T.G.I.F. Friday: Volume 183
Welcome to “Thank God I’m FI” Friday, Volume #183
Here are some things I really like and that you might too!
Financial Independence/Work Life/Retirement Articles & Content
Escaping the Middle Class Trap (Can I Retire Yet?) “I went looking for real life examples of people “caught” in the “Middle-Class trap.” I found they are similar to the Canada Lynx, Pangolin, or Giant Panda. They’re known to exist, but are extremely hard to find in the wild.“
What Is the ‘Couch Economy’ Costing You? (Nerd Wallet) “Delivery, streaming and online shopping make it easy to live life from your living room. Keep costs in check with a solid strategy..“
Video
Autumn is my happy time, enjoy this spectacular 4k video of autumn in Yosemite. It’s, uhhh… almost 12 hours long. It’s actually looped footage, so you can just leave it on as your TV screen saver. Meant for a big screen!.
What I’m Grateful For
Autumn. I know, it’s something that comes on schedule and is not unexpected, but this summer was particularly bad here in the DC region. We even hit 90 degrees on October 14th, blasting through an all-time record by 3 degrees. This past week mornings have been in the high 40’s and it feels absolutely glorious.
Lyrically Speaking
Cause now I’m walking down the street
Got no money for a car
I’ve been walking for so long
And I never got very far
From “Feels Like The End” by Shane Alexander
Shane Alexander is your classic “singer-songwriter”. Hailing from Pennsylvania and Maryland as a kid he’s now living and working in California and has 9 full-length albums and an EP to his name, dating back to 2000. After moving to California he met contacts in Hollywood which eventually led him to getting songs placed in TV shows. And boy has he had a lot of that. His songs have been in more than 20 shows, everywhere from Nickelodean to Dutch TV. He’s also toured with Jewel, Styx, and Yes. Alexander’s music leans towards what I snarkily call the “sad white boy” genre, but he’s really good at it and a talented guitarist as well. My favorite song of his is “Coffee Kiss” which has a melody that just sticks in your head.
As for the lyrics above, this aptly describes the old friends I had in my childhood and teenage years in Baltimore. Even after turning 16 or 17 no one could afford a car, and their parents surely couldn’t afford to get them one like seemingly everyone’s parents today. We definitely took the bus a lot. But me, I put that behind and got far, very far 🙂
Miscellaneous
Scientists discover a way to kill dangerous gut bacteria without killing the good – “Scientists have discovered a natural compound that targets dangerous C. difficile bacteria without wiping out the gut’s beneficial microbes.” Dave’s Comment: My mother almost died from C. Diff and a good friend of mine spent over 2 weeks in the hospital after contracting it. This is good news. C. Diff is in all of us in small amounts but if allowed to flourish it kills thousands every year.
AI is forcing us to reckon with a 400-year-old problem – “René Descartes drew a line between humans and machines. AI is blurring it.
Microplastics in water aren’t inert and make damaging chemicals on their own – “Its effect on people remains an ongoing question.“
**Note To My Readers – I sometimes get complaints about ads on my blog (too many). I’m kind of astonished that anyone browses the internet without an ad-blocker. I haven’t seen ads in over a decade, and you shouldn’t either. Please use an ad blocker, your life will improve 500%
a single person wanting to spend 100k in a year seems more than middle class to me but i’m out of touch. the deal gets even better for a married couple spending more like 80. it took me years of gain harvesting and essentially prepaying future taxes while employed to build a massive cash cushion now getting close to 4% yield. we could live 5-6 years comfortably off that but it meant not being able to spend it at the time. roth money was our other big key and prioritizing funding those accounts for 20 years. those w/d’s never show up in MAGI if you want a better price on health insurance with ACA.
cheers, man!
I agree about the spending, the median household income in America is around &87K, and that’s household which is around 2.5 people each in America. So a single person expecting to spend 100k (which they’d have to earn ~130k to get after taxes) is definitely higher than middle class, call it upper middle class. As for your cash cushion and interest rate, funny timing. I’ve had mine in CIT bank for 4 or 5 years now, they started over 4% but have been drifting down. There are good options out there giving 4.25%, fully FDIC insured and legit so I’ve been thinking about making a move soon. The rate increase has to be worth it for me to go through he hassle of doing it. Thx for stopping by as always dude!
Roth w/ds excluded from MAGI also help your cost for Medicare as it is excluded from IRMAA calculations. I know you guys aren’t there yet :))
Unfortunately cash was king in our house for years with kids and sick husband, so paying for it now. But I’m not complaining!
Dave, love finding new music from you!
Nope, not at the Medicare stage yet and hope time slows down so I won’t get there, lol! And stoked you like the music section, thanks for stopping by Josie!