Krafty posted:

If Mocking Bird is referring to PSLF then the balance forgiveness is not taxed as income (this is a major difference between the PSLF program and the general IBR/PAYE forgiveness programs). I don't know what other forgiveness program would be 10 years (unless it's some employer specific program or something - in which case it probably would be taxed.)

Guest2553 posted:

here so our poo poo isn't as hosed up as the US yet, but echoing the sentiment that attitude and habit can trump a single dollar figure. My wife graduated with 30k of loans and negative career prospects (class of '09, ahoy!) but worked what odd jobs she could to make payments, lived within her means, and wasn't expecting me to pay it for her even after we were married. I super lucky having bagged a full scholarship and steady employment, so I took a loan to pay them off at a really good rate (last payment made this month, too ). There's more to it than just finances, obviously, but it's something that should be considered. If she had less debt and horrible habits (like her dropout-and-skip-the-country sibling) or owed a quarter mil for the same humanities degree things might have been different, but you can't (or shouldn't, anyways) make decisions like that in a vacuum.

Also gently caress my mobile connection timed out before posting a couple hours ago, hope the winds haven't shifted too much since then!

cowofwar posted:

It doesn't matter what their income might eventually be, spending based not on their current income is BWM.

Everyone on commission in finance seek out doctors as clients for a reason. High (potential) income + smartest person in the room syndrome = sucker.

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

Paying a Canadian cell phone provider or ISP is BWM. I don't understand how so many industries in Canada are more consumer-friendly than the US, but Internet and cell phones are significantly cheaper and better literally everywhere in the U.S.

BEHOLD: MY CAPE posted:

Are there people on commission in finance that don't seek out clients with hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual income? That seems like a pretty obvious route to success but what do I know

Guest2553 posted:

If she had less debt and horrible habits (like her dropout-and-skip-the-country sibling) or owed a quarter mil for the same humanities degree things might have been different, but you can't (or shouldn't, anyways) make decisions like that in a vacuum.

BeastOfExmoor posted:

My understanding is that things like cell towers are fixed costs and that you need one to cover every x square miles/km. You then spread that cost across your subscriber base. Basically, the larger and less populated your country the more expensive it is to service. The United States actually has it much worse then smaller, higher density countries in Europe and Asia.

BeastOfExmoor posted:

My understanding is that things like cell towers are fixed costs and that you need one to cover every x square miles/km. You then spread that cost across your subscriber base. Basically, the larger and less populated your country the more expensive it is to service. The United States actually has it much worse then smaller, higher density countries in Europe and Asia.

Dik Hz posted:

The key part is the attitude of the doctors. They generally think that because they got into med school, they know everything about everything. And people like that are easy marks.

High Lord Elbow posted:

Likely the latter. If, as he says, they think they know everything about everything, how can they be easy marks? If we're stereotyping, if doctors have a flaw it's that they don't loving listen and you can't change their mind. Among other things, med school teaches people to be decisive, not waffling self-doubters.

Not sure how that makes them easy to bamboozle but goons find a way to convince themselves they're superior to everyone.

High Lord Elbow posted:

"Hey you should buy this managed fund..."

"gently caress you, I know what I want."

"It has a potential upside of 40% if you..."

"Why are you still here? gently caress off."

Oh yeah, easy marks. Very malleable.

BEHOLD: MY CAPE posted:

I wonder if doctors are truly BWM compared to other similarly high earning professionals or if it's just such a compelling man bites dog narrative to seize on every time a doctor makes a dumb investment or a failed business venture

Mocking Bird posted:

What's the number that turns student loans from "dang that sucks but ok" to "dump the motherfucker already" for folks in this thread? Is it a percentage of salary going to repayment, state vs federal...?

I have federal student loans with a balance equal to my yearly salary, with about 6% of my gross salary going to (income based) repayment, and a 10 year forgiveness plan that's likely to take out about half of my balance. It never even occurred to me it might be a deal breaker, but I realize if I met someone with equal debt who was managing it differently I might consider it unworkable.

High Lord Elbow posted:

"Hey you should buy this managed fund..."

"gently caress you, I know what I want."

"It has a potential upside of 40% if you..."

"Why are you still here? gently caress off."

Oh yeah, easy marks. Very malleable.

Jim Collins posted:

You, too, can be conned

I made an enemy this week.

She is the widow of an old friend. Before he died, I promised to try to look out for her a bit.

During our recent conversation she said I made her feel small. She said I made her feel stupid. There were tears. I’m very likely guilty on both counts. I’m not always tactful. But, hopefully, I saved her two million dollars.

Her husband died a while back. Over the years he worked hard and had accumulated the aforementioned $2,000,000. He loved his wife dearly and he knew he would very likely leave her a widow. The money was an act of love. He wanted to be sure she would be financially secure.

But he also knew three things that scared him no end:

His wife believed in the “free lunch.” That is, she was always open to come-ons. Free cell phones were an example. Every time their cell phone contract expired the provider offered a “free” cell phone which she proudly grabbed. Somehow she seemed to miss the two year contract it locked them into, over and over again. While small potatoes, it is a bad sign.

The world is filled with predators looking for precisely people like her.

Money and this belief in the “free lunch” attracts them like sharks to blood in the water.

It was this topic that set me off and brought her to tears. I was trying to gently coax her into appreciating the risk. She is a very bright woman and seemed to understand. But then she said, “Don’t worry. I can’t be conned.”

“With that you have,” I said (and by this point my voice I fear was raised) “just violated the first rule of not being conned!”

Make no mistake. You can be conned. So can I.

. . .

Rule #1: Everybody can be conned. Certainly stupid people are marks. But so are the exceptionally bright. The moment you start to think that it can’t happen to you, you’ve become a most attractive target. The easiest victims are those that think they are too smart, too knowledgeable to be taken. This means you, bucko.

Rule #2: You are likely to be conned in an area of your expertise. The reason is simple: Targeting and Ego. When con men pick a scam they look for people to whom it will naturally appeal. Those are people in the field. People feel secure and safe in those areas they know well. They believe they will be too smart to be caught unawares. Smart people know the areas they don’t know and tend to be far more cautious there. Most of Bernie Madoff’s victims were financial professionals.

Rule #3: Con men (and women) don’t look like con men. This isn’t the movies. They’re not going to have slouch hats pulled low over their shifty eyes. Successful con men look like the safest, most trust-worthy, most honest, most stable, most comforting people imaginable. You won’t see them coming. Or rather you will, and you’ll be warmly welcoming them.

Rule #4: 99% of what they say will be true. The best, most effective lies are surrounded by truth. Buried in it. The con, the thing that will leave you broke and with a real reason to cry, is carefully hidden. It is deep in the proverbial fine print.

Rule #5: If it looks too good to be true, it is. There is no free lunch. Not ever. Your Mama taught you this. She was right.

High Lord Elbow posted:

Not sure how that makes them easy to bamboozle but we goons find a way to convince ourselves we're superior to everyone.

BraveUlysses posted:

My neighbors are GWM: instead of a ridiculous wedding and reception they bought their house last summer and are getting married in their backyard today, catered by a taco truck.

pig slut lisa posted:

BEHOLD: MY CAPE posted:

I wonder if doctors are truly BWM compared to other similarly high earning professionals or if it's just such a compelling man bites dog narrative to seize on every time a doctor makes a dumb investment or a failed business venture

pathetic little tramp posted:

Wait so how did he save her from losing 2 million dollars, i was waiting for the shifty con man to try to sell her land in Tennessee or something.

From the sounds of it they were having a nice simple conversation and she mentioned she can keep from being conned and he went off on her calling her a dumb bitch until she broke down in tears. And then he's all like "Heh, guess you learned your lesson."

edit: This was probably at her husband's funeral too.

Nail Rat posted:

Its just a poor segue into what he wanted to actually write an article about. There's no resolution or clarification.

The fact he broke up the quote at "With that you have" instead of "With that" also bugs me irrationally.

Solice Kirsk posted:

There's people that are BWM in all positions. The only group that comes to mind that I've noticed is GWM pretty much across the board is engineers. No idea why, but they seem to listen to advice, consult multiple resources, and then decide on their strategies. The worst from my experience has been anyone that earns about 80k a year no matter what position/job they have. They tend to spend like millionaires.

Uncle Enzo posted:

I'd agree, but a substantial chunk of the survivalists I know are or were engineers. Of course, once TSHTF, their gold bars and cans of beans will have been the most prudent investment of all...

Nail Rat posted:

Are they going to beat looters to death with the gold bars? That'll be about the only use for them.

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

Over half of these Reddit personal finance stories involve software or structural engineers.

Uncle Enzo posted:

I'd agree, but a substantial chunk of the survivalists I know are or were engineers. Of course, once TSHTF, their gold bars and cans of beans will have been the most prudent investment of all...

quote:

Patton Oswalt wrote a piece about how non-Millennials seem far more obsessed with their phones, and my theory is that it’s because we remember when there weren’t phones that could connect to the great itch-scratching internet and fear that, one day, they might be taken away from us, so we’re constantly proving to ourselves that they’re still there, that they still work. All over TV and in the movies, my generation is continuously expressing our greatest fear: that all this shiny technology could disappear some day. For actual Millennials, that idea is as unimaginable as there being no air one day, which is the more likely scenario anyway.

Solice Kirsk posted:

There's people that are BWM in all positions. The only group that comes to mind that I've noticed is GWM pretty much across the board is engineers. No idea why, but they seem to listen to advice, consult multiple resources, and then decide on their strategies. The worst from my experience has been anyone that earns about 80k a year no matter what position/job they have. They tend to spend like millionaires.

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

Over half of these Reddit personal finance stories involve software or structural engineers.

Dustoph posted:

Is there a profession or field that is resoundingly GWM?