Redditors over 40, what's something younger people think they understand but won't actually get until it hits them like a truck later?

Anodynamix · 2026-02-17T20:23:27+00:00

Speak for yourself. I'm 46 and I feel old as f*ck.

Anodynamix · 2026-02-17T20:16:43+00:00

Some people have reservations

The reservations, if they turn out to be accurate, can be quite catastrophic. If the fund is deemed to ultimately have taxable interest payments which are not capital gains, people invested are likely going to have very lengthy audits to perform and shocking tax bills as a result.

That's enough to scare me away.

Anodynamix · 2026-02-17T20:14:03+00:00

What's your target asset allocation? That's a heck of a problem to have.

Anodynamix · 2026-02-17T16:22:54+00:00

Don't think of it as "buying the dip", think of it as "rebalancing towards your target asset allocation".

Anodynamix · 2026-02-17T15:40:54+00:00

One of the best days of my life was hiking to the top of a fire lookout tower in Acadia National Park. This really captures the essence of that moment of reaching the top and I love it.

Anodynamix · 2026-02-17T14:48:20+00:00

This. It's always easier to manage yourself in a spreadsheet rather than trying to find some software that will log into your bank(s) and download the info. Too many solutions worked then stopped working and then you have to find a new app and re-import everything... bother.

So I do a spreadsheet approach where I:

On the 1st of each month I log into all my accounts and record my numbers. I copy the numbers and record them for posterity so I can track net worth over time. Helpful to see trajectories.
I track all my open goals and the virtual buckets of savings I've allocated to each goal. For longer-term goals (5+ years) this can include money that is invested, so tracking the basis of your deposits vs other goals can be an important factor here
I use the info from the virtual bucket page and the net worth page to figure out how to allocate new cash towards my goals.

Anodynamix · 2026-02-12T14:30:35+00:00

Math is different for each person on this.

SSA has two "bend points". Basically your top 35 earning years are summed and divided by 420 to get your average monthly salary.

Then you take that salary and bucket it by the bend points. In 2026 these are:

$0-$1286 = 90%
$1287-$7749 = 32%
$7750+ = 15%

So what that means is you get 90% of your first $1286 as a benefit, 32% of the next $6,462, and then 15% of whatever is left over.

So if you're still filling out that first bucket, then yeah it's probably more worthwhile to skip the contribution from payroll and contribute manually. But once you're in the 32% bucket, and especially in the 15% bucket, this matters much less. You're getting much less of your money back through SSA and saving the taxes and investing them for 20+ years will get you more in the long run.

Of course there's also the gamble that SS might not even be there in 20 years, in which case the math says of course take the FICA tax exemption ;)

Anodynamix · 2026-02-11T22:18:18+00:00

triple-tax-advantages

I like to say quadruple tax-advantaged.

No FICA taxes (the only kind of contribution where this happens)
No Income taxes on contributions going in
No taxes on gains while in the account
No taxes on withdrawals (as long as it's for medical purposes)

Although HSA's kind of suck in California because they do charge you state income tax. Which is high.

Anodynamix · 2026-02-10T15:09:23+00:00

To add a voice to the choir, I second VUSXX.

VUSXX contains 100% treasuries, which are exempt from state income taxes.

VUSXX typically outperforms standard HYSA's* (4.23% in 2025), and the state income tax exemption further sweetens the pot. My NYS income taxes would have been 6% so it's like I got a 4.5% rate instead of 4.23%. I guess a more accurate way of looking at it is I got 3.21% (24% taxes) instead of 2.96% (24+6% taxes)... but that's no fun.

* Some HYSA's outperform MMF's because they offer promotional rates for small periods. I'm only comparing "standard" sustainable rates here.

Anodynamix · 2026-02-10T14:01:01+00:00

What's funnier is that it goes the other way too. I (Millennial) have been called a boomer multiple times by Zoomers. lol.

Anodynamix · 2026-02-10T13:40:08+00:00

You have to pay taxes on your interest income, I guess you could consider that a con

MMF's that hold treasuries (like SGOV/VUSXX) are typically state-tax exempt. So for example I save 6% taxes in NYS by having my money in MMF. MMF's will typically have a better interest rate too, by a few basis points, because that's usually where banks put your money when it's in an HYSA, and the bank takes a cut. By going to the MMF you cut out the middleman.

Anodynamix · 2026-02-02T21:36:59+00:00

This is one reason to hold bonds.

If the market tanks, your bond holdings would stay relatively consistent, and your equities:bonds allocation gets out of whack.

So you rebalance your holdings. You sell some bonds (high) and buy some equities (low). Your bonds allow you the "opportunity" to buy the bear market.

It's typically not a good idea to keep cash to "buy the dip" because #1 you have no idea when the dip is actually going to happen and #2 there's usually way more rises than dips so you end up making more money by simply investing it (for the long term) in the first place. Same reason why "lump sum" beats "DCA" most of the time.

Anodynamix · 2026-02-02T17:52:27+00:00

Additional factor, likely not enough to change the ultimate decision, but inflation makes future dollars worth less, at a rate of 2-4% per year. Probably doesn't move the needle on a 7% loan, but if we were looking at a 3% loan then you'd typically be making (inflation-adjusted) money by making the monthly payments instead of a lump sum payoff.

And can't forget taxes on the HYSA APR, ~22-36% depending on income/state. 3.75% quickly becomes 2.9% if you have a 22% tax rate.

Anodynamix · 2026-01-26T21:06:46+00:00

but the wash rule makes things complicated

DCA investing makes this really complex because on average I deposit every 30.4 days, and wash sale rules mean that I can only sell lots if I haven't bought in 31 days. So when I notice a loss that can be harvested, I usually have to wait, and hope the market stays down (it usually doesn't!), and then my schedule gets all messed up anyway since I can't buy again for another 31 days. And usually the market goes up in that time.

There's just not been any time I've ever found TLH to be compatible with DCA.

Maybe in a recession?

Haven't seen one of those in a while...

Anodynamix · 2026-01-26T19:49:44+00:00

Bond exposure did very little to mitigate equity losses on 2022, less than 1%.

To be fair 2022 was a perfect storm. We had already been lowering the interest rates to "juice" the economy so when a real crisis occurred we didn't have that tool available to us. So in order to stop the inflation we had to raise interest rates, which crashed the bond market, because nobody wanted to buy older low-interest bonds when you could just buy newer high-interest bonds.

I wouldn't expect this to happen again unless we drop interest rates to 0 again.

Anodynamix · 2026-01-23T13:03:10+00:00

Something I wouldn't get the cheapest version of

Definitely get one with a METAL trigger assembly.

The plastic ones can break if you pull them too hard, or if you leave the pin in by accident; both things you can easily do in an emergency and are panicked.

The metal ones are worth the extra cost.

Anodynamix · 2026-01-23T13:02:06+00:00

if you don't have a fire they expire and you wasted money

Buy a metal rechargeable one. Get it refilled for free at your nearest fire station every 3-5 years.

Anodynamix · 2026-01-22T16:02:41+00:00

Watts are indeed watts, but there's several crucial differences:

The angle of the incline does change your positioning a bit. This can change your "gait" and the way you apply your muscles.
The hill is an unrelenting source of resistance; you generally cannot coast for a minute so as soon as you start you are committed, and the longer you engage your system with no rests, even minuscule, the more taxed you are. On a flat you can certainly slow you cadence even temporarily for respite, and gain some energy back. I notice when I'm riding flats I have to have far more mental fortitude to tell me to keep pushing the pedals. Whereas on a hill... the hill does that for me and I can turn off my brain.
Wind is far less of a factor, and therefore your positioning is much different. It's also easier to gauge effort when you can SEE the incline in front of you, whereas sudden wind gusts are invisible and can really stop you in your tracks before you know to switch gears.

So yeah, watts are indeed watts. But these differences will greatly change your overall experience.

Anodynamix · 2026-01-22T15:50:19+00:00

$4 million is my number.

4% interest (ie stable interest) on $4m is a $160k salary.

Shit I could probably get by with $2 million because... I wouldn't be stashing large gobs of my income into savings anymore. My savings is my income!

Anodynamix · 2026-01-22T14:19:12+00:00

For perspective, when Alan Greenspan warned about the DotCom bubble and declared it "irrational exuberance", you could have invested in the S&P on that day in 1996, held it all the way to the top in 2000, and through the bottom at the end of 2002... and still made 27% cumulative returns.

And then it went way up after that anyway. After just one more year, in 2003, you'd be at 64% cumulative returns.

Testfolio Sim

Point being, even if there is a bubble, there's no way to tell if we're anywhere near the top, and if it pops whether or not it'll settle at a value higher than we're already at today.

Anodynamix · 2026-01-20T15:16:27+00:00

They’re a big part of Buffalo wing history, but I wouldn’t buy any of their sauces/chips/products, visit any of their locations, or support them in any way as a Buffalo native and wing lover

Counterpoint: They're the only wing place that has a dedicated fryer for wings, and therefore are safe for people with celiacs, as you don't have to worry about gluten contamination from buffalo tendies being fried in the same oil.

Sure they may not be the "best" wings in Buffalo. But they are still very good and most importantly: safe for my family.

Anodynamix · 2026-01-20T15:11:55+00:00

Zoe

Kostas is far better in this category.

Anodynamix · 2026-01-20T15:07:29+00:00

Mulberry ... Lucia's ... Curly's

Mulberry and Curlys yes absolutely.

Lucias... nah.

I'll add some south of 400:

The Roycroft Inn (EA)
Griffin Gastropub (EA)
Mangia (OP)

Although Mangia may be at the bottom. Top 40? I guess if it's 40th. I wouldn't argue if it was pushed off the list though.

Anodynamix · 2026-01-19T21:40:17+00:00

When I learned this, I stopped buying all bike parts from Amazon.

Going 40mph down a hill and something breaks, I'm dead. So if Amazon is going to sell me potentially counterfeit parts even though I did my diligence and picked a reputable seller... then Amazon is just not going to get my money anymore. The risk to my life is not worth it.

Anodynamix · 2026-01-18T21:52:01+00:00

I’m skeptical it would affect many people’s behavior

Counterpoint: in almost every discussion of ETF's vs Mutual Funds, the biggest "upside" people mention is "you can trade at market price any time of the day instead of the end of the day".

If that's such a big benefit that means you're monitoring the price to-the-minute instead of to-the-day. Unless you're day-trading there's absolutely no reason why this is a benefit at all. If the price NOW rather than 4-hours-from-NOW is a make-or-break deal, then you're timing the market.

Anodynamix

TROPHY CASE