Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
November 13, 2012 at 8:00 PM in reply to: OT-Why Did CIA Director Petraeus Suddenly Resign … And Why Was the U.S. Ambassador to Libya Murdered? #754644
SK in CV
Participant[quote=desmond]I thought twinkies enjoyed going down.[/quote]
My brother’s college girlfriend was called twinkies. I heard otherwise.
Participant[quote=flu]There’s also a longer term fund with a return of 6.4% averaged since 1996…
(VCITX)
https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/snapshot?FundId=0075&FundIntExt=INT
Reality, it’s really not performing at 6.4% recently..Closer to 5%…
Thinking about switching my investment options for post-tax accounts next year…Putting all the conservative, tax friendly slow growth crap in post tax accounts, and all the frequent trading/churn investments in Roth /IRA rollover….[/quote]
Obviously there’s some great risk here too. After a 30 year bull market, it would seem there isn’t a whole lot of upside left in bonds. I know more than one very smart trader that have been tens of millions short on treasuries for a couple years now. Eventually they’ll be right.
ParticipantIf I matched up my states right, those states that have the petitions circulating, include 9 of the 10 states with the highest density of 47 percenters who regard themselves as victims and pay no income taxes. Good luck with that.
November 12, 2012 at 6:38 PM in reply to: Big government and absurdly strong unions destroyed Greece and Spain. Expect no less for California. #754578Participant[quote=AN]Why did you buy the 4k 4/3 in the first place? Why didn’t you buy a 1600 2/3 instead of the 2k 3/3? Why not a 1200 2/2? You’re right, I’m being silly with the 200 sq-ft studio. It was an exaggeration to try and prove a point that everybody have their desire size and # of bed/bath. To say # of bed/bath and sq-ft doesn’t affect living standard is also just as silly. I don’t want to live in a 5/5 6k sq-ft but I don’t want to live in a 1300 sq-ft 3/1 either.[/quote]
I think the point was, bigger and more bedrooms/bathrooms is not the only measurement of lifestyle quality. Depending on circumstances, smaller is sometimes better.
ParticipantGiven the recent election results in Washington and Colorado, this would indeed be bad timing. Surely there is a need to be filled in those states. Who will supply the sno balls?
November 12, 2012 at 4:50 PM in reply to: Big government and absurdly strong unions destroyed Greece and Spain. Expect no less for California. #754559Participant[quote=AN][quote=bearishgurl][quote=AN] . . . You never going to find anyone that would say, although I can afford a 5/5 apartment in NYC, my living standard would be better in a 3/1 in NYC.[/quote]
Actually, you will. No matter how much money a person has, often a 3/1 (or 3/2 or 2/2) is all they need. A one or two-person household often doesn’t need a lot of space and likely won’t use it. ESPECIALLY a retired person/couple. A person who has had four bathrooms, 35′ long LR’s and pools in the past is TIRED of cleaning and landscaping chores.
LOTS of people have been there, done that and wrote the manual. After one has all the space they can possibly use, more space doesn’t equal any more happiness.[/quote]
So you’re saying, you’re fine living in a 200 sq-ft studio vs a 3/1? BTW, if you have money, you wouldn’t be cleaning and landscaping.[/quote]This was pretty interesting but i think we’ve jumped the shark here.
I went from almost 4K sq ft 4/3 to a 2000 sq ft 3/3 by choice. I could have afforded a lot more. And I came pretty close to buying a 1600 sq ft 2/3, with the same non-bedroom floor space, and would have bought it if the living space flowed better. No landscaping to deal with, no external maint. Some of us old people really do make the choice to downsize.
But that’s a whole lot different than a 200 sq ft studio. We can stay focused without silly extreme arguments.
November 12, 2012 at 3:37 PM in reply to: OT: Cloward–Piven Strategy – Obama/Democratic Strategy for Socialist State #754541Participant[quote=no_such_reality]Newsflash, we are a socialist country.
Medicare – socialist program.
Medicaid – socialist program.
Obamacare – socialist program.
Social Security – socialist program.
VA medical coverage – socialist program.
Public Education – socialist program.
50 Years of defense spending – socialist program.It’s not a question of are we socialist or not, it’s just a matter of degree.
I’m already paying France level taxes, I want France level safety net![/quote]
With the exception of education and some VA medical benefits, none of those have any resemblance to socialism.
November 12, 2012 at 12:36 PM in reply to: Am I refinancing too many times? Any reason why I shouldn’t refinance? #754481ParticipantYes, there is a reason to not refinance again. The savings between your current loan at 3.875% and the new loan at 3.875% would be approximately zero.
November 12, 2012 at 9:18 AM in reply to: Big government and absurdly strong unions destroyed Greece and Spain. Expect no less for California. #754464Participant[quote=flu]
I agree. I don’t think financially it’s a it. It’s more of a “WTF are you gonna do with the money” question…I stand by my assertion those hit will be the ones on minimum wage now that costs in general in CA are going up. .25% sales tax increase might not seem like a big deal, but for someone really scraping by…It’s a problem.[/quote]
What they’re going to do with it is avoid the huge hit to education spending that otherwise would have been necessary. As has already been suggested, I’m sure there will be other interests fighting for this “new” money, except there is no “new” money.
It will be interesting to see if Jerry Brown stays the course and insists on cutting other spending. He didn’t campaign as a free spender. So far he’s kept his promises on what he’s going to do with taxes and spending. If he sticks to it, California has a fighting chance.
November 12, 2012 at 8:18 AM in reply to: Big government and absurdly strong unions destroyed Greece and Spain. Expect no less for California. #754457Participant[quote=no_such_reality]It’s not that bad, either sell immediately or hold for a year plus.
As for the immediate taxes, they have taxes withheld by automatically selling a portion of your holdings to cover necessary withholding. The only problem is most aren’t withholding enough based on the marginal tax bump they take due to the inflated earnings.
I don’t think bay area engineers will get hit that hard, more and more companies are doing away with RSOs for rank and file.[/quote]
Yeah, it isn’t that big of a deal. Someone threw out an income of $286K a year for a husband and wife (I think it was AN?). Those people aren’t likely to be affected much. If they put only 5% of their income into a 401K, that reduces their taxable income by $14K. Another $20K in mortgage interest and $6K a year in property taxes and their taxable income is under $250K. Even if their taxable income is $286K, that’s an increase in income taxes of $300 a month. I gotta say, if you’re making almost $300K a year and a hit of $300 a month serious affects your lifestyle, you’re doing something very wrong.
Participant[quote=dumbrenter]This is sickening. Didn’t some other posters get banned for needlessly bringing in partisan politics on every thread?
Seriously, you think Groupon would have held on to employees had Romney won? Have you even been following up on what’s happening with Groupon lately?
And SpaceX? Were they expecting a bailout if Romney won? This makes no sense.[/quote]
Of course the vast majority of those job cuts have absolutely nothing to do with the election. Those that are related, are simply stupid.
ParticipantI think it is good news. I’m skeptical this turn around is on the immediate horizon, though the article doesn’t really say when it’s coming. The 3 things the author cites as the source of a coming boom are probably accurate.
We are (probably) currently at unsustainable lows for new home construction. Just as 5 years ago we were at unsustainable highs. I think we’re years away from serious pent up demand on a national level. Five years ago we had way too many houses. Whether we need 3 or 4 low years, or 10 low years remains to be seen. But new home construction is a serious driver of the economy. And the most painful single industry segment of job losses suffered during the ’08-’09 recession. The (proper) failure of the segment to recover is also the reason we didn’t bounce out of the recession.
I suspect the “not really” part of the title here refers to the end of deleveraging, questioning whether thats really a good thing. The savings rate in the US steadily declined for 25 years, until the middle of the last decade, and the trend has been rising for the last 7 years. It’s flattened a little bit over the last few quarters. The effect on the economy is inverse. As the savings rate rises, it causes a drag on the economy. The rate is still very low in an historical sense (as compared to decades ago), but if it remains flat, it will create a boost in consumer spending, if, and only if personal income rises. So if we do see that scenario of a rise in personal income and a flattening of the savings rate, then it is good news. If we have a drop in the savings rate from current levels, we’re returning to the cycle that got us into this mess.
The 3rd impetus addressed in the article is energy. I haven’t had near enough caffiene yet this morning to address that issue. But it is a possibility.
Conclusion is, the article addresses some reasonable scenarios. All speculative. But none outrageously so.
Participant[quote=CA renter]I think the “punishing the successful” meme is a fabrication made up by those who want to protect the very people who have destroyed our economy. I don’t know anyone who wants to punish people who’ve worked hard, created new and useful things that benefit society, and become successful as a result.
[/quote]
+1Participant[quote=Allan from Fallbrook]So General Petraeus, Director of Central Intelligence, who was scheduled to testify on the Benghazi affair next week, has abruptly resigned over an extramarital affair.
Hmmm.[/quote]
Yeah. I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that testimony has been cancelled. Hmmm indeed.
-
AuthorPosts
