I think this particular forum is one of the most popular. I believe it's because people naturally wants to compare where they stand with others in terms of income and net worth - this is what this forum is about.

So how did simple sharing about one's income and net worth degenerate into insults and threats? I think jealousy and insecurities got in the way.

On one side, you have this poster claiming he has made his bundle ($$) young and retired and now doing charitable work. A fellow poster (could be the same guy) claiming to aspire to be like him and working hard with the aim of retiring early (by 50).

On the other side we have a poster who claimed to have done reasonably well (net worth estimated at $5m), advising people to save, invest and work as long as they can.

As the sarcasm and insults came from the camp that advocated early retirement, I can only infer that this was caused by jealousy and insecurity. Jealousy, because once you retired, your income stopped. You have to cut back on your lifestyle. No car, no maid, etc... While there is nothing wrong to live simply, it is painful when you are still young to be living in austerity.

Insecurity, because you are never sure if your savings can outlast your retirement. The irony in retirement planning is that the younger you retire, the more savings you need because of the many more years in retirement, but you saved less because you stopped working earlier. The later (older) you retire, the less savings you need, but you ended up saving more because of the longer working years!

And to make matters worse, you have third parties coming in to add fuel to the fire by contributing inflammatory and totally up constructive remarks.

So unless posters stopped letting jealousy and insecurity get in the way, it is difficult to have free flowing sharing of ideas. It is a real pity.