[cvmom]

[quote=Myriad]Wait, there’s an H-Mart now?[/quote]
Yes, but their grand opening specials are now history and their prices match Ranch 99 🙁

[cvmom]

I don’t think Scott Peters has been rated yet…couldn’t find it online, anyway. At least we have a better chance with him.

[cvmom]

Thanks KIBU and squat for the great posts. I think you are right that those in favor of gun control tend to be less aggressive in promoting their viewpoints, most importantly to our representatives. I will be contacting mine and asking my friends to do the same.

[cvmom]

C’mon squat–think of your impact on so many people, there are certainly many more lurkers than posters on this site. You are so often the voice of sincerity and reason, this site really needs you!!

[cvmom]

[quote=bearishgurl][quote=cvmom][quote=earlyretirement]BG,

I’d LOVE LOVE LOVE a pension like that. It sounds like you’re one of the lucky ones.[/quote]

+1[/quote]

cvmom, you would have had to have been me (in the era I earned it) in order to be eligible for it.

I had to return to work after maternity leaves within ten weeks of initially starting it [/quote]

Actually I returned to work after 8 weeks after both of my births. Would have been 6 weeks except I had a C-section.

[quote=bearishgurl]Got off work at 5:00 pm and the last quarter of the year it got dark at ~4:30 pm.
[/quote]

me too

[quote=bearishgurl]Until 1990, wore skirts, dresses, dress shoes and hose nearly every day.[/quote]

me too, until 1997 when I moved to the West Coast

[quote=bearishgurl]PC at one’s desk? What’s that?? Only after 1990 (amber/blk screens until 2000).[/quote]

me too

[quote=bearishgurl]You better give the impression of liking and respecting your supervisor or your life could be made hell really fast . . . [/quote]

I would say this is still the case for me

[quote=bearishgurl]Oh, and cvmom, my kids were in FT daycare since infancy. They were picked up every day between 5:35 and 6:00 pm.[/quote]

Similar situation here. Now that they are older I depend on the stay-at-home-mom network to help me out with after-school driving.

[quote=bearishgurl]I could go on but you get the drift.[/quote]

I am not saying that the boomers didn’t work hard, and don’t deserve their pensions. My parents both have them, and I am so grateful that I will not have to worry about supporting them. I just wish that I had the same for my 20+ years in the full-time workforce…but none of the companies I have worked for have offered that benefit. That is why we live way below our means, to avoid eating catfood when we retire…

[cvmom]

[quote=earlyretirement]BG,

I’d LOVE LOVE LOVE a pension like that. It sounds like you’re one of the lucky ones.[/quote]

+1

[cvmom]

[quote=flu]I think it would be easier just to change your last name.[/quote]

To/from an Asian-sounding one? Or what is the point I am missing?

[cvmom]

[quote=joec]Was wondering about this…Would it be “better” / “easier” to get to a top university/school if everyone in your high school isn’t as TOP/Overachieving?

Like I would assume if everyone from the top CV high school applies to say Stanford, they aren’t going to take a ton of people from the same school right?

Course, it doesn’t mean they’ll take someone from the lower high school neither, but I’m assuming the admissions will start getting glassed eyed after reading about the 7th Nguyen student from the same CV school and why they should be admitted…[/quote]

Yes, I have considered this question as well. However, for my family, I think the best decision we could have made is to go for the best/most competitive school possible.

My kid does very well in school, gets all A’s without having to try much. So at a less-competitive high school, I think it is likely he would be coasting a bit, patting himself on the back for being at the top of the class. However, at CCA (similar to Torrey Pines and to CVMS), there are lots of other kids also getting all A’s, plus doing lots and lots of other extra-curricular academically-challenging stuff, as well as sports, volunteer work, etc. This environment has been unbelievably motivating for my kid and I am just amazed at how hard he now works, mostly on extra-curricular academic stuff that he finds to be intriguing and rewarding.

So I think (for some kids at least) the upsides of the stimulating and motivational peer environment at one of these top middle- or high-schools definitely outweighs the downsides of colleges having too large of a pool to choose from.

[cvmom]

AN, where did you get your goal number of $5M savings for retirement? I am assuming that is for 2 people? Just comparing “numbers” (ER, I also liked that book).

[cvmom]

[quote=UCGal]I’ve been reading this thread with interest. I think part of the differences expressed are because of different ages and stages of life.
[/quote]

+1 on this

I and my husband are (younger) baby boomers, older than many on this thread. I bet this does have a lot to do with why we feel more conservative and debt-averse.

[cvmom]

[quote=AN][quote=cvmom]I tend to agree with CAR. My husband and I are relatively risk-averse, have a paid-off house and enough in the bank that we could both retire tomorrow if needed, plus fund the kids’ educations. And we got that way by getting somewhat lucky in our real estate purchases, but mostly by spending much less than we earn.

However, I think our peer group (and perhaps CAR’s peer group) has a different definition of success. I think Early’s financial position is WAY different/better than ours, if I had to guess. So I think the smart risk-taking when young is probably the way to go, if you can. It just never appealed to me, so I think second best (for those of us with maybe fewer smarts or cojones) is definitely the spend-less-than-you-earn-and-avoid-debt route.[/quote]Thanks for proving my point. Key point is, you got there by being lucky with your real estate purchases. I assume you didn’t pay cash for those.

Just because you leverage doesn’t mean you have to spend more than you earn. I’ve discuss spending many times before and I’m sure I underspend even compare to most on here. How else would I have the capital need to leverage? Even if I save 100% of my gross income, I still would not be able to reach my goal of $5M by the time I’m 50-55 if I don’t use leverage. It seems like you got to your number by leveraging as well. If you rushed to pay off your 1st home, would you have the cash needed to buy your second home without needing to sell your 1st home?[/quote]

Good point, we did do mortgages on our first few homes. Then moved around the country with work, selling one and moving up to another. Only recently did we feel comfortable enough with our financial cushion to pay off the mortgage completely.

Judicious use of minimal mortgage debt, as several others have mentioned. But no car debt, student debt, credit card debt, etc…

[cvmom]

[quote=earlyretirement][quote=cvmom]I would say the only reason to buy in CV over other areas is the quality of the public schools. I can’t speak for the elementary schools but I am very impressed with the middle and high schools. There are a lot of very academically-focused students, which has its plusses and minuses, but I think it is mostly plusses.

As soon as our kids are out of school, we plan to move out of CV. Not huge fans of soulless suburbia…but we think it has been the right choice to raise our kids.[/quote]

I agree cvmom. I think the main reason why many families buy in that area are the wonderful schools in the area. That’s what got us even looking in that area is the school system.

The weather is pretty darn good as well plus you are just minutes from the beaches in Del Mar. That is a big plus as well.[/quote]

Yes, the weather is pretty good–usually don’t get the fog of Del Mar but also don’t get the heat of inland. But for us, we are really not beach people, only go a few times a year. Pathetic…

[cvmom]

[quote=AN][quote=earlyretirement]I guess the points are over leveraging can cause significant problems and not leveraging at all will never cause you to get ahead.[/quote]This, I totally agree with. I never suggest over leveraged is a good thing. It’s a recipe for disaster. I was just debating the point that CAR tried to make, which is: [quote=CA renter]The one difference I’ve noticed between successful people and unsuccessful people (my definitions, not necessarily mainstream) is that the successful people have tended to avoid debt at almost all costs.[/quote]My point is, you need to take calculated risk and a lot of time, leverage to get you to the point of financial independence.[/quote]

I tend to agree with CAR. My husband and I are relatively risk-averse, have a paid-off house and enough in the bank that we could both retire tomorrow if needed, plus fund the kids’ educations. And we got that way by getting somewhat lucky in our real estate purchases, but mostly by spending much less than we earn.

However, I think our peer group (and perhaps CAR’s peer group) has a different definition of success. I think Early’s financial position is WAY different/better than ours, if I had to guess. So I think the smart risk-taking when young is probably the way to go, if you can. It just never appealed to me, so I think second best (for those of us with maybe fewer smarts or cojones) is definitely the spend-less-than-you-earn-and-avoid-debt route.

[cvmom]

I would say the only reason to buy in CV over other areas is the quality of the public schools. I can’t speak for the elementary schools but I am very impressed with the middle and high schools. There are a lot of very academically-focused students, which has its plusses and minuses, but I think it is mostly plusses.

As soon as our kids are out of school, we plan to move out of CV. Not huge fans of soulless suburbia…but we think it has been the right choice to raise our kids.

[cvmom]

I do miss the double ovens I had at my previous (much larger) home, but I am not the average as I cook all the time. I also would vote you go for the microwave and oven and free up some counter space that would have been wasted with a countertop microwave.

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