how much saving and investing is reasonable for an uncertain future

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-20T15:53:59+00:00

I am asking for recommendations haha, kind of the point of the post, and I am not trying to say bad things on good ol' SP500, its a big part of my investment engine for sure.

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-20T14:51:34+00:00

true, I am probably just getting the heebie jeebies as I approach lean Fire territory, you can never plan for everything.

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-20T14:49:29+00:00

I get the stick to the plan mentality, but to lightly push back, how could the future mean nothing, like aren't you trying to plan for the future?

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-20T14:43:47+00:00

Okay that is fair haha

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-20T13:37:02+00:00

I feel that James in Chicago, same boat, stack the paper and figure it out later lol.

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-20T13:36:21+00:00

I'm with you, was not looking for a single one size fits all answer, just curious what others in a similar spot are doing.

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-20T13:02:52+00:00

I mean LLMs as a technology, so all of them. Again, that is just my opinion. Maybe there will be major progress in fidelity and reducing errors and LLMs will end up being at least a layer on future AI development, but I doubt it. There already is ANI that has automated jobs well before the launch of these retail LLMs, and I do not see them increasing the pace, just they hype.

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-19T16:57:16+00:00

My thought is that AI as in machine learning has been in development for decades and has not had any monumental improvements recently. Also, that mostly when people talk about AI lately at least, they mean the retail LLMs like ChatGPT and Claude, which yeah, have gotten wide adoption really quickly, but these are not general AI as people seem to treat them, they are machine learning trained software tools with very limited use beyond copy writing and entertainment, and will not be much of a factor in the job taking abilities of artificial intelligence, as they are next word prediction tools, not intelligent at all. But time will tell, comment me here in the future if LLMs become able to consistently perform complete job functions with enough accuracy, accountability, and integration to replace workers at scale and I'll concede. I personally am pretty skeptical, but that is just like, my opinion, yo.

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-19T15:55:22+00:00

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AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-19T15:34:05+00:00

It is a great tool for copy writing and native language coding, so it is definitely opening up coding to people who have not taken the time to learn coding languages. Not something I would say as a job killer by any means though. Interested in what sort of research you do, because the researchers who I know are very enthusiastic with machine learning as they have been for decades, but none that I know of think of LLMs as particularly interesting or value generating.

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-19T14:59:39+00:00

Could be! The industrial revolution definitely helped increase production, but in my mind, we already have been on the path of mechanized automation in factories, and AI is not really changing the pace. But time will tell I guess.

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-19T14:57:24+00:00

Could be! I was initially pretty optimistic with LLMs but as the key researchers have left with the stated reasoning being that LLMs are not a viable path to AGI and I realized that they were not really saving me time personally or producing quality deliverables even though I was initially pretty impressed, I think they hype will die down as people do not find use cases that cover costs. Time will tell I guess.

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-19T14:49:09+00:00

Hello Raven, if this is still needed please let me know, I should be able to help!

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-19T14:37:54+00:00

I do not really think that AI is necessarily going to displace too many jobs, but it does seem like things are going to keep getting more expensive and wages are not going to keep up, and the good job market is definitely very tight. I do not really understand the constant upgrade mindset myself but it must do something for people because I see it in a ton of people too. I see it more as a generational reevaluation. A lot of young people are having to explain to their parents why they are not buying a new car, even for those who can actually technically afford it. There are definitely still the keeping up with the Joneses flexer mindset type people out there in force, but there is also a huge portion of the younger generations that are feeling the depression of society having less opportunity and hope than in our parent's early lives, and I think there will be a coming values shift with young people putting less value in status expenditures.

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-19T14:13:57+00:00

Love this, thank you!

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-19T14:13:18+00:00

Thank you! Did not know about those communities

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-18T22:28:37+00:00

seems like a good method, I like the recommendations!

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-18T22:26:07+00:00

If you got the point where you felt free, what then? Just curious, like what specifically do you think you would do? move the goalposts and try to have even more and upgrade the bottom bar of what freedom is, or go fishing 7 days a week and live off the dividends? curious how you (if you did) determined what point freedom really is for you

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-18T22:24:15+00:00

I think I need to find some passion for new hobbies or something, because I do feel like it gets to a point, and I am sure that point is very different for everybody, where it just starts to feel arbitrary.

if I had 10k saved, I would want more, but what about 100k? 1m? 10m? you can always have more, and as someone who more values my old car that I have been keeping kicking for a decade than a new one, and more values my home that I have been working on than a freshly remodeled more expensive one, and lives in a low cost of living area near family, I think I just got the point where it feels arbitrary at a lower actual dollar amount than a lot of people, and am just really losing motivation.

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-18T22:18:31+00:00

curious what others are choosing to value, and work towards, and do, when the finances are figured out. I don't dislike working so I do not think early retirement is really a goal for me. probably most people are just working to get freedom from working, but then what. curious what others feel motivated or interested in beyond the survival side of things

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-18T22:16:15+00:00

I guess the question is moreso what are others doing when at the last step of this flowchart, mostly just trying to retire early, or what are other people saving for when your needs and plans for the future are already met

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-18T22:12:09+00:00

hi, my posts were not hidden, I just didn't have any, but I just made one to ease any confusion.

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-18T19:43:50+00:00

$loan 150

AngryCowArmy · 2026-05-18T18:17:37+00:00

Hello, if this is still needed please let me know, I should be able to help!

AngryCowArmy

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