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joec
ParticipantIt’s nice to hear someone’s honest opinion on the endless rat race for most non-critical and non-inspiring tech work. I didn’t see, but how old is your daughter? I assume once she is old enough for college, that should allow you to work in more places than being stuck in SD…
In general, I just think at probably an age like 35-45 with a kid in the suburbs, you really can’t expect too much. IMO, and I see this in my own life, I just put up with it and see life as mostly waiting now, at least till the kids are grown and out of the house…
Being divorced as well and having gone through my own “mid-life” crisis probably 10 years ago, I’m sorta ok with it though. I did take time off with no work so I got to travel and do nothing for a while which I’d recommend if you can swing it. Downside is if you HAVE to work to raise a kid, that’s a lot of pressure/stress since time off looks bad. I had no kids when I took time off so just screwed around for a while which was totally awesome…honestly.
I don’t know if it’s just you or most people/families with kids, but a lot of people (OK, maybe it’s just ME) aren’t really interested in expanding their friend networks since they just don’t have that much free time. The most free time I had was when I was single and could control my own schedule. Once you have a wife/gf/kid, time is really scarce.
With kids and all their stuff and work, I honestly just don’t have time and don’t care I have very few/zero friends honestly. If anything, it’s sorta less problems to have to listen to and since I’m not trolling to hook up or meet women, I guess I simply don’t care honestly.
What I’d recommend is maybe figure out what activities you like to do in your spare time and find other people who like to do it too. Since you’re single, it’s certainly going to be easier to control your schedule for your daughter and figure out what you find “fun”.
Best of luck! I liked your post and agree that America is too much about work. It’s also true that if you have experienced other countries, things here aren’t THAT great IMO…
Learn to consume a lot less, save a war chest now, and retire early and move to a lower cost of living place and enjoy your free time.
ParticipantMaybe part of the problem is not so much public/private, but our political system is too screwed up to really do much of anything.
Look at the cable industry or Internet service which the the US invented (Internet), but we now have one of the slowest services in the world at a higher cost due to monopolies and the industry carving it out this way/that way.
Look at schools, health care in a lot of the other countries and the US is lacking and far behind…
Public employees aren’t of a higher standard, just more politically connected, lawyer-ed and special interests (unions) to improve upon or fix.
Participant[quote=CA renter]I want to make it clear that I am not trying to attack private sector workers as much as I am defending public sector workers from these relentless and incredibly unfair attacks.
Just go through all of the threads on this site to see who’s doing the attacking. Almost all of the threads where I have to post about this topic started out as an attack against public sector workers and/or unions.
If people don’t want to hear the truth, then stop posting lies and BS corporatist propaganda. If people want to push for the abolition of teacher tenure or public unions, then show **evidence** that any of these things will actually benefit students, taxpayers, workers, citizens, etc. as a whole. Simply repeating the right-wing propaganda is NOT going to cut it.[/quote]
As a defender of ACA / Obamacare, if you read my posts above AGAIN, I’m actually not attacking having public employee jobs or stating we should outsource everything. You just wasted 2 long posts above trying to say that I am saying to outsource everything when that’s very far from the truth.
Some jobs simply can’t be private since it makes no financial sense to provide some services when the profits/bottom line is what’s important for most private corporations. I very well understand that such as things for fire departments, defense, police, etc…should not be private for this very reason.
Again, I state again and take issue with YOUR STANCE AND HOW YOU COME AS SAYING THAT PUBLIC EMPLOYEES ARE A HIGHER STANDARD THAN PRIVATE AND THIS WHOLE NOTION THAT PUBLIC EMPLOYEES ARE BETTER…
Even though that might NOT be your intent, it certainly comes off that way with what you posts and if you re-read your first comment, it’s what you write as well.
It just sounds as if you’re a know it all type person.
The whole wall of text you posted on privatizing certain industries and those not doing well isn’t even something I’m advocating or want to advocate so you might as well just delete those as a rebuttal since I’m not talking about those things.
Participant[quote=CA renter][quote=harvey][quote=CA renter]Do you think most criminals come from the private sector, or the public sector (proportionally)?[/quote]
Most criminals don’t have jobs in either sector.
You still running with this “private sector employees are of a higher caste” theme?
Everyone has their stereotypes, but that one is pretty unique.[/quote]
I’m not the one who started the public vs. private sector worker theme. But if someone wants to sling BS around, I’ll call them on it. It is a fact that the public sector has higher standards WRT education, experience, and character/criminal background/psychological requirements when compared to similar jobs in the private sector.[/quote]
Not this public vs private employee debate again…
I’ll repeat it again, but certain public sector jobs have certain (NOT HIGHER OR BETTER) standards because the job just requires it. Like if you were to audit foster parents, you couldn’t have been a child molester, etc…
Honestly, I think anyone who thinks public sector workers are more skilled/talented are just deluding themselves…Especially people who have never succeeded in the private sector and had only government jobs.
My only real experience with public jobs is during the hiring process, everything is SO slow…By the time they get back to me, I already have 3 offers in hand all higher paying without me having to jump through hoops to prove I’m your guy.
Think of also the mentality of the people who work in a government job. Most jobs are harder to get fired from so you have a segment of workers who simply aren’t as competitive
My brother works with government workers in the defense industry and complains all the time about how once their hours are done, they are done as well. Also, things move so slowly compared to the private sector where you work non-stop or you’ll get passed by, not to mention if you don’t do it, someone else will step up and work harder than you. Your job is also much less secure so you can’t afford to sit around like some public employee.
Look at teachers/cops, you name it, molest kids and you still get paid while they figure out what happens, or kill someone and you get paid time off automatically. Does it make them more qualified or more experienced or better in anyway?
Absolutely not!
All that said, I don’t think you’ll ever agree with me or anyone else on this topic and instead of slinging your own BS that the public sector has HIGHER standards, just agree that the standards are different.
Like Bill Gates, if he wanted to run the ACA website probably can’t since he has no college degree…boo, what an idiot way to do things in general.
At the end of the day, ANYTHING the public government runs is more expensive, less efficient, more prone to fraud, rip/off people, than near anything the private industry does so please stop with the BS as well that the standards or public sector jobs is higher, just DIFFERENT.
ParticipantI don’t think I was trying to go outside the box completely with my comment to just dump HS as a retirement. It’s just, my jaded view of the world and what I see as “forcing” HS kids do anything isn’t going to work so we’re dumping 10k+ per year on kids literally down the drain since it’s just not going to work.
You don’t go from 1 day as a HS kid looking to just past the day, screw around, be a bully and get by to wanting to suddenly go to college and be “one of those brainy/nerdy kids.” It’s just not going to happen.
Having a close family member who NEVER graduated from HS at all in a family where near everyone is a doctor or advanced degreed person, bottom line is some kids were just never meant to succeed in the classroom and school, in a way, will just end up pissing off everyone.
Maybe they had ADD or some other medical issue, but doing things along the lines of vocational school, military, athletics, etc…actually gives these kids a BETTER way to succeed and contribute to society vs. having them waste 4 years in HS when they really would just graduate with non-basic HS skills anyways and no job. Take that 40k we’d spend and even pay them off if they choose to be a bum, but stay lawful.
Maybe they can train to do yard work, clean pools, wash windows, build homes, etc…
Look at all the mediocre kids coming out of HS not doing a thing. Spend 4 years learning a trade and you’d have a leg up already on the next guy.
In a way, turn a HS forced upon a kid to a trade/school or prep job thing.
In terms of racism for university, it could be said that there is already a disproportionate race majority in “some” colleges already…However, aren’t there some colleges also pre-dominantly black as well?
Bottom thought is that all these solutions aren’t going to work for kids who aren’t receptive to following a certain HS track so eliminate this form of forced school (after middle) school and come up with something more fit for these people to at least save money and keep them out of doing crime…
Just saw this today which I think is relevant in the grand scheme of forced school/life/jobs/even obamacare which allows people to quit their jobs without having to stay there if they hated it:
Why Amazon Pays Some Workers Up To $5,000 To Quit:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/10/amazon-pay-to-quit_n_5128035.htmlParticipantMaybe we should consider high school as not being mandatory anymore. That should save a lot of money. In addition to that, you can offer a very small payment for kids who keep out of trouble, not arrested, etc….like welfare, but starting at 13. Make sure to get the kids consent though since some families may want to get kids for just the money…will be a mess and impossible to administer, but all these ‘solutions’ for failing kids who don’t care are a waste of resources/money. Would really like to see kids who just don’t care to leave the system…no other place for them though.
Just seems cheaper to just pay them off to go away.
ParticipantCouldn’t find any photos of any of this…Maybe someone can PM me or post…
I honestly think the woman, being as upset and crazed to followup on this for months on end did want to see the woman living there physically raped/hurted…
It’s not like she knows them or really cares.
The problem with letting people like this get away is now, I can feel like screwing up someone else’s life to no end and get away with it.
Our courts/laws suck. America sucks.
Having men physically come to your house and knock on your door to rape your wife since someone played a prank on you isn’t funny and should be punished harshly to not allow this stuff to go on.
Someone please post a photo of this lady…
I’m curious of the original ad too, but that probably has been taken down everywhere…
Here’s the court doc:
http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/D063847.PDFThere’s a lot of sexy graphic detail as to what she wants “done” to her.
April 8, 2014 at 6:28 PM in reply to: Advice sought on renting out old house versus selling and taking the money #772650ParticipantA lot of good general advice. My thoughts are that it really depends on what else you hold and what are you doing with your other assets.
Some things to think about for you from what I’ve seen so far:
1) You own a primary already so you will be hedged if housing goes crazy…your existing place will go up too and is a good inflation hedge.
2) You probably won’t want to keep this house considering your current place is nicer so for the wife/kids/etc, you probably won’t want to move back in for the tax free gains so you have a limited time if you want the tax free gain from selling. If you plan to sell later, I’d probably move to sell now since the tax benefit may change and houses are near peak levels right now. It can go higher, but tax free gains may change and it can go down too.
3) It doesn’t sound like you want to be a landlord and most people who keep it probably are more looking to build assets and manage the rental themselves to save on the mostly useless management companies. If you don’t want to deal with a headache, it seems like selling is the less stressful way to go.
4) Your rental is pretty high cost so it’s mostly going to probably turn over annually from families coming and going yearly. That’s sorta a pain to find tenants if the manager isn’t good and as mentioned, with the tax break, someone BUYING your home will save money vs. renting your place. I see a few in my hood where there’s a new tenant every 1-2 years since the rentals are more than buying.
5) You have no mortgage on the home to write off…This makes it so if you got a mortgage, you can have your cake and eat it too. If you sold, got the cash, get another rental with a loan, get some rental income and cash flow, but still have the left over cash to invest/do things with and write off more against your income.
Good luck with your choice…If you invest for income and don’t care if a stock moves a lot, you can do ok too…I have some intc bought for just that reason and get 3.4% yield and oh, the stock is at all time highs too.
At the end, I think the best solution is to look at all your assets/retirement holdings/pensions/real estate, etc…and fill in the hole that is lacking to diversify against anything the guv’ment and tax guys do.
Participant[quote=cvmom]Yeah but there is no feeling of freedom like being 100% debt free and having an F-U stash… Every day I go to work, I know I could quit if I want to. LOVE that feeling. Who knows what will happen (parents on East Coast get sick, kid needs major support time, etc.) Any of us could have some major bad news tomorrow.
So I vote for paying off all debt as soon as you can. But I think it is a very personal decision, depends on what you value.[/quote]
Yes, it really depends on how you “view” debt. Your situation can be viewed a different way however, but the good feelings you have is actually NOT because of being 100% debt free, but the f-u cash as you state above…
Say if you wanted to tell your boss to f-off or he fires you and you then want to start your own company, maybe doing the exact same thing to “show him”, you’ll probably need capital and unless you are excessively wealth which most people aren’t…closing out a low interest debt actually “limits” your flexibility since once you’re unemployed, no one will ever give you a loan…
I’m sure being self employed now and having had gaps in my employment I view things a certain way, but bottom line is having the cash allows you more flexibility.
Obviously, having it all with 100% debt free and a huge f-u stash is the best situation, but unless you are again, excessively wealthy, having the cash on hand is probably more flexible to deal with anything that happens or if it was 100% debt free and no cash vs. mortgage and huge cash pile, I’d say again to take the cash since it’s far more mobile (what if an earthquake knocks down your million dollar home or it got swallowed up by the ocean?) Deductible is 300k. Hope you “bought” earthquake insurance and still have the 300k cash as well.
The stash can ALWAYS pay your mortgage for many years and you can balance, say IRA withdrawals which are taxable to your mortgage deduction to have a 0 tax liability…etc…
If you had the mountain of cash, even with a mortgage, you can still “quit” as you say.
Oh well, people will do what they will, but consider some of the points above as well (the home getting destroyed sounds like a new good one to me).
ParticipantAm I one of the few people who feel all this is sorta futile? I was reading the UT this morning and an article was saying that only like 30% or so graduating high school even meet college or basic UC minimum requirements to attend.
I think the main problem is when a child is young, you can “force” them to study, work hard, etc…and turn things around…
Once they hit their teens, if their home and friend environment aren’t up to snuff to stress the importance of school/academics/education/future/jobs, you are pretty much fighting a losing battle if they aren’t worried about what college to go to, but what food to eat or if they should join this or that gang…etc…
or if they should “hook up” and sleep with that boy, etc…
All these cases are sorta loss causes IMO and until you change the desire of the kid who wants to get out of his dump, or at least have more positive role models that they “can” get out, I think the large majority will fail. Seems like a waste almost to even send them to school…maybe teach them a trade/craft, etc…instead.
From what I’ve seen, only Sports and Music/entertainment/movies seems to really get the slum kids out and even then, after they play or get famous, they lose most of their money as well…
For the few who show genuine interest, I agree that more should be done since they’re the ones who can get out of their bad hood, but a lot of kids (at least from what you read), seem do the school thing up to high school because that’s just where their friends are and what is required of society, but once they hit 18, they’re pretty much completely worthless to society in terms of productivity. Maybe just pay them to not attend since it’s a waste of money anyways.
I think the downside of private schools is that a lot more kids are probably hard core so if you’re trying to get into Harvard or Stanford, they probably won’t accept that many from your smaller private school and just 1 or 2 top kids.
This kid will be going to Harvard or Stanford I read…(his choice)…
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/student-wins-100-000-siemens-prize-pandemic-flu-research-project-f2D11729123and he goes to a public school I believe (Canyon Crest)…
ParticipantI support breed specific legislation because if we’re in an ideal world, yes, the owners would manage it better than what see practically every day. Obviously, 95% or more of the owners can’t do the job of policing themselves so I’m all for not allowing certain breeds at all in certain neighborhoods. Maybe someone can propose that to my local HOA…
You see enough of the dog owner’s kids get mauled at times that this should simply not be happening anymore.
I think at times, the owners of these breeds are worst than the dogs themselves actually and are belligerent, aggressive and should themselves be neutered…
Yes, I generally hate most dogs and especially dog owner who let their dogs run leash free who clearly have no basis to allow that.
Participant[quote=livinincali][quote=moneymaker]I’m just amazed when I see people I consider really smart, leasing vehicles.[/quote]
Well if they have a small business it can make a lot of sense to lease a vehicle because of the tax treatment. You can actually come out ahead vs buying new depending on the terms of the lease and expected depreciation. You can argue it might be better to buy used but these days you aren’t getting that much of a discount buying lightly used.[/quote]
Yeah, we thought about leasing a car for business. I think it makes a ton of sense to lease for business since if you are self employed or even if not (s-corp/c-corp), there are very few ways to lower your fica taxes. A huge car lease for a car you’d like to buy anyways makes a lot of sense since you will now deduct that against your taxable income from the business which just took off 15%+ from fica…Since the payment is monthly, leasing is probably much better than owning a car for the business due to all the ownership rules I’m guessing. Tax on the car is also assessed monthly I think which gives you a bigger deduction also.
Whenever I’ve shopped for used vs. new, especially for things which are Certified Pre-Owned, I rarely saw any great deals personally.
If you shop pretty aggressively and do a lot of price checks online with what people are getting cars for new, I rarely, saw used cars going for much less. You also have limited car options which you might not like and limited colors.
It’s true a private part deal may make sense, but a lot of sellers like to inflate their car price and it’s VERY time consuming IMO to find a “nice” car used…which match all your specs.
Just my own experience at least.
Not to mention on a new car, you can probably get better financing if you needed it (like 0%).
Participant[quote=FlyerInHi]Carmel Valley house prices just went up 10% as this news spreads to China.
Genius from Canyon Crest:
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-intel-science-talent-search-winner-eric-chen-20140312,0,1059267.storyIn all seriousness, I think that Asians being more politically involved in a good thing… More diversity in the established political parties that are beholden to the base.[/quote]
Pretty amazing he won all the other contests/awards too…Glad that he’s going to Harvard or Stanford. Probably easier to work on more world/thoughtful issues vs. worrying whether you will be able to get into your desired class…
ParticipantI would just look at recent sales in your area and ignore what the Zestimate is…
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