People aren't attacking the delusional and temporarily embarassed billionaires and telling them to focus on a more realistic FIRE.

They are pouring gas on their delusions, big difference compared to the reaction to people who play the lottery.

> This comment is sarcasm, right? Perhaps becoming a billionaire is out of reach, but growing your portfolio by 5-20% annually is highly likely

This is incredibly out of touch.

The GP comment was talking about the kind of people who don't even own stocks and probably can't afford to buy even a single share, because it would eat into their budget much more than a $2-5 lottery ticket.

Also, lottery ticket EV isn't -100%, it's anywhere between -50% and -80%.

The stock portfolio growth numbers are also wrong for long-term, but we'll let that one slide.

> The GP comment was talking about the kind of people who don't even own stocks and probably can't afford to buy even a single share, because it would eat into their budget much more than a $2-5 lottery ticket.

People who buy a $5 lottery ticket every day could absolutely afford to buy stocks if they'd stop doing that.

> Also, lottery ticket EV isn't -100%, it's anywhere between -50% and -80%.

Even assuming your optimistic number, it's idiotic to "invest" anything into something with an expected return of -50%.

No, the GP comment specifically said regular non-connected, non-Ivy League folk. That's an enormously wide net.

In any case, $5 lottery ticket x 2 draws/week x 52 weeks/year = $520. You can buy some stock with that. And plenty of people (unfortunately, mostly poor people) spend a lot more than $5 per draw.

I overheard my Costco bagger talking about the stocks he bought. Literally anyone can buy stocks these days.

That's a sure sign of a stock market bubble.