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[quote=SK in CV][quote=AN]This isn’t privatization, this is government being lazy and and outsource the jobs to government contractors.[/quote]

With all due respect AN, this is exactly what privatization is. Instead of hiring people to do work, it’s outsourcing those jobs to private companies. And the $135K v $270K is almost exactly what you quoted the other day. 80 to 100% more for non-employee contractors.[/quote]

No it’s not. When people are making 80-100% more as a contractor, they are doing it as an independent, selling directly into the position.

The exact same thing occurs in private industry and frankly, it’s part of a gravy boat game. It’s a combination of factors. Lazy management, tight skill markets or good old nepotism.

That said, for privatization to work, the government would need to set up competition. No competition and you’re right back to Ma Bell in the 1970s. Or dealing with a local cable company today.

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[quote=enron_by_the_sea][quote=flu]don’t worry. they will[/quote]

California is like a 50+ lb overweight person who thinks he lost 25lbs, but the others around him think that his weighing scale is broken.

Now his left brain is urging him to continue with the program and right brain is urging him that it is enough…[/quote]

Nope, Cali put on 20 lbs but bought bigger pants.

Seriously, look at the historical general fund and just mulitply by 2 and round off to billion and equate to weight.

Peaked at a pudgy 206 lbs in 2008, then forced diet, dropped to 181 lbs, then lost a few more the next year to a lean 174 lbs. then we yo-yo’d for two years going 183 and back to 174. And now we’ve gone back to pudgy city at 193 lbs.

Or if you think government is bloated, multiple by 3 and round to billions:

We had a problem in 2008 when we tipped in at over 300 lbs, we then ‘crash’ dieted to 272 lbs, and then wasted away to a skin and bones 261 lbs, then yo-yo and now back to pudgy city tilting in at 290 lbs…

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UCGal is that the old FIRE community or is that another retire early community? I haven’t been on FIRE in a long while but your comment about it basically breaking into two groups the self investors and the LBYM groups is what I remembered. Healthcare was the big uncertainty and fear for most of them.

They are very informative and particularly spent a lot of focus on determine how much do you really need.

There-in comes the hook to another, IMHO, shyster, Timothy Ferris or 4 Hour Work Week fame. At the root of the four hour work week is a very simple premise, again, a single concept worth gleaning from the few hours it takes to read the book. That premise is literally, figure out how you want to live. Then figure out how much money a month it takes.

Ironically the FIRE community and TF, actually, end up saying the same thing. It can be surprisingly little particularly if you’ve got the freedom to change your locale and focus on the experience and not the material.

Or you just stay in coastal suburban SoCal and quadruple that perceived amount.

[quote=UCGal][quote=AN]I agree, divorce is the one thing you can’t really plan for. So, I’ll concede on that point. However, death can easily be planned by with a large enough life insurance plan.

WRT health problem, of course if you’re self-employed, you’d have to pay for your own medical insurance. Which is why freelancers make more than W-2er. Why do you have to get HDHP? Why can’t you get a HMO? WRT to $8k/year. I save more than $8k/year ever since I start working.[/quote]
Non-employer Health insurance (for the moment) is very expensive if you have a pre-existing conditions. That will hopefully be mitigated in 2014.

The Early retirement board I mentioned earlier – this is a big discussion point… people retiring before medicare age – need to account for health insurance… and if there are pre-existing conditions it can be a reason to stay with an employer well after you have the means to leave the work force… One guy who posts there has a wife who was dx’d with cancer. They are getting quotes on the order of $3k/month for insurance for her. He’s staying at work because of the health insurance.[/quote]

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Actually, the small choices make huge differences.

It’s the comfort issues that really blow things apart. the TV bill, the phone bill, the cell phone bill, the electric bill, the heat bill and the HUGE two: dining out and food. I know plenty of people with $150+ TV bills, $100+ phone/internet bills, $200+ cell phone bills, $400+ summer electric bills and regular $100+ bills,somehow spend $1000 a month on groceries and yet eat out half the time.

The huge issue isn’t so much bedroom as it is square footage. Do you need 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000? And frankly, location their trumps house. Location drives so many other cost, comfort and opportunity issues.

Houses in commuter-land are cheaper, but you trade relatively small capital for not so small monthly cash flow, time issues. The commute straps time so you spend more on the car, more on gas, more on mainenance, leverage more prepared meals instead of preparing meals and potentially incur more related child care or other expenses due to extended hours.

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Owen needs to remember what some Grandma’s used to say.

Point a finger and three point back at you.

Frankly, the daily latte sipping, why am I dreading my monthly credit card bill is the real target market of the three main speakers identified.

As for the excuse of the 43% living paycheck to paycheck, divorce, illness, well, it’s an excuse. In the end, their problem is really simple. They live paycheck to paycheck and don’t have skills to make more than that.

And yes, ironically, very broad based advice really does work for them. Orman at a basic level is really simple, can you afford it. Have you done the thing you should do (housing, insurance, retirement) before you start spurgling.

Mr. K has steadily gotten sleasier, IMHO, but his first basic premise and book was also equally simple. You need to work hard to get some money and then work hard to have the money work for you. While a big part of it was platitudes, one simple line in it was worth the price of the book. In a possibly fictional accounting of discussing an early rental with his mentor ‘rich’ Dad, the RD ask “how many of those can you do before you’re broke?” It was scenario where the rental was costing him something like $100 month. Again, a good insight into preserving capital and cash flow.

As for DM, I’ve never read his stuff.

And I disagree with Owen, many people are much less wealthier than they should be because they pursue instant gratification instead of financial security.

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[quote=SD Squatter]With San Diego inventory at all time lows, I find it disturbing that short-sale flopping is still happening right in the open:

http://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Diego/10782-Viacha-Dr-92124/home/5403989

• 1-minute midnight listing at way-below market price marked pending check!
• Crappy pictures with discouraging description check!
• Agent not answering phone, nor accepting other offers check!
• Listing agent also representing the buyer check!
• The bank not giving a … about it check!

When will it stop?[/quote]

let’s re-examine this. What’s a one minute midnight listing? That fact that the thing goes live on MLS at 12:01AM data X/Y/Z? That’s when they go live. or are you saying, it was up for one minute?

Way below market price? Not really, it looks to be about 15-20% below already rehabbed sales that occurred. That’s not way below, that’s reality on being 30 years dated.

crappy pictures and discouraging description. IMHO, I can see plenty in the crappy pictures to guess this is a vintage 1978 home. Jewel in the rough, IMHO, is likely a compliment.

Agent not accepting other offers. Can’t help you there, when did you call and how much cash were you throwing? Frankly, a smart agent would know this home and seller really need a seasoned rehabber to sell.

bank not caring. Actually, not a bank sale would be my guess. There’s no way it would sell in 9 days if it was. likely was an equity seller.

When we bought a little over two years ago, I saw so many of these homes in my ‘hood where the buyers were just waiting on top dollar.

I’d walked through, talk with the wife. Purchase price $x.

Kitchen remodel: $35K
Master bathroom, remodel from 1960/70 to today. $15K.
Bathroom #2 remodel: $8K.
Bathroom #3 remodel: $3-8K
Flooring 2600 SF, take your pick: $12-$30K.
Paint (everything): $5K
Lightning rehab:$1-$5K
Windows/Patio Doors: $5-15K
Roof: $0-$30K (Don’t know if they’ve got a new roof or not, photos look retouched so no telling, this one looks like about $10K)
De-popcorn the ceiling: $5K
Closet organizers:$1-5K.
Removing 40 years of smoker/dog/old person smell… $0 just all the above.
Landscaping $0-$30K.

I’d pull up and just shudder when I saw the original shake roofs.

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Don’t under estimate the effort and risk they took. You can see enough in the three cruddy old pictures to guesstimate the amount of work they did.

Full kitchen remodel. Non-supporting wall removal. Wood flooring (looks like laminate). New bathrooms, new appliances, ceiling work, wall work, paint through-out.

Basically, a new home.

If the original purchase price was $450K and the new purchase price is at $675K, unless the buyer has the expertise, contacts and know-how, to do it all at once, I suspect they’d actually spend $200K to piecemeal the various remodels together with contractors and live in a construction zone for 2 years.

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Ugh, sorry to hear it people. Hope all goes well. Haven’t had one, hoping not to need one for a while.

Frankly, I’d love to watch, but I’d opt to go out. It’s kind of like the Dentist. Even if you can’t really feel it, the whirrrrr-ktch sound tells the conscious part of the brain that ‘that’ probably hurt.

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Actually over the same period I think the S&P did a little more than 2%

Keep in mind it’s July 1 to June 30 they track. Not calendar year

Reinforces some statiscal studies that basically showing the stock market gain or loss for the year being a matter of being invested on on a handful of key days

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They didn’t admit disaster.

When you take away the stimulants, things adjust.

It also seems to be complete common sense that if you take away a $1 of deficit spending that you’d lose more than a dollar of economic output. You’re starting with a $1 of vapor money. That’s $1 in economic output just on the deficit spending. Add the incremental trickle down and get a $1.50.

So is Greece better off today or would they have been better off keeping on the path they were on?

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If their biggest failing is their kid getting some drink before they’re 21, I’d say that’s a pretty damn good job.

Kentucky also has some interesting rules on underage drinking. The drinking isn’t prohibited, the possession is.

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If you’re sure the problem is your unit, it actually may be more effective to pay your tenant to leave, nuke the bug problem and then get a new tenant.

Trying to treat in situ may be pointless as depending on the length of infestation, they’ll be in everything, luggage, bedding, clothes, hamper, mattresses…

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Shooting rampage kills 9

Oh wait, that’s the Philippines with only 1/20th our gun ownership rate, stricter gun laws and an even higher rate of gun violence.

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While we’re at it, we need to address all these funky names coming out too. Teen legally known only as girl battles to use her own name

Yep, we need strong Government intervention.

[Author]

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