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Comment by pb7 | Hacker News Reader

Surprised to see such naive takes on HN. Wealthy people don’t “hoard wealth like a dragon”. It’s invested in companies that translate to products, services, and jobs.

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I hate to tell you this, but all money that exists in the money supply is invested in products, services, and jobs - unless it's stuffed in a mattress somewhere.

Wealthy people do 'hoard wealth like a dragon', by definition - otherwise they would not be wealthy.

Everyone that saves for retirement is hoarding wealth like a dragon by this definition which makes the definition useless.

My minuscule 401k isn't even in the same universe as someone who could move several billion dollars at anything he wants over night.

It really does not matter how much you have. You are hoarding wealth that you could be giving back to improve conditions for those that aren’t as fortune to be able to save. It doesn’t feel great to listen to people tell you what to do with your money, does it?

My $28,000 retirement account does not equal the billions upon billions owned by Bloomberg. That is the difference.

It's not a dragon hoard if it's two pieces of gold.

So you're just upset you don't have more money? $28K is a lot to the vast majority of the world but I bet you don't think so.

This is generally true. Most billionaires are there because of their stock ownership in large corporations. And if they were to cash out their stock they'd lose control of their enterprises.

Companies are assets and as such they are still part of his wealth. It is not like I said he sleeps on gold coins in a vault.

No need to get literal.

Sure, and those companies spend his money to make things happen. Hoarding implies the wealth never gets used for anything.

Money sitting in a vault and money invested in companies that employ people and produce value for society could not be more different.

Not to be too negative, but

>money invested in companies

does not equal

>produce value for society

Necessarily. Those two things CAN be the same, but aren't necessarily the same.

Needlessly pedantic. If companies are profitable, they provide some sort of value even if you don't think so. Much more than people sucking up welfare benefits and not giving back, at least.

but those companies themselves hoard money so what's the difference?

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/28/apple-q1-2019-cash-hoard-her...

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/07/microsoft-apple-and-alphabet...

edit: why did i get downvoted?

Even “cash” held by individual companies is not actually cash in a bank. It, too, is invested in marketable securities. Holding cash is an incredibly foolish move due to inflation.

uhm. no. you are litterally saying naive things while calling others naive. crazy.

Please elaborate.

It's actually shocking and sad how widely held this belief is.

because it's true.

The naive people are the ones who swallow the line from billionaires.

What financially-savvy individual would keep their wealth in an inflationary store of value?

https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/12/19/3-reasons-buffett-...

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