[earlyretirement]

Reminds me of this from a few years ago:

THIS APPEARED ON CRAIG’S LIST

What am I doing wrong?

Okay, I’m tired of beating around the bush. I’m a beautiful (spectacularly beautiful) 25 year old girl. I’m articulate and classy. I’m not from New York. I’m looking to get married to a guy who makes at least half a million a year. I know how that sounds, but keep in mind that a million a year is middle class in New York City , so I don’t think I’m overreaching at all.

Are there any guys who make 500K or more on this board? Any wives? Could you send me some tips? I dated a business man who makes average around 100 – 150. But that’s where I seem to hit a roadblock. 150,000 won’t get me to central park west. I know a woman in my yoga class who was married to an investment banker and lives in Tribeca, and she’s not as pretty as I am, nor is she a great genius. So what is she doing right? How do I get to her level?

Here are my questions specifically:

– Where do you single rich men hang out? Give me specifics- bars, restaurants, gyms

-What are you looking for in a mate? Be honest guys, you won’t hurt my feelings

-Is there an age range I should be targeting (I’m 25)?

– Why are some of the women living lavish lifestyles on the upper east side so plain? I’ve seen really ‘plain jane’ boring types who have nothing to offer married to incredibly wealthy guys. I’ve seen drop dead gorgeous girls in singles bars in the east village. What’s the story there?

– Jobs I should look out for? Everyone knows – lawyer, investment banker, doctor. How much do those guys really make? And where do they hang out? Where do the hedge fund guys hang out?

– How you decide marriage vs. just a girlfriend? I am looking for MARRIAGE ONLY

Please hold your insults – I’m putting myself out there in an honest way. Most beautiful women are superficial; at least I’m being up front about it. I wouldn’t be searching for these kind of guys if I wasn’t able to match them – in looks, culture, sophistication, and keeping a nice home and hearth.

——————–

THE ANSWER

Dear Pers-:

I read your posting with great interest and have thought meaningfully about your dilemma. I offer the following analysis of your predicament. Firstly, I’m not wasting your time, I qualify as a guy who fits your bill; that is I make more than $500K per year. That said here’s how I see it.

Your offer, from the prospective of a guy like me, is plain and simple a crappy business deal. Here’s why. Cutting through all the B.S., what you suggest is a simple trade: you bring your looks to the party and I bring my money. Fine, simple. But here’s the rub, your looks will fade and my money will likely continue into perpetuity…in fact, it is very likely that my income increases but it is an absolute certainty that you won’t be getting any more beautiful!

So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset. Not only are you a depreciating asset, your depreciation accelerates! Let me explain, you’re 25 now and will likely stay pretty hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in earnest. By 35 stick a fork in you!

So in Wall Street terms, we would call you a trading position, not a buy and hold…hence the rub…marriage. It doesn’t make good business sense to “buy you” (which is what you’re asking) so I’d rather lease. In case you think I’m being cruel, I would say the following. If my money were to go away, so would you, so when your beauty fades I need an out. It’s as simple as that. So a deal that makes sense is dating, not marriage.

Separately, I was taught early in my career about efficient markets. So, I wonder why a girl as “articulate, classy and spectacularly beautiful” as you has been unable to find your sugar daddy. I find it hard to believe that if you are as gorgeous as you say you are that the $500K hasn’t found you, if not only for a tryout.

By the way, you could always find a way to make your own money and then we wouldn’t need to have this difficult conversation.

With all that said, I must say you’re going about it the right way. Classic “pump and dump.”

I hope this is helpful, and if you want to enter into some sort of lease, let me know.

[earlyretirement]

[quote=CDMA ENG]So spill…

You have a price… You know the square footage…

Complete the equation!

Enquiry minds want to know!

CE[/quote]

Yep. The total sq. footage is about 750 sq. feet and it was $3,050 total for the flooring with them.

Then spent about $10,000 with California Closets on the closets and work bench, etc.

[earlyretirement]

[quote=UCGal]Nice floors, ER.

And the tesla looks nice, too![/quote]

Thanks UCGal! I love love love the Tesla….just amazing technology. Can’t wait for the Model X too.

[quote=BoomerAang]It looks nice earlyretirement. How long did it take for the entire process? After they finish the coats of paint, how long did you have to wait before you could park there again? We tried doing our floors ourselves with a one part epoxy from Home Depot, but the paint came off from the tires a couple of months afterwards. I need to re-do the garage and not trust what Home Depot guys say. I’ll try a two-part epoxy with the confetti (which masks imperfections on the concrete) another time.

Also, is that a Q5 in the back or Q7? How is that working out? We were looking at the Q5, but I wish they had a 2.0 TDI stateside. We ended up getting the Rav4EV instead. I like the electric drive-train, but it doesn’t feel as nice inside of course. Now waiting to check out the mercedes b-class electric when it comes out.[/quote]

Thanks! The photos don’t do it justice. It looks much better in person. The entire process was only 3 days. The first day they grinded down the cement and then waterproofed it. That’s what that green jello slime is. They coat it and they were out about 8 hours on Day 1. Then you have to wait overnight for it to dry.

This is why Perkins can give a 15 year warranty. They are so thorough on that process as you can see. I doubt other companies do such a good job. Garage Envy only gives a 1 year warranty!! They said they changed it as they got killed on warranty claims. No thanks!

Day 2 they buffed it and then they laid down the epoxy flakes. They were there for about another 8 hours on Day 2. Then we just had to wait 24 hours to put the cars in the garage. It was great! 15 year warranty.

I should have taken photos before the painting because it was much worse. I took photos after we hired a painter to paint the entire garage. It looked much better just painting from white with black scratch marks everywhere from a decade of living (previous owners had kids too).

That other SUV is an Audi Q7 TDI. We love it! It’s really been solid. I bought it at the beginning of 2011 and it’s been great. I got the TDI which is Diesel. My first diesel car but really solid! Gas mileage is great! I get about 21 MPG which is great considering it’s about 6,700 pounds. We were going to trade it in for the Model X but I think we will end up keeping it so we have one ICE car for road trips.

I’ve taken the Q7 a few times driving to Lake Tahoe in the snow and it’s a workhorse. Really powerful and performs well. I really love that car. I really love the EV technology and think that is the future…. LOVE it. Spending about 1/4 of what I was spending before on ICE car in “fuel”.

[earlyretirement]

[quote=CDMA ENG]Looks great!

Changed the whole garage.

No you have a space “worthy” of parking an electric “T-Berd” in.

BTW… What was on the hood of you car? Was it discolored or did all photos just make it look that way.

CE[/quote]

Thanks! Yeah, now it’s ready for the Model X as well coming in late 2014. Ah, the hood had some condensation. I had to park it outside and it was chilly so there was a bit of condensation on it. Yeah, it looked strange.

Tomorrow we have California Closets out putting in a ton of custom cabinets. I’ll be out of the country but my wife said she will update the photo gallery. Should look amazing but just getting the floors done and repainting it changed it completely. The photos don’t do the floors justice.

[earlyretirement]

Wow, I can’t rave enough about Paul and Perkins Flooring. http://www.perkinscustomcoatings.com

These people are true pros. They told me they would show up at 8:30 AM on the day the work started and they were here promptly at 8:30 AM. Many vendors that I’ve had out are late and make excuses whey they are late from getting lost, to taking a long time to get through the security gate, to whatever reason. These guys were on time and worked hard.

The two guys that came out were true pros. Very professional and explained what they would do each day. I’ve done a TON of renovations and even built a few houses from scratch but I’ve never done any epoxy flooring before so I didn’t know anything about this process.

These guys explained the process and both days they showed up on time and worked about 8 hours each day. The end result is gorgeous! I’m super super busy lately as I’m opening another office in another country so it’s been crazy.

When I get back from Canada, I’ll post some before and after photos. It turned out amazing! And Paul and Perkins were really professional and “old school”. For example, I was surprised that Paul didn’t even ask for a deposit. I signed a contract and he shook my hand and said a handshake was good enough for him and that’s how he did business. He told me that I could pay him once it was all done.

I was on a monster 3.5 hour conference call when they finished so I couldn’t say goodbye. So I sent my wife out with a credit card to pay and they just said to call the office and they would take care of it. These people are true professionals. They are honest, ethical and hard workers and they delivered what they said they would deliver.

I can’t rave about these guys enough. Thanks again ljinvestor! I owe you one.

I have California Closets coming out tomorrow to put in a ton of custom cabinets and work bench.

Photo Gallery: https://picasaweb.google.com/100311214635839998133/EpoxyFlooringInstalledByPerkinsFlooring?authkey=Gv1sRgCLi6_dz58bSiigE#

[earlyretirement]

[quote=BoomerAang]I love my AMEX card as well, but it is not accepted everywhere. I get shot down a lot with that card since they charge the merchant double what VISA/Mastercard do. Discover and AMEX have this extended warranty for all of their customers. I believe VISA signature cards also have a similar policy that extends the manufacturers warranty by a year. The VISA and Mastercard policy is different for each card.[/quote]

Yeah. That’s the thing that sucks, especially for people that travel overseas quite a bit. Here in the USA, AMEX is accepted in most places but where it gets tricky is overseas. I travel abroad quite a bit and AMEX isn’t taken in many places.

I found the Citibank Executive card (Black) is really great. The annual fee is high at something like $500 a year but they don’t charge on forex fees and I get AA miles which are valuable to me. The amount I save on forex fees more than makes up for the annual fee. But other perks like the American Airlines Admiral’s Club isn’t really a perk because any AMEX Platinum card allows you to enter the Admiral’s Club.

Still the Visa Signature still sucks. I’ve gone through that extended warranty process before and they ask for TONS of paperwork, it takes tons of time and although you ultimately might get reimbursed, I have to put a value on my time and by the time I get done with all of that it feels like I just filled out the paperwork to adopt a blind kid out of China! LOL.

AMEX process is so effortless. I’ve never even had to fill out a police report or even get a quote before.

[earlyretirement]

Yep. I mentioned this in the other thread flu. AMEX is great! I have the Platinum AMEX, SPG Amex and especially the Platinum AMEX from the UK is AMAZING!!

I can’t tell you how many tens of thousands of dollars in benefits I’ve received over the past few decades from it with all the benefits.

Truly the best. I charge ALL electronics and anything with a warranty to my AMEX cards. I’ve NEVER gotten hassled at all about any claims.

I can’t rave enough about them. I have other Premium credit cards that have high annual fees and they are rubbish for the most part for the insurance claims. They make it so difficult and you have to jump through hoops. AMEX I just fill out the claim online and typically a few weeks later I see a credit on my credit card for the claim.

The Platinum and SPG cards even cover loss in the first 90 days! Case in point, a few months ago my wife bought my 5 year old daughter a small diamond necklace and it got broken on the playground at school and the diamond came off. Well, the teacher put it in her cubby but someone took it or it got lost. We just submitted a claim online and 2 weeks later they provided a credit for the cost of the necklace! I have so many examples like that.

[earlyretirement]

[quote=all][quote=earlyretirement]

But yes, you can get around FDIC if you are creative. Most people ask why you would hold such large amounts in a Savings or checking or MMA? And there are all kinds of different reasons. For example, I still do with some of my accounts because I get American Airlines frequent flyer miles which I use to upgrade to 1st class so they are VERY valuable to me and they aren’t taxed.

In this environment of VERY low interest rates, and already having more than I want in the stock market, it’s great ROI for me while still protecting past FDIC limits.[/quote]

Do you have an account with Bank Direct?[/quote]

Yep. I’ve had one for years there. It used to be GREAT as they didn’t have any caps on the amount of money you could park and earn unlimited miles. It was heaven. Now they put restrictions and limits on the amount you can earn. But you can still earn in a few different categories.

Also, I got grandfathered in with another bank as Guaranty Bank had a program with American Airlines many years ago. They ended it when Guaranty went belly up many years ago but they grandfathered in all the people that were with that program before so I’m still earning lots of miles in that program.

They have devalued the miles in this low interest rate environment. Before, when interest rates were high it was a no brainer for them but now it’s more expensive for them as interest rates are so low.

But still, I fly a lot internationally and I use these miles to upgrade to 1st class so often times I buy a cheaper $1,200 ticket and I’ll upgrade with miles and it can be worth a $12,000 ticket to fly across on a long haul international trip. Again, the miles have never been taxed. So although I give up a bit in interest I come out ahead because I’m not taxed on these miles.

Also, Citibank routinely has promotions where you can open a Gold checking account and keep $X for 3 months and you can get 50,000 miles. I’ve done that before. Also, if you fly American Airlines quite a bit, it makes sense to get this credit card.

http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/earnMiles/beyondTravel/creditDebit/citi_reduced_mileage.jsp

I fly some of these routes every month and nice getting a 7,500 reduced mileage award. (For example flying up to Toronto from SAN for only 17,500 frequent flyer miles is a real bargain, IMHO). Really great. Plus you get a rebate of 10% of frequent miles back with the card.

Even before when interest rates were MUCH higher, I still came out ahead earning frequent flyer miles vs. getting the interest as I’d pay taxes on that interest and I was in the highest tax bracket. So I’d find legal and creative ways to minimize my taxes and produce the highest ROI.

Granted, for people that don’t fly too often it might not be compelling. But for me, I have over 3 million miles flown in the past 20 years. So needless to say it’s valuable for me.

[earlyretirement]

[quote=CDMA ENG]Thanks FLU…[/quote]

Flu beat me to the punch. I haven’t been on the board much as I’m starting a new company in another company so busy busy.

But yes, you can get around FDIC if you are creative. Most people ask why you would hold such large amounts in a Savings or checking or MMA? And there are all kinds of different reasons. For example, I still do with some of my accounts because I get American Airlines frequent flyer miles which I use to upgrade to 1st class so they are VERY valuable to me and they aren’t taxed.

In this environment of VERY low interest rates, and already having more than I want in the stock market, it’s great ROI for me while still protecting past FDIC limits.

[earlyretirement]

I don’t keep large amounts in MM’s due to the no FDIC protection but you can easily keep large sums in your Checking or Savings accounts with FDIC protection. Just add on POD beneficiaries to boost the protection beyond the $250,000 limits.

[earlyretirement]

[quote=CA renter]

Correct, no Mello-Roos (or HOAs) for us. It was a very deliberate decision on our part to buy into a neighborhood with no MR or HOA fees.

Would love to catch up whenever you get a chance. Let me know when you get some free time.

Will you be driving the Tesla? :)[/quote]

Ah. Got it. Yes, I recall now that you mentioned that. I do think that can be wise for some people. For others, I don’t think it’s all bad. I guess it just depends on each community. I was NEVER a big fan of HOA’s until I bought in Santaluz and I find them well worth it here and the fees reasonable for everything you get.

DEFINITELY I’d love to catch up again. It’s been way too long since I last saw you. I so enjoyed meeting you. Yep. I’ll be driving the Tesla. You can even drive it if you want! I so enjoy seeing people’s faces that drive it for the first time.

I can’t wait to get the Model X as well but it will be a while. So funny, I bought a vanity plate for it. There was a thread on the Tesla forum asking about best vanity plate names. I posted about mine. MOD X and a guy offered me $5,000 for it! I didn’t know you could sell license plates but I guess it involves a transfer. Anyway, I refused as I think it would be too cool to have MOD X on it. I tried for MODEL X but Elon Musk owns that himself.

I’ll look for your email and reach out to you. Look forward to seeing you again!

[earlyretirement]

Duplicate.

[earlyretirement]

[quote=flyer]ER–Sorry to hear about your medical issues, but I’m sure everything will be taken care of, and you’ll be good as new.

We have United Healthcare, which has been great, but, I don’t believe they are writing policies in CA anymore–not sure. Since the airline I fly for is not based in CA, it’s a nonissue for us. I’ll probably stop flying commercially in a few years, and, even then, my wife and I will be able to keep this coverage until we’re 65–which is quite a few years away.

No one wants to be ill, but what I like about it is the fact that, if necessary, we can go to MD Anderson, Sloan, Mayo, Hopkins, as well as local providers. From what I understand, this is a special policy negotiated by the union for the pilot group, since they have to insure us, no matter where we live.

If things are working out well for you at Kaiser, you should be all set, and I wish you the best.[/quote]

Thanks flyer! Wow, that sounds like a sweet insurance plan. Yes, the great thing about yours is you can go anywhere. That’s why I never had an HMO type plan before. But then again I spent decades paying for coverage and I never went to the doctor.

My family is totally healthy so the only times my wife went was when she was pregnant and random freak accidents. (wife fractured her ribs in a jet skiing accident in Bora Bora).

So far, we’re totally happy with Kaiser and hopefully everyone stays healthy. ALL the doctors I’ve come across there were really great. Our kids pediatrician is the best doctor they ever had! She is really wonderful. My doc is really great. I’ve even met other doctors unrelated to being sick from Kaiser and totally above board and really good people.

On an off note, wow, who knew there were so many H.Pylori experts in the house! LOL. I’d never even heard of it before I got diagnosed with it. Ha, ha.

Yep, ocr. That’s exactly what the specialist said that caught it. He said that I picked it up in another country and I’m 99.9999% sure that was the case. I travel to some crazy places.

I wouldn’t wish anyone to pick that up on my worst enemy (not that I have any). It was horribly painful every single day. Just awful to the point I couldn’t eat or immediately after eating I’d have severe diarrhea almost immediately.

Nothing worse than going to a fancy and expensive dinner out, ordering a fancy meal then having your stomach hurt and not eating a thing. I had many of those experiences…. not fun!

[earlyretirement]

[quote=ocrenter][quote=earlyretirement][quote=spdrun]H. Pylori is 30-40% prevalent in Americans — no need to have picked it up while traveling.

Susceptibility is likely more down to genetics and diet than location. Good that you got rid of it; it’s reputed to cause ulcers, at least in some people.[/quote]

Ah.. I didn’t realize it was so prevalent in Americans as well. They said they rarely see it here. I guess because most people are asymptomatic? I’m not sure.

All I know is I’m darn glad they diagnosed it and I can go back to eating In-N-Out burgers and other junk food that I love so much! LOL.

For a while there I didn’t want to eat as there was so much pain all the time. All I know is now I’m back in FULL force clogging up my arteries. It feels good.[/quote]

That peaked my interest so I looked up prevalence rate per the world GI organization (WGO). Yes US and Western Europe are at 30-40%, Asia is at 60-70%, Latin America and Africa are more like 80-90%. So while it is possible to simply just get Hpylori in the US, if a native born US citizen was in Latin America or Africa for a few years, came back and got diagnosed, I’ll put my money on him getting the bacteria from the travel instead of from the US.[/quote]

Yes, that is what the doctors that I saw said. They said almost definitely I picked this up abroad. Again, know nothing about this. Just going off what the doctors I saw said.

I’d rather trust my docs info vs. some random posts from armchair docs on Piggington. LOL.

Fortunately, none of my family had it. I got paranoid for a while after I was diagnosed with it. Every time my kids said their stomach hurt, I would take them to Kaiser for an H. Pylori test! LOL. (Well, exaggeration…just the one time for each kid…LOL).

But none of them had it. Just pops.

Maybe my immune system is getting weak in my advanced old age! I hate getting old. It sucks.

[earlyretirement]

[quote=spdrun]H. Pylori is 30-40% prevalent in Americans — no need to have picked it up while traveling.

Susceptibility is likely more down to genetics and diet than location. Good that you got rid of it; it’s reputed to cause ulcers, at least in some people.[/quote]

Ah.. I didn’t realize it was so prevalent in Americans as well. They said they rarely see it here. I guess because most people are asymptomatic? I’m not sure.

All I know is I’m darn glad they diagnosed it and I can go back to eating In-N-Out burgers and other junk food that I love so much! LOL.

For a while there I didn’t want to eat as there was so much pain all the time. All I know is now I’m back in FULL force clogging up my arteries. It feels good.

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