[temeculaguy]

It turns out Brian is right, we are still the coolest. Maybe I should go live somehwere else.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/44407241/

[temeculaguy]

[quote=briansd1]
There’s something special about an American living abroad. As an expat, you’re cool and special. [/quote]

But I am already cool and special without having to go somewhere else.

Seriously brian, listen to earlyretirement, he is the first person I’ve seen post about the realities of living abroad, not just as a tourist, but as a grown up. You are young, your experiences abroad are probably mostly about going to a cafe, nightclubs, museums and theaters with other young people. Early retirement tells of the reality of doing big boy things like raising a family, buying and owning property, paying bills, paying taxes, dealing with the government, having employees, etc. Argentina is one of those seductive places, Buenos Aries in particular is one of the places that seems perfect to a young person and as you age it will make you nuts. I have a close personal friend, not just an aquiantance, who has lived there for 25 years and also owns a summer home in Punta Del Este and tells the same stories as earlyretirement, only far worse. She’s has been more than a tourist, she has lived more of her life aborad than she has where her citizenship is. Guess what place she wishes she could live? San Diego. In fact she is even envious of my little suburb.

I could detail a hundred things about the reality of living abroad, none of it will sink in until you either see it in person or find someone close to you who has. Being the cool American guy has it’s benefits, just make friends, get the girls and move on. The grown up stuff sucks. I consider it alot like living on a boat, it looks like such a cool idea, then reality sets in and it’s probably better to just rent a boat once in a while.

[temeculaguy]

[quote=Jacarandoso]
Most middle aged people and up should be very careful about running…especially as a coping mechanism for eating and drinking too much. A few good years running could lead to many years of barely being able to walk. Use it while you are learning better habits perhaps, but stay super moderate.[/quote]

That’s me, to a tee!!! The clock is about to turn 44 on this shell and I run 3 miles, 5 days a week, and recently added two days in the gym with weights. I tell myself that the more I run, the more I can drink and eat. My knees sometimes feel like there is kitty litter in there and my soloution is to add another mile so I can have a whole bottle of wine as a reward, which will certainly kill the pain, it’s a vicious cycle. I know you are right and I am wrong, yet I feel powerless. Recently I took two days off of running and two days off of wine and good food. It sucked, so I went back. Oh well, we can’t all be perfect, at least my back will hold up because I never vaccuum.

[temeculaguy]

[quote=UCGal]As I hinted at in the retire early thread, I have a hard time factoring in the home equity into “wealth” calculations. You can’t spend a house and if you want to live in it, you can’t sell it. Home equity is only wealth when your ready to sell. If the bulk of your wealth is in an illiquid asset that you’re unwilling to sell, are you really wealthy?[/quote]

Optimally it shouldn’t be your entire portfolio but it can be factored in, long term. Many people downsize at some point as their lifestyle changes or as they retire. A popular plan is to dump your large house and your mortgage and buy something small for cash with the equity. Yardwork, cleaning, stairs, people get sick of these things at some point. At a certain age, you stop hosting the holidays and you go to your grown kids house for the holidays or to visit the grandkids. You don’t need to be rich to follow this plan, many regular people do it in their 60’s or 70’s, I think that’s how pheonix was created.

Maybe I’m out of step with most people here because I’ve always been a bit of a nutjob about retirement saving bordering on mental illness. I plan on changing my ways. I went to a funeral of a friend this week who was far worse than me, he lived on about a third of his income, drove crappy cars, wore cheap clothes, had no children or wife and didn’t live to spend a nickel of the more than 2 million he had saved for retirement. It’s been said before, that living within your means is not about living within someone else’s means, it’s about living within your means. The person that makes 50k and gets by on 30k, bravo, but the guy that makes 100k or 200k and lives on 30k, maybe that person needs some balance to their life. As paramount just said, it’s been tried before, but you can’t take it with you. I’ve studied almost every world religion and text, none made reference to net worth or fico score in the afterlife. Plan, make sure you have enough to be comfortable, but also find a way to enjoy your good fortune along the way, regardless how much it is.

[temeculaguy]

Macro Economics 101, try to ignore the rhetoric and look at the big picture because there are a lot of myths out there. Here are some facts:

1. The U.S. is the largest economy in the world, it’s 2010 Nominal GDP was 14.7 trillion, representing 25% of the global GDP (with 4.5% of the population).

2. The U.S. purchasing power is the largest in the world, representing 20% of the global purchasing power (with 4.5% of the population).

3. It has the 6th highest output per capita (the first five are small countries with populations of less than Los Angeles and half are smaller than San Diego)

4. The U.S. is the world’s largest manufacturer, representing 19% of the worlds manufacturing (with 4.5% of the population).

5. 1/3 of the worlds millionaire and 1/3 of the world’s billionaires. The largest stock exchange, the largest gold reserves and 60% of the world’s reserves are in the dollar, it’s nearest competitor (the euro) has 24%. 139 of the 500 largest companies in the world are American, that’s just under a third. (with 4.5% of the population)

6. More foreign money is invested in the U.S. by far at 2.2 trillion, double the second largest, but this will shock you, Americans own more of the rest of the world than anyone, 3.3 trillion. So it might look like like other countries own our stuff, but we own theirs, and more of it.

So step back a bit before thinking that all we make are stocks and ponzi schemes just because someone says so or because certain industries have been downsized. WE ARE 4.5% OF THE WORLD”S POPULATION!!!!! What numbers will make you happy? Should we manufacturer or own half of all things? 75%? We are the New York Yankees times 10, we have everyone else’s best pitchers and you are angry because we don’t also have everyone else’s 2nd best and 3rd best. So we’ve fallen on some rough times, so has everyone else, but we have an invincible formula. On the other threads about schools, they are dominated by educated Asians who are….drumroll please…who are now Americans! That’s the beauty of it, we don’t get behind, because people around the globe who are smart or rich consistently do one thing, the become Americans. Guess how long we’ve held the number one spot as the world’s largest economy, every freaking day since 1870!!!!

Have a glass of wine and relax, the other 95% of the humans get to eat when we let them and have the standard of living we permit, do we really need to push for more control, wealth and power? Do we have to have everybody else’s lunch before we stop and eat our own?

[temeculaguy]

[quote=sdrealtor][quote=bearishgurl][quote=walterwhite]API scores mean nothing.

-snip-

fuck the API score. meaningless….all that matters is whether you find your own way.[/quote]

X2[/quote]

BG
You are a moron. Don’t you know that 99% of scaredy’s posts are mocking us? He’s toying with us and you are one of the people foolish enough to bite on his bait over and over again.[/quote]

This one cracked me up, I thought I was the only one who “got it” when it comes to walter’s occasional joke posts (but I put it at 50% intentional irony). I would never “out” him or anything he has told me, but he’s mentioned more than once in posts where he bought and for those of us who live here we know that his area is in the school boundary for the highest API score for 30 miles in any direction.

BG, I will keep this cordial but I take exception to the lizard land comment and your personal preferences regarding housing. You think these people are wrong, but you failing to appreciate other peoples preferences. I personally hate any house more that 15 years old, they are inefficient and I hate large lots and I really hate overhead utilities. I’d lived in a variety of housing styles and in a variety of locations, including 5 towns in S.D.

I enjoyed a condo in lizard land more than the 70 year place in S.D. I lived in, complete with it’s power poles, wires strung everywhere and mostly, the wacky things the neighbors do to their property. You can disagree, I cannot even defend my position, but it is my preference and I’m cool with that. I love HOA’s and Mello Roos, because they come with rules about the person next door painting their house yellow and there is center median landscaping, new schools and predominantly english speakers in those schools. I want all the houses in one place and the stores in another, I want the poor people and the apartments far away and I don’t want mass transit to come within a days walk of where I lay my head and I don;t want to live within thirty miles of Mexico. The kind of houses and neighborhoods you like are the opposite of what I like, neither of us are wrong, it’s just a preference and for different reasons. So don’t get mad that most young buyers don’t appreciate the things that you do, they are allowed to have their preferences. I purposely bought in the neighborhood with the highest HOA I could find, it keeps out the rif raf and that makes me happy, right or wrong. I do the same thing with a lot of stuff, for example, women. I like a certain kind of woman, not everybody agrees with me, I don’t care what everyone else likes, it’s not about them, it’s about me, life got easier once I figured that out.

[temeculaguy]

[quote=pri_dk][quote=temeculaguy]Before I get off my soapbox, paramount, see, no granite and the hospital is being built […][/quote]

Ironically, the hospital is being built by Granite Construction![/quote]

I had no idea they were the contractor, so it looks like they will still get to eat turkey on thanksgiving. pri_dk, you’ve been doing your homework, throwing down some good posts and not just on this topic, I’m impressed.

[temeculaguy]

[quote=pri_dk][quote=temeculaguy]Before I get off my soapbox, paramount, see, no granite and the hospital is being built […][/quote]

Ironically, the hospital is being built by Granite Construction![/quote]

I had no idea they were the contractor, so it looks like they will still get to eat turkey on thanksgiving. pri_dk, you’ve been doing your homework, throwing down some good posts and not just on this topic, I’m impressed.

[temeculaguy]

[quote=pri_dk][quote=temeculaguy]Before I get off my soapbox, paramount, see, no granite and the hospital is being built […][/quote]

Ironically, the hospital is being built by Granite Construction![/quote]

I had no idea they were the contractor, so it looks like they will still get to eat turkey on thanksgiving. pri_dk, you’ve been doing your homework, throwing down some good posts and not just on this topic, I’m impressed.

[temeculaguy]

surveyor, this specific project was two competing interests not just a case of nimby. The tourism industry has quietly exploded up here and this was a threat to that, it had very little to do with the residents (other than those who work in that industry or a related one).

A few stats, Temecula visitors spend an estimated 600 million dollars annually in a town of 100k.

Temecula has 6,600 people employed in the tourism industry directly.

San Diego County visitors spend 7 billion annually and it is in the top 5 vacation destinations in the U.S., San Diego has about 2.3 or so million people. It has 23x the inhabitants but only 11x the tourism, it may sound funny, but Temecula has twice the per capita tourism of San Diego. Temecula’s hotels and other tourism related industries have grown 5 fold in six years, they have shown double digit growth monthly for the last eleven months, during a recession and outperform california hotels by 4x in month over month gains.

Casinos, resorts, 30+ wineries, restaurants, hotels and golf courses, they’ve worked hard and they have made it more than just a bedroom community in an exurb. Is that really something to risk for 100 jobs and gravel that can be 20 miles closer to a project in San Diego? You’ve got hills in S.D., dig up your own hills. Maybe it wouldn’t ruin it, maybe it wouldn’t even hurt it at all, but unless they can say that they will shut down their 100 jobs if they cause more than 100 job losses in another industry, then I don’t care. It’s about net gain.

Same argument could be made for why they don’t drill for oil in Mission bay or the San Diego harbor on a large scale, because the added 100 jobs and few thousand barrels of oil they could get, would cost millions upon millions of dollars lost to the industry that sells the beauty of that area, it’s a cost benefit analysis, in this case those 100 jobs were not worth it and there is gravel in plenty of other places. Another example would be sewage treatment plant in the gaslamp district, sure the treatment plant is needed, but if it put out a foul odor and caused more job and tax losses than it brought in, is it really wise to put it there? And the gaslamp doesn’t bring in 600 million annually.

BG, I’ve written before about how Sempra energy tried to run power lines through this town about ten years ago and this same group defeated them, at every hearing, at every appeal and in every court. Public utilities have more power and laws than a private company. Sempra eventually gave up and that is why the Sunrise Powerlink is being built where it is, that was the Plan B.

Sempra got nothing, the board and pechanga and the locals never paid them, in fact I probably need to research it, but I think the loser had to pay the winner’s legal fees in that case, might happen here too, not the other way around, but if it does, pechanga’s pockets are fine, I see to that personally on occasion. I’m surprised granite even tried, I would think they would have had at least one lawyer research the past case and see how that turned out, then just decided it’s not worth it.

[temeculaguy]

surveyor, this specific project was two competing interests not just a case of nimby. The tourism industry has quietly exploded up here and this was a threat to that, it had very little to do with the residents (other than those who work in that industry or a related one).

A few stats, Temecula visitors spend an estimated 600 million dollars annually in a town of 100k.

Temecula has 6,600 people employed in the tourism industry directly.

San Diego County visitors spend 7 billion annually and it is in the top 5 vacation destinations in the U.S., San Diego has about 2.3 or so million people. It has 23x the inhabitants but only 11x the tourism, it may sound funny, but Temecula has twice the per capita tourism of San Diego. Temecula’s hotels and other tourism related industries have grown 5 fold in six years, they have shown double digit growth monthly for the last eleven months, during a recession and outperform california hotels by 4x in month over month gains.

Casinos, resorts, 30+ wineries, restaurants, hotels and golf courses, they’ve worked hard and they have made it more than just a bedroom community in an exurb. Is that really something to risk for 100 jobs and gravel that can be 20 miles closer to a project in San Diego? You’ve got hills in S.D., dig up your own hills. Maybe it wouldn’t ruin it, maybe it wouldn’t even hurt it at all, but unless they can say that they will shut down their 100 jobs if they cause more than 100 job losses in another industry, then I don’t care. It’s about net gain.

Same argument could be made for why they don’t drill for oil in Mission bay or the San Diego harbor on a large scale, because the added 100 jobs and few thousand barrels of oil they could get, would cost millions upon millions of dollars lost to the industry that sells the beauty of that area, it’s a cost benefit analysis, in this case those 100 jobs were not worth it and there is gravel in plenty of other places. Another example would be sewage treatment plant in the gaslamp district, sure the treatment plant is needed, but if it put out a foul odor and caused more job and tax losses than it brought in, is it really wise to put it there? And the gaslamp doesn’t bring in 600 million annually.

BG, I’ve written before about how Sempra energy tried to run power lines through this town about ten years ago and this same group defeated them, at every hearing, at every appeal and in every court. Public utilities have more power and laws than a private company. Sempra eventually gave up and that is why the Sunrise Powerlink is being built where it is, that was the Plan B.

Sempra got nothing, the board and pechanga and the locals never paid them, in fact I probably need to research it, but I think the loser had to pay the winner’s legal fees in that case, might happen here too, not the other way around, but if it does, pechanga’s pockets are fine, I see to that personally on occasion. I’m surprised granite even tried, I would think they would have had at least one lawyer research the past case and see how that turned out, then just decided it’s not worth it.

[temeculaguy]

surveyor, this specific project was two competing interests not just a case of nimby. The tourism industry has quietly exploded up here and this was a threat to that, it had very little to do with the residents (other than those who work in that industry or a related one).

A few stats, Temecula visitors spend an estimated 600 million dollars annually in a town of 100k.

Temecula has 6,600 people employed in the tourism industry directly.

San Diego County visitors spend 7 billion annually and it is in the top 5 vacation destinations in the U.S., San Diego has about 2.3 or so million people. It has 23x the inhabitants but only 11x the tourism, it may sound funny, but Temecula has twice the per capita tourism of San Diego. Temecula’s hotels and other tourism related industries have grown 5 fold in six years, they have shown double digit growth monthly for the last eleven months, during a recession and outperform california hotels by 4x in month over month gains.

Casinos, resorts, 30+ wineries, restaurants, hotels and golf courses, they’ve worked hard and they have made it more than just a bedroom community in an exurb. Is that really something to risk for 100 jobs and gravel that can be 20 miles closer to a project in San Diego? You’ve got hills in S.D., dig up your own hills. Maybe it wouldn’t ruin it, maybe it wouldn’t even hurt it at all, but unless they can say that they will shut down their 100 jobs if they cause more than 100 job losses in another industry, then I don’t care. It’s about net gain.

Same argument could be made for why they don’t drill for oil in Mission bay or the San Diego harbor on a large scale, because the added 100 jobs and few thousand barrels of oil they could get, would cost millions upon millions of dollars lost to the industry that sells the beauty of that area, it’s a cost benefit analysis, in this case those 100 jobs were not worth it and there is gravel in plenty of other places. Another example would be sewage treatment plant in the gaslamp district, sure the treatment plant is needed, but if it put out a foul odor and caused more job and tax losses than it brought in, is it really wise to put it there? And the gaslamp doesn’t bring in 600 million annually.

BG, I’ve written before about how Sempra energy tried to run power lines through this town about ten years ago and this same group defeated them, at every hearing, at every appeal and in every court. Public utilities have more power and laws than a private company. Sempra eventually gave up and that is why the Sunrise Powerlink is being built where it is, that was the Plan B.

Sempra got nothing, the board and pechanga and the locals never paid them, in fact I probably need to research it, but I think the loser had to pay the winner’s legal fees in that case, might happen here too, not the other way around, but if it does, pechanga’s pockets are fine, I see to that personally on occasion. I’m surprised granite even tried, I would think they would have had at least one lawyer research the past case and see how that turned out, then just decided it’s not worth it.

[temeculaguy]

[quote=walterwhite]It gets worse.[/quote]

Maybe it’s not the same for girls, but this is one of the best things about public school. Preparing your child to ward off bullies or to win fights is depriving them of one of life’s great lessons …getting your ass kicked. I still keep a picture on my phone of my son the day I had to go collect him at the principal’s office about two years ago, black eye, bloody nose, priceless. During the car ride home, I let him talk about how he tried to negotiate, told his challenger he didn’t want to fight, then got sucker punched as he turned to walk away. His church going grandma had told him about turning the other cheek and now it was time for his dad to talk about how theory and reality didn’t always align themselves. Then we had a moment when i said that I was about 16, just like he was when I got my ass kicked in school and that the bloody nose I still get when the weather changes abruptly or when we fly, is a reminder of that day. I was able to tell him that this will not be the last time, but over time, he will learn to anticipate things and one day he will stop losing fights. His one good eye lit up. We had a priceless father/son moment, he hasn’t lost a fight since, he doesn’t start them, but he learned to end them.

FLU, it’s only kindergarten, but don’t shelter them too much, the only way to learn to defend themselves is to lose a few times. Olympic ski jumpers can only land those jumps because they crashed as they were learning. Teaching them martial arts or boxing only makes them too brave for their own good, losing a few fights teaches them humility as well as technique. Same goes for the verbal bashing, losing a few early rounds has it’s benefits, always winning makes them little assholes.

Wipe of the blood, tell them you love them and send them right back out out there, repeat as necessary, eventually they figure it out.

[temeculaguy]

[quote=walterwhite]It gets worse.[/quote]

Maybe it’s not the same for girls, but this is one of the best things about public school. Preparing your child to ward off bullies or to win fights is depriving them of one of life’s great lessons …getting your ass kicked. I still keep a picture on my phone of my son the day I had to go collect him at the principal’s office about two years ago, black eye, bloody nose, priceless. During the car ride home, I let him talk about how he tried to negotiate, told his challenger he didn’t want to fight, then got sucker punched as he turned to walk away. His church going grandma had told him about turning the other cheek and now it was time for his dad to talk about how theory and reality didn’t always align themselves. Then we had a moment when i said that I was about 16, just like he was when I got my ass kicked in school and that the bloody nose I still get when the weather changes abruptly or when we fly, is a reminder of that day. I was able to tell him that this will not be the last time, but over time, he will learn to anticipate things and one day he will stop losing fights. His one good eye lit up. We had a priceless father/son moment, he hasn’t lost a fight since, he doesn’t start them, but he learned to end them.

FLU, it’s only kindergarten, but don’t shelter them too much, the only way to learn to defend themselves is to lose a few times. Olympic ski jumpers can only land those jumps because they crashed as they were learning. Teaching them martial arts or boxing only makes them too brave for their own good, losing a few fights teaches them humility as well as technique. Same goes for the verbal bashing, losing a few early rounds has it’s benefits, always winning makes them little assholes.

Wipe of the blood, tell them you love them and send them right back out out there, repeat as necessary, eventually they figure it out.

[temeculaguy]

[quote=walterwhite]It gets worse.[/quote]

Maybe it’s not the same for girls, but this is one of the best things about public school. Preparing your child to ward off bullies or to win fights is depriving them of one of life’s great lessons …getting your ass kicked. I still keep a picture on my phone of my son the day I had to go collect him at the principal’s office about two years ago, black eye, bloody nose, priceless. During the car ride home, I let him talk about how he tried to negotiate, told his challenger he didn’t want to fight, then got sucker punched as he turned to walk away. His church going grandma had told him about turning the other cheek and now it was time for his dad to talk about how theory and reality didn’t always align themselves. Then we had a moment when i said that I was about 16, just like he was when I got my ass kicked in school and that the bloody nose I still get when the weather changes abruptly or when we fly, is a reminder of that day. I was able to tell him that this will not be the last time, but over time, he will learn to anticipate things and one day he will stop losing fights. His one good eye lit up. We had a priceless father/son moment, he hasn’t lost a fight since, he doesn’t start them, but he learned to end them.

FLU, it’s only kindergarten, but don’t shelter them too much, the only way to learn to defend themselves is to lose a few times. Olympic ski jumpers can only land those jumps because they crashed as they were learning. Teaching them martial arts or boxing only makes them too brave for their own good, losing a few fights teaches them humility as well as technique. Same goes for the verbal bashing, losing a few early rounds has it’s benefits, always winning makes them little assholes.

Wipe of the blood, tell them you love them and send them right back out out there, repeat as necessary, eventually they figure it out.

[Author]

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