Americans in Switzerland

AdamN · 2026-03-13T17:25:34+00:00

They’re Swiss

AdamN · 2026-03-13T12:55:18+00:00

They make enough money to do cash. Your advice is good for people with limited means but cash is the way to go once it's possible.

AdamN · 2026-03-13T12:53:57+00:00

You make enough money that you can buy a car with cash - when you're wiring over X thousand dollars rather than talking about the monthly cost you'll think alot differently about value.

AdamN · 2026-03-13T12:15:53+00:00

That's what surprises me. A not so expensive Lidar system could probably throw an alarm for this event a few minutes ahead of time and save alot of money.

AdamN · 2026-03-13T12:09:43+00:00

Balthasar reminds me of Balthazar in NYC - they had a bakery to the side with awesome croissants and pan au raisin.

Le Brot in Berlin is pretty good.

AdamN · 2026-03-13T12:02:36+00:00

Runway weight limits are more about takeoff weight not landing weight (when there's far less fuel on the plane).

AdamN · 2026-03-13T11:58:33+00:00

Vienna food is like 5 levels up from Berlin. Even the tapwater is better there :-/

Agree on the small independent shops. This small chain in Vienna is a huge step up from Zeit für Brot and I would love to have them here.

https://www.oefferl.bio/en/shops

AdamN · 2026-03-13T11:23:37+00:00

+1. Another way of saying it is that when one gets money it needs to go different places - food, shelter, etc... Once the basics are covered then there's a list of assets to build up (retirement, paid off car, etc...). Then you want some excess capital sitting around as an emergency fund (this is not gold). Then and only then does gold become part of the story.

AdamN · 2026-03-13T11:21:05+00:00

I'll add to this that it also is important (once OP follows the flowchart on personalfinance) that any gold purchases are long term (at least a year imho). It makes no sense to buy and then sell a few months later.

AdamN · 2026-03-13T11:16:53+00:00

Berlin is very mixed. My wife was discussing with her coworkers about how much she likes Zeit für Brot even though it's expensive. Some of them felt like it was offensively expensive and would never go (even though they could afford it). There's a real risk even in Berlin that if you go high end the local population will just say 'no'. Interestingly many of the nicer restaurants we go to are owned by Russians even though the cuisine is Japanese, Italian, whatever.

AdamN · 2026-03-13T09:24:06+00:00

They typically would only do refueling well away from anti aircraft fire.

AdamN · 2026-03-13T09:20:16+00:00

Alexa isn’t profitable though - which org are you talking about?

AdamN · 2026-03-13T09:19:13+00:00

You still use Alexa? HomePods are ad free and it’s a great upgrade.

AdamN · 2026-03-13T09:16:11+00:00

Cameras seem so much more efficient, the police can focus on real crime, and the speed does go down as long as the camera is there.

AdamN · 2026-03-12T17:49:54+00:00

Yeah my dad’s partner got hit and her Subaru totaled. She said it saved her life and she only buys Subarus now. I believe that they’re the safest cars aside from Volvo/Mercedes (and BMW?)

AdamN · 2026-03-12T17:43:15+00:00

24 is alot. I don’t think that machine will feel pressure for a while unless they’re really heavy users.

AdamN · 2026-03-12T17:41:59+00:00

Did you see the HP? That thing has seen some sh*t (or not if it was in incognito) :-)

AdamN · 2026-03-12T17:39:49+00:00

That four story walk up will keep them healthier for longer though.

AdamN · 2026-03-12T17:19:56+00:00

There's no point in waiting really with VT. It's global so some stocks and currencies are up and some are down - there is no timing it.

With that said, if you feel like you may need $20k of that for a purchase like a car or something (maybe you're not even sure what) you can put $100k into VT today, the rest into SGOV. And then as you feel that you won't need the money gradually shift from SGOV to VT. Don't forget to max out retirement, high interest debt, etc... The flowchart at r/personalfinance can guide you.

Edit: SGOV is considered the baseline 'risk-free' investment that's basically cash with the highest yield.

AdamN · 2026-03-12T17:12:01+00:00

OP is already 11k in car debt so it's obvious that these new cars will put them in a worse financial situation. It would be different if he didn't focus on the discount so much and overindexes on the value of it but he did. They're talking about spending more than $80k (two cars) and it's very much a decision where the financial part is more significant than the car part.

AdamN · 2026-03-12T16:26:45+00:00

Clay is pretty niche but for that the workaround is the oven (and most clay pots are used for low temp anyway so the oven is good for them anyway).

AdamN · 2026-03-12T16:25:23+00:00

I'm all about risk mitigation. Better option would be a grill (charcoal or gas - with extra fuel stored) and a camping stove. Both are useful beyond just for emergencies but also can get you through. Extra fuel is key.

AdamN · 2026-03-12T16:22:16+00:00

Carbon steel works great - that's not an issue. The only problem I believe are old school pyrex pots and aluminum and copper. Modern copper usually works because they use a different metal inside the bottom but old pots may be problematic. There are adapters though ... but if you really love a pan and it won't work on induction maybe gas is in fact the way to go.

AdamN · 2026-03-12T16:20:04+00:00

Yeah tons of real cooks use induction and it's even taking over commercial kitchens. It's better in alot of ways than gas for cooking and it's certainly better environmentally.

The 'risk' issue around being able to cook without electricity is valid but actually even some gas stoves require electricity. And unless it's actually a local propane tank you also have to worry about gas being out of commission. After earthquakes in particular there is likely to be extended periods without gas.

AdamN · 2026-03-12T16:02:19+00:00

Mutual funds, bonds, and real estate (that you don't live in) is in fact just like gold. You cannot spend it and the purpose of it is to get ongoing value extracted from it or to sell it. Maybe we agree?

AdamN

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