I can definitely see why businesses have to use credit, and that's not even a new phenomenon to the economy. Businesses have always had to take loans, the amount of money it would take to stock even a small hardware store is astronomical compared to the amount of capital people have on hand. I just don't understand why the average John Q. Public would waste time and money on a piece of plastic and swipe away their life savings.

I've had people tell me too that it doesn't even cost any "extra" as long as you hypothetically paid everything off in full as soon as you get your statement and you have a credit card without an annual rate. But even then, the temptation is there that you could buy shit that you don't have all the money for. Don't understand why people would do that, but then again there are people who sit at a slot machine for 16 hours straight pissing away their grandkid's college fund too.

Why credit? Because if you want to good goy it up credit history helps get a mortgage

Depending on what they consider the merchant marines you could get the annual fee waived. An amex plat card gives you a shit ton of perks, like uber credits, global entry/precheck credits, certain company credits, airlines, etc and has an exclusive suite of lounges in airports that are pretty nice and concierge services. They’re status symbols because your credit score (good goy points) determines which ones you can get - lots of people don’t qual for a bunch of them. You also get some of the spend back - an amex gold, for example, does something like 5% cashback on restaurants.

The metal cards are also good for cutting up blow, better than plastic by far

Tldr they’re for urban millenials who travel and like to measure credit dicks with each other

>>12415656
>get a mortgage
Don't have one. I contracted all of the work for building my home myself, found traditionally trained tradesmen to do the work, sourced the materials they needed myself.
>Uber credits
I walk anywhere I need to go when I'm in port
>airlines
I take the train
>exclusive suite of lounges
Probably with overpriced, watered down drinks. Pass.
>concierge services
What, like guys that carry your luggage and shit? When I travel I fit all my shit into my duck sea bag, don't need any help with that or my errands.
>5% cashback on restaurants
That sounds nice, but the kinds of restaurants I eat in probably don't even accept AmEx.

Like I said, I guess I just don't need one. Sounds like those perks would come in handy for your average person though, I guess maybe that's why so many people take the debt pill.

>>12415696
>me me me

Not everyone has control problems like you bro. Most people dont get into serious credit card debt to get theyre legs broken

>>12415534
>>12415534
Because credit cards have benefits like 1% cashback and fraud protection you hick retard. I dont take on debt either but you'd be a retard to not to save 1% on everything you'd almost buy.

>>12415746
>fraud protection
You wouldn't need fraud protection if you weren't swiping a card everywhere that identity thieves or hackers could access.

While I understand your point OP. Using a credit card to build credit is the easiest way.

I have two which I use every month on small purchases. Since their small I pay them off right before due date to easily raise my credit score.

>>12415696
How do you get into the merchant marines? What are the age limits? Does it help if you have a military background?

>>12415712
Found the good goy

>>12415696
Good job my nigga

>>12415772
There's no age limit, I've sailed with mates that were well into their 70s. You need to get a TWIC (Transportation Worker's Identity Card) and a MMC (Merchant Mariner's Credential). You can get a TWIC just about anywhere, for an MMC you'd need a commercial company or maritime academy to sponsor you but it's also very easy. You can "hawsepipe" it and start out as an ordinary seaman and work your way up, or go to a 4-year maritime academy and get your officer's license right away.

Either way you make pretty good money. But a merchant mariner is just a catch-all term for anyone employed on a US commercial vessel. The industry varies so widely by region, union, trade, and vessel type that I couldn't give you a simple step-by-step plan. The best route to take for working on Military Sealift Command ships ("greyhulls") wouldn't be the same best route for working on harbor tugs, or tug-barges, or Lakers, or fishing boats, or containerships, etc. etc.

It's a good career. People on shore don't understand it though, most people that ship out end up going back to the beach within a year or two. The ones that stay get institutionalized. And there's basically two types of sailors. There's sailors that are perpetually poor as dirt because all of their money gets spent on booze, whores, child support, alimony, or a wife back home fucking Jody and swiping your credit card. Then there's the ones, like me, that are rich as fuck, but you'd never really be able to tell because I'm never home long enough to spend my money on a whole lot.

>>12415746
credit cards drive up the cost of everything by 2.5% or whatever margin they take. that's why some stores still give a cash discount.
i use them because i was scared to carry cash around, too lazy to deal with it and it neatly summarizes my expenses. count me jew'd

>>12415621
retailers price everything against credit card transaction fees, meaning that having no cash back or equivalent rewards costs you more, for using a payment method that is cheaper for the retailer (cash). So avoid retailers at all costs if you don't want to ever touch credit cards. In your situation that's probably the only thing that could affect you.
Why are sailors so gay though?

>>12415584
If you're not using debt to create assets, you are leaving money on the table for no reason. You paid for your house in cash for instance. Instead of leveraging what could be a fantastic credit score to take a home loan out and get a better house that would increase in value at a better rate, you just sunk all your capital into a worse house that won't appreciate as well over time.

Successfully doing this makes it easier for you to leverage your credit score to take other loans out and make money in passive income. Like maybe a business loan to build a mcdonald's or something.

>>12415817
>>12415772
Oh, and that's my opinion as a deck officer. If you're more into engineering, that's another gig you could look at. Those guys have a lot more employment prospects ashore too, if you decide to quit.

>>12415840
debt is also good for people with no assets because they can't put you in jail for it as long as you show up to your court summons

>>12415840
>get a better house
I already have a house that was built entirely by hand by skilled tradesmen, using actual timbers, slate roof tiles, lath and plaster interior walls, and a limestone foundation as opposed to a McMansion built out of plywood and PVC and assembled by an army of Mexicans. Why would I ever want a different house? And what makes you think that my house won't age as well as the shit your average person lives in? Barring a fire or some other catastrophe, my house will still be standing 300 years from now. The junk they mass assemble in suburbs falls apart after 30 years.

>>12415839
I've only ever sailed with one guy that was a faggot, and he got the shit beat out of him when we found out. Not sure where people get the stereotype that we're gay from. Even old-timey sailors never used to fuck each other, they would haul up dolphins and porpoises and fuck those instead.

>>12415862
I don't mean a better built house. I mean a better financial asset in the fucking shape of a house. Hell, you could have used the loan to make an even bigger house in an even more valuable area if you wanted. You could have just built the house you have and bought a condo somewhere in demand to rent out and print money for you while you sleep.

>>12415696
Ya probably not a good fit for you, would pass on it. It only really makes sense if you fly a bunch, or are intl with the insurance shit they put on automatically. Grats on the debt free life - good house situation

Drinks/food are free at the lounges btw, nice places

>>12415881
Never understood why landsmen are so obsessed with needing more money all the time. The things I enjoy in life when I'm at home are the outdoors, and craftsmanship. Hunting, fishing, hiking, building furniture in my workshop. All of those things are cheap. I already have a job that pays me more money that I'll ever need in my entire life, don't see why I should go into cahoots with the scum that run financial institutions just so I can make an extra buck.

So far I haven't heard a single reason why credit cards are necessary. Every single solution you guys have presented has been for a problem that the credit economy itself created. It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy. "You need debt to pay off your debt so you can make good debt!" Pass.

>>12415904
yes, if we all started enjoying cock too, then we'd also not care about making more money I suppose.
I used to work tangentially to the fishing industry and a couple of times I got to work I saw a lineup of guys, they looked like and were dressed like convicts. They piled onto a bus, turns out they were to crew for one of the vessels and were driving down to the pier. All lifestyles have significant tradeoffs, to an outsider that looks like a rough as hell life.

>>12415563
>Gave him a briefcase with $90,000 in it.
trash larp

>>12415904
>Never understood why landsmen are so obsessed with needing more money all the time.
Did you actually want to understand what debt and credit are for, or did you just want to *crack* sip and go full boomer?

>So far I haven't heard a single reason why credit cards are necessary.
No one said they were necessary to survive. But most adults obviously need a mortgage, and most will at some point travel with an airline. If you have decent income, you don't have to pay for any fee for your card. You buy shit with it, get cash back or miles, and then pay the bill on your phone at any point before the month ends. Boom. You just built your credit, which will help you to create assets, and you just paid a bit of your next vacation by just using a credit card instead of cash.

>>12415938
That's because those are fucking fishermen, those guys are nothing but meth-head tweakers and inbreds. I wish the Coast Guard would stop going out there to rescue their stupid asses when they inevitably do something retard and founder.

>>12415949
Well it was more like an old luggage case, but either way it had the $90,000 in it that we agreed upon. I'm sorry that you're a wage cuck debt slave and have never actually seen money in person before, but not everyone wears the same shackles you do.

>>12415960
I guess that sounds plausible.
One time I had to go into the wheelhouse of a vessel here to try and replicate a certain software bug 'in situ'. I am 95% sure that the woman that was hanging out on a sofa there was a hooker. She had some teeth.

>>12415534
Yup, credit card is a worthless piece of shit scam.
It requires the merchants to pay fees to take your money.
If you are late on payments, they will charge you interests and fees.

But, I use it because of the sign up bonuses. I spend $3000 then I get a free plane ticket to Japan. Not a bad deal if you look at it this way.
I understand that the people who are paying for my plane tickets are the merchants and idiots who keeps a balance on their credit cards. But free plane ticket is a free plane ticket.