Friday thread

[Therapist4Chnge]

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I just like to remind people who voted for him, who are usually lower middle class or worse off, that I am doing phenomenally well in this economy. That my my very diversified investments, are far outstripping inflationary increases in consumer goods and rising healthcare costs. And, I thank them for funding my retirement with their votes. They usually don't like that.

My investments are growing, but I can’t help but see so many of my patients (his voters), immigrants, and at-risk community members suffer.

I will admit I’m noticing inflation, as my grocery bills skyrocket, as 90% of what I eat includes fresh produce, animal proteins, and some supplements. Also, the price of car insurance and health insurance went up 20% and 60% respectively this past year.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I wish my gym allowed sauna beer...

Join a social/athletic club and you can mostly do what you want. 😀 My old club used to deliver beers to the sauna for us, but my current one has a keg in our main locker room that they rotate kegs. My former country club built an addition onto the Men’s locker room to add a full bar and seating area as part of the locker room. It was wonderful bc we could have shower beers, order food for after cleaning up, and have a space we can watch sports w the boys. I rarely drink anymore, besides social events and my sauna beer.

Yes I recognize my privilege, but working out and golf are two of my fav things and it’s where I enjoy spending some of my disposable income.

 

[Sanman]

I just like to remind people who voted for him, who are usually lower middle class or worse off, that I am doing phenomenally well in this economy. That my my very diversified investments, are far outstripping inflationary increases in consumer goods and rising healthcare costs. And, I thank them for funding my retirement with their votes. They usually don't like that.

My investments are growing, but I can’t help but see so many of my patients (his voters), immigrants, and at-risk community members suffer.

I will admit I’m noticing inflation, as my grocery bills skyrocket, as 90% of what I eat includes fresh produce, animal proteins, and some supplements. Also, the price of car insurance and health insurance went up 20% and 60% respectively this past year.

Are we though? The numbers keep going up on the balance sheet and that feels nice. I know a few folks that recently purchased homes. As I look at asset prices, I am not sure much has changed on 10 years. I would likely still end up in the same home and vehicles. The numbers are just larger now. It is better than falling behind at least.

 

[PsyDr]

Value of 2020 dollars today: $100 → $130.19 | Inflation Calculator

$100 in 2020 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $130.19 in 2026. Compare inflation, CPI, and purchasing power using the Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

www.in2013dollars.com

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Are we though? The numbers keep going up on the balance sheet and that feels nice. I know a few folks that recently purchased homes. As I look at asset prices, I am not sure much has changed on 10 years. I would likely still end up in the same home and vehicles. The numbers are just larger now. It is better than falling behind at least.

Aren't interest rates still around nearly 7%? It seems like a bad time to buy a home, but maybe that is just my area of the country? Houses are staying on the market longer. There is some trickery going on though, many of the largest home buyers are using shell corps to buy their own homes, keep prices higher than what they normally would be, and then they are renting those homes back to people. It's circular $ trying to cover up a sagging market. A bunch of articles and segments (Daily Show or similar) have talked about it in the past couple of months.

 

[WisNeuro]

Aren't interest rates still around nearly 7%? It seems like a bad time to buy a home, but maybe that is just my area of the country? Houses are staying on the market longer. There is some trickery going on though, many of the largest home buyers are using shell corps to buy their own homes, keep prices higher than what they normally would be, and then they are renting those homes back to people. It's circular $ trying to cover up a sagging market. A bunch of articles and segments (Daily Show or similar) have talked about it in the past couple of months.

Interest rates now suck, we got in back when it was 2.7%.

Are we though? The numbers keep going up on the balance sheet and that feels nice. I know a few folks that recently purchased homes. As I look at asset prices, I am not sure much has changed on 10 years. I would likely still end up in the same home and vehicles. The numbers are just larger now. It is better than falling behind at least.

My stuff is doing very well, and I've leveraged that avoid other expenses. Fully owned vehicles (hybrid), solar panels when we still had tax credits that are fully paid off, etc. So, some things like energy expenses are climbing, but I rarely pay those things now. And, my investments, even the conservative ones have far outpaced inflation. Pair that with all of the business loopholes to shield revenue from taxes, and republicans have made it very good for high earners. Most of the US though...not so much. I'll still vote in those people's best interests for them, but because they will inevitably vote to **** themselves over time and time again, I'm going to hedge my investments on that tendency for the mouth breathers to cut off their noses to spite their face.

 

[oliversacks4thewin]

I wish my gym allowed sauna beer...

Right? People can shamelessly walk around the locker room stark naked and try to engage me in conversation, with their jibblets all hanging out, but it's suddenly a party foul when I try to crack open a cold one in the sauna? What kind of unfair nonsense is that?

 

[cara susanna]

We refinanced our mortgage back when interest rates were super low, so that's good. I can't take credit, my mother-in-law is in escrow so she advised us.

 

[futureapppsy2]

We refinanced our mortgage back when interest rates were super low, so that's good. I can't take credit, my mother-in-law is in escrow so she advised us.

"Escrow? I can't even find that on the map!"

 

[R. Matey]

Right? People can shamelessly walk around the locker room stark naked and try to engage me in conversation, with their jibblets all hanging out, but it's suddenly a party foul when I try to crack open a cold one in the sauna? What kind of unfair nonsense is that?

I have a home gym in the garage. No sauna though.

Unrelated, my last two patients canceled and I am not sad about it.

 

[oliversacks4thewin]

I have a home gym in the garage. No sauna though.

Unrelated, my last two patients canceled and I am not sad about it.

I'm jealous. I have been contemplating the home gym idea for some time, but always have other expenses that need my attention before moving forward with this. Which is really sad, because I am pretty sure every gym that has ever been built must have a building code rule where a strange naked old person must be in the locker room, trying to talk politics or about random going-ons in the local area. Every. Gym. Locker Room. I've never not seen that person, and I've gone to the 24 hour gyms at like 3 am- BAM, still there! lol

 

[Sanman]

Aren't interest rates still around nearly 7%? It seems like a bad time to buy a home, but maybe that is just my area of the country? Houses are staying on the market longer. There is some trickery going on though, many of the largest home buyers are using shell corps to buy their own homes, keep prices higher than what they normally would be, and then they are renting those homes back to people. It's circular $ trying to cover up a sagging market. A bunch of articles and segments (Daily Show or similar) have talked about it in the past couple of months.

Depends on who you are. Most of the deals I know of recently are cash deals from older folks that are firmly on the higher end of the spectrum ( $1- 3 million) and those in hot markets like NY that do not seem to be slowing as much. I do know some folks with VA loans that purchased more reasonable homes (between $500k and $1M) in less hot markets and got a decenr rate. Things are still selling quickly in my suburban area. Lots of millenials with a decade worth of savings and young kids. Very few conventional loans though.

Mortgage rates were in the 4-5% range when I originally bought about a decade ago. Thing about real estate is you can always refinance if rates come down but with limited inventory around, you grab a good house when you can. That said, prices have stayed steady by me. The houses that were $200k more and a bit of a stretch for us are still $200k more now. Its just that everything has about doubled (including our HHI)

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Right? People can shamelessly walk around the locker room stark naked and try to engage me in conversation, with their jibblets all hanging out, but it's suddenly a party foul when I try to crack open a cold one in the sauna? What kind of unfair nonsense is that?

My athletic club has a lot of "mostly retired" older guys, so they have nothing but time. I avoid the early rush and prefer to workout with the "joint replacement crowd" in the later morning, which is a double-edged sword. Quieter gym time and never a wait for any equipment, but the locker room has an abundance of "hang out w your balls out" kind of old guys.

At my former private club (that was VERY old school & men's only until the late-1990s) I made the mistake of working out really early one morning and it was during the main pool's "naked swim" time, so there were a lot of old naked guys just air drying everywhere when I finished my workout. Evidently there was a 100+ year tradition where bathing suits were optional bc it was just dudes, so when they finally went co-ed, the old guard required set times that they could still swim naked. Our barber back then was in his 80s and sadly I saw more of him than really anyone should bc he is the one who gave me a lecture about "the before times".

Same place built hotel rooms on the top floors so when guys got divorced/widowed, they'd just stay at the club during the week and go home on weekends. It made sense since the club had everything (barber, tailor, dry cleaning, spa, dining, et. al)...but so many members got very used to just wandering around in various states of dress/undress and doing basically whatever they wanted, and staff just rolled with it. I miss that staff, some truly great folks who spent decades there, so the stories were epic.

I joke about some of these things, but I really am happy that these clubs have gotten a bit more modern and accepting of more types of folks bc it does make for a better experience. I made a point to diversify the memberships at all of the private clubs I've joined bc I think it improved the overall experience, even if some of the older members were a little unsure at first. Too late, got 'em in, and the younger membership grew, so the 40-50+ year members had to suck it up and deal with it.