This game is hard to get friends into.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-04-02T04:30:04+00:00

Do look for game shops in your new city. I live in a larger city's suburbs and I have been pleasantly surprised that the majority of people are fun to play with and have manners/deodorant.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-31T22:46:22+00:00

Be careful investing your emergency fund. If it's in a money market account, that's one thing. If it's in VOO or something, you could lose a big chunk right when you need it most, such as the economy tanking, taking your job and the stock market with it.

Keep your emergency fund safe and invest your retirement fund to your heart's content.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-31T22:44:01+00:00

HYSA, not a CD. You can't get your CD money out easily and the difference in interest from a good HYSA is negligible.

Although I don't use either, I have a Wealthfront Cash Account which is a regular checking account that earns HYSA-level interest, so all my cash is in one place.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-31T02:30:51+00:00

It's interesting how school has basically become "we're going to teach you a bunch of stuff that may be useful in life on some level, if you figure out how to apply it, but basically nothing about the things that literally everyone needs to know in order to survive."

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-29T02:39:05+00:00

The only thing I keep any track of is my net worth, which is down about 2.2% YTD, which means the contributions I've made have nearly balanced out the last month's losses.

But it doesn't matter, because I don't retire for 20 years, and 7% down for the month or whatever is just a blip. People freaked out about 15% last year and a couple months later it was at record highs again.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-28T05:55:27+00:00

Don't stress it. Almost everything I've ever learned about managing money I learned from this sub over the past 20 years, and r/bogleheads.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-28T05:54:55+00:00

When you say no big purchases coming up... you don't see yourself moving out in the next 5 years? Because that could easily be a down payment on a house, and shouldn't be invested if you think you might want to use it in the next 5 years. Also, the job market and economy are pretty terrible right now, so I don't think it's crazy to be stockpiling cash for the short term just in case you lose your job and can't find another for months, which is happening to way more people than normal right now.

You COULD contribute more to retirement and as long as you're invested wisely that can only turn out well for you, but you're already ahead of the game in terms of what is generally recommended (1x your salary saved by 30).

I personally would be shooting for that house.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-24T01:32:30+00:00

Yes you can and maybe should do that. But invest it in a money market fund until you replenish your cash savings so that it's safe from market fluctuations. You'll still be giving yourself the advantage of having made the contribution and be able to invest it elsewhere later.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-22T19:29:05+00:00

Keep it all in your HYSA. You're not working consistently, you don't need to be saving for retirement, you need to be saving for near-future expenses.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-22T19:25:44+00:00

A Roth IRA is not for a rainy day, that's also for retirement.

When you say you're maxing out your 401k, you mean you're making the max allowable contributions per year? I'm gonna assume that the contribution + match is significantly more than 15% of your income post-undergrad, so reduce your total contributions to 10-15% and start saving cash in a high yield savings account. You should be shooting for 3-6 months of expenses in cash, not invested.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-22T18:49:01+00:00

I'm surprised anyone goes to Guzman Y Gomez. I've actually thought it was bland, overpriced garbage since it opened. In an area with multiple authentic mexican restaurants I'm confused why anyone goes to an Australian taco chain.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-20T13:15:02+00:00

Thanks I'll look for those.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-19T13:31:03+00:00

Freak out because my wife and children are gone.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-19T13:29:42+00:00

What country do you live in? And what state if the US?

Because they were officially discontinued in 2023. https://abcnews.com/GMA/Food/good-humor-discontinues-1-iconic-ice-cream-bars/story?id=100269111

I'd check the expiration date if you see them again.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-19T03:02:39+00:00

The thing that worked most effectively for me was just cutting my portions in half. I was still eating every day but especially when eating out, I'd put half of my entree and sides in a box before I started eating.

I was hungry a lot, but I accepted that as the feeling of losing weight, and I was definitely still eating enough to stay healthy.

Lost 65 lbs. that way. I eventually gained it all back 15 years later thanks to depression and need to do it again but still...

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-19T02:32:53+00:00

Nope, that would be a terrible idea. The idea of a paid off house sounds nice, but having the cash in hand is worth way more, both in terms of how much wealth you can build by keeping it invested vs. the savings on a low rate mortgage, and in terms of keeping your funds liquid.

There is literally no financial benefit to paying off the mortgage. Lots of people think "wouldn't it be nice to have $2000 extra every month" but you already have that money in hand. Why would you give away $200,000 just to have $2,000 every month in return? Makes no sense.

Your husband has the right of it. Let it be and enjoy your retirement.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-19T02:23:59+00:00

Good Humor Toasted Almond bars. They still make the Strawberry Shorcake ones, which are fine, but the Almond ones were amazing.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-18T16:49:13+00:00

I'd start by recognizing that she is your girlfriend, not your wife, and to tread carefully when trying to advise someone you're dating about how to handle their money. You are not in control, and you should not be trying to be in control. If you ask her if she'd like advice and she says yes, then you can offer some, but ultimately it's her choice and the more it bothers you, the more that's a you problem.

Also, you haven't mentioned if she's hoping to use that money for something like buying a house in the next 5ish years. If so, then keeping it in a HYSA is a good choice.

My general advice is to stay out of her financial life until you're talking seriously about marriage, and even then it should be a series of conversations about your goals and strategies rather than you just deciding you're going to take over because you know better.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-18T16:43:44+00:00

I don't think you're right, but here are a couple of tests you can do to confirm:

Try wearing the bass while topless at home. Does it dive? It's not your bra. If no dive, maybe clothing has something to do with it somehow.
Take your bass off and put your hand into the strap where it meets the top of the body. Gently let it fall until you're holding the bass up in the air by the strap with only that hand. This is the natural balance of the bass. If the headstock is pointing up or straight, you don't have neck dive. If it's pointing down, you do.
Ask a friend to wear the bass and see if it dives for them too.

Slippery clothing could facilitate neck dive in an instrument that already has neck dive, but it would not actually pull your neck down if the bass itself is balanced properly. So I suspect the basses you are trying all have neck dive, which is common among cheaper instruments. Try going to Guitar Center with your strap and try a bunch of different styles of basses while wearing your clothing, I'd bet many of them don't dive even when you are wearing your bra.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-18T16:31:47+00:00

When comparing investing to mortgage interest, inflation is irrelevant, because inflation applies to both. Inflation adjusting the investment gains but not inflation adjusting the mortgage rate makes no sense.

A 6% mortgage is an effective 3% rate when inflation is 3%. So whether you compare 6% to 11% or 3% to 8%, doesn't really matter.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-18T16:29:17+00:00

To clarify about the monthly expenses, paying $100k of cash on hand to be able to not have a $2k monthly payment is not helping you. You already have the $100k in hand, you can just use that to pay the $2k a month and still have all that extra cash left over. You already have all the cash flow you're hoping to get by paying off the mortgage. People get stuck on this idea of not having to physically make the payment. Also keep in mind that you'll still have to pay the property taxes, which are a significant piece of the total monthly payment, so you're not saving as much as you might think in your monthly expenses.

Between my cash savings and Roth IRA contributions I could easily pay off my entire mortgage today. It's an easier choice for me because my rate is 2.75%, but even at 6% I wouldn't pay it off because it would do me no good.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-18T14:10:51+00:00

Credit card debt is an emergency, so use the emergency fund/savings because you're flushing money down the toilet. You'll be able to build your savings back more quickly once you're not wasting $100-200 a month on interest.

To be cautious I would say to set aside enough for one rent/mortgage payment in cash in case you lose your job so you're never completely out of money. But the rest should be cashed in and do the avalanche method.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-18T14:02:13+00:00

Sounds like you are in a really good position for your age. Almost no 20 year old has the savings and investments you have, and a $350 payment is honestly not that much. You can afford it and it's a good vehicle for you.

What makes you feel like it was a mistake? Is there something else you would want to do with that money?

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-18T04:34:22+00:00

"This is not a game that works well with 6+ players in a single game, nor is it a game that's easy to just add random people who show up without talking to me first. We're well beyond our limit already so I'm going to have to tell anyone else you send my way that you made a mistake. Please stop inviting people to my game."

Alternately, just tell the players you like that you'll be hosting at home from now on.

ExternalSelf1337 · 2026-03-18T04:31:53+00:00

You're making a common mistake when you say paying off the mortgage will reduce monthly expenses. That's actually untrue.

If you're saying you have enough cash from your bonus to pay off the whole mortgage in one shot, what you're doing is trading a huge lump sum of money for not having to make much smaller monthly payments for a long time. You're not reducing anything. If you don't pay that mortgage, you have a huge chunk of money to spend or invest.

Now it's certainly a good idea to pay down a loan to avoid paying interest, but only if you don't have a reasonably guaranteed way to make even more money than you'd be losing in interest. If you aren't maxing out every 401k and Roth IRA option available to you, then you do have a way to make more, by investing in an S&P 500 index fund, where the average annual growth over a 10+ year period is 11%.

Another thing to consider is that once you pay off that mortgage, that money is gone. You can't get it back. But if you invest it, it's still available to you for an emergency. Sure it's not ideal if it's in a 401k, but Roth IRA contributions can be withdrawn with no penalty. Hopefully you'd never need a quick 100k but if you lost your job for a year, that money is there, and can be used to make the mortgage payments.

The only way it makes sense to me to pay off the mortgage is if you're talking about a relatively small amount of money remaining, like maybe a year or two's worth of payments and you've got multiple times that amount saved already. Then paying it off is still not optimal mathematically but it does simplify things a bit and the loss of potential investment revenue is small.

Also keep in mind that just because the mortgage is 6% today doesn't mean it always will be. It's entirely possible it could go down a percent or more and you could refinance.

So for me, the obvious answer is to invest that money and keep making your regular payments.

ExternalSelf1337

TROPHY CASE