Search found 307 matches
- Sun Jun 11, 2023 7:37 am
- Forum: Money and Investment Questions
- Topic: EVERYTHING Too $$$ Now
- Replies: 208
- Views: 19543
Re: EVERYTHING Too $$$ Now
I agree with a few of the previous statements about how things seem to be incredibly distorted now. Things are just very weird. Some people are ordering stuff with delivery apps, and are perfectly happy to pay a 50% markup on the menu price, plus a delivery fee, plus a tip. This week, my partner and...
- Sat Mar 18, 2023 8:33 am
- Forum: Resources & Recommended Reading
- Topic: chatGPT
- Replies: 106
- Views: 19609
Re: chatGPT
If you write code, ChatGPT is excellent at writing small to medium fragments of code to solve specific problems. You have to be very clear in specifying what you want it to do... but you can have it revise a code snippet in any way that you describe. It is quite useful for that.
- Fri Dec 30, 2022 2:06 pm
- Forum: Miscellaneous
- Topic: Philippines or Thailand or S. U.S. border
- Replies: 40
- Views: 7777
Re: Philippines or Thailand or S. U.S. border
Don't permanently move somewhere abroad, until you've had a chance to live there temporarily for at least a few months.
- Fri Oct 28, 2022 9:39 am
- Forum: Money and Investment Questions
- Topic: What's the problem with inflation?
- Replies: 70
- Views: 7894
Re: What's the problem with inflation?
Hmmm. Yeah, I agree that everybody's situation is individualized. On the whole, I'd tend to think that ERE folks might be more impacted on average, because it's difficult to substitute for lower cost alternatives (or forego purchases) if one's basket is already starting from a moderately-to-highly o...
- Fri Oct 28, 2022 9:08 am
- Forum: Money and Investment Questions
- Topic: What's the problem with inflation?
- Replies: 70
- Views: 7894
Re: What's the problem with inflation?
Don't the published BLS inflation numbers heavily weigh the cost of housing, due to the fact that for most people in the USA, the cost of their housing is one of their biggest expenses? I think that food and energy costs are weighted to a lesser extent. This may cause a different "perception&qu...
- Fri Oct 28, 2022 8:50 am
- Forum: Money and Investment Questions
- Topic: Fee free HSA account recommendations
- Replies: 3
- Views: 788
Re: Fee free HSA account recommendations
Another strong vote from me for Fidelity's HSA. Reasons: - There are no fees (other than expense ratios that are inherent to mutual funds or ETFs) - There is no minimum amount you have to hold (non-invested) as cash. (I'm currently imagining myself flipping the bird to "PayFlex" right now....
- Wed Jun 15, 2022 7:32 am
- Forum: Inspiration
- Topic: Where were you 4 years ago
- Replies: 24
- Views: 5303
Re: Where were you 4 years ago
Four years ago in the summer of 2018, I sold both of my rental apartments. They were both in the same building. The owners in the building voted to accept an offer from an investment company to purchase the whole building at once. At a price that was quite a bit higher than the fair market value tha...
- Sat Apr 16, 2022 6:59 pm
- Forum: Money and Investment Questions
- Topic: Retirement Savings Bill - Secure Act 2.0
- Replies: 22
- Views: 2494
- Thu Apr 14, 2022 8:16 am
- Forum: Money and Investment Questions
- Topic: Retirement Savings Bill - Secure Act 2.0
- Replies: 22
- Views: 2494
Re: Retirement Savings Bill - Secure Act 2.0
Holy Crap, how did I miss the news about there being a new 5% floor on the 72t/SEPP safe harbor? That's a game changer for a lot of folks
- Wed Dec 22, 2021 8:45 am
- Forum: Work & Education
- Topic: Programming Jobs that are not "Puzzle Solving?"
- Replies: 28
- Views: 4998
Re: Programming Jobs that are not "Puzzle Solving?"
I've been employed to work/develop on C++ projects since 2004, at a handful of different companies. (Yes, I'm still working, and have far surpassed "FI", but yet to have pulled the trigger on "RE", so I guess you could consider me an "ERE Failure".) With regard to "...
- Fri Aug 20, 2021 7:07 am
- Forum: Money and Investment Questions
- Topic: Is 4% dead?
- Replies: 109
- Views: 10649
Re: Is 4% dead?
... All I have to worry about in terms of "liquidity" is a collapse of the US government as a going concern. ... Sorry to cherry-pick one phrase out of a much larger discussion -- but this really got me thinking a bit. The United States is a pretty young country. In it's short lifespan, t...
- Thu Apr 08, 2021 1:32 pm
- Forum: Friends, Family, Relationships, and Community Questions
- Topic: My parents announce TARP for siblings
- Replies: 72
- Views: 25412
Re: My parents announce TARP for siblings
My thoughts on inheritances or economic-outpatient-support-for-children is: It's the parents' money, so it's their choice to do with it whatever they want. If they want to give more/all if it to one sibling over another, or all to charity, or spend every last penny -- that's entirely their choice, r...
- Mon Feb 08, 2021 3:12 pm
- Forum: Money and Investment Questions
- Topic: Brokerage Diversification
- Replies: 19
- Views: 3734
Re: Brokerage Diversification
I really liked Interactive Brokers, and used them for years. If you trade on margin, NOBODY beats IB's rates. It's not even close. That said, I've become a lot more "passive" lately with my investments, so I don't need all the shiny toys that IB/TWS offers. My employer 401k is at Fidelity,...
- Wed Jan 20, 2021 9:12 am
- Forum: Health and Food Questions
- Topic: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?
- Replies: 360
- Views: 92106
Re: What Do You Eat for Weight Loss?
In my experience, what I eat has a much bigger impact on weight-loss-efforts, than the amount of exercise. What has worked well for me, diet-wise, is to severely restrict carbohydrates, and consume more healthy fats. The fats have a satiating effect that reduces hunger. Carbohydrate consumption caus...
- Fri Jan 01, 2021 10:55 am
- Forum: Money and Investment Questions
- Topic: SWR milestone record
- Replies: 318
- Views: 251348
Re: SWR milestone record
1/1/2021 - 1.67% SWR
- Sat Dec 05, 2020 11:12 pm
- Forum: Technical Skills & Tools Questions
- Topic: Best way of using Google Sheets as a database?
- Replies: 7
- Views: 1018
Re: Best way of using Google Sheets as a database?
Ahhh I never thought of using formulas in a spreadsheet to generate sql that can be used to throw data directly into a DB. Brilliant! Instead I usually would have exported to some format like csv, and written python to throw stuff into a DB. But that's a lot more work!
- Mon Sep 28, 2020 1:16 pm
- Forum: Philosophy and Lifestyle Questions
- Topic: Shaving
- Replies: 11
- Views: 1403
Re: Shaving
I use Gillette Series 2 disposable razors. It's been a while since I bought a bag of them, but the individual razors come down to about $1 each I think. However, each razor lasts me over a month, due to a "forearm stropping" technique I learned on some random YouTube video. I basically run...
- Mon Sep 28, 2020 9:14 am
- Forum: Friends, Family, Relationships, and Community Questions
- Topic: Only Rice and Beans Response from friend on Spending Goal
- Replies: 32
- Views: 6978
Re: Only Rice and Beans Response from friend on Spending Goal
The healthcare situation in the US really sucks. I didn't understand how much, until I started considering the mechanics of not working. It is my biggest pain point in working out a potential FIRE. Yes, yes, yes! For all practical purposes, nearly all health care providers charge exorbitant "r...
- Wed Sep 23, 2020 6:21 pm
- Forum: Work & Education
- Topic: Are job perks underrated?
- Replies: 51
- Views: 15401
Re: Are job perks underrated?
Ahhhh I love a good Necro-post! :) From an ERE perspective, a lot of perks are things that you'd likely never intentionally spend money on yourself. Catered meals, video games, etc. They are nice, but you have to be careful, otherwise, they can start installing lifestyle-creep! If you become accusto...
- Wed Sep 23, 2020 6:09 pm
- Forum: Friends, Family, Relationships, and Community Questions
- Topic: Only Rice and Beans Response from friend on Spending Goal
- Replies: 32
- Views: 6978
Re: Only Rice and Beans Response from friend on Spending Goal
@OP You're not out of line at all if you can make that budget work for you long-term! I'd suggest (if you aren't already) - Maintain meticulous records of your spending habits, for a decent length of time, so you aren't forgetting to account for anything. I've kept a record of all expenses dating ba...