Rates are crashing and fuel to the moon!

Yes and no. Share price is increasing at a greater rate, but dividend yields are lower and stock splits are rarer. It used to be that once a stock was consistently trading over $100, it split and buybacks back then were mostly illegal. Overall stock growth has been pretty consistent since the end of WWII. The 'x factor' is how they performed against inflation, in real terms the S&P doubled between 1960 and 1980 but when adjusting for inflation only rose about 10%.

 

I'd take 17% mortgage rates in a heart beat if it came with the same relative costs of housing, food, and education. Plus a similar wealth/income distribution.

 

Median income for a truck driver in 1980 was $35,000. Median home price was $65,000.

Median income for a truck driver in 2025 was $77,000. Median home price was $400,000.

Back then, the staples of life - housing, food and education - were relatively cheap. Working full time at a minimum wage job over the summer would cover a full year of tuition and room/board at any state school. A pound of ground beef was $1.50, minimum wage was $3.10. Today it's $6.75 and $7.50. Effective tax rate for the median income was 10-12% in 1980, it's now 13-15%.

Things are getting harder. A person in their early 20's couldn't make the same choices I made in my 20's and end up in the same or better position. If my Dad were coming of age today he wouldn't come close to being able to afford the same lifestyle.

 

I paid 4.67 for DEF at a TA express

 

IMO, God's Will will be done.

 

At least you predicate with this when you venture out of the political forum!

 

I am a bit confused what's going on with fuel discounts right now

 

This was at Mach 1 location. Retail price is cheaper than Nastc price

 

Not an equal Experience by any means. What's the square foot of home 1980 vs now? 1600 vs 2300
Go on down the line vs today on all the extra #### we get everyday. Food and entertainment are spent today more than ever in the 80's. Hardly anyone ate out and home cooked. Not many traveled the either and a 1000 more other things not included in your standard of living now vs the 80's. Unless you lived in the big cities you hardly even had cable tv at that time. Of course it is more expensive now but it's not as bad as people make it out to be.

Most people get in debt right away and pay lots of interest and lots of people barely work now because of the privileged life they have been given. Free welfare to most anyone that wants it has caused a lot of these problems as well.

I could buy the same #### property I grew up in and think it was 15k when Dad bought it. That same property after all these years is now worth 25-30k.

Now change it to when I first bought my house here where I live at now in 2000 for 70K is now worth 165K.

You would be better off showing how much things have changed since the 2000's not the 80's. That is when everything started to get way too crazy. I was not in trucking during any of those times so I have no idea the cost. My Uncle was a trucker in the 80's and did okay but never did as good as I have since I started trucking in 2019. His job was way harder then mine and I have lived an easier life in trucking than he ever did.

His house was smaller than mine, he drove beat up cars and trucks, had to work a lot more than me to and had wife and 3 kids. I could do the samething no problem and still have more money than he ever had during his trucking days.

 

Did you see the thread @nikmirbre posted about a wex app?