> Any single catastrophic event can end your economic security.

This quote and your comment as a whole sum it perfectly, imo.

We used to have stronger family/friend connections that were very helpful for times like these, i.e. for when catastrophic events were happening. Nowadays we're most probably living hundreds if not thousands of kilometers away from our very close family, and not sure about other HN-ers, but I personally would feel very uncomfortable if I were forced to ask for some financial help from my very close friends, as I think they would turn me down.

Again, that wasn't always the case. One could "pass" the kids to said kids' grand-parents for a while, because most probably they were living in the same town/village, and the same goes for sharing economic resources in times of need with friends. Now we're into all this alone.

And I wonder if remote work cannot help there. I did choose to stay close to grandparents and friends but did huge commute before and now thanks to covid the question of relocating is off the table. I think we can hopefully find that what you describe back in the future.

> This is just a fact of modern life in a society that's polarized along a division of wealth inequality.

This kind of thinking induces a highly toxic form of fatalism, and is not helping. The reality is that a tech worker in a western country (with a health insurance) is probably more secure than 95% of people through history.

Fatalism, though, often leads to people neglecting to do those things they actually can do to reduce risk, including:

1) Limit consumption to a level you would be able to live on for years, should your income go down.

2) Limit borrowing similarly. Don't borrow so much that you'd have to sell your assets at a loss if you're fired during the next depression.

3) Take care of your own mind and body. Exercise both, and continue to learn new skills continously.

4) Be careful when chosing a partner. Look for someone who is wise, dependable and a bit thrifty over someone who's exciting, overconfident or is wasting money and resources.

5) Once married, make sure you do what you can to keep the relationship healthy. Treat your partner with respect, and ask for respect back. It's a lot easier to face life as a team.

6) Also, take care of your extended family, friends and local community. Be there for them when they need it. Within limits, don't let them take advantage of you.

7) Treat your coworkers with the respect they deserve, or even a bit more. Build a reputation as someone who makes a difference both for company and the coworkers.

8) Be mindful about how to invest your financial assets. Spread the risk between asset classes. 25% each of stocks, bonds, real estate and cash/deposits is a very stable mix. But 30/30/30/10 or 50/20/20/10 are also pretty good.

9) Don't expect your saving to make you rich quickly. Consider it a store of value, not a lottery ticket.

10) Adopt a mentality of stoicism. Be content with the fact that you're already doing the things that makes the world safe and healthy for you and your family. Dont let those things you cannot change freak you out, nothing good comes from that.

Over time, your capital will grow, including your, skills, relationships and savings. This will take you from the 95% most secure in human history to the within the 99% most secure.

Now, if you LIKE risk and excitement, you can of course break any or all of the above. You will still probably come out ok. But that's for another personality type than the OP, I think.

We wrote the same post, but your version is a lot less concise and ignores the possibility of something not working out. You can ignore that if you like, but that doesn't make my post any less true, and if you're someone who's actively anxious about the possibility of things going wrong (like the person who started the thread) saying "It'll be fine!" is really unhelpful.