|
Devian666 posted:Either developing your lifestyle as froglet has said or This is good, but if you're looking at it like a finish line, I'm not really sure that's the best approach. It's like hiking a long trail, you have to love the process of moving forward to actually put one foot in front of the other. Saving money is not a substitute for meaning in other parts of your life any more than spending is. For us, it's kind of just like: Monthly budget meeting and reconciliation Me: "Oh, we have [relatively bafflingly large sum] extra this month. Uh... Cool, I guess!" Her: "Do you need anything for work/school/life?" Me: "...no, do you?" Her: "Nope." And the stash gets a little bigger. We don't buy anything because we're either too busy (her) or too content and exhausted from our occupations (me) to really need anything once you take compulsive consumption out of it. Like, I would totally have an NAS and a Mac mini running as an HTPC by now if I was normal. But all that isn't $800-$1200 better than the laptop plugged into the $150 used TV with a $20 Bluetooth keyboard/trackpad. Until recently: Me: "Hm. We don't have any commitments coming up in September. Wanna travel? We have like 12k in cash for tuition or whatever, and by the time September comes we could have another 15k if we get a roommate." Her: "Yeah!" And then we started planning. Turns out the stash will cover our living expenses for two years if we need it to! Reasonably, we expect that in the next five years we'll have a child and professional obligations, so this is probably the last time for a decade that we'll have several months without any commitments or commitments flexible enough to vagabond in any way. It was never a goal, just a natural consequence of a lifestyle with reasonably limited wants.
|
#
¿
May 11, 2015 01:24
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 12, 2024 21:00 |
|
|
baquerd posted:The EU also has problems paying people lots of money though. One of the most frequent professions that you see for FI people is that of engineer. In London, an extremely high COL area, an engineer will see approximately a fifth to a third of the salary in Silicon valley. I just checked Berlin and London, and the teacher salaries are also totally hosed up (about 1/3 to 2/3 what teachers make in Alberta, the highest in Canada). And Finland doesn't pay their teachers like doctors, contrary to what a documentary told me! Though in Italy they only work about 29 hours a week so that ~30k PPP they make is really like a very good part time job!
|
|
#
¿
May 11, 2015 14:40
|
|
|
Cast_No_Shadow posted:FI in europe vs us is swings and round abouts. We earn less but also need less better state provision of healthcare and social security removes some of the pressures when it comes to having a super huge buffer. Its a lot easier here to say gently caress it Ill take 4% a year out and if the market screws me I won't starve and I can still get healthcare while I sort myself out. Is there any discussion among actual workers of the effect that all these austerity measures and the general economic collapse of the EU is going to have on pensions and such? Outside of a few professions, pensions are becoming exceedingly rare here in Canada but people seem to be behaving as if nothing has changed and they can still count on most of their earnings into retirement, so I wonder if it's the same in Europe or whatever country you live in.
|
|
#
¿
May 11, 2015 15:20
|
|
|
/\/\ my case was a federal service pension, so as traditional as they come I think. Jeffrey of YOSPOS posted:I worry about structuring society in a way that people are dependent on pension funds though - it bothers me that it creates incentive for an employee to stay at one company rather move jobs as is suitable. Under such a system, one is even more pressured to stay at a job where one bears legitimate grievances. Instead of leaving behind your salary temporarily, you also leave behind pension accrual permanently, at least as far as I understand it. I seems like a poor bandage over the problem of a financially illiterate populace. Certainly I would prefer more money now to a pension later, and it's sad that many people would be worse off in such a scenario purely because of financial willpower. *not an accountant* I'm not aware of any pensions where you lose your premiums if you quit or are fired. That's technically your money, held in trust by an organization. In my case it was made available to me as either differed annuity, transfer in cash with penalties, and transfer to locked in and registered personal accounts. There was no outcome where I received none of the money I contributed. It might be possible for a company to keep their matching, if they do that, similar to vesting policies and stuff, but I think that's not technically pension plan.
|
|
#
¿
May 11, 2015 18:43
|
|
|
Inept posted:This might be true, but there are some that argue that there was less income disparity back in the 50's partly because WWII brought everyone but the very well connected into the same shitstorm and made them relate more to one another, and less likely to gently caress an employee over. That seems much less likely than the possibility that corporate culture was still affected by New Deal economics and other legislative measures to save capitalism from itself when other alternatives still existed in relatively reasonable ways.
|
|
#
¿
May 12, 2015 00:46
|
|
|
TraderStav posted:What's considered median income? I think I'm at 2-3x median in a single income three kid family and just finally have enough free cash flow to open the 401k contributions back up again. Mind you I run a strict YNAB budget to make sure all my expenses are accounted for. I don't think we live lavishly but definitely not as frugal as we could be. Wait, you're making 102k-150k/year and can't save for your retirement?
|
|
#
¿
May 13, 2015 00:36
|
|
|
Yeah, it sounds like, based on MMM and my own imagination, you should hammer out a common financial front before having children so that you can fall back on mutual principles and habits when things get crazy. It really sounds like an uphill battle trying to change habits that already basically work when your life is changing so dramatically.
|
|
#
¿
May 13, 2015 01:00
|
|
|
Rurutia posted:Yeah, I think people have a hard time admitting they're lower class, so they categorize the upper 60th percentile of middle class as upper class. It goes into the idea that people who often need social safety nets the most will also often vote against it. This seems likely. I would also equate "upper class" with "independently wealthy" instead of some salary goalpost. The former actually has meaning and use, the latter is just a way to make professionals feel better about spending a decade in university.
|
|
#
¿
May 14, 2015 03:34
|
|
|
shrike82 posted:Yeah, I totally disagree with you about poorer people just needing to have more "conviction and creativity" to achieve FI. Describing someone as lacking creativity and conviction is not a value judgement. There are many rational, legitimate reasons beyond a person's control to lack the conviction or creativity required for FI. Being poor just makes these traits much more rare because priorities shift. I mean, it's pretty easy for me, in a job that pays ~80k that I find fulfilling and stimulating to have conviction in saving, because my need for meaning is met without consumption. If I look across the country at my sisters in law, their jobs pay like ~30k and are oppressive and boring and they're at an obvious loss for meaning, so they consume drugs and consumer goods to try to replace that meaning - or tolerate the lack of meaning - and have no conviction in saving. For creativity, compare this again to my students in Northern Alberta. That town didn't even have a bank! Many of the students have no education from their families or school in using even online banking or paying bills. Creative financial and lifestyle solutions to achieve financial independence are completely out of reach, and its none of their faults. These families often make >100k/year in resource extraction, tax and expense free because they live on a reserve, but the structure of their lives is really not conducive to creativity, and it's not because they're stupid or lazy.
|
|
#
¿
May 14, 2015 16:14
|
|
|
BEHOLD: MY CAPE posted:TFW you come back from a business trip with like 50 expensed items on your card and have to individually tag every one of them on Mint This doesn't sound especially onerous at all.
|
|
#
¿
May 23, 2015 23:14
|
|
|
poopinmymouth posted:I liked parts of it, but as always, he fucks it up by pontificating too much, specifically this bit: I can't think of a reason to hide knowledge of money from them.
|
|
#
¿
May 25, 2015 13:08
|
|
|
I'm not talking about knowledge of your family finances, that's a very different kind of thing. I can think of reasons why people hide that, just not very good ones. (Oh they might know we're wealthy and I'll lose my "affordability" scapegoat and have to teach self control! Oh the neighbours might know some budgeting info and I'll have to teach my child about manners and self control!) I thought the topic was knowledge of money. As in, here is money, here is a bank account, here is how you use online banking, here is how interest works. I can't think of any reason to keep that from your child other than the fact that they have no interest, which would be strange.
|
|
#
¿
May 25, 2015 15:57
|
|
|
Harry posted:Because that's something that takes 5 minutes to explain (if it even needs to be). Edit: Oh, I see what you're saying. You'd somehow hide knowledge of money because it's complicated and may not need to be explained at that level until your kid is older!  What is? Knowledge of money as a thing? I mean, it's not such a blatantly simple subject because the relationship between money, desire, delayed gratification, and the philosophies that change your perspective on all things related to money should all be interrogated more or less explicitly with your kid, in my opinion. Is money a holder of value? Utility? Freedom? How does all that even work? If it were so easy as to require no planned education, we would be a much different society. Like, take a simple question that might come up if you tell your kid to save money, "why would the bank pay me interest?" A possible response: "Well, the bank can make more money off of your money than you can by letting companies use it to buy new buildings and stuff, so they give you a cut." Which begs the follow up, "So why wouldn't I just give my money to companies for that?" Which is much more complicated because now you have to explain corporations, stocks, bonds, risk and reward, the whole mess, which are all nested in more assumptions and philosophies. I mean, what if your kid asks you if the bank ever gives (your child's) money to bad people to do bad things? tuyop fucked around with this message at 16:39 on May 25, 2015 |
|
#
¿
May 25, 2015 16:34
|
|
|
It's probably good enough to compare it to getting sick. Some people are more likely to get sick than others, not their fault. Some people who are very sick can do amazing things despite it, while some people who only get a little sick sometimes are big babies about it. We should probably still help sick people, just like we should still help poor people!
|
|
#
¿
May 26, 2015 00:39
|
|
|
MJBuddy posted:Again, the research tends to say that genetics dominates eventually. Most of that is borne out with twin studies that show that one adopted by a wealthier family ends up virtually in the same place as the other twin who is in the worse house. I'm not sure what the point is here. Genetics dominates because our society rewards a limited, increasingly homogenous range of human abilities/traits. This is equivalent to saying that people who are good at math earn more than people who aren't. Some people will just never be good at math, therefore...?
|
|
#
¿
May 27, 2015 00:44
|
|
|
I really like this derail.
|
|
#
¿
May 27, 2015 14:50
|
|
|
N.N. Ashe posted:I'm pretty gun shy about getting credit cards for rewards, then sacking them or what not. Are there some good primers on this anyone would recommend? There's really nothing to it. You apply for a rewards cc with the first year fee waived, collect your rewards/use it until you get the reward like $3k later, put it in a drawer for nine months (set a calendar alert), call them and cancel, then take six months or so off and repeat. I've gotten like 40 000 aeroplan miles this way so far, which is about $1600 worth of flights home.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 16, 2015 04:51
|
|
|
Jeffrey of YOSPOS posted:a cheap gym membership would also get him a place to poop and shower The U.S. also has that awesome network of trucker rest stops. I think when we were driving through showers were six bucks or something. The 8 or 9 we used were also spotless and modern and obviously constantly cleaned and maintained.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 26, 2015 20:03
|
|
|
surc posted:You are totally right. I was using Yosemite in an attempt to over-estimate, but I was basing this off park entrance fees, not the actual cost of booking camping. I was surprised it was that low, but who am I to argue with math? You should probably make a thread because this is a bit more in depth than a general discussion of RV/van living as an FI option.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 27, 2015 15:24
|
|
|
OldHansMoleman posted:It's a pretty good idea and I think you actually have things pretty well thought out except for your choice of vehicle. From a maintenance perspective if you're familiar with old vws and have a cheap parts source thats great. The issues vw's have beyond maintenance and parts is that they just aren't great for serious living. All the windows ruin privacy, insulation, and interior customization options and the actual interior itself is tiny. I wouldn't even consider moving into a van short of something like a ford e series which are also far more reliable and cheaper than vw buses. Personally I'd live in one of those propane powered short buses and go hog wild tearing out the inside and chucking a loft and office in there or something. It's still an excellent challenge to live in ~80 sq feet. But it makes some sense over the VW van to me, since I don't know how to fix or own either.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 28, 2015 03:50
|
|
|
I drive my car lots. I love long road trips and I think it's a cool way to experience the world. We've slowed down as our careers pick up though, and our 2010 Mazda 3 has 180 000km on it now.  I mean, that's trips like from Halifax to Acapulco, Halifax to the Grand Canyon, and Halifax to Edmonton and some smaller trips like Edmonton to Vancouver Island and lots of other stuff. And like Fredericton to Halifax every weekend for a year or two.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 16, 2015 04:11
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 12, 2024 21:00 |
|
|
pig slut lisa posted:I don't mean to unload on you specifically, but it's really frustrating that society has conditioned everyone to believe that buying a pirate ship is the best financial decision in every case. Renting may be the superior financial choice depending on how long you plan to plunder, the strength of local navies, etc. Everyone please crunch the numbers before you head down to the docks! Nah I'm going to use some migrant pirate workers who don't want any loving workers comp or whatever bullshit these entitled millennial crewmen are demanding these days. My ROI is going to be through the roof. Wanna buy a share of my booty?
|
|
#
¿
Aug 5, 2015 00:47
|
|